Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 July 31

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Beaufighter, a common platform for AI Mk. IV radar

Airborne Interception radar, Mark IV, was the first successful air-to-air radar system, used in Britain's Bristol Beaufighter heavy fighters by early 1941 in the Second World War. Early development of the Mk. IV was prompted by a 1936 memo from the inventor Henry Tizard to Robert Watt, director of the radar research efforts, who agreed to allow physicist Taffy Bowen to form a team to study the problem of air interception. The team had a test bed system in flights later that year, but progress was delayed for four years by emergency relocations, three abandoned production designs, and Bowen's increasingly adversarial relationship with Watt's replacement, Albert Percival Rowe. The Mk. IV had many limitations, including displays that were difficult to interpret, a maximum range that decreased with the aircraft's altitude, and a minimum range that was barely close enough to allow the pilot to see the target. Nevertheless, the Mk. IV played a role in the Royal Air Force's increasingly effective response to The Blitz, the Luftwaffe‍‍ '‍s night bombing campaign. The Mk. VIII largely relegated the Mk. IV to second-line duties by 1943. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Grain Tower at low tide

... that the Grain Tower (pictured), the last Martello-style gun tower to be built in Britain, was designed to protect the mouth of the River Medway?
... that Alex Sharp is the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play?
... that the Texas-dwelling tarantula Aphonopelma hollyi was named after rock 'n' roll singer Buddy Holly?
... that Mariam Behruzi was one of four women elected to the first Iranian Parliament?
... that in the 1971 science fiction film The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler, the clones were referred to as soma, which is Greek for body?
... that United News of India is the first and only news agency in the world to supply news in Urdu on the teleprinter?
... that the Nature Reserve of Saint Bartholomew, which includes Île Frégate, is battling an invasion of lionfish?
... that Ray Davies was forced to make a round-trip flight from New York to London to rerecord two words in "Lola"?

In the news

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Scientist and former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (pictured) dies at the age of 83.
In cycling, Chris Froome wins the Tour de France for a second time.
Pierre Nkurunziza is re-elected president of Burundi for a third term.
After a suicide bombing in Suruç that killed 32 people, Turkey launches airstrikes against ISIL and Kurdistan Workers' Party camps in Iraq.
Scientists announce the discovery of Kepler-452b, the first potentially rocky exoplanet discovered in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star.
The United States and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations after 54 years.

Ongoing events:
- Greek debt crisis
Recent deaths:

On this day...

July 31: Tu B'Av (Judaism, 2015); Feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola; Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (Flag Day) in Hawaii

Bush and Gorbachev sign the START I treaty.

1201 – John Komnenos the Fat briefly seized the throne of the Byzantine Empire from Alexios III Angelos, but he was soon caught and executed.
1703 – English writer Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for seditious libel after publishing a pamphlet politically satirising the High Church Tories.
1777 – The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing French nobleman Marquis de Lafayette to enter the American revolutionary forces as a Major General.
1975 – The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
1991 – The Soviet Union and the United States signed the bilateral START I treaty (signing pictured), the largest and most complex arms control treaty in history, which eventually removed 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons then in existence.

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the main award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote from a pre-determined shortlist, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and play a significant amount of their sport in the United Kingdom. Sports Personality of the Year was created by Paul Fox, who thought of the idea while he was editor of the magazine show Sportsview. The first award ceremony took place in 1954 as part of Sportsview, and was presented by Peter Dimmock. Approximately 14,500 votes were cast by postcard, and Christopher Chataway beat Roger Bannister to win the inaugural BBC Sportsview's Personality of the Year Award. Three people have won the award more than once: boxer Henry Cooper and the Formula One racing drivers Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have each won twice. The most recent award winner is Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, who won in 2014. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The long-tailed broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae) is a species of broadbill found in the Himalayas. This insectivore is very sociable and normally travels in large, noisy parties. It can be identified by its shrill call.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

Recently featured:

Archive
More featured pictures...

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.