Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 November 8

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From today's featured article

The king brown snake (Pseudechis australis) is a species of highly venomous snake of the family Elapidae, native to northern, western, and Central Australia. Despite its common name, it is a member of the genus Pseudechis (black snakes) and only distantly related to true brown snakes. First described by the English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1842, it is a robust snake up to 3.3 m (11 ft) long. It is variable in appearance, with individuals from northern Australia having tan upperparts, while those from southern Australia are dark brown to blackish. The dorsal scales are two-toned, sometimes giving the snake a patterned appearance. Its underside is cream or white, often with orange splotches. The snake is considered to be a least-concern species. Its venomous bites often produce extensive pain and swelling, and deaths have been recorded, most recently in 1969. Its victims are treated with black-snake (not brown-snake) antivenom. (Full article...)

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St Mark's Campanile

... that St Mark's Campanile (pictured) in Venice was initially built as a watchtower to sight approaching ships, and its spire, once gilded, became a "welcoming star" for navigators?
... that Edgar C. Polomé established Africa's most advanced phonetics laboratory at the University of Lubumbashi?
... that the Gulmarg Golf Club in Kashmir, situated at an altitude of 2,650 metres (8,690 ft) above sea level, is the highest green golf course in the world?
... that an HPV prevention group focuses on preventing cervical cancer by promoting the sharing of information on cervical screening and HPV vaccination?
... that Dieter Ruehle, stadium organist for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Kings, has played for three championship teams in three different sports?
... that the potential of a large landslide and resulting tsunami at Cumbre Vieja volcano attracted considerable attention?
... that the ballet Corybantic Games marked the first time Erdem Moralıoğlu had designed costumes for men?
... that World War II veteran Millie Bailey went skydiving to celebrate her 102nd birthday?

In the news

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

Joe Biden

Joe Biden (pictured) and his running mate, Kamala Harris, win the United States presidential election.
Hurricane Eta makes landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, killing more than 200 people.
In Afghanistan, a shooting at Kabul University's campus leaves 35 people dead and 50 others injured.
Typhoon Goni makes landfall in the Philippines as a super typhoon, killing at least 24 people.

On this day

November 8

Engraving of the Stockholm Bloodbath

1520 – Following a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under Christian II, scores of Swedish leaders in Stockholm were imprisoned and later executed (depicted) despite Christian's promise of general amnesty.
1644 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China.
1940 – The Italian invasion of Greece failed as outnumbered Greek units repulsed the Italians at the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
1987 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 12 people and injuring 63 others.

Robert Catesby (d. 1605)
Thomas Bewick (d. 1828)
Tom Anderson (b. 1970)

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Today's featured picture

St Cyprian's Church is an Anglican parish church in the Marylebone district of London, dedicated to Saint Cyprian, a third-century martyr and bishop of Carthage. The church was designed by Sir Ninian Comper in a Perpendicular Gothic style, and was constructed between 1901 and 1903. The sanctuary, seen here, has a delicate carved and painted rood screen and parclose screens around an "English altar", i.e. an altar surrounded on three sides by hangings and a painted dossal, riddelposts with angels, and a painted and gilded reredos. The altar is set beneath a gilded tester placed high up in the roof.

Photograph credit: David Iliff

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