Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 May 25

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Today's featured article

Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series written by Douglas Adams (pictured) and first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4 in 1978. The serial follows the adventures of Englishman Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect, an alien who writes for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an intergalactic encyclopedia and travelogue. After Earth is destroyed in the first episode, Dent and Ford find themselves aboard a stolen spaceship piloted by a motley crew including Zaphod Beeblebrox (Ford's semi-cousin and Galactic President), a depressed robot called Marvin and an Earth woman calling herself Trillian, who is the only other surviving human being. A second series was transmitted in 1980 and the first series was adapted for television. This in turn was followed by five novels, a computer game and several other adaptations. Before his death in May 2001, Adams considered writing a third radio series based on his novel Life, the Universe and Everything. Dirk Maggs eventually directed and co-produced radio series adaptations of that novel, as well as So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless in 2004–05. (more...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

Lorca Castle with two towers
  • ... that the Lorca Castle (pictured) of medieval origin built in Lorca, Spain, between the 9th and 15th centuries suffered serious damages to its walls and the Espolón Tower during the 2011 earthquake?
  • ... that the icon of "the Death of Death" is popular in South India?
  • ... that the European Parliament issued a resolution condemning the drug arrest of Azerbaijani activist Jabbar Savalan?
  • ... that star WASP-15 has a planet whose large radius cannot be explained without some other factor, such as some form of internal heating?
  • ... that Phoenix Suns president and CEO Rick Welts became the first prominent American sports executive to come out as gay when he did so in an interview with The New York Times on May 15, 2011?
  • ... that feminist writer Izabela Sadoveanu-Evan rallied with an organization which argued that union with Romania had harmed the women of Transylvania?
  • ... that David Duchovny said, "I'm sure that nobody is looking at me", when standing beside Jennifer Lopez who was wearing her "jungle" Versace dress?
  • In the news

  • Iceland's Grímsvötn volcano erupts, causing flight cancellations in northern Europe.
  • The Democratic Rally, led by Nicos Anastasiades (pictured), win a plurality after an election in Cyprus.
  • PNS Mehran, a Pakistani naval base in Karachi, is attacked by militants.
  • At least 124 people are killed by a tornado, the United States' deadliest since 1947, in Joplin, Missouri.
  • Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
  • Protests against the government continue in cities across Spain, despite a ban before elections.
  • Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus both claim victory after the WTO rules on the world's largest trade dispute.
  • On this day...

    May 25: National Day in Argentina (1810); Independence Day in Jordan (1946); Liberation Day in Lebanon (2000) and in various African countries (1963)

    Cabildo Abierto

  • 1810 – The Primera Junta, the first independent government in Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires (pictured), marking the end of the May Revolution.
  • 1895 – The Republic of Formosa was inaugurated in Taiwan, proclaiming independence from Qing China.
  • 1977Star Wars, a science fantasy film written and directed by George Lucas, was released, eventually becoming one of the most successful films of all time.
  • 2000Israel withdrew its army from most of Lebanese territory, 22 years after its first invasion in 1978.
  • 2002China Airlines Flight 611 crashed in the Taiwan Strait after breaking up in mid-air, killing all 225 people on board.
  • More anniversaries: May 24May 25May 26

    It is now May 25, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured picture

    Blackbird nest

    A female Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) in her nest. Cup nests like the one shown here, usually made of pliable materials like grasses, are commonly built by passerines. Other types of nests include the knot-hole left by a broken branch, a burrow dug into the ground, a chamber drilled into a tree, an enormous rotting pile of vegetation and earth, or a mud dome with an entrance tunnel.

    Photo: JJ Harrison

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