Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 March 18

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From today's featured article

The Madeira Firecrest is a very small passerine bird that is endemic to the island of Madeira. It is a member of the kinglet family. Before it was recognised as a separate species in 2003, it was classified as a subspecies of the Common Firecrest. It differs in appearance and vocalisations from its relative, and genetic analysis suggests evolutionary separation took place roughly 4 million years ago. It is small and plump, 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) long and weighing about 5 g (0.18 oz). It has green upperparts, whitish underparts and two white wingbars, and a distinctive head pattern with a black eye stripe, short white supercilium, and a crest that is mainly orange in the male and yellow in the female. The female Madeira Firecrest builds a spherical nest from cobwebs, moss and small twigs, and she incubates the eggs and broods the chicks on her own. Both parents feed the young. This species forages for insects and other small invertebrates in tree heath, laurisilva and other woodland. It is common within its restricted range, living mainly at higher levels from 600–1,550 m (1,950–4,900 ft) in all types of forests and scrub, and is not considered to be threatened. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that the British racehorse Simonsig (pictured) won his début in steeplechase by 49 lengths, then followed that up with a 35-length victory a few days later?

... that land from the Fairfield estate in Somerset, England was sold to build a wind farm but is now the site of the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station?

... that after Eirik Holmen Johansen was invited for a trial with Manchester City, his brother Tobias was offered a contract with the club?

... that the big bud mite is so tiny that it can be transported by wind, rain or flying insects?

... that the Kejache, a Maya people with a former territory straddling the modern border of Mexico and Guatemala, may have been descended from the inhabitants of the great Maya city of Calakmul?

... that Stephen Jay Gould once called Donald Prothero "the best punctuated equilibrium researcher on the West Coast"?

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In the news

Li Keqiang

Japanese architect Toyo Ito wins the 2013 Pritzker Prize.

In rugby union, Wales win the Six Nations Championship.

The National People's Congress of China names Xi Jinping as the new President and Li Keqiang (pictured) as the new Premier.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected as Pope Francis, becoming the first Latin American pope of the Catholic Church.

JOGMEC announces the first successful extraction of methane hydrate from seabed deposits.

A binary brown dwarf system, WISE 1049-5319, is observed 6.5 light-years from Earth, making it the closest star system discovered since 1916.

Recent deaths: Ieng Sary

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On this day...

March 18: Clean Monday (Eastern Christianity, 2013); Flag Day in Aruba (1976)

235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander (bust pictured) was assassinated by his legion, beginning the Crisis of the Third Century.

1241 – Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelmed the Polish armies of Sandomierz and Kraków provinces in the Battle of Chmielnik and plundered the abandoned city of Kraków.

1921 – The Polish–Soviet War, which determined the borders between the Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia, formally concluded with the signing of the Peace of Riga.

1969 – Vietnam War: The United States began secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.

1985 – The first episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours was first broadcast on the Seven Network, eventually becoming the longest running drama in Australian television history.

More anniversaries: March 17 – March 18 – March 19

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From today's featured list

There have been 110 papal elections that have produced popes currently recognized by the Catholic Church as legitimate. There was no fixed process for papal succession before 1059 and popes were often selected with substantial secular involvement, if not outright appointment. Since the promulgation of In nomine Domini, however, suffrage has been limited to the College of Cardinals. Papal elections since 1276 have taken the form of papal conclaves, which are elections that follow a set of rules and procedures developed in Ubi periculum and later papal bulls; observance of the conclave varied until 1294, but all papal elections since have followed relatively similar conclave procedures. Although the cardinals have historically gathered at a handful of other locations within Rome and beyond, only five elections since 1455 have been held outside the Apostolic Palace (pictured). Three elections moved between locations while in progress: the elections of 1268–71, 1292–94, and 1314–16. (Full list...)

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An 8.8-centimetre (3.5 in) tall self-portrait of the English miniaturist Peter Oliver (1594–1648). He often worked with watercolours.

Portrait: Peter Oliver

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