Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 March 16
From today's featured article
The Bougainville counterattack (8–25 March 1944) was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Cape Torokina, on Bougainville Island (now part of Papua New Guinea), during the Pacific War of the Second World War. The goal of the offensive was to destroy the Allied beachhead, which accommodated three strategically important airfields. The Allies detected Japanese preparations and strengthened the base's defenses. The attack, hampered by inaccurate intelligence and poor planning, was repulsed mainly by United States Army forces (artillery pictured) after intense fighting. The Japanese commanders had underestimated the strength of the U.S. defenders, who greatly outnumbered them, and suffered severe casualties, while Allied losses were light. This attack was the last big Japanese offensive in the Solomon Islands campaign. In late 1944 Australian troops took over from the Americans and began a series of advances across the island that lasted until the end of the war in August 1945. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that Saint John's Island was the site of one of the British Empire's largest quarantine centres (pictured) and held one of the first experimental drug rehabilitation centres?
- ... that the wildlife of Sudan includes leopards, giraffes, crocodiles, water hyacinth and the umbrella thorn acacia?
- ... that Japanese pianist Nagaoka Nobuko, a child prodigy called an "absolute genius", was killed in the final American firebombing of Tokyo?
- ... that a robotic controller for the Yamaha Reface CS was described by Mixmag magazine as looking "like an army of robot toothbrushes cleaning a synth"?
- ... that West Auckland is home to the largest stratovolcano in the geologic history of New Zealand?
- ... that al-Battani was one of the first astronomers to observe that the distance between the Earth and the Sun varies during the year?
- ... that The Embrace, a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, was deemed phallic?
- ... that Taylor Swift-lookalike Ashley Leechin went viral for doing laundry?
In the news
- At the Academy Awards, Everything Everywhere All at Once wins seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (both pictured).
- Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to re-establish diplomatic relations, seven years after they were severed.
- Silicon Valley Bank collapses in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
- In the Estonian parliamentary election, the Reform Party, led by Kaja Kallas, wins the most seats in the Riigikogu.
On this day
March 16: Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires
- 597 BC – Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem and installed Zedekiah as King of Judah.
- 1190 – Around 150 Jews died inside York Castle, the majority committing mass suicide to avoid being killed by a mob.
- 1322 – Despenser War: A royalist army defeated troops loyal to Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, in the Battle of Boroughbridge, which allowed King Edward II of England to hold on to power for another five years.
- 1872 – In the inaugural final of the FA Cup (trophy pictured) Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
- 2001 – A series of bomb blasts in the city of Shijiazhuang, China, killed 108 people.
- Jean de Brébeuf (d. 1649)
- Anna Atkins (b. 1799)
- Manjural Islam Rana (d. 2007)
Today's featured picture
Agelena labyrinthica is a species of spider in the family Agelenidae. It builds a flat-plate surface web connected to a funnel-shaped retreat similar to a labyrinth, typically between low-lying grass and vegetation. These webs can be at ground level, or up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) from the ground. The species is fairly common in Europe, and is typically concentrated in areas near forests and low-lying vegetation, as well as in dry grassland. This female A. labyrinthica spider was photographed in a funnel web in Blankaart Nature Reserve near Diksmuide, Belgium. She has lost one leg, which is trapped in the web. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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