Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 October 25

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Soultaker is an American fantasy horror film written by Vivian Schilling and directed by Michael Rissi, released on October 26, 1990. It stars Joe Estevez in the title role, alongside Schilling, Gregg Thomsen, Chuck Williams, Robert Z'Dar, and David "Shark" Fralick. The film follows a group of young adults who try to flee from the Soultaker when their souls are ejected from their bodies after a car accident. Inspired by discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson, the script was based on a real-life car accident Schilling was involved in. The film was shot in five weeks on a $250,000 budget. Originally planned for a direct-to-video release, it saw limited theatrical screenings, with eight prints distributed in United States. Since its release, the film has received negative reviews, but won the Saturn Award for "Best Genre Video Release" in 1992. A sequel was planned but never made, and Schilling turned its premise into a novel titled Quietus, published in 2002. Soultaker was featured in the tenth-season premiere episode of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1999. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Eugen and Hermine d'Albert

... that soprano Hermine Finck became the third wife of Eugen d'Albert (couple pictured), who composed songs and a cantata based on The Little Mermaid for her?
... that P.O.W. was based on interviews with repatriated prisoners about communist "brainwashing treatment" during the Korean War?
... that Hargovinddas Kantawala defeated Mahatma Gandhi to become the president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1919?
... that Hounslow West is the only station on the London Underground to be step-free for manual-wheelchair users only?
... that lumberman-turned-newspaper-publisher Wesley O. Smith served two terms in the state legislature, representing what are now six large counties in central Oregon?
... that Doppler radio direction finding is capable of measuring the direction of a stationary radio transmitter despite the Doppler effect being a phenomenon of movement?
... that the smooth jazz–jazz fusion album Worth Waiting For was keyboardist Jeff Lorber's only solo album to reach number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart?
... that a law blog has been cited by the supreme courts of Poland and of Germany?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Portal

Luis Arce

The OSIRIS-REx probe touches down and collects a sample from the asteroid Bennu.
Luis Arce (pictured) is elected President of Bolivia in the general election.
Floods in Hyderabad, India, kill at least 81 people.
The New Zealand Labour Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, wins a majority of seats in the general election.

On this day

October 25: Vijayadashami (Hinduism, 2020)

George III

1760 – George III (pictured) became King of Great Britain and Ireland.
1920 – Irish playwright and politician Terence MacSwiney died after a hunger strike in Brixton Prison, bringing the Irish struggle for independence to international attention.
1950 – Korean War: The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South Korean II Corps and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division, marking China's entry into the war.
1980 – Proceedings on the Hague Abduction Convention, a multilateral treaty providing an expeditious method to return a child taken from one member nation to another, concluded at The Hague.
2010 – Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.

Catherine of Bosnia (d. 1478)
Thomas Babington Macaulay (b. 1800)
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (b. 1900)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Johann Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899) was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. Part of the Strauss dynasty, his father demanded that none of his sons pursue music as a career, despite their display of musical talent. It was only after his father had abandoned the family for a mistress that the younger Strauss was able to develop his skills as a composer, with the encouragement of his mother. He eventually attained greater fame than his father, and became one of the most popular waltz composers of the era, conducting extensive tours of Austria, Poland and Germany with his orchestra.

Photograph credit: Fritz Luckhardt; restored by Adam Cuerden

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.