Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 May 18

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Gillingham F.C. is an English football club based in Gillingham, Kent. The club was formed in 1893, and played in the Southern League until 1920, when its top division was absorbed into the Football League as its new Division Three. The club was voted out of the league in favour of Ipswich Town at the end of the 1937–38 season, but returned 12 years later, when that league was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs. Twice in the late 1980s Gillingham came close to winning promotion to the second tier of English football, but a decline set in, and in 1993 the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference. In 2000, the "Gills" reached the second tier of the English league for the first time in the club's history and went on to spend five seasons at this level, achieving a club-record highest league finish of eleventh place in 2002–03. The club has twice won the fourth-level division in the football league pyramid: the Football League Fourth Division championship in 1963–64 and the Football League Two championship in 2012–13. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Anne Beaumanoir,
c. 1940

... that Anne Beaumanoir (pictured) and her parents were recognised as Righteous Among the Nations for saving two Jewish children in France during the Second World War?
... that compulsive showering in hot water is a common symptom of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome in cannabis users?
... that Ralph Smith O’bré invented a double tracheostomy tube that was popular among surgeons in Georgian era Dublin?
... that it took two campaigns to raise the funds for Beats of Rage, the sequel to The FP?
... that Oleg Vinogradov was the first Soviet ballet master to invite Western choreographers like Maurice Béjart to stage works for the Kirov Ballet?
... that the Sunday Observance Act 1695 banned the playing of sports on Sunday in Ireland, and parts of the act are still in force in Northern Ireland?
... that Microsoft published Close Combat to kickstart its wider push into the strategy video game industry?
... that the Welsh footballer John Toshack authored a book of poems entitled Gosh, it's Tosh?

In the news

Surabaya bombing aftermath

Israeli troops kill more than 50 Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip, on the day the United States moves its embassy to Jerusalem.
In association football, the English Premier League concludes with Manchester City winning the title.
A series of bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia, kills at least 25 people (President Joko Widodo surveying damage pictured).
Netta, representing Israel, wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "Toy".

On this day...

May 18: Flag and Universities Day in Haiti; Day of Revival, Unity, and the Poetry of Magtymguly in Turkmenistan

Vietnamese refugees transferring ships

1388 – During the Battle of Buir Lake, General Lan Yu led a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Toghus Temur, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
1896 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson, upholding the legality of racial segregation in public transportation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.
1944 – The Soviet Union forcibly deported the entire population of Crimean Tatars to the Uzbek SSR and elsewhere in the country.
1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians (pictured), soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ended.
2006 – The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of many of his powers.

John George Children (b. 1777) · Thomas Midgley Jr. (b. 1889) · Ian Curtis (d. 1980)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Banff National Park

Canada's National Parks are protected areas under the Canada National Parks Act, owned by the Government of Canada and administered for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people of Canada and its future generations. National parks are administered by Parks Canada, a Crown agency operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Canada's first national park was created in 1885 through an Order-in-Council to reserve 26 km² (10 sq mi) over the Cave and Basin Hot Springs to prevent the land from being sold for private development despite claims being made for it. Modeled after the American experience with Yellowstone National Park, the Rocky Mountains Park Act, adopted in 1887, established the Rocky Mountains Park (now Banff National Park (pictured)). As of 2018^[update] there are 39 National Parks and eight National Park Reserves, covering an area of approximately 328,198 km² (126,718 sq mi), or about 3.3% of the total land area of Canada, and representing 30 of the country's 39 natural regions. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

A German ostmark banknote issued by the German Empire towards the end of World War I, for circulation in the "Upper East" region of occupied territories. Issued by the State Loan Bank in Kowno, Lithuania, this currency was equivalent to the German Papiermark and denominated from ½ Mark through 1000 Marks. It remained in use in Lithuania until 1922, when it was replaced by the litas.

Banknote: State Loan Bank (image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.