Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 September 29

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From today's featured article

Speckled sea louse, a carnivorous isopod found on sandy shores

Eurydice pulchra

Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Most isopods are small greyish or whitish animals with rigid, segmented exoskeletons. They have two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen for respiration. Aquatic species live in marine or freshwater habitats, mostly on the bottom, but some can swim for a short distance. Terrestrial forms tend to be found in cool, moist places. Around 4,500 species dwell in salt water, 500 in fresh water and another 5,000 on land. Some isopods eat dead or decaying plant and animal matter, others are grazers or strain food particles from the water around them, a few are predators, and some are parasitic, mostly on fish. Some species are able to roll themselves into a ball to conserve moisture or as a defence mechanism. The fossil record of isopods dates back to the Carboniferous period (in the Pennsylvanian epoch), at least 300 million years ago, when they lived in shallow seas. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Former coat of arms of South Africa

... that the South African passport retained the former coat of arms of South Africa (pictured) for seven years after its official replacement?
... that Swedish paralympic athlete Helene Ripa underwent an above-the-knee amputation at the age of 14 to treat cancer in her right leg?
... that the aster leafhopper transmits the plant disease aster yellows?
... that in addition to becoming the first female full professor at Northwestern University, botanist Margery C. Carlson had a nature preserve named after her?
... that reviewers have commented on the similarities between the 1968 novel A Wizard of Earthsea and the Harry Potter series?
... that Anders Planman was one of the first people to make systematic astronomical observations in Finland?
... that in Texas, the hot link sausage is usually prepared using beef, while in Chicago, pork is typically used?
... that the spotted pardalote has been called the headache bird on account of its repetitive call?

In the news

Shimon Peres

Nobel Peace Prize-winning former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres (pictured) dies at the age of 93.
The Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) makes its first observations in Guizhou, China.
Yahoo! confirms that hackers infiltrated its network in late 2014 and stole information associated with at least 500 million user accounts – the largest data breach reported to date.
In rugby union, the Rugby Championship is won by New Zealand.

On this day...

September 29: Michaelmas

Goethe c. 1775

1774 – The publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther raised the 24-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pictured) to international fame.
1923 – The British Mandate for Palestine came into effect, officially creating the protectorates of Palestine under British administration and Transjordan as a separate emirate under Abdullah I.
1941 – The Holocaust: German Nazis aided by their collaborators began the Babi Yar massacre in Kiev, Ukraine, killing over 30,000 Jewish civilians in two days and thousands more in the months that followed.
1963 – The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich, England, after talk of establishing such a university in the city began as early as the 19th century.
2006 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collided in mid-air with an Embraer Legacy business jet near Peixoto de Azevedo, Mato Grosso, Brazil, killing 154 people, and triggering a Brazilian aviation crisis.

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Today's featured picture

Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. It is also home to the Dôme des Invalides, a large church where some of France's war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are buried.

Photograph: DXR

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