Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 August 5

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Harry Trott (1866–1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and fielder. As a captain, he was assertive, respected by teammates and opponents alike and quick to spot a weakness in opponents. Trott made his Test debut in 1888 and toured England four times; on his last tour, he was elected captain by his team-mates. England won the series and retained The Ashes, but Trott's captaincy was praised by the likes of Ranjitsinhji and Wisden. In the return series in Australia, Trott led his side to victory, regaining The Ashes in a win credited as aiding the federation of the Australian colonies. A mysterious illness in 1898 abruptly ended Trott's Test career. After more than a year in Kew Asylum, he recovered and returned to first-class cricket for nearly 10 years. After retirement from cricket Trott served as a selector for the Victoria cricket team. A good-humoured man, Trott once played a joke on his friends by giving each a cigar butt supposedly smoked by royalty. When he died, well-wishers contributed to a monument over his grave. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Emma Stone

... that Emma Stone (pictured) had her breakthrough in the 2010 teen comedy Easy A, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award and a Golden Globe Award?
... that judoka Popole Misenga sought political asylum in Brazil following the 2013 World Championships, and will compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Olympics?
... that Amanda Inez Knight Allen and her mission companion were the first single woman LDS missionaries?
... that over 50 wrestlers have lost their mask or had their hair shaved off at a major International Wrestling Revolution Group show?
... that the football manager Isaac McDowell led Linfield to seven trophies in the 1961–62 season?
... that mountain biker Daniela Campuzano has been selected to carry the Mexican flag in the Parade of Nations during the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony?
... that the head of Bohemond II of Antioch was embalmed and sent to Al-Mustarshid, the Abbasid caliph?

In the news

Emirates A6-EMW in 2009

All 300 people on board Emirates Flight 521 escape after the aircraft (pictured) crash-lands and catches fire at Dubai International Airport.
Flooding in Assam, India, kills 28 people, affects 1.6 million others and submerges Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site.
In golf, Jimmy Walker wins the PGA Championship.
American skydiver Luke Aikins performs a 25,000-foot (7,600 m) free fall from an aircraft and lands on a ground net.

On this day...

August 5: Independence Day in Burkina Faso (1960)

Bertha Benz's Patent-Motorwagen

25 – Guangwu claimed the throne as emperor of the Han dynasty after Wang Mang, who had seized the throne himself and proclaimed the Xin dynasty, died when peasant rebels besieged Chang'an.
1772 – Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria began the First Partition of Poland to help restore the regional balance of power in Eastern Europe among those three countries.
1888 – Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, going 106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-Motorwagen (pictured).
1916 – First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine Campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani.
1981 – US President Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse.

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Keith Floyd's writing and broadcasting career lasted from 1981 until his death in 2009. He began working in the restaurant trade in the late 1960s before opening his bistro in 1971, soon followed by two other outlets. When his business went bankrupt he sailed around the Mediterranean for two years and opened another restaurant in the South of France, which was also a financial failure. He published his first cookbook—Floyd's Food—in 1981, which led to a short recipe slot on the local Radio West station. The producer David Pritchard suggested to Floyd that he front a television series, which led to a broadcasting career that started with Floyd on Fish, aired on BBC Television in late 1985. Several series followed and a corresponding book appeared with each series. There were no scripts for the programmes, and Floyd ad-libbed throughout; when he ran out of words, he would sip from an ever-present glass of wine to give him time to create the next line. Floyd also had a one-man show, Floyd Uncorked: The Life of a Bon Viveur. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) was photographed in the cabin of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module after becoming the first person to walk on the Moon and spending two and a half hours outside the spacecraft along with Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong, an American astronaut, joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1962 after participating in the U.S. Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and X-20 Dyna-Soar human spaceflight programs. He commanded Apollo 11, his second and final spaceflight, in July 1969, after commanding the Gemini 8 Earth orbital mission in 1966.

Photograph: Buzz Aldrin

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.