Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 December 29

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From today's featured article

Three Beauties of the Present Day is a nishiki-e colour woodblock print of c. 1792–93 by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753–1806). The triangular composition depicts the busts of three celebrity beauties of the time: geisha Tomimoto Toyohina (middle), and teahouse waitresses Takashima Hisa (left) and Naniwa Kita (right), each adorned with an identifying family crest. Subtle differences can be detected in the faces of the subjects—a level of individualized realism at the time unusual in ukiyo-e, and a contrast with the stereotyped beauties in earlier masters such as Harunobu and Kiyonaga. The triangular positioning became a vogue in the 1790s. Utamaro produced several other pictures with this arrangement of the same three beauties, and each appeared in numerous other portraits by Utamaro and other artists. Utamaro was the leading ukiyo-e artist in the 1790s in the bijin-ga genre of pictures of female beauties, and was known in particular for his ōkubi-e, which focus on the heads. The luxurious print was published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō and made with multiple woodblocks—one for each colour—and the background was dusted with muscovite to produce a glimmering effect. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Nicolas Zamora (pictured) was the first Filipino Protestant minister in the Philippines and is credited with the foundation of the first indigenous evangelical church in the Philippines?
... that the Sigma I-64 war game held in April 1964 predicted that the U.S. could put 500,000 troops into Vietnam and still lose?
... that the Welsh author Arthur Machen used Saint Ilar—whose towns have been renamed and churches conflated with a Frenchman—as an example of the lost traditions of the Celtic Church?
... that the beat for Neon Jungle's "Braveheart" was found after the group "raided" their producer's laptop?
... that Sitriuc mac Ímair was the third son of Ímar to reign as King of Dublin?
... that after the 1983 Popayán earthquake resulted in the deaths of nearly 300 people, the Colombian government passed new legislation relating to construction materials?
... that even though it shares the same highway number, Osan-Hwaseong Expressway does not directly connect to its other part?

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In the news

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (aircraft pictured) goes missing en route to Singapore with 162 people on board.
A militant attack on tribal people and subsequent retaliations in Assam, India, kill at least 85 people.
Beji Caid Essebsi wins the Tunisian presidential election.
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III successfully completes its first flight, carrying the crew vehicle demonstrator CARE.
U.S. aid worker Alan Gross and three members of the Cuban Five are released by Cuba and the United States, respectively, as both nations move to resume diplomatic relations.

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Leo Tindemans – Edward Greenspan – K. Balachander

On this day...

December 29: Independence Day in Mongolia (1911)

1835 – The United States signed the Treaty of New Echota with leaders of a minority Cherokee faction, which became the legal basis for the forcible removal known as the Trail of Tears.
1891 – Physical education teacher James Naismith introduced a game in Springfield, Massachusetts, with thirteen rules and nine players on each team that he called "Basket Ball".
1911 – Sun Yat-sen (pictured) was elected in Nanjing as the Provisional President of the Republic of China.
1937 – The Constitution of Ireland, the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland, came into force.
1992 – President of Brazil Fernando Collor de Mello resigned in an attempt to stop his impeachment proceedings from continuing, but the Senate of Brazil continued anyway, finding him guilty.

More anniversaries: December 28 – December 29 – December 30

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It is now December 29, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

From today's featured list

A male singer, wearing a black shirt and holding a microphone, is singing. A drummer is performing behind him.

The discography of MercyMe, an American Christian rock band, includes eight studio albums, two compilation albums, one video album, eighteen singles and one guest appearance. MercyMe, formed in 1994, released six independent albums from 1995–2000 before signing with INO Records through Curb Records and releasing their major label debut album, Almost There, in 2001. The album's second single, "I Can Only Imagine", spent two weeks at number one on the Radio & Records Christian adult contemporary chart. The band released Spoken For, their second studio album, in 2002. Its second single, "Word of God Speak", spent a record twenty-three weeks atop the Billboard Christian Songs chart. MercyMe released a Christmas album, The Christmas Sessions, in 2005. Their fifth studio album, All That Is Within Me, was released in 2007 and marked their first album under Columbia Records. Their latest album, Welcome to the New, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 26,000 copies in its first week. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Makhtesh Ramon, a cirque measuring 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, 2–10 kilometres (1.2–6.2 mi) wide, and 500 metres (1,600 ft) deep, is the world's largest makhtesh. It is located in Israel's Negev desert, some 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of Beersheba. The makhtesh and surrounding area are home to only one settlement, Mitzpe Ramon, and together form Israel's largest national park.

Photograph: Andrew Shiva

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