Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 February 15
From today's featured articleThe Silesian Wars were a series of three wars fought between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Austria (under Archduchess Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European region of Silesia (now in south-west Poland). The First (1740–1742) and Second Silesian Wars (1744–1745) formed parts of the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia was one member of an anti-Austrian coalition. The Third Silesian War (1756–1763) was one theatre of the global Seven Years' War, in which Austria led a coalition aiming to seize Prussian territory. All three ended in Prussian victories, and their overall territorial result was Austria's cession of the majority of Silesia to Prussia, which emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new European great power. Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged its prestige. The conflict foreshadowed a century-long Austria–Prussia rivalry for hegemony over the German-speaking peoples. (This article is part of a featured topic: Silesian Wars.) Did you know ...
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In the news
On this dayFebruary 15: Shrove Monday (Western Christianity, 2021); National Flag of Canada Day (1965) and Family Day in Canada (2021); Statehood Day in Serbia (1804); Washington's Birthday / Presidents' Day in the United States (2021)
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From today's featured list
Swedish actress Alicia Vikander's awards include an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. Vikander earned those honours for her 2014 portrayal of Danish painter Gerda Wegener, the wife of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe. In 2011, Vikander received the Shooting Stars Award from the Berlin International Film Festival. Vikander starred as wartime nurse Vera Brittain in the 2014 drama Testament of Youth, for which she was nominated at the British Independent Film Awards. The following year Vikander appeared as an android in the psychological thriller Ex Machina, for which she received awards in the Best Supporting Actress category from the Chicago Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Toronto Film Critics Association, and Vancouver Film Critics Circle. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
Wat Xieng Thong is a Buddhist temple on the northern tip of the peninsula of Luang Prabang, Laos. Built between 1559 and 1560 by King Setthathirath, it is one of the most important Lao monasteries, and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art. The temple was spared damage during the sacking of the city in 1887, because the Black Flag leader, Đèo Văn Trị, had studied there as a monk in his early life and used it as his headquarters. Photograph credit: Basile Morin
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