Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 February 18

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From today's featured article

Lazarus Aaronson (18 February 1895 – 9 December 1966) was a British poet and a lecturer in economics. As a young man, he belonged to a group of Jewish friends who are today known as the Whitechapel Boys, many of whom later achieved fame as writers and artists. His diction and verbal energy have been compared to those of his more renowned and innovative Whitechapel friend, Isaac Rosenberg. Reviewers have traced influences in Aaronson's poetry from the English poet John Keats and from Hebrew poets such as Shaul Tchernichovsky and Zalman Shneur. Aaronson lived most of his life in London and spent much of his working life as a lecturer in economics at the City of London College. In his twenties, he converted to Christianity; a large part of his poetry focused on his conversion and spiritual identity as a Jew and an Englishman. He published three collections of poetry: Christ in the Synagogue (1930), Poems (1933), and The Homeward Journey and Other Poems (1946). Although he did not achieve widespread recognition, Aaronson gained a cult following of dedicated readers. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Graham Waterhouse

... that Phoenix Arising for bassoon and piano was composed by Graham Waterhouse (pictured) in memory of his father, the bassoonist William Waterhouse, who believed in his instrument's "broad expressive possibilities"?
... that Asa Miller, one of only two athletes competing for the Philippines at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and still lives there?
... that the greater thornbird builds a cone-shaped nest, usually over water, while the freckle-breasted thornbird makes a gourd-shaped nest with a long entrance tunnel?
... that 109 years ago today, William Howard Taft was made a Mason at sight?
... that the French Constitutional Council triggered a by-election in a constituency representing French nationals in Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Monaco?
... that Australian mathematician Katherine Heinrich was the first female president of the Canadian Mathematical Society?
... that in July 1918, Jagdgeschwader III faced the problem of self-igniting ammunition?
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In the news

Jacob Zuma

South African president Jacob Zuma (pictured) resigns amid corruption claims, and is succeeded by Cyril Ramaphosa.
A gunman kills 17 people and injures 15 others at a school in Parkland, Florida, United States.
Scientists announce the discovery of malacidins, a new class of antibacterial chemicals.
Cyclone Gita strikes Tonga, becoming the strongest storm to hit the nation in over 60 years, and causes widespread property damage.
All 71 people on board are killed when Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia.

On this day...

February 18

Vasil Levski

1268 – A coalition of Russian medieval states defeated the Livonian Brothers of the Sword at the Battle of Wesenberg near present-day Rakvere, Estonia.
1873 – Vasil Levski (pictured), the national hero of Bulgaria, was executed in Sofia by Ottoman authorities for his efforts to establish an independent Bulgarian republic.
1932 – The Empire of Japan established Manchukuo, a puppet state in northeastern China during the Sino-Japanese War.
1943 – Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, delivered a speech calling for a "total war" to motivate the German people when the tide of World War II was turning against Germany.
2013 – Eight gunmen stole approximately US$50,000,000 worth of diamonds from a Swiss-bound aircraft at Brussels Airport, Belgium.

Francesco Redi (b. 1626) · Kristijonas Donelaitis (d. 1780) · Swraj Paul, Baron Paul (b. 1931)

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Today's featured picture

Mound of Butter is a painting by the French realist painter Antoine Vollon completed between 1875 and 1885. A still life, it depicts a mound of butter, coloured in rich, deep yellow, with thick marks after the artist's brushwork that may be intended to suggest the marks of a butter knife. The painting is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Painting: Antoine Vollon (image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art)

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