Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 February 17

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From today's featured article

Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published in April 1950. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar, who felt that the church was not communicating its message effectively. Simultaneously disillusioned with contemporary children's literature, he and artist Frank Hampson created a dummy comic based on Christian values. Morris hawked the idea to several publishers, with little success, until Hulton Press decided to take it on. Following a huge publicity campaign, the first issue sold about 900,000 copies. Featured in colour on the front cover was the comic's most recognisable story, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future (pictured). Other popular stories included Riders of the Range and P.C. 49. Eagle also contained news and sport sections, and educational cutaway diagrams of sophisticated machinery. Amidst a takeover of the comic's publisher and a series of acrimonious disputes, Morris left in 1959; Hampson followed shortly thereafter. Although Eagle continued in various forms, a perceived lowering of editorial standards preceded plummeting sales, and it was eventually subsumed by its rival, Lion, in 1969. A relaunched Eagle ran for over 500 issues between 1982 and 1994. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that each of the five heroines (pictured) from Hindu epics, venerated as exemplary chaste women, is recorded to have "known" at least one man other than her husband?

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... that the new far right party the British Democratic Party was established by current Member of the European Parliament Andrew Brons?

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... that until it was destroyed by fire in January 2013, Grimes Mill was the only roller mill museum in North Carolina?

... that Blanche of France was made a nun at the age of seven in order to atone for her aunt Blanche's adultery?

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In the news

In central Russia, shock waves from a meteor (pictured)—the largest recorded object encountered by Earth since 1908—injure more than 1,000 people, mainly due to widespread broken glass.

In an EU-wide scandal, horse meat and pork are found in food products labelled as containing beef.

North Korea conducts its third nuclear weapons test.

Benedict XVI announces that he will resign as pope of the Catholic Church at the end of February.

Thirty-six people are killed and thirty-nine injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.

At the Grammy Awards, Gotye wins Record of the Year and Mumford & Sons wins Album of the Year.

Recent deaths: Zhuang Zedong

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On this day...

February 17: Independence Day in Kosovo (2008)

1801 – The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson (pictured) as President and Aaron Burr as Vice President, resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 U.S. presidential election.

1872 – Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, were executed in Manila, Philippines, by Spanish colonial authorities on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny.

1913 – In the U.S. National Guard's 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, the Armory Show opened, introducing Americans to avant-garde and modern art.

1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the La Mon restaurant near Belfast, Northern Ireland.

2003 – The London congestion charge, a fee that is levied on motorists travelling within designated parts of Central London, came into operation.

More anniversaries: February 16 – February 17 – February 18

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It is now February 17, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

Actor Cary Grant (1904–86) in a publicity photo for Suspicion (1940). Known for his transatlantic accent, debonair demeanor and "dashing good looks", Grant is considered one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men. During his 34-year career he acted in over 50 films, including The Eagle and the Hawk, Bringing Up Baby, and North by Northwest.

Photograph: RKO publicity photographer; Edit: Chris Woodrich

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