Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 September 15

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From today's featured article

Martinsville Speedway

The 2006 Subway 500 was the 32nd stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the sixth in the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 22, 2006, before a crowd of 65,000, at Martinsville Speedway (pictured) in Martinsville, Virginia, one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The 500-lap race was won by Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports; Denny Hamlin finished second, and Bobby Labonte came in third. Kurt Busch won the pole position with the fastest time in qualifying; Johnson started from ninth position. There were 18 cautions and 16 lead changes by five different drivers during the race. Johnson's win was his fifth of the 2006 season, and the 23rd of his career. The result advanced him to third in the Drivers' Championship, 41 points behind Matt Kenseth, who took over the championship lead after Jeff Burton retired from the race. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with four races left in the season. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Cockfighting in Tamil Nadu, India

... that in 2019, despite a nationwide ban in India, an estimated amount of over ₹900 crore (US$130 million) was wagered on cockfighting (example pictured) in Andhra Pradesh in just three days?
... that Polish children's author Maria Kownacka wrote for an underground children's magazine during the Warsaw Uprising?
... that according to the Hebrew Bible, a perjurer should receive the same punishment he sought to inflict on the falsely accused?
... that the Gemmi Fault is a geological fault in Switzerland that was active in the last 10,000 years?
... that the young Troy Baker was cast as the older Joel Miller in The Last of Us because of his voice and movement?
... that a 2006 survey found that only 7.6 percent of participants were able to understand an auxiliary label with complex instructions?
... that Jim Drucker, the founder of the world's largest online-only comic bookstore, was also the commissioner of both the Continental Basketball Association and the Arena Football League?
... that Aldersbach brewery was founded more than 750 years ago at Aldersbach Abbey in Lower Bavaria?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Portal

Venus

Astronomers report the detection of phosphine, a possible signature of organic life, in the atmosphere of Venus (pictured).
Wildfires in the Western United States kill at least 35 people and burn more than 7,200 square miles (19,000 km²) of land.
Andrew Holness is sworn in as Prime Minister after the Jamaica Labour Party win the general election.
Flooding in Sudan kills at least 100 people and leaves more than 100,000 others homeless.

On this day

September 15: Battle of Britain Day in the United Kingdom (1940); Free Money Day

March in memory of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing victims

1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: Great Britain seized the Dutch Cape Colony to use its facilities against the French Navy.
1816 – HMS Whiting ran aground on the Doom Bar on the coast of Cornwall, England.
1935 – Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws, which deprived Jews of their citizenship.
1944 – World War II: The Greek People's Liberation Army won the Battle of Meligalas and began the execution of many prisoners of war and civilians.
1963 – The Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls and injuring at least 14 other people (memorial march pictured).

Catherine of Genoa (d. 1510)
Phil Lamason (b. 1918)
Signe Toly Anderson (b. 1941)

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Today's featured picture

Macrotyloma uniflorum, commonly known as horse gram, is a legume native to tropical southern Asia. The plant grows from a rhizome, sending up annual shoots to a height of 60 cm (24 in). The flowers are cream, yellow or pale green and are followed by short pods. The seeds, pictured here, have been consumed in India for at least 4,000 years and are used both for animal feed and human consumption, including Ayurvedic cuisine. In other tropical countries in southeastern Asia, and in northern Australia, the plant is grown mainly as a fodder crop and for use as green manure. It is a drought-tolerant plant, largely cultivated in areas with low rainfall.

Photograph credit: Prathyush Thomas

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