Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 November 21

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From today's featured article

Joe Strummer

Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by the English punk band the Clash. Released in November 1985, it followed a turbulent period for the band, after the dismissal of co-founder, lead guitarist and principal songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon by lead vocalist Joe Strummer (pictured) and bassist Paul Simonon. They were replaced by the unknowns Vince White, Nick Sheppard, and Pete Howard, as manager Bernie Rhodes fought for control over songwriting and musical direction during tense recording sessions, and Simonon refused to take part in any activity involving Rhodes. The album's final production, as engineered by Rhodes, relied heavily on synthetic drum sounds and sampling, and was widely derided. Upon its release, Strummer disowned the album, split the band, and moved to Spain. Some critics have found merit in Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance, especially on the single "This Is England", although the album is still generally regarded as the band's worst. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Jain temple at Kiradu

... that Māru-Gurjara architecture (example pictured) originated in Gujarat and Rajasthan from the 11th to 13th centuries, but can now be found in Antwerp and Potters Bar?
... that it took Pan Handian, a winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Translation, 27 years to translate Machiavelli's The Prince into Chinese?
... that an owner of radio station KPRB sold it to devote himself to his duties as the fire chief of Redmond, Oregon?
... that in a Russian naval tradition, vice admiral Viktor Mardusin presented the commander of one of his warships with a roast piglet?
... that infestations of Leptoconops torrens biting flies have halted construction and farming projects in California?
... that during the Apollo 11 program, biomedical engineer Judy Sullivan was instantly identifiable if she made an error as she was the only female voice on NASA's headset link?
... that after the Bengal famine of 1943 was denied by authorities, news reports with images of the victims in English-language papers made it known internationally?
... that the unpaid dowry owed by Lucia Visconti's family upon her marriage to Edmund Holland remained a source of friction between England and Milan for more than 60 years after her death?

In the news

Kyle Busch

In stock car racing, the NASCAR Cup Series concludes, with Kyle Busch (pictured) winning the drivers' championship.
Cyclone Bulbul hits the Indian and Bangladeshi coasts of the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 24 people.
After weeks of protests over electoral fraud, Bolivian president Evo Morales and other high-ranking politicians are forced to resign, and opposition senator Jeanine Áñez becomes interim president.
The Supreme Court of India delivers a unanimous verdict in favour of the construction of a Hindu temple at a disputed holy site in Ayodhya.

On this day

November 21: World Hello Day; Armed Forces Day in Bangladesh

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

1386 – Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur captured and sacked the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and forced King Bagrat V to convert to Islam.
1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: After capturing the Chinese city of Port Arthur, the Japanese Second Army began a massacre of the city's soldiers and civilians.
1950 – Two trains collided near Valemount, Canada; the subsequent trial catapulted future prime minister John Diefenbaker into the political limelight.
1964 – The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (pictured), connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic as the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.
2009 – An explosion in a coal mine in Heilongjiang, China, killed 108 miners.

Henry Purcell (d. 1695) · Hetty Green (b. 1834) · Victor Chang (b. 1936)

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Today's featured picture

North Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States, the 28th largest and 9th most populous of the fifty states. Raleigh is the state's capital and Charlotte is its largest city. North Carolina was established as a royal colony in 1729 and is one of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named in honor of King Charles I of England, who first formed the English colony, with Carolus being Latin for 'Charles'. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the United States constitution.

This picture is a historical depiction of North Carolina's coat of arms, as illustrated by American engraver Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, published in 1876 by Louis Prang. The shield depicts personifications of Liberty on the left and Plenty on the right. Liberty holds a liberty pole in her left hand and a scroll with the word "Constitution" in her right hand, while Plenty holds the end of a cornucopia next to her in her left hand and three heads of wheat in her right hand, extended towards Liberty. A similar design is featured in the current seal of North Carolina.

Illustration credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Andrew Shiva

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