Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 June 21

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From today's featured article

Ezra Meeker (1830–1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon in 1852, migrating from Iowa to the Oregon Territory with his wife and newborn son. Although they endured hardships in the journey of nearly six months, the entire Meeker party survived. In 1862, he settled at the present site of Puyallup, Washington, where he grew hops for use in brewing beer. His business made him wealthy, and he served as Puyallup's first mayor, but an infestation of hop aphids in 1891 destroyed his crops and took much of his fortune. He made four trips to the Klondike during the gold rush there, bringing groceries in an unsuccessful attempt to recoup his losses. After the turn of the 20th century, Meeker, convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, determined to bring it publicity. In 1906–1908, although in his late 70s, he retraced his steps along the Oregon Trail by wagon, seeking to build monuments in communities along the way; he reached New York and Washington, D.C., where he met President Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote several books, and traveled the Trail again several times in the final two decades of his life, including by airplane in 1924. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that HMS Aldenham (pictured), which struck a mine near the island of Pag, was the final destroyer lost by the Royal Navy in World War II?

... that Prince Peter of Greece lost his dynastic rights by marrying a twice-divorced Russian commoner soon after Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry a twice-divorced U.S. commoner?

... that the House of Plantagenet derives its name from a royal heraldic badge used by Geoffrey of Anjou and his descendants, in the shape of a common broom plant (planta genista)?

... that Paul Ireland was a fishmonger before acting in Neighbours?

... that Heather Preceptory was founded around the turn of the 13th century by the Knights Hospitaller?

... that Joe Murray became better known as "Corporal Murray", despite being a Sergeant Major, due to his work in Bad Lads' Army?

... that GeoGuessr was criticized for having too much Australia?

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In the news

In basketball, the Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Finals.

Smoke from slash-and-burn cultivation in Indonesia causes the worst haze ever recorded in Singapore.

Flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in India kill more than 150 people and trap thousands.

Protests, initially against rising public transportation fares, intensify across Brazil, with demonstrations in dozens of cities (Brasília crowd pictured).

China's Tianhe-2 heads the TOP500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers.

The 39th G8 summit concludes with agreements on the Syrian civil war, tax evasion, and greater transparency.

Recent deaths: James Gandolfini

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On this day...

June 21: Midsummer festivities (Northern Hemisphere); Winter solstice festivals (Southern Hemisphere); International Surfing Day; National Aboriginal Day in Canada

1529 – War of the League of Cognac: The French army under Francis de Bourbon was destroyed in Lombardy, present-day Italy, by the Spanish army.

1826 – Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas.

1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government.

1963 – Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope Paul VI (pictured).

2004 – SpaceShipOne completed the first privately funded human spaceflight.

More anniversaries: June 20 – June 21 – June 22

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It is now June 21, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

Ginevra de' Benci is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci of a woman of the same name. Painted c. 1474–78, the painting may have been completed as a wedding gift for the 16-year-old de' Benci. This is the only known work by da Vinci on public display in the Americas.

Painting: Leonardo da Vinci

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