Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 February 23

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From today's featured article

John Bunny and Flora Finch

A Cure for Pokeritis is an American short silent film starring John Bunny and Flora Finch (pictured), released on February 23, 1912. A domestic comedy, it depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on his weekly poker game. It was one of many shorts produced by Vitagraph Studios, whose popularity made Bunny and Finch early film stars. Although its style of humor is dated, it is a historically important representative of its period and genre. The film was an early example of efforts to move beyond the conventions of stage plays: during the police raid, action took place in both the foreground and the background, with the actors moving between them. This cinematography technique improved the realism and pacing of the scene. A Cure for Pokeritis may be the first depiction of poker in film. Like Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's Dogs Playing Poker paintings, it reflects the early 20th-century perception of the game as a male-dominated social vice. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Su Bai

... that Su Bai (pictured), the first head of Peking University's archaeology department, is considered a pioneer in the archaeology of Buddhism?
... that the deep water squat lobster Eumunida picta is often associated with the coldwater coral Lophelia pertusa?
... that Satan frequently appeared as a comic relief figure in late medieval mystery plays, in which he "frolicked, fell, and farted in the background"?
... that during the first U.S. government shutdown in 1980, the Carter administration dispatched U.S. Marshals to Federal Trade Commission facilities to enforce the shutdown?
... that Evelyn Terhune, a member of the U.S. fencing team at the 1960 Summer Olympics, took up the sport on a dare?
... that HMG Heat and Waterproof Adhesive was used to adhere the 100–200 fragments of the Pioneer helmet?
... that Jaroslav Eminger, an officer in the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II, was acquitted of charges of collaboration and declared a "loyal Bohemian and a brave man"?
... that the Macon Whoopees were named after Doris Day's rendition of the song "Makin' Whoopee"?

In the news

Billy Graham

American evangelical preacher Billy Graham (pictured) dies at the age of 99.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wins five awards, including Best Film, at the British Academy Film Awards.
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Zagros Mountains, killing all 65 people on board.
South African president Jacob Zuma resigns amid corruption claims, and is succeeded by Cyril Ramaphosa.
A gunman kills 17 people and injures 15 others at a school in Parkland, Florida, United States.

On this day...

February 23

Remnant of supernova 1987A

1778 – American Revolutionary War: Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge as a volunteer for the Continental Army.
1854 – Britain signed the Orange River Convention to formally recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in the present-day Free State Province, South Africa.
1944 – In response to an insurgency in Chechnya, the Soviet Union began the forced deportation of native Chechen and Ingush of North Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
1987 – Light from SN 1987A (remnant pictured), a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, reached the Earth.
2008 – A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in the most expensive crash in U.S. Air Force history.

George Frideric Handel (b. 1685) · César Ritz (b. 1850) · L. S. Lowry (d. 1976)

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From today's featured list

Kelowna International Airport

The Okanagan contains five airports, four helipads and three water aerodromes. The Okanagan is a region located in the British Columbia Interior of Canada. Of the five cities based in the Okanagan, three of them contain aviation services. Vernon contains two: the Vernon Regional Airport and Vernon/Wildlife Water Aerodrome, while Kelowna provides the same number: the Kelowna International Airport and Kelowna (General Hospital) Heliport. The Penticton Regional Airport and Penticton Water Aerodrome are situated in Penticton, making a total of two aviation services offered in the city. There are also communities that are not cities in the Okanagan, many of which also maintain aviation services. Two of the airports in the Okanagan provide public commercial flights to other destinations: the Kelowna International Airport which is part of the National Airports System and Penticton Regional Airport. A number of other airports in the Okanagan are generally used for personal events, or skydiving, although some have no facilities. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Genesis Nomad is a handheld game console by Sega released in North America in October 1995. A portable variation of Sega's home console, the Sega Genesis, Nomad served to succeed the Game Gear and was the last handheld console released by Sega. In addition to functioning as a portable device, it was designed to be used with a television set via a video port. Released late in the Genesis era, the Nomad had a short lifespan and was sold exclusively in North America.

Photograph: Evan Amos

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