Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 March 1

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From today's featured article

Prediction of germanium by Mendeleev in the 1869 periodic table

Germanium (Ge) is a chemical element with atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, greyish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to silicon (Si) and tin (Sn). In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted the existence of germanium (and later some of its properties) based on its position in his periodic table (extract pictured). In 1886, Clemens Winkler discovered the element in a rare mineral called argyrodite. Mendeleev's predictions closely matched the properties of germanium, and this contributed to the wider acceptance of his periodic table. Germanium is a semiconductor used in transistors and various electronic devices, fibre-optic systems, infrared optics, solar cell applications, and light-emitting diodes. It is mined primarily from sphalerite (a zinc ore), along with silver, lead, and copper ores. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Alice Marriott as Hamlet

... that 19th-century actress Alice Marriott (pictured) played Hamlet in doublet and hose in British and American theatre, and "made the female Hamlet respectable in England"?
... that the Dicta Boelcke, written by Oswald Boelcke in 1916, was the world's first manual of aerial combat tactics?
... that Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna tried to bribe an undercover agent to ensure he was released from prison to members of a drug cartel?
... that the luminous bay squid can use its light organ to imitate starlight or moonlight?
... that R. Hari Kumar took a staff course at the US Naval War College while serving in the Indian Navy?
... that Rediffusion House in Malta cannot be used for immoral activities?
... that a cardiovascular fitness suite at the UK Army School of Physical Training is named after Edward Henslow?
... that a landowner buried the transmitter building for Missouri radio station KXBR under 6 feet (1.83 m) of dirt as part of a rent dispute?

In the news

George Pell

The military confrontation between India and Pakistan escalates after both countries conduct airstrikes.
Cardinal George Pell (pictured) becomes the highest ranking member of the Catholic Church to be convicted of child sexual abuse.
Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected President of Nigeria.
Green Book wins Best Picture and Bohemian Rhapsody wins in four categories at the Academy Awards.

On this day

March 1: Independence Day in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992); Rio Carnival begins in Brazil (2019); National Pig Day in the United States; Saint David's Day in Wales; Yap Day in Yap

Warwick Armstrong

1869 – The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev finished his design of the first periodic table.
1896 – Ethiopia defeated Italy at the Battle of Adwa, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
1921 – The Australian cricket team, led by Warwick Armstrong (pictured), became the first team to complete a whitewash in the Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
1958 – Archbishop of Chicago Samuel Stritch was appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith, becoming the first American member of the Roman Curia.
2014 – A group of knife-wielding men and women attacked passengers at Kunming railway station in Kunming, China, leaving 31 victims and 4 perpetrators dead with more than 140 others injured.

Roger North (d. 1734) · Mercedes de Acosta (b. 1893) · Mustafa Barzani (d. 1979)

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Hurricane Paul (1982)

Since records began in 1949, there has been a total of 83 recorded Category 2 hurricanes within the Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone basin, which is the portion of the Pacific Ocean located north of the equator and east of the International Date Line. Storms that intensified beyond Category 2 status are not included in this list. Category 2 status is the fourth-highest classification on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and classifies systems with winds between 83 knots (96 mph; 154 km/h; 43 m/s) and 95 knots (109 mph; 176 km/h; 49 m/s). Tropical cyclones that attain the aforementioned winds and make landfall are capable of causing substantial damage to human lives and infrastructure. The development of tropical cyclones within the Eastern Pacific is influenced by a plethora of factors. During hurricane season, which runs from May through November, sea surface temperatures are high enough and wind shear is low enough to support tropical cyclogenesis. The majority of Category 2 systems formed between the months of July and October. (Full list...)

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Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia banknote

The first issue (1939) of paper currency in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, an unissued 1938 Republic of Czechoslovakia five-koruna note originally intended for the Czech army. During the beginning of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, a stamp was applied to the unissued 1938 stock of notes, identifying the currency as valid in the Protectorate. The overprint reads "Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren, Protektorát Čechy a Morava".

Banknote: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

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