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Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 July 6

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From today's featured article

The Dodo

The Dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Its appearance in life is evidenced only by 17th-century paintings and written accounts that vary considerably, so its exact appearance is a mystery. Little is certain about its habitat and behaviour. Subfossil remains show the Dodo was about 1 metre (3.3 feet) tall and may have weighed 10–18 kg (22–40 lb). It is presumed that the Dodo became flightless because of the ready availability of abundant food sources and a relative absence of predators on Mauritius. The first recorded mention of the Dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. In the following years, the bird was preyed upon by hungry sailors, their domesticated animals, and invasive species introduced during that time. The last widely accepted sighting of a Dodo was in 1662. Its extinction within only about a century of its discovery called attention to the previously unrecognised problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species. The Dodo achieved widespread recognition from its role in Alice in Wonderland, and it has become a fixture in popular culture, often as a symbol of extinction and obsolescence. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

The Ilyushin Il-76TD that crashed in 2011; picture taken in 2007

  • ... that several attempts to get to the wreckage of an Azeri aircraft (pictured) that crashed near Kabul in 2011 were repelled by gunshots?
  • ... that Bruno Möhring was a proponent of high-rise construction in Berlin at a time when most of his fellow German architects opposed skyscrapers?
  • ... that a prisoner of the French at Laghouat told the Red Cross, "Technically we are not prisoners of war but up to the present have not been able to find a difference"?
  • ... that at the Onda Cero Sport Awards in 2009, Manuel Garnica Roldan earned an award for the best athlete with a disability?
  • ... that in 2012 Nimbuzz moved its headquarters from Rotterdam to New Delhi, to be closer to the mobile Internet boom expected to happen in India in the next five years?
  • ... that in 2000–09, approximately 3.1 million acres in the United States were under rice production?
  • ... that Djoemala was paired with Roekiah for four films despite the latter already being married?
  • In the news

    Mohamed Morsi
  • The London Array, the world's largest offshore wind farm, is inaugurated.
  • Mohamed Morsi (pictured) is deposed as President of Egypt in a coup d'état amid mass protests.
  • King Albert II of Belgium announces his intention to abdicate in favour of his son Philippe.
  • An earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 35 people.
  • The International Astronomical Union approves the names Kerberos and Styx for Pluto's fourth and fifth moons.
  • The United Nations mission MINUSMA begins its operative mandate in Mali.

    Recent deaths: Douglas Engelbart

  • On this day...

    July 6: Independence Day in Malawi (1964); Statehood Day in Lithuania (1253); the festival of San Fermín begins in Pamplona, Spain

    Louis Pasteur

  • 1253Mindaugas, the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania, was crowned as King of Lithuania, the only person to ever hold that title.
  • 1411Ming Dynasty Admiral Zheng He returned to Nanjing after the third treasure voyage and presented the Sinhalese king, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to the Yongle Emperor.
  • 1809Napoleon's French forces defeated Archduke Charles' Austrian army at the Battle of Wagram, the decisive confrontation of the War of the Fifth Coalition.
  • 1885 – French chemists Louis Pasteur (pictured) and Emile Roux successfully tested their vaccine against rabies on nine-year-old Joseph Meister after he was bitten by an infected dog.
  • 1978 – A sleeping car train at Taunton, England, caught fire, killing 12 people and causing British Rail to install state-of-the art fire prevention measures.

    More anniversaries: July 5 July 6 July 7

    It is now July 6, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page
  • Thomas More

    Thomas More (1478–1535) was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England, humanist, and author of several books, including Utopia. During the English Reformation More was staunchly against the King's separation from the Roman Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England. As a result More was imprisoned, convicted of treason, and beheaded. As such, More was canonised by the Catholic Church in 1935 as an early martyr in the schism.

    Painting: Hans Holbein the Younger

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