Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 April 2

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From today's featured article

The Fifth Element is a 1997 English-language French science fiction film directed and based on a story by Luc Besson. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich (pictured). In the 23rd century, Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former special forces major, joins forces with a young woman (Jovovich) who falls into his cab, and they set off to recover four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth against an impending attack. Besson started writing the story that became The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas. Filming for the French production took place primarily in London, as suitable locations in France could not be found. It received mainly positive reviews, although it tended to polarise critics. It has been called both the best and worst summer blockbuster of all time. The Fifth Element was a financial success, earning more than $263 million at the box office on a $90 million budget. At the time of its release it was the most expensive European film ever made, and it remained the highest-grossing French film at the box-office until the release of The Intouchables in 2011. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Luther thought the communion hymn "Jesus Christus nostra salus" by Jan of Jenštejn (pictured), archbishop of Prague, was actually by martyr Jan Hus?
... that the British portrait artist Cathleen Mann was also a peeress and film costume designer?
... that Neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer encourages Internet trolling by its "Troll Army"?
... that President Warren G. Harding appointed Louise DeKoven Bowen to represent the United States at the 1922 Pan-American Conference of Women?
... that Philippe Martinez's 2014 action film Viktor, starring Gérard Depardieu and Elizabeth Hurley, was filmed entirely in Russia?
... that Brazilian footballer Digão signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in 2013?
... that PizzaRev's concept involves custom-order pizzas assembled in a cafeteria-style line?
... that Peter Beatty claimed that a fortune-teller predicted an Epsom Derby victory for one of his racehorses?

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In the news

Muhammadu Buhari (pictured) is elected President of Nigeria.
Islam Karimov is re-elected President of Uzbekistan.
In cricket, the World Cup concludes with Australia defeating New Zealand in the final.
Twenty people, including a United Nations diplomat, are killed during a 12-hour siege at a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Mathematicians John F. Nash, Jr. and Louis Nirenberg share the Abel Prize for their work on partial differential equations.
Saudi Arabia conducts airstrikes against Houthi militants and their allies after their advance on the provisional Yemeni capital of Aden.
Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

Ongoing: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Tomas Tranströmer – Dinkha IV

On this day...

April 2: Maundy Thursday (Western Christianity, 2015)

1755 – A naval fleet led by Commodore William James of the East India Company captured the fortress Suvarnadurg from the Marathas.
1885 – North-West Rebellion: Led by Wandering Spirit, young Cree warriors attacked the village of Frog Lake, North-West Territories (now in Alberta), where they killed nine settlers.
1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the country's first national census.
1984 – Aboard Soyuz T-11, Rakesh Sharma (pictured) became the first Indian to be launched into space.
2012 – A gunman shot at people inside Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, California, US, leaving seven people dead and three injured.

More anniversaries: April 1 – April 2 – April 3

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It is now April 2, 2015 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

A group of Buddhist monks standing on Preah Pithu Temple (U), Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Buddhism in Cambodia can be traced back to at least the 5th century, when Mahayana Buddhism was practiced by subjects of the Kingdom of Funan. Today, Buddhism – particularly the Theravada branch – is practiced by the majority of Cambodians, and has influences on numerous aspects of daily life.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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