Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 September 24

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From today's featured article

Agaricus deserticola is a species of fungus found only in dry or semi-arid habitats in southwestern and western North America. It is similar to, and sometimes confused with, the mushrooms of the desert fungus species Podaxis pistillaris and Montagnea arenaria. Unlike other Agaricus species, it produces fruit bodies with a networked system of spore-producing tissue called a gleba, instead of true gills. When the cap splits, or the partial veil breaks or pulls away from the stem, the blackish-brown gleba is exposed, and spores are dispersed. The fruit bodies can reach heights of 18 cm (7.1 in) with caps up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) wide. The tough woody stems are 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide, thickening towards the base. Fruit bodies grow singly or scattered on the ground in fields, grasslands, or arid ecosystems. The edibility of A. deserticola is not known definitively. The fungus was transferred to the genus Agaricus in 2004 after molecular analysis. In 2010, its species name was changed to deserticola after it was discovered that the previous name, texensis, had already been taken for a different species. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

The New High and Low Lights

... that the Black Middens were avoided by aligning the Lights of North Shields (pictured)?
... that Mathilda Twomey is the first female judge in Seychelles?
... that domestic activities such as washing clothes can threaten the survival of the endangered Mexican water mouse?
... that Chen Mingxia served three Chinese dynasties in less than two years, and was executed by the third one for questioning the dress code?
... that the Church of England granted women the right to vote in the Church of England border polls 1915–1916 before they were allowed to vote in parliamentary elections?
... that Dick Cresswell, the first commander of an RAAF jet squadron in combat, was court-martialled for firing a shot at the feet of another officer who had apparently been annoying him?
... that the Smith Canal was created to carry food to the Stockton State Hospital, California's first psychiatric hospital?
... that newly elected Hong Kong legislator Lau Siu-lai was arrested for hawking squid?

In the news

Kieran Read

Yahoo! confirms that hackers infiltrated its network in late 2014 and stole information associated with at least 500 million user accounts – the largest data breach reported to date.
In rugby union, the Rugby Championship is won by New Zealand (captain Kieran Read pictured).
Typhoon Meranti affects China, Taiwan and the Philippines, causing at least 30 deaths.
The Chess Olympiad concludes with the United States winning the open event and China the women's event.
The wreck of HMS Terror, last seen in 1845 while on Franklin's lost expedition, is found off the southwest coast of King William Island, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

On this day...

September 24: Independence Day in Guinea-Bissau (1973); Heritage Day in South Africa; Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago (1976)

HMA No. 1 wreckage

1180 – The Byzantine Empire was weakened by the death of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
1877 – The Imperial Japanese Army defeated Saigō Takamori and the Satsuma clan samurai at the Battle of Shiroyama in Kagoshima, the decisive engagement of the Satsuma Rebellion.
1911 – His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, was wrecked (pictured) by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
1946 – Clark Clifford and George Elsey, military advisers to US President Harry S. Truman, presented him with a top-secret report on the Soviet Union that would form the basis of the US policy of containment.
1996 – Representatives from 71 nations signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which has not yet come into force because not enough signatories have ratified it.

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Today's featured picture

The Monroe Street Bridge is a deck arch bridge that spans the Spokane River in Spokane, Washington. It was built in 1911 by the city of Spokane and designed by John Chester Ralston, with ornamentation provided by the firm of Kirtland Kelsey Cutter and Karl Malmgren. At the time of completion, it was the largest concrete-arch bridge in the United States and the third longest in the world.

Photograph: W.O. Reed; restoration: Lise Broer

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