Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 June 21

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Ram Narayan (born 1927) is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed sarangi of Hindustani classical music as a solo concert instrument and became its first international virtuoso. He was born near Udaipur and learned to play at an early age. He studied under sarangi players and singers and, as a teenager, worked as a music teacher and travelling musician. All India Radio, Lahore, hired him as an accompanist for vocalists in 1944. He moved to Delhi following the partition of India in 1947 and moved to Mumbai in 1949 to work in Indian cinema. He had his first success as a concert solo artist in 1956 and has since performed at major music festivals in India. After sitar player Ravi Shankar successfully performed in Western countries, Narayan followed his example. He recorded solo albums and made his first international tour in 1964 to America and Europe with his older brother Chatur Lal, a tabla player who had toured with Shankar in the 1950s. Narayan taught Indian and foreign students and performed into the 2000s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2005. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Arm & Hammer logo

... that Austin Church and John Dwight were the first to commercially manufacture baking soda in the United States, and the former was first to use the Arm & Hammer trademark logo (pictured) for selling it?
... that the Supreme Court of Canada held that it was unreasonable for there to be a 44-month delay between the filing of charges and the trial?
... that in 2003, Susan Baker became the first woman to hold a King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship in Environmental Science?
... that some of the text on the back of the Fighters Uncaged box resulted in a lawsuit from Zuffa?
... that Peter Bonsall-Boone and his partner personally appealed to the Australian Prime Minister to legalise same-sex marriage?
... that the Brut Chronicle was one of the most-copied chronicles in medieval England?
... that the TEN Oil Field in Ghana was not so named because of the number of oil wells?
... that Roy Wiggins claimed to have ruined 80 million records?

In the news

Finsbury Park Mosque

A vehicle driven into pedestrians near the Finsbury Park Mosque (pictured), London, injures at least 10 people.
In golf, Brooks Koepka wins the U.S. Open.
In cricket, the ICC Champions Trophy concludes with Pakistan defeating India in the final.
Wildfires in the Pedrógão Grande municipality of Portugal kill at least 64 people.
En Marche! wins an absolute majority of seats in the French legislative election.

On this day...

June 21: June solstice (04:24 UTC, 2017); International Yoga Day; National Aboriginal Day in Canada

Replica of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine

Replica of the SSEM

1734 – A black slave known as Marie-Joseph Angélique, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of Montreal, was tortured and then hanged in New France.
1826 – Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas.
1864 – New Zealand Wars: British victory in the Battle of Te Ranga brought the Tauranga Campaign to an end.
1948 – The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (replica pictured), the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first computer program.
1963 – Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope Paul VI.

Increase Mather (b. 1639) · Clara Immerwahr (b. 1870) · Gideon Sundback (d. 1954)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Alexander J. Dallas (1759–1817) was an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison between 1814 and 1816. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dallas was raised in Great Britain but migrated to Philadelphia in 1783. There he was admitted to the bar and edited several publications. From 1791 to 1800, he served as the first reporter of decisions for the Supreme Court of the United States. He also served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1791–1801), and acted as United States Secretary of War and Secretary of State (both in 1815).

Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew Shiva

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.