Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 August 6

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From today's featured article

Daphnée Duplaix

The Russell family is a fictional family on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC (1999–2007) and on DirecTV (2007–2008). Created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the family originally consisted of the married couple Eve and T. C. Russell and their children, Whitney and Simone. Later characters included Eve's vengeful adoptive sister Liz Sanbourne, Whitney's husband Chad Harris-Crane, Eve's aunt Irma Johnson, and Eve's child with Julian Crane, Vincent Clarkson, whose alter ego Valerie was played by Daphnée Duplaix (pictured). The cast was frequently nominated for NAACP Image Awards and featured prominently in a series of public service announcements for Black History Month in 2003. The show drew mixed critical attention for storylines involving Chad's affair with the intersex Vincent, but won the award for Outstanding Daily Drama at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2006 for its portrayal of Simone's sexuality. (This article is part of a featured topic: Russell family (Passions).)

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Did you know ...

Liselotte Funcke in 1974

... that as Federal Commissioner for Foreigners in the 1980s, German politician Liselotte Funcke (pictured) saw her role as an "interpreter" of the problems of foreign workers, especially Turks?
... that the name of the women's soccer team Racing Louisville FC is inspired by Louisville's famous horse races?
... that Baekhyun compares his charms to various flavors of candy in his song "Candy"?
... that actress Katharine Hepburn thought the status of one's career could be determined by one's seating position at Samuel Goldwyn's table?
... that the rolling straight-edge, one of the earliest means of measuring road surface regularity, is still used in Britain today?
... that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in regulatory decisions regarding medications such as fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol?
... that Johnby Hall, a 16th-century manor house built around a medieval tower, is now a bed and breakfast?
... that when the Jehovah's Witnesses sold New York City radio station WBBR in 1957, the purchase included the 18-acre (7.3 ha) farm, complete with 20 chicken houses, at the transmitter site?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Damage from the Port of Beirut explosions

Multiple explosions (aftermath pictured) in Beirut, Lebanon, kill at least 135 people and injure more than 5,000 others.
Former King of Spain Juan Carlos I goes into voluntary exile following a financial scandal.
After five months of court challenges, the People's Progressive Party, led by Irfaan Ali, is declared the winner of the Guyanese general election.

On this day

August 6

Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the Little Boy explosion

1777 – The Battle of Oriskany, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolutionary War, was fought about 6 mi (10 km) east of Fort Stanwix, New York.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (mushroom cloud pictured), killing about 70,000 people instantly.
1996 – A team of researchers announced that the meteorite ALH84001, discovered in the Allan Hills of Antarctica, may contain evidence of life on Mars, but further tests were inconclusive.
2010 – Flash floods, mudslides, and debris flows across the Ladakh region of Indian-administered Kashmir left at least 255 people dead.

Saint Dominic (d. 1221)
Michelle Yeoh (b. 1962)
Edsger W. Dijkstra (d. 2002)

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Today's featured picture

Abbey Lincoln (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010) was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Beginning in the 1960s, she made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations as well as writing and singing her own material. Her lyrics often reflected the ideals of the civil rights movement and helped in generating passion for the cause in the minds of her listeners. She explored more philosophical themes during the later years of her songwriting career and remained professionally active until well into her seventies. She also ventured into acting and appeared on television, and in films such as The Girl Can't Help It and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This photograph shows Lincoln in performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and is part of the collection of Anefo, a Dutch photograph press agency.

Photograph credit: Jac. de Nijs; restored by Adam Cuerden

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