Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 August 1

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From today's featured article

Peter Evans (born 1 August 1961) is a former breaststroke swimmer for Australia who won four Olympic medals in the 1980s. After training in the UK under David Haller, he returned to Australia in 1980. He rebuffed Australian government pressure to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and won gold in the 4×100 m medley relay as one of the Quietly Confident Quartet. He also won bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. After competing for the University of Arizona in the US, he returned to Australia for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, winning silver in the 100 m breaststroke and gold in the medley relay. He competed in his second Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, winning bronze in the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay. Evans retired from swimming after missing selection for the 1986 Commonwealth Games, and unsuccessfully attempted to follow his father Max into politics before pursuing a career in business. (Full article...)

Part of the Quietly Confident Quartet series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

Patent diagram of Giant Cyclone Safety Coaster "Jazz Track"

... that Harry Traver's Jazz Railways, Sesquicentennial Cyclone, and Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters (including the notorious Palisades Park Cyclone, Oaks Park Zip, Crystal Beach Cyclone, and Revere Beach Lightning) all included rapidly undulating "Jazz Track" (diagram pictured)?
... that Mitali Madhumita is the first female officer in the Indian Army to receive a gallantry award?
... that despite living in complete darkness at bathyal depths, the sea anemone Allantactis parasitica synchronises its breeding activity with the phases of the moon?
... that George Huebner is known as the "father of the automotive gas turbine engine"?
... that Typhoon Phyllis and Typhoon Rita were responsible for the majority of Japan tropical cyclone casualties in the 1975 Pacific typhoon season?
... that an ultra-Orthodox mother of eleven runs the office of the President of Israel?
... that in 2017, the Brooklyn Street Circuit hosted the New York City ePrix, the city's first automobile race since 1896?
... that Ghanaian highlife musician Paapa Yankson was first signed to a band while performing at his mother's funeral?

In the news

Nawaz Sharif

The Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualifies incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (pictured) from holding public office following a corruption investigation.
A suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, kills 25 people and wounds 53 others.
In golf, Jordan Spieth wins the Open Championship.
The Women's Cricket World Cup concludes with England defeating India in the final.
In cycling, Chris Froome wins the Tour de France.
Ram Nath Kovind is elected President of India.

On this day...

August 1: Lughnasadh (Northern Hemisphere); Imbolc (Southern Hemisphere); Tisha B'Av (Judaism 2017); Independence Day in Benin (1960)

Bridge 9340 after its collapse

527 – Upon the death of Justin I, Justinian the Great became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1842 – A parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., celebrating the end of slavery in the West Indies was attacked by a mob, leading to three days of riots.
1907 – Robert Baden-Powell held the first scout camp at Brownsea Island in Dorset, England, beginning the Scouting movement.
1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discovered the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, North West England.
2007 – Bridge 9340, carrying Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., suffered a catastrophic failure and collapsed (pictured), killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Sabbatai Zevi (b. 1626) · Elizabeth Randles (b. 1800) · Lolita Lebrón (d. 2010)

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Today's featured picture

The Colorado coat of arms in 1876, as illustrated by Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union. The modern Seal of Colorado, similar to this coat of arms, was adopted a year after this illustration was published and adapted from the Territorial Seal. The coat of arms includes the following devices: the Eye of Providence or 'All Seeing Eye' within a triangle, with golden rays radiating; the Roman fasces, a bundle of birch or elm rods with a battle ax bound together with a ribbon; the heraldic shield bearing a red sky behind a mountain and the pick and sledge hammer, crossed on a golden ground. Below the shield, on a scroll, is the motto, "Nil Sine Numine", meaning "Nothing without providence".

Illustration: Henry Mitchell; restoration: Andrew Shiva

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