Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 July 13

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From today's featured article

Euryoryzomys emmonsae, Emmons's rice rat, is a rodent from the Amazon rainforest of Brazil in the genus Euryoryzomys of the family Cricetidae. Initially misidentified as E. macconnelli or E. nitidus, it was formally described in 1998. A ground-dwelling rainforest species, it may also be adapted to climbing trees. It occurs in a limited area south of the Amazon River in the state of Pará, a distribution that is apparently unique among the muroid rodents of the region. E. emmonsae is a relatively large rice rat, weighing 46 to 78 g (1.6 to 2.8 oz), with long, tawny brown fur and a distinctly long tail. The skull is slender and the incisive foramina (openings in the bone of the palate) are broad. The animal has 80 chromosomes, and its karyotype is typical of its genus. Its conservation status is listed as data deficient, meaning more information is needed, but deforestation may pose a threat to the species. Its name honors Louise H. Emmons, who, among other contributions to Neotropical mammalogy, collected three of the known examples of the species in 1986. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Castle Lake viewed from the air, 2016

... that Castle Lake (pictured) was created by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens?
... that Welsh international footballer Darcy Blake left the professional game at the age of 25 and later played amateur rugby?
... that John Philip Sousa composed the dirge performed at his own funeral?
... that Egyptian-American physician Adel Mahmoud oversaw the development of the Gardasil HPV vaccine?
... that the gut of Piscicola geometra harbours symbiotic bacteria which help the leech to digest fish blood?
... that Joseph Samuel Clark turned down Herbert Hoover's offer to serve as the United States Ambassador to Liberia in 1931 to remain the president of Southern University?
... that the Lonsdale Belt is the oldest championship belt in British boxing?
... that Theodora was dragged from a monastery and forced to become Empress of the Byzantine Empire against her will?

In the news

Abiy and Isaias sign a joint declaration

In Germany, the National Socialist Underground trial ends after more than five years with the sentencing of the main defendant, Beate Zschäpe, to life in prison.
A suicide bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills 21 people and injures more than 70 others.
Twelve boys and a man trapped in Thailand’s Tham Luang Nang Non cave are rescued.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki sign a declaration (pictured) to end their countries' border conflict.

On this day

July 13

Nixon's tape recorder

1863 – Four days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War.
1878 – At the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin, the major powers in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the map of the Balkans.
1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.
1973 – Watergate scandal: Under questioning by Senate investigators, White House deputy chief of staff Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of a secret taping system (tape recorder pictured) in the Oval Office.

Afonso, Prince of Portugal (d. 1491) · Margaret Murray (b. 1863) · Kenneth Clark (b. 1903)

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From today's featured list

The first international football match

Scotland was one of the earliest modern footballing nations, with Glasgow club Queen's Park early pioneers of the game throughout the UK. More clubs formed in Scotland, resulting in the commencement of the first major competition in 1873, the Scottish Cup, then the founding of the Scottish Football League in 1890. With the official sanctioning of professionalism, the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers became dominant in Scotland, and remain so, although other clubs have enjoyed brief periods of success too. The first officially recognised international football match (pictured) took place between Scotland and England in 1872. Scotland first competed in a major tournament when they qualified for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. They have qualified for a further seven World Cups and two UEFA European Championships since, and have exited at the group stage each time. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Portrait of French actor Louis Guéymard in the title role of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, in the last scene of Act 1 in which Robert gambles with dice, loses his entire estate, and sings the aria "L’or est une chimère" (Gold is an illusion). Loosely based on a medieval legend, this opera in five acts tells of a young man who turns to sorcery to stop his beloved from marrying the Prince of Granada. Robert le diable was first performed in 1831 and remained a favourite in opera houses throughout the nineteenth century; this painting, for instance, is based on an 1857 performance. In recent years, the opera has seen a revival.

Painting: Gustave Courbet (courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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