Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 April 7

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From today's featured article

Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush washing her hair onstage

South Pacific is a musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The work was an immediate hit on Broadway in 1949, running for 1,925 performances and winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The plot is based on several stories in James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific. Rodgers and Hammerstein believed that the musical could be successful and send a strong progressive message on racism. They wrote several of the songs with the particular talents of their stars, Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin, in mind. Most of its songs became popular, including "Some Enchanted Evening" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" (performance pictured). The original Broadway production won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical; its original cast album was the bestselling record of the 1940s. The show has enjoyed many successful revivals and tours, spawning a 1958 film and later television adaptations. (Full article...)

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View with Weather Forecast (1931)

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In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

George Pell

The High Court of Australia quashes the conviction of Cardinal George Pell (pictured) for child sex abuse and orders his acquittal.
Cyclone Harold impacts the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, killing at least six people.
Vincent van Gogh's painting The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen is stolen from the Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands.

On this day

April 7: National Beer Day in the United States

Yamato under attack

1141 – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda became the first female claimant to the throne of England, adopting the title "Lady of the English" after failing to be crowned in place of her cousin Stephen.
1724 – Johann Sebastian Bach premiered his St John Passion, a musical setting of the Passion of Jesus, at Good Friday Vespers in St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
1945 – World War II: U.S. forces sank the Japanese battleship Yamato (pictured), then the largest in the world, during Operation Ten-Go in the East China Sea.
1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops began a massacre of hundreds of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
2010 – Violent protests started in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in response to perceived corruption and rising living expenses, eventually resulting in the collapse of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government.

George the Standard-Bearer (d. 821)
Randall Davidson (b. 1848)
Francis Ford Coppola (b. 1939)

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Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral is the largest cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Located in the Armenian capital Yerevan, construction started in 1997 and the consecration took place on 23 September 2001, on the occasion of the 1,700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion of Armenia. The building consists of three churches, the nave, with seating for 1,700, and the side chapels of Saint Tiridates the King and Saint Ashkhen the Queen, each of which has 150 seats; these two royal figures provided crucial help to Saint Gregory the Illuminator in his task of converting Armenia to Christianity. The belfry tower is located above the entrance, and rooms for receptions and church-related activities are provided on the lower floor.

Photograph credit: Marcin Konsek

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