Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 August 31

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Mr. Dooley, by Gordon Ross (1909)

Mr. Dooley is a fictional bartender created by American journalist Finley Peter Dunne, appearing in print between 1893 and 1915, and again in 1924 and 1926. The bartender's humorous but pointed commentary on American politics and international affairs first became popular during the 1898 Spanish–American War. Dunne's essays are in the form of conversations in an Irish dialect of English between Mr. Dooley, the owner of a fictional tavern in the Bridgeport area of Chicago, and one of the bar's patrons. From 1898 onwards, the essays, and the books collecting them, gained national acclaim. Dunne became a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, although the friendship did not curtail his satire. Beginning around 1905, Dunne had increasing trouble finding time and inspiration for new pieces, and, except for a brief resurrection in the mid-1920s, his columns ended in 1915. Even before his death in 1936, his work was becoming obscure due in part to his use of dialect and unusual spellings. The columns originated lasting sayings such as "the Supreme Court follows the election returns". (Full article...)

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Capitoline Brutus
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Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge under construction in 2015
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge under construction

On this day...

August 31: Independence Day in Malaysia (1957) and Trinidad and Tobago (1962)

Interior view of Kinetoscope with peephole viewer
Interior view of Kinetoscope with peephole viewer
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Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife is a 1634 etching by Rembrandt. It depicts a story from the Bible, wherein Potiphar's Wife attempts to seduce Joseph. It is signed and dated "Rembrandt f. 1634" and exists in two states. Described as "unprecedented in its erotic candor", and a stark contrast with the classicism of the conventional nude, the etching was not widely distributed in Rembrandt's lifetime.

Etching: Rembrandt

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