Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 August 11

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From today's featured article

Ranavalona I (c. 1778–1861) ruled the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. By succeeding upon the death of her young husband, Radama I, Ranavalona became the first female sovereign in the Merina royal line since its founding in 1540. After initial tolerance of European influence she adopted a policy of isolationism, reducing Madagascar's economic and political ties with European powers, developing the island's industrial manufacturing capacity, improving the government's bureaucratic organization and military strength, and taking vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement. The combination of widespread disease, harsh measures of justice, regular military campaigns to pacify outlying provinces and difficult statute labor for public works projects resulted in a high mortality rate among soldiers and civilians alike during her 33-year reign. French intermediaries unsuccessfully tried to use divisions between traditionalist and pro-European factions at court to hasten the succession of her son, Radama II. Her European contemporaries generally condemned her policies and characterized her as a tyrant at best and insane at worst, characterizations that persisted in Western scholarly literature until the mid-1970s. Recent research has recast Ranavalona's actions as those of a queen attempting to expand her empire while protecting Malagasy sovereignty against the encroachment of European cultural and political influence. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's newest content:

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In the news

More than 160 people are killed in flash floods across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Jeff Bezos (pictured) announces the purchase of The Washington Post for US$250 million.

Major League Baseball announces the suspension of thirteen players, pending appeal, for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Enele Sopoaga is elected Prime Minister of Tuvalu.

The World Aquatics Championships conclude with the United States winning the most medals, including six gold medals by Missy Franklin.

Robert Mugabe is re-elected as President of Zimbabwe.

In rugby union, the Chiefs defeat the Brumbies to win the Super Rugby championship.

Former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden is granted temporary asylum in Russia.

Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation upholds the four-year prison sentence of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud.

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On this day...

August 11: Independence Day in Chad (1960)

1492 – The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.

1828 – William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds, England, for the murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn.

1945 – Amid rumors of kidnappings of children by Jews in Kraków, a crowd of Poles engaged in a pogrom, which resulted in one dead and five wounded victims.

1962 – Vostok 3 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev (pictured) became the first person to float in microgravity.

1973 – At a party in the recreation room of a New York City apartment building, DJ Kool Herc began rapping during an extended break, laying the foundation for hip-hop music.

More anniversaries: August 10 – August 11 – August 12

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Today's featured picture

The Red-necked Avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) is a wader of the family Recurvirostridae which feeds by skimming the surface of water to catch small invertebrates. Endemic to Australia, the species is rare in Tasmania and an occasional vagrant to New Zealand.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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