Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 August 10

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From today's featured article

Romanos III encamped near Azaz, depicted in the Madrid Skylitzes

The Battle of Azaz was fought in 1030 in northern Syria between the Byzantine army, led by Emperor Romanos III Argyros, and the Mirdasid forces of the Emirate of Aleppo, under the personal command of Shibl al-Dawla Nasr. Romanos aimed to conquer Aleppo, long a flashpoint between Byzantium and its Arab neighbours. At the head of a large army and confident of success, the Emperor rejected Mirdasid peace offers, as well as his generals' advice to avoid action in the hot and dry Syrian summer. After the Byzantines camped near Azaz, the considerably smaller Mirdasid army, mostly Bedouin light cavalry, harassed the imperial camp and kept the heavier Byzantine troops from foraging. Romanos ordered his hungry and thirsty army to withdraw to Antioch, but the retreat soon collapsed into chaos, and the Byzantines were routed by the Arabs. Humiliated, Romanos returned to Constantinople, but his generals later managed to restore the Byzantine position, and Nasr concluded a treaty with Byzantium. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Reminiscence of the Tempyō Era

... that Reminiscence of the Tempyō Era (pictured) features a kugo harp modelled on one in the Shōsōin treasure house?
... that Wilbur Little was lynched for wearing his World War I uniform after being discharged from the army?
... that when footballer Przemysław Płacheta signed for Norwich City from Śląsk Wrocław in 2020, he was Śląsk's record sale and Norwich's first-ever Polish player?
... that Radio Saigon Houston has been cited as a factor luring Vietnamese Americans to move from the West Coast to Texas?
... that Canadian sports executive Jack Hamilton identified 136 different samples of wood in a guessing competition?
... that the song "Catallena" by South Korean girl group Orange Caramel interpolates a sample of the Punjabi folk song "Jutti Meri"?
... that in June 2020, Southern Virginia University removed the name of Robert Lee Durham from its main academic building in the wake of the George Floyd protests, citing his racist views?
... that Muhammad al-Qunawi wrote a Turkish edition of Al-Khalili's tables because, according to him, "some of our sons wanted, from this poor man, to learn about sine tables"?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

An Air India Express aircraft overruns the runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, India, killing 18 people on board.
The incumbent Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa (pictured), claims a landslide victory in the parliamentary election.
In India, construction of the Ram Temple on disputed land officially begins, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone.
Explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, kill at least 220 people and injure more than 5,000 others.

On this day

August 10

Louvre Pyramid

1270 – Yekuno Amlak deposed the last Zagwe king and seized the imperial throne of Ethiopia, beginning the reign of the Solomonic dynasty, which would last for more than 700 years.
1628 – The Swedish warship Vasa sank shortly after departing on her maiden voyage from Stockholm.
1793 – The Louvre (Louvre Pyramid pictured) in Paris, today the world's most visited museum, officially opened with an exhibition of 537 paintings and 184 objets d'art.
1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The first major confrontation between modern steel battleship fleets took place in the Battle of the Yellow Sea.
1988 – The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 became law, authorizing reparations to surviving Japanese Americans interned during World War II.

Madeleine of Valois (b. 1520)
Antonio Banderas (b. 1960)
Adam Stansfield (d. 2010)

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From today's featured list

The first ten episodes of the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired on Japanese television channels MBS, TBS and CBC between January 7, 2011, and March 11, 2011. Puella Magi Madoka Magica was created by Magica Quartet (consisting of Akiyuki Shinbo, Atsuhiro Iwakami, Gen Urobuchi, and Ume Aoki), produced by Shaft, and distributed by Aniplex. It follows the story of 14-year-old Japanese middle school student Madoka Kaname, who is offered the chance to have any wish granted on the condition that she become a magical girl and fight against evil witches. Puella Magi Madoka Magica began development after Shinbo expressed his desire to work on a new magical girl series to producer Iwakami while they were working on Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcasts of episodes 11 and 12 were delayed and were later aired as a double feature on April 21, 2011. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Battle of Scheveningen was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War, taking place on 31 July 1653 (10 August in the Gregorian calendar). This oil-on-canvas painting of the battle, by Dutch marine artist Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten, shows a Dutch ship sinking in the right foreground and an English vessel on the left. In the centre, the Dutch flagship Brederode is engaged in furious action with English ships on either side, including Resolution. By late afternoon, twelve of the Dutch ships had either been sunk or captured and the Dutch retired; however, the English fleet was also badly damaged, and returned to port to refit. Both sides claimed a victory; the English because of their tactical superiority, the Dutch because their strategic goal had been achieved by the lifting of the English blockade of their coast. This painting is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Painting credit: Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten

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