Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 February 19

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The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the 1966 and 1967 Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third World Championship in 1966. The BT19, which Brabham referred to as his "Old Nail", was the first car bearing its driver's name to win a World Championship race. The car was initially conceived in 1965 for a 1.5-litre (92-cubic inch) Coventry Climax engine, but never raced in this form. For the 1966 season the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile doubled the limit on engine capacity to 3 litres (183 cu in). Australian company Repco developed a new V8 engine for Brabham's use in 1966, but a disagreement between Brabham and Tauranac over the latter's role in the racing team left no time to develop a new car to handle it. Instead, the existing BT19 chassis was modified for the job. Only one BT19 was built. It was bought by Repco in 2004 and put on display in the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008. It is often demonstrated at motorsport events. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Cyclone Winifred (pictured) was the most severe tropical cyclone to strike northern Queensland since Cyclone Althea in 1971?
... that alpine skier David Chodounsky was the only player to make the U.S. Ski Team after earning his college degree?
... that Tamarack Swamp is home to the only species of deciduous conifer in Pennsylvania?
... that Eduard Scotland and Alfred Runge designed luxury ocean liner cabins before they created St Petrus House?
... that when Javier Silva Ruete was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the First Presidency of Fernando Belaúnde, he was the youngest person having occupied that post?
... that Barra Castle was the seat of Kings?

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In the news

Renaud Lavillenie of France breaks Sergey Bubka's indoor world record in pole vaulting, with a mark of 6.16 metres.
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam (pictured) announces the formation of a new government.
The genome of a 12,500-year-old Clovis culture infant is sequenced, clarifying the origin of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
At least 76 people are killed when a military plane crashes in Algeria.
In a national referendum, Swiss voters approve re-imposing quotas on immigration from European Union countries.

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On this day...

February 19

1674 – The Third Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster, with England regaining New York, and the Netherlands taking Suriname.
1884 – More than sixty tornadoes struck across the Southern United States, believed to be among the largest and most widespread tornado outbreaks in American history.
1942 – Second World War: In the largest attacks mounted by a foreign power against Australia, more than 240 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Darwin, Northern Territory.
1965 – Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Vietminh, along with Generals Lam Van Phat and Tran Thien Khiem attempted a coup against the military junta of Nguyen Khanh.
2011 – Items from the Belitung shipwreck (bowls pictured), the biggest single collection of Tang Dynasty artefacts found in one location, were first put on display in Singapore.

More anniversaries: February 18 – February 19 – February 20

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Today's featured picture

The Door to Hell is a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, which has been burning since 1971 when it was ignited by Soviet scientists who expected it to burn out within days. They were trying to prevent the release of poisonous gases. The name "Door to Hell" was given to the field by locals. The hot spots range over an area with a width of 60 metres (200 ft) and to a depth of about 20 metres (66 ft).

Photo: Tormod Sandtorv

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