Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 February 22

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From today's featured article

Reconstruction of Lilybaeum

The Siege of Lilybaeum lasted from 250 to 241 BC, as the Roman army laid siege to the Carthaginian-held Sicilian city of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala; reconstruction pictured) during the First Punic War. Lilybaeum was well-fortified and situated on the coast, where it could be supplied and reinforced by sea. In mid–250 BC the Romans besieged the city with more than 100,000 men. They made a concerted effort to take it by assault, but were unsuccessful. The Romans then attacked the Carthaginian fleet, but their fleet was itself destroyed in the naval battles of Drepana and Phintias. In 242 BC, the Romans built a new fleet and cut off supplies. The Carthaginians reconstituted their fleet and despatched it to Sicily loaded with provisions. The Romans met it not far from Lilybaeum and defeated it at the Battle of the Aegates in 241 BC. The Carthaginians sued for peace and the war ended after 23 years with a Roman victory; by the terms of the Treaty of Lutatius Carthage evacuated the city. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

George Washington by John Trumbull

... that John Trumbull finished his painting George Washington (pictured) before he was arrested for high treason?
... that the creator of a video depicting the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, which featured Indonesian politically satirical song "Ampun Bang Jago", denied that it was politically motivated?
... that the American scholar Karen Hellekson published the first book in English devoted to analyzing the alternate history genre?
... that although its range is restricted to the island of Borneo, the mountain blackeye has evolved into four subspecies?
... that the biography of Singapore's first Asian postmaster-general, M. Bala Subramanion, was released at The Fullerton Hotel, the site of the old General Post Office where he had worked for 35 years?
... that Dav Pilkey wrote the Caldecott Honor-winning children's book The Paperboy in fifteen minutes?
... that film researcher Lillian Michelson interviewed elderly Jewish women about the appearance of the underwear they wore in the 1890s to develop accurate clothing for Fiddler On The Roof?
... that a commercial for the food delivery app Domino's App feat. Hatsune Miku went viral on YouTube in 2013, and was described by journalists as "bizarre"?

In the news

Naomi Osaka

In tennis, Naomi Osaka (pictured) and Novak Djokovic win the Women's Singles and the Men's Singles, respectively, at the Australian Open.
Porfirije is enthroned as the 46th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
NASA's Perseverance rover, carrying the Ingenuity helicopter, successfully lands on Mars.
A winter storm in North America leaves at least 70 people dead and several million others without clean water or power.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala becomes the first woman and the first African to be appointed Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

On this day

February 22

Dolly

1371 – Robert II became King of Scots as the first monarch of the House of Stewart.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: British ships began attacking the rear of a combined Franco-Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean Sea off the French coast near Toulon.
1997 – Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced the existence of Dolly (pictured), a female sheep who was the first mammal to have successfully been cloned from an adult cell.
2006 – At least six men staged the largest cash robbery in Britain at a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011 – An earthquake registering 6.3 M_L struck Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 185 people and causing around NZ$40 billion in damage.

Alexis Bachelot (b. 1796)
Elizabeth Sumner (d. 1911)
Adrian Boult (d. 1983)

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Kim Hee-chul

Kim Hee-chul made his acting debut as Baek Jin-woo in the second season of the teen drama Sharp (2005). A South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, television personality, and member of the K-pop boyband Super Junior, Kim has since acted in leading roles in Rainbow Romance (2005–2006) and Flower Grandpa Investigation Unit (2014). Kim's popularity skyrocketed after he was cast in the variety show Knowing Bros in 2015 alongside veteran host Kang Ho-dong and vocalist Min Kyung-hoon. His role in the show earned him his first Baeksang Arts Awards nomination in the Best Male Variety Performer category at the 56th ceremony. Kim has acted in several music videos, including in TraxX's "Let You Go" and Sistar's "Shady Girl", both of which were released in 2010, and directed a few others. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Lansdowne portrait is an iconic life-size portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. It depicts the 64-year-old president of the United States during his final year in office. The portrait was a gift to the former British prime minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, and spent more than 170 years in England. In 1968, it was loaned to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and purchased by the gallery in 2001. This copy of the Lansdowne portrait, also painted by Stuart, hangs in the East Room of the White House; it was rescued by First Lady Dolley Madison during the Burning of Washington in 1814.

Painting credit: Gilbert Stuart

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