Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 March 8

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Poll tax repeal poster from Texas, c. 1918

The women's poll tax repeal movement in the United States was the attempt, predominantly led by women, to secure the abolition of poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting in the Southern states. After women were granted the right to vote in 1920, some Southern states introduced or expanded poll tax statutes in order to disenfranchise them. In response, women began organizing to repeal these laws (poster pictured), initially to little effect. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, both black and white women pressed at state and national levels for the abolition of these laws, and also filed lawsuits. Louisiana abandoned its poll tax law in 1932, and the number of women voters increased by 77 percent. Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas followed. In 1964, the Twenty-fourth Amendment was passed, prohibiting poll taxes as a barrier to voting in federal elections. The Supreme Court finally ended the struggle after four decades in its ruling on Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections in 1966. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Kagganapalli Radha Devi

... that the Venkateswara Temple only allowed male barbers to shave off the ton of hair that is donated every day until Kagganapalli Radha Devi (pictured) challenged the rules?
... that the Duchess Bridge in Dumfries and Galloway is thought to be the oldest surviving iron bridge in Scotland?
... that in 2021, Christina Soontornvat became the first author to win two Newbery Honors in the same year for both fiction (A Wish in the Dark) and nonfiction (All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team)?
... that badminton player P. V. Sindhu became the inaugural recipient of the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award in 2020?
... that Polly Batic appeared at the Salzburg Festival in roles such as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier from 1931 to 1937, and became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1948?
... that the spaces between the shelves of the United States Senate bill hopper get shorter near the top as so few proposed bills became law?
... that Sadhana Mahila Sangha protected Bangalore sex workers from the police and from HIV, but they now help feed them during the pandemic?
... that the Taylor Swift masters controversy was described by Rolling Stone as one of the "most important moments" in music of the 2010s?

In the news

Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic

In Zamfara, Nigeria, 279 girls who had been kidnapped from a secondary school by armed bandits are released.
In tennis, Naomi Osaka wins the women's singles and Novak Djokovic wins the men's singles at the Australian Open (both winners pictured).
Porfirije is enthroned as the 46th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
NASA's Perseverance rover, carrying the Ingenuity helicopter, successfully lands on Mars.

On this day

March 8: International Women's Day; National Heroes and Benefactors Day in Belize (2021); Aurat March in Pakistan; Commonwealth Day in the Commonwealth of Nations (2021)

Maya ruins at Copán

1576 – A Spanish colonial officer wrote a letter to King Philip II containing the first mention of the Maya ruins of Copán (pictured) in present-day Honduras.
1658 – After a devastating defeat in the Second Northern War, King Frederick III of Denmark–Norway was forced to give up nearly half his Danish territory to Sweden to save the remainder.
1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence.
1924 – Three violent explosions at a coal mine near Castle Gate, Utah, killed all 171 miners working there.
1966 – Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar topped by a statue of Lord Nelson in Dublin, Ireland, was severely damaged by a bomb.

Pope Celestine II (d. 1144)
Bramwell Booth (b. 1856)
José Raúl Capablanca (d. 1942)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Jessica Long

The Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the world of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic soccer player Eli Wolff, the accolade's trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the disabled sportswoman adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was first bestowed as part of the ESPY Awards in 2005 after the non-gender specific Best Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was presented the previous three years (all won by sportsmen). The inaugural winner of the Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award at the 2005 ceremony was American swimmer Erin Popovich, who is affected by achondroplasia. Fellow swimmer Jessica Long (pictured) has the most victories of any other sportswoman, collecting the award three times at the 2007, 2012 and 2013 awards with one further nomination at the 2009 ceremony. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

This is a cartoon by the German-American cartoonist and animator Henry Mayer (1868–1954), entitled The Awakening, which first appeared in the magazine Puck in February 1915. Published in support of women's suffrage in the United States, the cartoon depicts Lady Liberty wearing a cape labeled "Votes for Women" and standing astride the states (colored white) that had granted women the right to vote. A poem by Alice Duer Miller is printed beneath.

Cartoon credit: Henry Mayer; restored by Adam Cuerden

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.