Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 September 27

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From today's featured article

Skull of a Transandinomys specimen

Transandinomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of the family Cricetidae—a grouping of medium-sized, soft-furred rice rats. It includes two species—T. bolivaris and T. talamancae—found in forests from Honduras in Central America to southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Venezuela in South America. The upperparts—brownish in T. bolivaris and reddish in T. talamancae—are much darker than the whitish underparts. Both species are characterized by very long vibrissae (whiskers), but those of T. bolivaris are particularly long. In addition, several other morphological differences distinguish the two, including wider first upper molars in T. bolivaris. Both species live on the ground, are active during the night, eat both plant and animal matter, and construct nests of vegetation. They are hosts to various external parasites. They are in no apparent danger of extinction and have been assessed as least-concern species on the IUCN Red List. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Monika Salzer

... that Monika Salzer, a systematic psychotherapist and Protestant pastor, was a columnist for the Kronen Zeitung and appeared on television in Dancing Stars?
... that while The Gods from Outer Space has eight volumes, only four were published in English?
... that rebel leader and later Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni had to walk 19 kilometres (12 mi) and borrow a car before the Battle of Kabamba because his pickup truck had broken down?
... that Lori Gramlich, a survivor of sexual abuse in her childhood, introduced legislation that made it easier for sexual abuse survivors in Maine to file civil lawsuits against their abusers?
... that the crane shots at the end of the opening sequence for the WandaVision episode "On a Very Special Episode..." were added as an homage to Full House?
... that all 256 places at the 2021 U.S. Open Pool Championship were filled within 10 hours?
... that Turkey's Anadolu Shipyard signed a contract with India's Hindustan Shipyard to transfer technology for the building of five fleet support ships for the Indian Navy?
... that in their book about molybdenum, American chemists Arthur Linz and David H. Killeffer complained that previous works included the true and the false, the probable and the fantastic?

In the news

Meng Wanzhou

Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are released from detention in China shortly after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou (pictured) is released from house arrest in Canada.
The Liberal Party of Canada, led by Justin Trudeau, is re-elected to a minority government.
Former President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika dies at the age of 84.
SpaceX launches Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight.

On this day

September 27: Meskel (Orthodox Tewahedo): Arbaʽeen / Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage (Shia Islam, 2021)

Lij Iyasu of Ethiopia

1822 – In a letter to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, Jean-François Champollion announced his initial successes in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone.
1875 – The Ellen Southard was wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England; the U.S. Congress subsequently awarded 27 Gold Lifesaving Medals to the men who rescued her crew.
1916 – Lij Iyasu (pictured), the emperor-designate of Ethiopia, was deposed in favor of his aunt Zewditu.
1941 – SS Patrick Henry, the first of 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II by the United States, was launched.
1983 – Software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the Unix-like GNU operating system, the first free software developed by the GNU Project.

Alphonsus Liguori (b. 1696)
William Rulofson (b. 1826)
Sylvia Pankhurst (d. 1960)

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From today's featured list

Broadway Theaters line West 45th Street in Manhattan's Theater District.

There are 41 active Broadway theaters listed by The Broadway League in New York City, as well as 9 existing structures that previously hosted Broadway theatre. Beginning with the first large long-term theater in the city, the Park Theatre built in 1798 on Park Row just off Broadway, the definition of what constitutes a Broadway theater has changed multiple times. The current legal definition is based on a 1949 Actors' Equity agreement with smaller theaters in New York to allow union members to perform, dividing theater spaces in the city into the system of Broadway and Off-Broadway seen today. Current union contracts clearly spell out if a production is "Broadway" or not, but the general rule is that any venue that mostly hosts legitimate theater productions, is generally within Manhattan's Theater District, and has a capacity over 500 seats is considered a Broadway theater. Previous to this legal demarcation a Broadway production simply referred to a professional theatrical production performed in a theater in Manhattan, and the theaters that housed them were called Broadway theaters. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

War pigeons are homing pigeons used in military service. They have long played an important role in war, often being used as military messengers. Before the advent of radio, carrier pigeons were used on the battlefield as a means for mobile forces to communicate with stationary headquarters. A metal canister containing the message was attached to the bird's leg. This photograph, in the Swiss Federal Archives, shows Swiss Armed Forces personnel preparing a pigeon for a mission during World War I. The Swiss army made extensive use of carrier pigeons, finally disbanding its pigeon section in 1996.Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden

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