Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 January 7

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Today's featured article
Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817) was the only child of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick. Had she outlived her father and her grandfather, King George III, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom. Instead, she died following childbirth at the age of 21. Charlotte's parents disliked each other from before their pre-arranged marriage and soon separated. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange, but after initially accepting him, Charlotte soon broke off the match. This resulted in an extended contest of wills between her and her father, and finally the Prince of Wales permitted her to marry Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Leopold I of Belgium). After a year and a half of happy marriage, Charlotte died after giving birth to a stillborn son. Charlotte's death set off tremendous mourning in the country, which had seen her as a sign of hope and a contrast to her mad grandfather and unpopular father. As she had been King George III's only legitimate grandchild, there was pressure on the King's unwed sons to marry. King George III's fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, fathered the eventual heir, Queen Victoria. (more...) Recently featured: "Homer's Enemy" – Mangalore – Antbird Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that William Gullick, designer of the Coat of arms of New South Wales, had a colour photograph of his family (pictured) as early as 1909? ... that many Western scholars working in Chinese studies now receive funding from the Taiwan-based Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation? ... that R&B singer Alexa Goddard's debut chart hit, a cover of "Turn My Swag On", topped the UK Indie Chart on its second week of release? ... that al-Insaniyyah, founded in 1925, was the first official Arabic communist newspaper? ... that the U.S. Navy purchased a Russian missile for use as a target drone after the AQM-127 SLAT failed seven of eight test firings? ... that Villanova coach Marty Stern initially thought that future Olympic runner Vicki Huber "was a wimp" who he hoped would "leave and go home"? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Salmaan Taseer Andrew Wakefield's study linking autism to the MMR vaccine is declared a fraud by the British medical journal BMJ. The U.S. government oil spill commission releases a report accusing BP, Halliburton and Transocean of managerial failure in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Salmaan Taseer (pictured), the Governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, is assassinated. More than 200,000 people are affected by a series of floods primarily in the Australian state of Queensland. A bomb explodes outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing at least 21 people and wounding 70 others. Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal, and South Africa begin two-year terms as members of the United Nations Security Council. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
January 7: Christmas (Julian calendar) 1610 – Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (pictured) first observed three of the eventual four Galilean moons through his telescope: Io, Europa, and Callisto. 1922 – Dáil Éireann narrowly approved the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended the Irish War of Independence and established the Irish Free State a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. 1948 – Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell fatally crashed his P-51 Mustang while in pursuit of a supposed UFO near Fort Knox, Kentucky, US. 1975 – The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women was established to promote empowerment and gender equality for the women of the Philippines. 2007 – Newly appointed Archbishop of Warsaw Stanisław Wielgus resigned amid allegations that he collaborated with the Polish communist government's secret police. More anniversaries: January 6 – January 7 – January 8 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now January 7 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A male Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), a common Australian bird of small to medium size. Like many Australian birds, it was named for its physical similarity to the northern hemisphere birds familiar to European settlers. In fact, it is neither a magpie nor a lark and is not particularly closely related to either.

Photo: Fir0002

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