Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 June 18

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From today's featured article

The Astronomica is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. It was written c. AD 10–20 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius. The earliest work on astrology that is extensive, comprehensible, and mostly intact, the poem focuses heavily on the zodiac. It espouses a Stoic, deterministic understanding of a universe overseen by a god and governed by reason. It was rediscovered in the 15th century by the Italian humanist and scholar Poggio Bracciolini, who had a copy made from which the modern text derives. The Astronomica was read, commented upon, and edited by scholars, but then was neglected for centuries. This started to change during the early 20th century when the classicist A. E. Housman published a critically acclaimed edition of the poem. Housman's work was followed by the Latinist G. P. Goold's lauded English translation in 1977. (Full article...)

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Ribbed Mediterranean limpet

... that Al Hoceima National Park is one of the few locations where the giant ribbed Mediterranean limpet (pictured) survives?
... that spokesmodel Daniella van Graas thinks she has been largely typecast as a model, but wishes to gain 20 kilograms (44 lb) and play a Monster?
... that Meaning of Life is Kelly Clarkson's first album after successfully finishing her American Idol recording contract?
... that Eduardo A. Roca, Argentina's permanent representative to the United Nations during the Falklands War, accused the UK of aggression and condemned the US for supporting it?
... that the theme of the medieval Perso-Arabic legend of al-Nadirah was used in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea"?
... that archaeologist Chen Tiemei proposed the first chronology for Palaeolithic China?
... that trade in the Ajatappareng region increased when the Portuguese conquest of Malacca caused the exodus of Malacca's traders to other ports?
... that when Florence Fang sees a dinosaur, she buys it for her Flintstones-themed house?

In the news

Mohamed Morsi

Former President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi (pictured) dies during his trial at the age of 67.
A power outage affects Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay.
In golf, Gary Woodland wins the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
In basketball, the Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first Canadian team to win the NBA Finals.
Two oil tankers are attacked in the Gulf of Oman, amidst heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.

On this day

June 18

Emperor Gaozu of the Tang dynasty

618 – Li Yuan (pictured) declared himself to be emperor of a new Chinese dynasty known as Tang, which lasted for three centuries.
1815 – War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo, in present-day Belgium.
1940 – Charles de Gaulle gave his Appeal of 18 June speech, inspiring the French Resistance, and Winston Churchill urged Britons to fight so that future generations would say, "This was their finest hour".
1982 – The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.
2009 – NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, its first mission to the moon in over ten years.

Lord Castlereagh (b. 1769) · Andrew Forsyth (b. 1858) · Kofoworola Abeni Pratt (d. 1992)

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Today's featured picture

Big Buck Bunny is a computer-animated comedy short film, featuring animals of the forest, produced by the Blender Institute, part of the Blender Foundation. Like the foundation's previous film, Elephants Dream, the film was made using Blender, a free and open-source software application for 3D computer modeling and animation, made by the same foundation. Unlike the earlier project, the tone and visuals departed from a cryptic story and dark visuals to one of comedy, cartoons and light-heartedness. Big Buck Bunny was released as an open-source film under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.

Film credit: Blender Foundation

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