Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 February 2b

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From today's featured article

Bill Murray

Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin. It stars Bill Murray (pictured), Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. Murray portrays Phil Connors, a cynical television weatherman who is sent, much to his disgruntlement, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Connors becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive February 2 over and over, with not even death an escape, a repetition that will not change until he does. Much of the filming took place in bitterly cold weather in Woodstock, Illinois. The film led to expanded acting horizons for Murray, known to that point primarily as a comedy actor, as it showed he could handle more serious material. Groundhog Day had moderate to good box office receipts and reviews, but has since become a cult classic, acclaimed as one of the best movies of the 1990s and one of the great comedy films of all time. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela

... that F. W. de Klerk's speech announcing the end of apartheid in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela (both pictured) was given 31 years ago today?
... that the film poster for Looking for Magical Doremi appeared in an episode of Healin' Good Pretty Cure to promote the film?
... that although Dallas minister Walker Railey was acquitted of the attempted murder of his wife in a criminal court, a civil court awarded an $18 million judgment against him?
... that the Regent of Thousand Islands is the only regent in Indonesia to be appointed by the governor instead of being elected by the people?
... that journalist Kelsey Piper sees her Vox column as a way to popularize discussion of global catastrophic risks?
... that Distichia muscoides provides good grazing all-year-round in the High Andes for domesticated llamas and alpacas, and non-native livestock?
... that Dax Reynosa began his hip-hop career as a battle rapper who would burn the rhyme books of defeated opponents, and later co-produced a documentary depicting battle rap in Los Angeles?
... that a reviewer from Eurogamer considered King of Crabs to be the "best crab-based Battle Royale" video game he had ever reviewed?

In the news

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the State Counsellor of Myanmar, is detained by the military in a coup d'état.
A coordinated short squeeze targeting American hedge funds causes GameStop's stock price to spike.
Kaja Kallas becomes the first female Prime Minister of Estonia, following the resignation of Jüri Ratas.
In Russia, protests against the arrest of Alexei Navalny occur in more than 120 towns and cities.

On this day

February 2: Groundhog Day in Canada and the United States

Statue of Alexander Selkirk

1709 – Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (statue pictured) was rescued by English captain Woodes Rogers and his crew after spending four years as a castaway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific, providing the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe.
1850 – Ute Wars: Brigham Young announced his decision to go to war against the Timpanogos, who were hostile to the Mormon settlement at Fort Utah.
1920 – The signing of the Treaty of Tartu ended the Estonian War of Independence, with Soviet Russia agreeing to recognize the country's independence and renounce in perpetuity all rights to its territory.
1942 – The first act of the Norwegian resistance movement took place when the Osvald Group bombed Oslo East Station to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
2012 – The passenger ferry MV Rabaul Queen capsized and sank in rough conditions in the Solomon Sea, resulting in at least 88 deaths.

Julia Nava de Ruisánchez (b. 1883)
Abraham Iyambo (b. 1961; d. 2013)

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Today's featured picture

The basilica of San Lorenzo is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, situated at the centre of the city's main market district. The principal members of the Medici family are buried in one of the chapels. The interior of the dome, shown here, features the fresco Glory of Florentine Saints, commissioned by Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and painted by Vincenzo Meucci in 1742.

Painting credit: Vincenzo Meucci; photographed by Livioandronico2013

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