Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 February 4

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From today's featured article

Gwen Stefani (born 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, and the lead vocalist of the band No Doubt. Their album Tragic Kingdom (1995) was a critical and commercial success, spawning the singles "Just a Girl", "Don't Speak", "Hey Baby", and "It's My Life". Stefani's three solo albums have also been successful: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004) includes "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", and "Hollaback Girl"; The Sweet Escape (2006) produced the singles "Wind It Up" and "The Sweet Escape"; and her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016), reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Billboard magazine ranked her as the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–09 decade, and VH1 ranked her 13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. Stefani has won three Grammy Awards and has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, including her work with No Doubt. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

David Johnson

... that photographer David Johnson (pictured) was the first African American student of Ansel Adams?
... that the cable ship Alert almost completely isolated Germany from the worldwide telegraph network by cutting its submarine telegraph cables just hours after the outbreak of World War I?
... that Edward Stanley scored no runs, and took no catches or wickets, during his first-class cricket career?
... that cases against 9,700 Kashmiri youth in India were withdrawn by the government as part of its "healing touch" policy for peacebuilding in Jammu and Kashmir?
... that in reviewing Jude the Obscure for Life, Cyclops found that Alex Marshall as Arabella "steals the series"?
... that "Joy to the World" is one of the hymns based on Psalm 96, "Sing to the Lord a new song"?
... that in 1956, German civil servant Erica Pappritz co-wrote a book on etiquette which included sections on correct odour and on how Bonn diplomats liked to carry umbrellas?
... that after a nearby railroad station burned down, 12 horses pulled the old Caldwell station on rafters to the site to replace it?

In the news

The Qatar national football team

In association football, the AFC Asian Cup concludes with Qatar defeating Japan in the final (Qatari celebration pictured).
Both the United States and Russia suspend the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
A cold wave impacts North America, killing at least 21 people.
Two bombs at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Philippines, kill at least 20 people and leave more than 100 others injured.

On this day

February 4: Independence Day in Sri Lanka (1948)

Yasser Arafat

1169 – A strong earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sicily, causing at least 15,000 deaths.
1859 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovered the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt.
1969 – Yasser Arafat (pictured) was elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1999 – The Panamanian-flagged freighter New Carissa ran aground near Coos Bay, Oregon, causing one of the worst oil spills in the state's history.
2015 – Shortly after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Airport, the crew of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 shut down the wrong engine in response to a flameout, leading to a crash that resulted in 43 deaths.

Carl Michael Bellman (b. 1740) · Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (b. 1778) · Karen Carpenter (d. 1983)

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From today's featured list

Retired numbers at Lambeau Field

Six players have had their uniform numbers officially retired by the Green Bay Packers, a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since their founding in 1919, over 1,600 players, including 30 Pro Football Hall of Famers, have played for the team. Professional sports franchises, including the Packers, retire uniform numbers to recognize the contributions that a player has made towards the team. It is customary that after the uniform number is retired, it is no longer worn by future players with that team. These uniform numbers are usually prominently displayed within the team's arena or stadium. In the case of the Green Bay Packers, the retired numbers are displayed above the box seats in the north end zone of Lambeau Field (pictured). (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Monument to Nicholas I is a bronze equestrian monument of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia located in Saint Isaac's Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Created by French sculptor Auguste de Montferrand and unveiled in 1859, the statue was considered a technical wonder at the time of its creation and is one of only a few bronze statues with just two support points (the rear hooves of the horse).

Photograph: Godot13

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