Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 17

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From today's featured article

Persoonia terminalis, the Torrington geebung, is a rare shrub belonging to the family Proteaceae, and native to northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in eastern Australia. Reported as a subspecies of Persoonia nutans in 1981, it was described as a species by Lawrie Johnson and his colleague Peter Weston in 1991. Two subspecies‍—‌P. t. terminalis and P. t. recurva‍—‌are recognised; both are found on well-drained acidic soils in sclerophyll forests, and P. t. terminalis is also found on granite outcrops. Although similar in appearance, they differ in leaf length and curvature. Both have a restricted range, with P. t. terminalis found in an area of under 100 square kilometres (39 square miles). P. terminalis grows to 1.5 metres (5 feet), with an upright or spreading habit, and narrow, short leaves up to 1 centimetre (0.4 inches) in length. The yellow flowers mainly appear in December and January (Australia's temperate zone summer), and are followed by purple-striped green drupes (stone fruit). The fruit of persoonias are edible, and dispersed by wild vertebrates. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

St. Jakobus, Rüdesheim

... that in 2017, St. Jakobus in Rüdesheim (pictured) held services, concerts, and an exhibition to celebrate 70 years since the church was rebuilt following damage in World War II?
... that Clotilde Niragira is secretary-general of the truth and reconciliation commission investigating the Burundian genocides?
... that the first proposed site for a ferry wharf at Rhodes in Sydney, Australia, was scrapped after objections from the community, lobbyists, and the ferry operator?
... that Max Schmalzl was called "the Bavarian Fra Angelico"?
... that the female Asian emerald cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of birds such as the crimson sunbird and the little spiderhunter?
... that the Northern Ireland women's national football team captain Marissa Callaghan went to university in the United States on a football scholarship?
... that the carving of 130,000 characters of Buddhist scriptures into the mountains around Hebei's Nüwa Palace began under the Northern Qi dynasty?
... that Marjorie Hahn, a retired mathematics professor and international senior-level tennis player, approaches tennis games with the same plan that she uses for mathematical proofs?

In the news

Ajit Pai

The United States Federal Communications Commission (Chairman Ajit Pai pictured) votes to repeal Title II net neutrality rules.
The Walt Disney Company announces its intention to buy most of 21st Century Fox's entertainment divisions, valued at roughly $52.4 billion.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declares victory against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, after capturing the group's remaining territory in the country.
The Parliament of Australia passes legislation to allow same-sex marriage.
Halszkaraptor, a duck-like dinosaur genus thought to have been semiaquatic, is described from a Mongolian fossil.

On this day...

December 17

Fire in the Winter Palace

497 BC – The temple to the Roman god Saturn was dedicated in the Roman Forum; its anniversary was celebrated as Saturnalia.
546 – After a nearly year-long siege, the Ostrogoths led by Totila sacked Rome.
1837 – A fire in the Winter Palace (pictured) in Saint Petersburg broke out, damaging the palace and killing thirty guardsmen.
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming near Portsea, Victoria; his body was never recovered.
1983 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb just outside Harrods in London, killing six people and injuring about 90 others.

Rumi (d. 1273) · Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (d. 1917) · Agnes Mary Mansour (d. 2004)

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Today's featured picture

Fremantle Prison is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The six-hectare (15-acre) site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels. Constructed between 1851 and 1859 using convict labour, the prison was initially used for convicts transported from Britain, but was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally-sentenced prisoners. Decades of prisoner discontent, culminating in a 1988 riot that saw guards taken hostage and a fire cause $1.8 million worth of damage, led to the prison being closed in 1991. Since then, Fremantle Prison has been conserved as a heritage and tourism site, and various restoration works have been undertaken.

Photograph: Iwelam

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