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From today's featured article

Maya Angelou (born 1928) is an American author and poet. She has published six autobiographies, five books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years. She has received dozens of awards and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international recognition and acclaim. Angelou's list of occupations includes pimp, prostitute, night-club dancer and performer, castmember of the musical Porgy and Bess, coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, author, journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the days of decolonization, and actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that Admiral Eduard von Capelle (pictured) was responsible for writing the legislation that funded the battleships of the German High Seas Fleet before World War I?

... that Miss Calypso, a 1957 album by future poet and writer Maya Angelou, was reissued in 1995, probably as part of the "exotica-space age pop revival"?

... that Ferndown Common in Dorset supports such rare heathland species as the Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) and Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca)?

... that offensive tackles Mitchell Schwartz and Geoff Schwartz are the first Jewish brothers to play in the National Football League since Arnold Horween and Ralph Horween, in 1923?

... that the song "Tunnel Vision" by Justin Timberlake features several voyeuristic references?

... that in the Gossaum fights during Korean New Year, the straw constructions are deliberately mismatched to give the preferred team an advantage?

... that American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson discovered vanilla ice cream in France, and then introduced it to the United States?

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In the news

Amid rising tensions, North Korea closes off entry to the Kaesŏng Industrial Region and restarts a plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon.

The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Arms Trade Treaty to limit the international trade of weapons.

India's Supreme Court denies patent protection for a modified version of the cancer drug imatinib.

In Burma, private daily newspapers go on sale for the first time since 1964.

Soyuz TMA-08M (mission patch pictured) transports three astronauts to the International Space Station via a new route, reducing the journey's duration from two days to six hours.

Recent deaths: Phil Ramone

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On this day...

April 4: Children's Day in Taiwan and Hong Kong

1287 – Wareru created the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in today's Lower Burma and declared himself king following the collapse of the Pagan Empire.

1873 – The Kennel Club, the oldest kennel club in the world, was founded in the United Kingdom.

1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

1973 – The World Trade Center (pictured) in New York City was officially dedicated, about a year after the second of the building complex's twin towers was completed.

1988 – Governor of Arizona Evan Mecham was removed from office after being convicted in his impeachment trial.

More anniversaries: April 3 – April 4 – April 5

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It is now April 4, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

The Tasmanian Scrubwren (Sericornis humilis) is a species of bird of controversial taxonomy found in Tasmania and King Island, Australia.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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