Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 March 21

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From today's featured article

The Tosa-class battleships were two dreadnoughts ordered by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the early 1920s. The ships were larger versions of the preceding Nagato class, and carried an additional 41-centimeter (16.1 in) twin-gun turret; their design served as a basis for the Amagi-class battlecruisers. The first ship, Tosa, was canceled according to the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty before it could be completed, and was used in experiments testing the effectiveness of its armor scheme before being scuttled in the Bungo Channel. The hull of the second ship, Kaga (model pictured), was converted into an aircraft carrier of the same name. The carrier supported Japanese troops in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War of the late 1930s, and took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in the Southwest Pacific in January 1942. The following month her aircraft participated in a combined carrier airstrike on Darwin, Australia, during the Dutch East Indies campaign. She was sunk during the Battle of Midway in 1942. (Full article...)

Part of the Tosa-class battleships series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias (pictured) performed at the Lo Nuestro Awards of 2014 and won six accolades the following year?
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... that The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison has been lauded for successfully joining high fantasy and steampunk?
... that investigative journalist Arbana Xharra uncovered links to terrorist organizations while investigating religious extremism in Kosovo?
... that at WrestleMania XXX, Daniel Bryan claimed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by winning the first and last match of the pay-per-view?
... that no bids were received for the construction of a bridge over Black Ash Creek in 1900?
... that writer Becky Birtha self-identifies as an African-American with Cherokee, Catawba, African, and Irish heritage?
... that the comb jelly Beroe ovata can consume four times its body weight in a day?

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In the news

A solar eclipse (pictured) is visible across much of Europe, with totality over the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.
Suicide bombings at two mosques in Sana'a, Yemen, kill more than 130 people.
The ruling party Likud, led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a plurality in the Israeli Knesset.
Gunmen kill 21 people during an attack at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.
Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed is convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to thirteen years in prison.
In the South Pacific, Cyclone Pam causes at least 12 deaths, with dozens more reported but unconfirmed.
The first successful human penis transplant is announced by Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Ongoing: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Malcolm Fraser – Xu Caihou – Valentin Rasputin

On this day...

March 21: Naw-Rúz (Bahá'í calendar); Mother's Day in the Arab world; Independence Day in Namibia (1990)

630 – Byzantine emperor Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem.
1556 – Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (pictured), one of the founders of Anglicanism, was burnt at the stake in Oxford, England, for heresy.
1871 – Founder of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck was proclaimed as its first Chancellor.
1945 – World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully defended the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concluded.
2002 – British schoolgirl Amanda Dowler was abducted on her way home from Heathside School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

More anniversaries: March 20 – March 21 – March 22

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It is now March 21, 2015 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

A male red-capped plover (Charadrius ruficapillus) in breeding plumage, photographed at Ralph's Bay in Tasmania, Australia. These birds are seasonal breeders along the coast, but inland they will breed in response to unpredictable rains. The nests are found on the ground, in vicinity of wetlands, and may hold a clutch of two eggs.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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