Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 May 29

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A Deinonychus antirrhopus skeleton, in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences

Deinonychus is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur that existed during the Early Cretaceous. It contains only a single species, D. antirrhopus. Fossils of the 3.4 meter (11 ft) long dinosaur have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, though teeth attributed to Deinonychus have been found as far east as Maryland. A 1960s study of Deinonychus revolutionized the way scientists thought about dinosaurs, leading to the "Dinosaur renaissance" and igniting a debate on whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Where the popular conception of dinosaurs had been one of plodding reptilian giants, the study's description of Deinonychus' small body, sleek horizontal posture, ratite-like spine and enlarged raptorial claws suggested an active, agile predator. As in other dromaeosaurids, the tail vertebrae have a series of ossified tendons and super-elongated bone processes. These features would seem to make the tail into a stiff counterbalance, but fossils of closely-related species suggest that, in life, the tail could swish to the sides with a high degree of flexibility. Deinonychus teeth and other remains have been found closely associated with those of the ornithopod Tenontosaurus, implying that it was hunted or at least scavenged upon by Deinonychus. (more...)

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From Wikipedia's newest articles:

A painting of a nineteenth-century church facade. The facade is white-washed, in a late-classical style. Men in period dress are shown chatting in front.

  • ... that San Pellegrino in Vaticano (pictured) is one of the oldest churches in the Vatican City?
  • ... that baseball player Lou Raymond's career with the Philadelphia Phillies consisted of one game, during which he earned a single hit in two at-bats?
  • ... that Bach began his cantata, Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch, BWV 86, with a quotation from the Farewell discourse, sung by the bass as the Vox Christi?
  • ... that in the 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot, two Arab-Americans allegedly planned to attack a synagogue, and one of the suspects expressed interest in blowing up the Empire State Building?
  • ... that a planet was discovered around the star MOA-2009-BLG-387L after it eclipsed a background star, refracting the star's light in a process called gravitational microlensing?
  • ... that Georg Dörffel was a ground attack pilot but was killed in combat against four-engined bombers?
  • ... that a football team's travelling army of supporters is often referred to as its 12th man?
  • In the news

    Sergei Bagapsh

  • Sergei Bagapsh (pictured), the President of the de facto Republic of Abkhazia, dies from complications of lung surgery in Moscow.
  • The UEFA Champions League concludes with FC Barcelona defeating Manchester United in the final at Wembley Stadium.
  • Egypt re-opens the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.
  • American poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron dies at the age of 62.
  • Leaders of the G8 countries meet at the 37th G8 summit in France.
  • Mac Defender poses the first major malware threat to Macintosh users.
  • On this day...

    May 29: International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers; Democracy Day in Nigeria

    Mount Everest

  • 1167 – A 1,600-man force of the Holy Roman Empire led by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel defeated a 10,000-man Papal States army.
  • 1453Constantinople fell to the besieging Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed II, ending the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1911 – English dramatist W. S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan died while saving a young woman from drowning in his lake.
  • 1913The Rite of Spring, a ballet with music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
  • 1953New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest (pictured).
  • 1985 – A wall at Brussels' Heysel Stadium collapsed under the pressure of football fans escaping a riot before the European Cup Final between England's Liverpool F.C. and Italy's Juventus F.C., killing 39 people and injuring over 600 others.
  • More anniversaries: May 28May 29May 30

    It is now May 29, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured picture

    Wongudan, Seoul

    A 1925 photo of Wongudan, an altar site in Seoul built in 1897 as a location for the performance of the rite of heaven. King Seongjong of the Goryeo Dynasty was the first to perform the rite, designed to ensure a bountiful harvest, in the tenth century. The practice was discontinued by later Goryeo kings, revived briefly in the mid fifteenth century by Sejo of the Joseon Dynasty, then reinstated with the founding of the Korean Empire in 1897. Much of the altar complex was destroyed during the Japanese occupation, and the gate and fountain seen here were also subsequently removed, leaving only the three-storey Hwangungu pagoda remaining.

    Photo: Burton Holmes; Restoration: Lise Broer

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