Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 July 23

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From today's featured article

Hurricane Alicia

The 1983 Atlantic hurricane season was the least active Atlantic hurricane season in 53 years. Although the season begins by convention on June 1, there were no tropical depressions until July 23, and only four of the season's seven depressions became tropical storms. Tropical Depression Three became Hurricane Alicia (satellite image pictured) on August 17 and made landfall in Texas the next day, breaking thousands of glass windows in Houston's skyscrapers, killing 22 people and causing $1.7 billion in damage. The storm that became Hurricane Barry formed on August 25, crossed Florida, and made landfall near Brownsville, Texas, dissipating five days later. Hurricane Chantal stayed out at sea, and was absorbed by a front on September 15. Tropical Depression Six formed on September 19 and caused heavy rains in the Caribbean. Tropical Storm Dean, the final storm of the season, attained peak winds of 65 mph (105 km/h), and made landfall on the Delmarva Peninsula on September 29. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Dr Pepper logo (1910)

... that American Civil War Confederate surgeon Charles T. Pepper was the original inspiration for the Dr Pepper soft drink (1910 logo shown)?
... that renewed volcanic activity at Antofagasta de la Sierra could cause ash to rain down over hundreds of square kilometres of adjacent land?
... that Paula Murrihy, who appeared in operatic title roles such as Dido, Carmen, Hänsel and the Rosenkavalier, sang Lieder with viola and piano for the Hessischer Rundfunk?
... that Microshaft Winblows 98 served as parody video game developer Parroty Interactive's take on Microsoft, Windows, and Bill Gates?
... that there was a campaign to deny Catherine Afeku's appointment as Ghana's Minister of Tourism because she had not done her national service?
... that in the UK, the endangered Tansy beetle can only be found on the banks of the River Ouse, near York?
... that Shekhar Naik is the first blind cricketer to be awarded the Padma Shri?
... that Trump Tower was marketed as the "debut novel" of Donald Trump?

In the news

Ram Nath Kovind

Ram Nath Kovind (pictured) is elected President of India.
Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the Fields Medal, dies at the age of 40.
Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese pro-democracy activist, political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dies at the age of 61.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is sentenced to nearly ten years in prison over the Operation Car Wash corruption scandal.
A giant iceberg, covering approximately 5,800 km² (2,200 sq mi), breaks away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

On this day...

July 23: Beginning of The Nine Days (Judaism, 2017); Revolution Day in Egypt (1952); Parents' Day in the United States (2017)

Henry Halleck

1862 – American Civil War: Henry Halleck (pictured) was appointed general-in-chief of the Union Army.
1921 – The Communist Party of China was founded at the founding National Congress in Shanghai.
1942 – The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
1974 – Following the collapse of the Greek military junta, the Metapolitefsi period began as the country transitioned to a democratic government.
2002 – On the 50th anniversary of its founding, the European Coal and Steel Community disbanded, and its activities and resources were absorbed by the European Community.

Bonaventura Peeters the Elder (b. 1614) · Apolinario Mabini (b. 1864) · Amy Winehouse (d. 2011)

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Today's featured picture

The Pillars of Creation are a series of elephant trunks of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula initially photographed in 1995. They are so named because the depicted gas and dust, while being eroded by the light from nearby stars, are in the process of creating new stars. Shown here is a 2011 rephotograph, which was unveiled in 2015 as part of the Hubble Space Telescope's 25th anniversary celebrations.

Photograph: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team

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