Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 April 27

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From today's featured article

Teresa Sampsonia (1589–1668) was a noblewoman of the Safavid Empire of Iran. She was born into a noble Orthodox Christian Circassian family and grew up in Isfahan in the Iranian royal court. In 1608 she married the Elizabethan English adventurer Robert Shirley, who attended the Safavid court in an effort to forge an alliance against the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. She accompanied him on the Persian embassy to Europe (1609–15), where he represented the Safavid king Abbas the Great. She was received by many of the royal houses of Europe, including the English prince Henry Frederick and Queen Anne, who were her son's godparents. The historian Thomas Herbert considered Robert Shirley "the greatest Traveller of his time", but admired the "undaunted Lady Teresa" even more. Following the death of her husband from dysentery in 1628, she left Iran and lived in a convent in Rome for the rest of her life. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Villa by Andrea Palladio

... that most major Venetian Renaissance architects (villa by Palladio pictured) were not natives of the city, or even of the Republic of Venice?
... that Ann Wroe has written The Economist's obituaries since 2003, with subjects including Prince, Arthur Miller, and Osama bin Laden?
... that the yucca plum pine, the bastard briziletto, and the West Indian sumac grow in the cloud forest on the summits of the Sierra de Luquillo?
... that as Prime Minister of Hyderabad, Sir Kishen Pershad passed the Mulki regulations giving preference to local citizens over British citizens for state administrative appointments?
... that the Bonin white-eye can evidently learn about new food sources by watching warbling white-eyes feed?
... that Emma Ghent Curtis's 1889 novel The Administratrix features a cowboy in favor of women's suffrage?
... that Episode 8052 of the Australian soap opera Neighbours concerns the death of series regular Sonya Rebecchi, whose portrayer's contract was not renewed to reduce production costs?
... that art historian Andrew Tallon used lasers to collect one billion data points of the interior and exterior of Notre-Dame de Paris, which could be used for its reconstruction?

In the news

Volodymyr Zelensky

An earthquake in Luzon, the Philippines, kills at least 16 people.
Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) wins the Ukrainian presidential election.
At least 250 people are killed and hundreds of others are injured in multiple bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka.
Scientists announce the discovery of naturally occurring helium hydride ions, believed to be the first compound to have formed in the universe, in the planetary nebula NGC 7027.

On this day

April 27: King's Day in the Netherlands

Für Elise

629 – Shahrbaraz usurped the throne of the Sasanian Empire from Ardashir III, but was himself deposed only forty days later.
1522 – Italian War of 1521–26: The combined forces of Spain and the Papal States defeated a French and Venetian army at the Battle of Bicocca.
1810 – Ludwig van Beethoven composed his "Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor", better known as "Für Elise" (audio featured), one of his most popular compositions.
1865 – An explosion destroyed the steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,700 of the 2,400 passengers.
1949 – In response to the treatment of Lorenzo Gamboa under the White Australia policy, the Philippine House of Representatives passed a bill banning Australians from the country.
2012 – Unknown perpetrators committed a series of four bombings in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Mumtaz Mahal (b. 1593) · Pope Leo XI (d. 1605) · Coretta Scott King (b. 1927)

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Today's featured picture

The Fairy Chimneys rock formation in the Göreme National Park, close to the town of Göreme. Situated in the Turkish historical region of Cappadocia, Göreme has a population of around 2,000 people. It is not known when it was first inhabited, but there was a settlement there during the Hittite era, between 1800 and 1200 BC. For many centuries, the location was central between rival empires, leading the natives to tunnel into the rock to escape the political turmoil. During the Roman era, the area became home to Christians retreating from Rome. The Göreme valley was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Photograph: Benh Lieu Song; retouch: Thomas Wolf

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