Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 March 16

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From today's featured article

The Icelandic Phallological Museum, in Reykjavík, Iceland, houses the world's largest display of penises and penile parts. The collection of 280 specimens from 93 species includes samples from whales (pictured), seals and land mammals. Exhibits are preserved in formaldehyde and displayed in jars or are dried and hung or mounted on the museum's walls and in display cases. The largest item on display once belonged to a blue whale; the smallest, from a hamster, can only be seen with a magnifying glass. The museum claims that it has specimens from elves and trolls that cannot be seen at all since, according to Icelandic folklore, these creatures are invisible. In July 2011, the museum obtained its first human specimen, but the preservation process did not go according to plan and the museum hopes to acquire a "younger and a bigger and better" example. Founded in 1997 by a retired teacher, it attracts thousands of visitors a year—the majority of them women—and has received international media attention. According to its mission statement, the museum aims to enable "individuals to undertake serious study into the field of phallology in an organized, scientific fashion". (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that art historian Norma Broude suggests that Gustave Caillebotte's Le Pont de l'Europe (pictured) may depict the artist cruising near the Gare Saint-Lazare?

... that the Star of Caledonia is designed to be lit up by using light emitting diodes?

... that during the filming of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "First Flight", the cast and crew were presented with a flag from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65)?

... that Buddy Brown was a member of the College Football All-America Team and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as a player for Alabama in 1973?

... that Intef I, Intef II and Intef III were all buried in saff (row) tombs in El-Tarif in Egypt?

... that the engine of the Russian ship of the line Retvizan was removed in 1863 even though it was considered the best ship of its type in the Imperial Russian Navy?

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In the news

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina (pictured) 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.

Syrian rebels capture ar-Raqqah, making it the first major city to come under rebel control during the Syrian civil war.

A newly discovered Y-chromosome haplogroup is thought to push back the time of Y-chromosomal Adam to 338,000 years ago.

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On this day...

March 16: Remembrance day of the Latvian legionnaires

1243 – Following their successful siege of Montségur, French royal forces burned about 210 Cathar Perfecti and unrepentant credentes.

1802 – The United States Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to operate the U.S. Military Academy (coat of arms pictured) at West Point, New York.

1962 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a charter flight carrying U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers, disappeared without a trace, prompting one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific.

1988 – Using pistols and grenades, loyalist Michael Stone attacked the funeral of three Provisional IRA volunteers who had been killed in Gibraltar ten days earlier, killing three attendees and injuring over 60 more.

2006 – The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council.

More anniversaries: March 15 – March 16 – March 17

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It is now March 16, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

The Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is a widespread wader which feeds mainly on insects and crustaceans. They breed near marshes, shallow lakes and ponds.

Photo: JJ Harrison

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