Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 September 29

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From today's featured article

John de Gray (died 1214) was a medieval English Bishop of Norwich. He was employed in the service of King John even before the coronation, for which de Gray was rewarded with various ecclesiastical offices, culminating in his pro forma election to Norwich in 1200. He continued in royal service after his elevation to the episcopate, lending John money and undertaking diplomatic missions on his behalf. In 1205 John attempted to further reward de Gray by making him Archbishop of Canterbury, but a disputed election process led to de Gray's selection being quashed by Pope Innocent III in 1206. Stephen Langton was consecrated as archbishop against John's wishes, triggering a long dispute with the papacy. The pope imposed various sanctions on England and John. In 1209 de Gray became governor of Ireland for John, and spent until 1213 attempting to impose royal government there on the Anglo-Norman barons and the native Irish. He travelled to Rome to secure a papal pardon after the final settlement of the dispute with John. After the pardon, de Gray was appointed Bishop of Durham, but he died on his way back to England. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Bavarian-pattern playing cards used in Grasobern

... that the game of Grasobern (card deck pictured) is easy to play, without the mental or psychological demands of other Bavarian card games like Schafkopf and Watten?
... that during the attack on Pearl Harbor, USS Trever left her captain behind when she put to sea?
... that the Queen and Prince Charles each travelled on London Underground trains from Green Park tube station when they carried out the official openings of the Victoria and Jubilee lines?
... that during his long acting career, Walter Renneisen has presented Patrick Süskind's Der Kontrabaß (The Double Bass) in his own touring production?
... that Adivasi-organized protests in Plachimada, India, succeeded in removing a Coca-Cola factory that was polluting the groundwater?
... that while mayor of Torreón, Mexico, Miguel Riquelme Solís led the construction of a cable car to the Cristo de las Noas statue which he dedicated as governor of Coahuila?
... that the venom of the speckled brown snake is 1.6 times more toxic than that of the Indian cobra?
... that Horatio Seymour did not want to be the 1868 U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, but was given the nomination anyway?

In the news

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing a tsunami that kills at least 384 people and injures more than 540 others.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (pictured) is elected President of the Maldives.
An attack at a military parade in Ahvaz, Iran, leaves at least 30 people dead, including the attackers.
A Tanzanian ferry capsizes on Lake Victoria, killing at least 227 people.
A landslide, triggered by several days of heavy rainfall, kills at least 53 people in Naga, Philippines.

On this day

September 29: Michaelmas

Willie Mays

1918 – World War I: The Battle of St Quentin Canal took place, which led to the British Fourth Army making the first breach of the German defensive Hindenburg Line.
1938 – At a conference in Munich, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Neville Chamberlain, and Édouard Daladier reached a settlement, signing it at about 1:30 a.m. the next day, stipulating that Czechoslovakia must cede the Sudetenland to Germany.
1954 – Willie Mays (pictured) of Major League Baseball's New York Giants made one of the most famous defensive plays in baseball history, known as "The Catch".
1991 – The Haitian Army deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, eight months after the nation's first democratic elections.
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.

Ferdinand the Holy Prince (b. 1402) · Mercator Cooper (b. 1803) · Bill Shankly (d. 1981)

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Today's featured picture

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia, and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. It was founded as the Erebuni Fortress in 782 BC by King Argishti I of Urartu, who designed it as his capital. By the late ancient Armenian Kingdom, however, new capital cities were established and Yerevan declined in importance. It was revived in 1582 when it was taken over by the Ottoman Turks, who were in conflict with Iran. The city changed hands multiple times from 1604 to the 1720s, when Iran emerged victorious. In 1827 it was taken over by Russia. After a brief spell as capital of independent Armenia from 1920, it fell under Soviet rule, before emerging as capital of the modern republic in 1991. The city became an important industrial centre under Soviet rule, and is now Armenia's primary political and cultural hub.

This picture shows Yerevan with Mount Ararat, which dominates the skyline and is a national symbol.

Photograph: Serouj

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