Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 January 12

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From today's featured article

The Bohemian Waxwing is a passerine bird that breeds in the northern forests of Eurasia and North America. It has mainly buff-grey plumage, black face markings and a pointed crest. Its wings are patterned white and bright yellow, and some feather tips have the red waxy appearance that give this species its English name. Its breeding habitat is coniferous forests, usually near water. The pair build a lined cup-shaped nest in a tree or bush for a clutch of 3–7 eggs, incubated by the female alone for 13–14 days. Many birds desert their nesting range in winter and migrate further south. Large numbers of Bohemian Waxwings sometimes travel well beyond their normal winter range in search of the fruit that makes up most of their diet. Waxwings can be very tame in winter, entering towns and gardens in search of food, rowan berries being a particular favourite. They can metabolise alcohol produced in fermenting fruit, but can still become intoxicated, sometimes fatally. The Bohemian Waxwing's high numbers and very large breeding area mean that it is classified as being of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the Gerhard Marcks Museum in Bremen is dedicated to the creator of the Musicians of Bremen sculpture (pictured}?
... that Francis Bacon's 1949 painting Head VI was his first of almost 50 works based on Diego Velázquez's c. 1650 Portrait of Pope Innocent X?
... that a Masonic Temple is located one block away from Jerusalem's downtown district, in the historic Ezrat Yisrael neighborhood?
... that the 1954 BOAC Constellation crash remains Singapore's deadliest aviation accident?
... that Hong Kong's Stone Nullah Lane was named after the street's former water channel where laundry was washed?
... that the Fermanagh Mallards were thrown out of the Women's Premier League after failing to travel to Belfast for an association football match?
... that Queen Saw Omma, when told she was to be killed lest she pass to another man, replied to her would-be assassin "Nga Nu, aren't you a man?"

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In the news

Israeli politician and general Ariel Sharon (pictured) dies after being in a persistent vegetative state for eight years.
The United States Senate confirms Janet Yellen as the Federal Reserve System's first female chairman.
Archeologists identify the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Sobekhotep I.
North America experiences record low temperatures.
Amid violence and a boycott by opposition parties, the Bangladesh Awami League wins the general election.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captures the city of Fallujah.
Latvia becomes the 18th EU member state to adopt the euro.

Recent deaths: Run Run Shaw – Eusébio – Phil Everly

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On this day...

January 12: Zanzibar Revolution Day in Tanzania (1964)

1554 – Bayinnaung, who later assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, was crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty.
1777 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís (pictured), a Spanish mission that formed the basis of both the city of Santa Clara, California and Santa Clara University, was established.
1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law was founded, eventually graduating many of the leading Filipino political figures since then.
1964 – Rebels led by John Okello overthrew Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah, ending 200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar.
2010 – A 7.0 M_w earthquake struck Haiti, affecting an estimated three million people.

More anniversaries: January 11 – January 12 – January 13

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It is now January 12, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

Annkathrin Kammeyer (born 1990) is a German Social Democratic politician. She became a Member of the Hamburg Parliament on 7 March 2011, the youngest person ever elected to that body.

Photograph: Christoph Braun

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