Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 March 20

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Today's featured article
Tom Derrick (1914–1945) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) during the Second World War. He was awarded the VC for his assault on a heavily defended Japanese position at Sattelberg, New Guinea, in November 1943. During the engagement, he scaled a cliff face while under heavy fire and silenced seven machine-gun posts, before leading his platoon in a charge that destroyed a further three. Derrick enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in July 1941, joining the 2/48th Battalion. He was posted to the Middle East, where he took part in the Siege of Tobruk, was recommended for the Military Medal and promoted to corporal. Later, at El Alamein, Derrick was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for knocking out three German machine-gun posts, destroying two tanks, and capturing a hundred prisoners. He returned to Australia with his battalion in February 1943, and subsequently served in the South West Pacific Theatre where he fought in the battle to capture Lae. A year later, he returned to Australia for officer cadet training and was commissioned lieutenant in November 1944. During the Battle of Tarakan on 23 May 1945, he was hit by five bullets from a Japanese machine gun. Derrick died from his wounds the next day. (more...) Recently featured: Tom Swift – "Abyssinia, Henry" – Ernest Shackleton Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the 1884 Michigan football team's (pictured) first game was part of a "field day" that included heavyweight boxing, "catch-as-catch-can wrestling" and "chasing greased pig"? ... that during the 1989 Kosovo miners' strike about 180 miners were hospitalized? ... that Greta Garbo threatened to return to Sweden rather than act in Women Love Diamonds? ... that the Pyrenean brook salamander sometimes lives entirely underground in caves? ... that Gotthold Schwarz has been associated with the 800-year-old Thomanerchor boys choir in Leipzig as a member, a vocal coach since 1979, a bass soloist and an interim conductor? ... that in 2007 it was reported that Scroogle was becoming the preferred search engine of Internet civil libertarians? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Lindsey Vonn (pictured) and Marcel Hirscher win the Alpine Skiing World Cup. George Tupou V, the King of Tonga, dies in Hong Kong at the age of 63. Joachim Gauck is elected President of Germany. Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, dies at the age of 88. Sachin Tendulkar of India becomes the first cricketer to score 100 international cricket centuries. Nicolae Timofti is elected President of Moldova. Conflict in Syria – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
March 20: Nowruz in Iran, Central Asia, and Zoroastrianism (2012); Independence Day in Tunisia (1956) 235 – Maximinus Thrax succeeded to the throne of the Roman Empire, the first of the so-called barracks emperors who gained power by virtue of his command of the army. 1600 – Five advisers to Polish–Swedish king Sigismund III Vasa were publicly executed, effectively ending his reign. 1815 – After escaping from exile in Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris, officially beginning his "Hundred Days" rule. 1852 – American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (illustration pictured) was first published, profoundly affecting attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the United States. 2006 – Cyclone Larry made landfall in Far North Queensland, eventually causing nearly AU$1 billion in total damage and destroying over 80 percent of Australia's banana crop. More anniversaries: March 19 – March 20 – March 21 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now March 20, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Papilio demoleus, the Common Lime Butterfly, is a common and widespread Swallowtail butterfly. It gets its name from its host plants which are usually citrus species such as the cultivated lime. Unlike most swallowtail butterflies it does not have a prominent tail. The butterfly has also been referred to as the Citrus swallowtail, a name it shares with a morphologically similar species, Papilio demodocus which flies in Africa. The butterfly is a pest and invasive species from the Old World which has spread to the Caribbean and Central America.

Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

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