Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 November 21

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Berguitta peaking north of Rodrigues

Intense Tropical Cyclone Berguitta was a strong tropical cyclone which originated southwest of the Chagos Archipelago on 10 January 2018. It achieved its peak intensity on 15 January and degraded to a tropical storm by 17 January. It accelerated southwestwards over Mauritius and Réunion on 18 January and degenerated to a post-tropical cyclone the next day. Parts of Mauritius experienced a quarter of its average annual rainfall in three days, resulting in widespread floods. Economic losses in Mauritius were estimated at ₨ 2 billion (US$59 million). The southern part of Réunion was hard-hit by floods and landslides and several rainfall records were broken. Grand Coude experienced 1,862 mm (73.3 in) of rain in eight days, including 848 mm (33.4 in) in 24 hours. Flooding caused widespread damage to roads and agriculture. Nearly 100,000 customers were left without electricity, while water supplies were widely interrupted. Economic losses in Réunion were estimated at €41 million (US$48 million). (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

The steamboat New York

... that Charles Dickens described the Long Island Sound steamboat New York (pictured) as "a sullen, cumbrous, ungraceful, unshiplike leviathan"?
... that the release of Lee Hyori's album It's Hyorish had to be moved forward after several tracks were illegally leaked?
... that Sam Gamgee was modelled on Great War batmen?
... that fashion model Rebecca Leigh Longendyke was inspired by Grey's Anatomy to get a degree in biomedical engineering?
... that Miriam Soljak, after fighting to recover her New Zealand nationality for nearly three decades, was told that the government considered she had never lost it?
... that men who refused, when challenged, to take an oath of loyalty to the government were not permitted to vote in the 1861 Maryland gubernatorial election?
... that although Sultan Muhammad Kaharuddin III died in 1975, his son only succeeded him in 2011?
... that to make the Belasco Theatre comfortable for performers, David Belasco banned spitting onto the floor?

In the news

SpaceX Crew-3 launch

Kosmos 1408 is destroyed by a Russian anti-satellite weapon and becomes a cloud of space debris.
We Continue the Change, led by Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, wins the most seats in the Bulgarian general election.
SpaceX's Crew-3 mission (launch pictured) takes four astronauts to the International Space Station.
Former South African president F. W. de Klerk, who negotiated the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela, dies at the age of 85.

On this day

November 21: Armed Forces Day in Bangladesh

Alan Freed

1386 – Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur captured and sacked the Georgian capital Tbilisi and forced King Bagrat V to convert to Islam.
1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: After capturing the Chinese city of Port Arthur, the Japanese army began a massacre of the city's soldiers and civilians.
1959 – American disc jockey Alan Freed (pictured), who popularized the term rock and roll, was fired from WABC-AM for his role in the payola scandal.
1974 – Bombs exploded in two pubs in central Birmingham, England, killing 21 people and leading to the imprisonment of six people who were later exonerated.
2009 – An explosion in a coal mine in Heilongjiang, China, killed 108 miners.

Columbanus (d. 615)
Joe Darling (b. 1870)
Michael Strahan (b. 1971)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes is a Gothic royal chapel within the fortifications of the Château de Vincennes on the east edge of Paris. It was inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel within the Palais de la Cité in Paris. It was begun in 1379 by Charles V of France to house relics of the Passion of Jesus. The interior, seen in this photograph, has very little decoration, most of it having been destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution, but vestiges of the sculpture and portions of the Renaissance stained glass remain.

Photograph credit: Daniel Vorndran

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.
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.
Teahouse – To ask your first basic questions about contributing to Wikipedia.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.