Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 May 17

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Effigy in Gloucester Cathedral

Edward II (1284–1327) was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. He married Isabella, the daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, in 1308. Edward had a close and controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his household in 1300. Gaveston's arrogance and power as Edward's favourite provoked discontent among both the barons and the French royal family, and Edward was forced to exile him. On Gaveston's return, the barons pressured the king into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms, called the Ordinances of 1311. A group of barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. English forces were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. After the exiled Roger Mortimer invaded England with a small army in 1326, Edward's regime collapsed and he relinquished his crown in favour of his 14-year-old son, Edward III. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

The Memorial Cup trophy

... that the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Cup (trophy pictured) was celebrated by the Canadian Hockey League with a commemorative coin, a postage stamp, and a Santa Claus parade?
... that Shah Jahan II's food, clothes, and meetings were decided by the powerful Sayyid brothers who had chosen him as the Mughal emperor?
... that the girls of the Mädchenkantorei Limburg joined a women's choir to perform sacred choral music by contemporary composers at a 2019 concert in Limburg Cathedral?
... that Wenona Giles helped 59 people in the Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, earn a Certificate of Completion in Educational Studies from Canada's York University?
... that the Arlington Museum of Art occupies a former J. C. Penney store in downtown Arlington, Texas?
... that Xiong Zhaoren, whose battle experience was adapted into two films, lived to 107, the longest among China's founding generals?
... that for the first six months that Janis Ian performed the song "At Seventeen", she closed her eyes because she was afraid the audience would laugh at her?
... that some ancient trees of the olive cultivar Bidni have been recognised as "national monuments" in Malta?

In the news

I. M. Pei

Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei (pictured) dies at the age of 102.
Former Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke dies at the age of 89.
American actress and singer Doris Day dies at the age of 97.
In association football, the English Premier League concludes with Manchester City winning the title.
The United Nations reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline unprecedented in human history.

On this day

May 17: Galician Literature Day in Galicia, Spain; Sanja Matsuri begins in Tokyo (2019)

Dalia Grybauskaitė

1395 – An outnumbered Wallachian army repulsed an Ottoman invasion force in the Battle of Rovine.
1865 – The International Telecommunication Union, an international organization that standardizes and regulates international radio and telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris.
1954 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.
1974 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated a series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 34 people and injuring almost 300 more.
2009 – Dalia Grybauskaitė (pictured) was elected the first female President of Lithuania, receiving 69.1% of the vote.

Seth Warner (b. 1743) · Sebastian Kneipp (b. 1821) · Dorothy Levitt (d. 1922)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Devils Tower

There are 129 protected areas in the United States known as national monuments. The President of the United States can establish a national monument by presidential proclamation, and the United States Congress can do so by legislation. The president's authority arises from the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" as national monuments. President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national monument, Devils Tower (pictured) in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. He established 18 national monuments, although only nine still retain that designation. National monuments are located in 31 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Arizona and California have the largest number of national monuments, each with 18, followed by New Mexico with 14. At least 75 national monuments protect places of natural significance, and 62 have historical importance. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

Ancient Rome is a set of three almost identical paintings by Italian artist Giovanni Paolo Panini, produced as pendant paintings to Modern Rome for his patron, the comte de Stainville, in the 1750s. The paintings depict many of the most significant architectural sites and sculptures from ancient Rome, such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Laocoön and His Sons, the Farnese Hercules, the Apollo Belvedere and the Borghese Gladiator. Both Panini and Stainville are featured in the paintings; Stainville stands holding a guidebook, while Panini appears behind Stainville's armchair.

This picture shows the second version of the work, located in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, painted in oil on canvas and dated 1757. The other two versions are in the collections of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the Louvre in Paris.

Painting credit: Giovanni Paolo Panini

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.