Wikipedia:Main Page history/2022 January 20

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

The Old Exe Bridge is a ruined medieval bridge in Exeter, England. Built from around 1190 and completed by 1214, it is the oldest surviving bridge of its size in England and the oldest bridge in Britain with a chapel on it. The project was the idea of influential local merchants Nicholas and Walter Gervase, father and son. The bridge was at least 590 feet (180 metres) long and probably had 17 or 18 arches, carrying the road across the flood plain of the River Exe. St Edmund's Church, the bridge chapel, was built into the bridge at the time of its construction. Later all but the central section carried buildings. The bridge collapsed and had to be partially rebuilt several times but remained in use for almost 600 years, until a replacement was built in 1778 and the arches across the river were demolished. In 1969 eight and a half arches of the medieval bridge were uncovered and restored. The bridge's remains are a scheduled monument and a Grade II listed building. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Ravish Malhotra

... that after training for the Soyuz T-11 mission, Indian Air Force pilot Ravish Malhotra (pictured) stayed on the ground as a backup astronaut for Rakesh Sharma, who became the first Indian in space?
... that before the Biltmore Theatre was restored in 2003, there were proposals to lease the theater to a delicatessen owner or turn it into a hotel lobby?
... that the township of Hồ Xá in Vietnam was once known as the "B-52 bomb pocket"?
... that Nebraska's "Itch" Oehlrich was lured by the "scratch" of $100 per game to play in the National Football League?
... that George Balanchine choreographed the ballet Ivesiana to music by Charles Ives, despite previously finding his works too complex for dance?
... that the lead role in the 2021 film Cry Macho was first offered to Clint Eastwood in 1988?
... that Elfrida von Nardroff won $220,500 ($2.1 million today) on the game show Twenty-One in 1958, the highest winnings of any contestant?
... that after it broadcast for the last time, KHAT became Rock Steady and was part of a Triathlon?

In the news

Hunga Tonga eruption

Microsoft announces its intent to acquire video game company Activision Blizzard.
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake in Badghis Province, Afghanistan, kills at least 28 people.
The Hunga Tonga volcano erupts (satellite animation shown), causing damage in Tonga and tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean.
An apartment fire in the Bronx, New York City, kills 17 people.

On this day

January 20: Day of Nationwide Sorrow in Azerbaijan (1990)

2009 inauguration of Barack Obama

1356 – Edward Balliol, whose father John was briefly King of Scotland, gave up his claim to the throne in exchange for an English pension.
1877 – The Constantinople Conference concluded with the Great Powers declaring the need for political reforms, which the Ottoman Empire refused to undertake, later resulting in the Russo-Turkish War.
1942 – The Holocaust: Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi officials met at the Wannsee Conference near Berlin to discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
1992 – Air Inter Flight 148 crashed into the Vosges while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport, France, resulting in 87 deaths.
2009 – In Washington, D.C., more than one million people attended the inauguration of Barack Obama (pictured) as the first African-American president of the United States.

Wulfstan (d. 1095)
Carl Linnaeus the Younger (b. 1741)
Naomi Parker Fraley (d. 2018)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Obverse and reverse of a ten-dollar National Bank Note

Cecil Brown (1850–1917) was an American attorney, politician, businessman, and banker in the Kingdom, Republic, and Territory of Hawaii. He was the founding president of the first national bank chartered in Hawaii. This ten-dollar National Bank Note, issued in 1900, bears Brown's signature at the bottom right of the obverse.

Banknote design credit: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; photographed by Andrew Shiva

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.
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.
Teahouse – To ask your first basic questions about contributing to Wikipedia.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is written by volunteer editors and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other volunteer projects: