Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 26

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Residential school group, Regina, Saskatchewan, c. 1908

The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous children who were removed from their families and culture to be assimilated into Canadian culture. It was funded by the government's Department of Indian Affairs, in keeping with the Indian Act of 1876, and administered by various churches. Over more than a century about 30 percent of Indigenous children (roughly 150,000) were placed in residential schools, where at least 6,000 of them died. The schools were intentionally located far away from home communities, and parental visits were further restricted by a pass system that confined Indigenous peoples to reserves. Students often graduated unable to fit into either their home communities or Canadian society, and impacted families have suffered disproportionately from post-traumatic stress, alcoholism, substance abuse, and suicide. The last federally operated residential school closed in 1996. The 2015 findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the system amounted to cultural genocide. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Rebecca Sugar

... that Steven Universe is the first Cartoon Network series created solely by a woman, Rebecca Sugar (pictured)?
... that former international Ruth O'Reilly wrote an article criticising the IRFU for a lack of support for women's rugby during the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup held in Ireland?
... that the largest animal migration by biomass is the daily movement upwards from their refuge in the deep sea undertaken by vast numbers of organisms?
... that Zambian writer Samba Yonga chose a career in journalism after she won a short story prize as a child?
... that under terms of the Quebec Agreement, the United States had to seek British agreement to use nuclear weapons against Japan?
... that Canadian-trained criminologist Ken Attafuah spent part of his secondary school education sleeping in an old and leaky cocoa shed that had been converted into a dormitory?
... that the Estadio Universitario Alberto "Chivo" Córdoba incorporates a mural by Leopoldo Flores in the stands on the west side of the stadium?
... that two of Smash Mouth's U.S. top-ten hits are associated with a big green ogre?

In the news

Carles Puigdemont

Typhoon Tembin sweeps through the southern Philippines, killing more than two hundred people and leaving dozens of others missing.
In the Catalan election, pro-independence parties, spearheaded by the exiled Carles Puigdemont (pictured), secure a majority.
Sebastián Piñera is elected President of Chile for a second time.
In the United States, an Amtrak Cascades passenger train derails in DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring more than seventy others.
Incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández is declared the winner of the Honduran presidential election, with the Organization of American States calling for a new vote amidst widespread irregularities.

On this day...

December 26: Boxing Day in Commonwealth countries; Kwanzaa begins in Canada and the United States

Flannan Isles Lighthouse

1606 – The first known performance of the play King Lear, a tragedy by William Shakespeare based on the legendary King Lear of the Britons, was held.
1898 – At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium.
1900 – A relief crew arrived at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse (pictured) of Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared without a trace.
1919 – American baseball player Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, starting the 84-year-long "Curse of the Bambino".
1996 – The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called upon its 1.2 million members to walk off the job, beginning the largest organized strike in South Korea's history.

Rose Lok (b. 1526) · Seth Warner (b. 1784) · Elizabeth David (b. 1913)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Fatoumata Diawara (b. 1982) is a Malian musician and actress. Born in Ivory Coast, she moved to France to pursue acting, eventually appearing in films such as La genèse and Sia, le rêve du python. She later took up the guitar and began composing her own material, writing songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences. Diawara's debut album, Fatou (2011), was named 2011's best world music album by The Sunday Times. Since 2014, she has collaborated extensively with the Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca.

Photograph: Thesupermat

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.