Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 August 26

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From today's featured article

When God Writes Your Love Story is a 1999 book by Eric and Leslie Ludy (pictured), an American married couple. After becoming a bestseller on the Christian book market, the book was republished in 2004 and then revised and expanded in 2009. It tells the story of the authors' first meeting, courtship, and marriage. The authors advise single people not to be physically or emotionally intimate with others, but to wait for the life partner that God has planned for them. The Ludys argue that one's love life should be both guided by and subordinate to one's relationship with God. Leslie writes that God offers new beginnings to formerly unchaste or sexually abused individuals. Leah Andrews of the Lewiston Morning Tribune compared When God Writes Your Love Story to other popular Christian books providing alternatives to dating, including Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl. American college professors Margaret and Dwight Peterson responded to the Ludys' book by writing an essay called "God Does Not Want to Write Your Love Story," in which the Petersons argue that the book makes young people see marriage as a fantasy comparable to that of Disney Princesses. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that the 11th century Thầy Temple (pictured) is one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam?
... that Oprah Winfrey has stated that the gospel hymn "I Surrender All" played a pivotal role in her life?
... that Cowan Creek Circular Enclosure in Ohio was once part of a group of archaeological sites that has since been submerged by a reservoir?
... that Arundhati Roy argues in Kashmir: The Case for Freedom that Kashmir was never an integral part of India?
... that the Argentine mini-series El puntero received the Golden Martín Fierro Award?
... that the Lautten Compagney played Monteverdi's Vespers for the Rheingau Musik Festival's annual Marienvesper, which was sung by ensemble amarcord and guests?
... that Prince Charles had to close his fruit and vegetable shop this year because it was no longer profitable?

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In the news

U.S. soldier Robert Bales (pictured) is sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of sixteen Afghan civilians in the Kandahar massacre.
A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, kills more than thirty people.
NASA recommissions the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to search for asteroids.
Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria.
U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) is sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing classified information to WikiLeaks.

Recent deaths: Elmore Leonard

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On this day...

August 26: National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (2013); Women's Equality Day in the United States

1789 – French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly.
1883 – A massive eruption destroyed the volcanic island of Krakatoa, ejecting so much ash that average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) over the next year.
1928 – At a cafe in Paisley, Scotland, May Donoghue found the remains of a snail in her bottle of ginger beer, causing her to launch one of the landmark civil action cases in British common law, Donoghue v Stevenson.
1970 – Betty Friedan (pictured) and the National Organization for Women organized the Women's Strike for Equality in New York City, in which 20,000 women protested the continuing lack of gender equality.
2008 – More than a week after a ceasefire was reached in the South Ossetia war, Russia unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

More anniversaries: August 25 – August 26 – August 27

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From today's featured list

The best-selling single of the 1960s in the United Kingdom was "She Loves You" by The Beatles (pictured). Released on 23 August 1963, "She Loves You" spent six weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and sold more than 1.89 million copies, approximately 140,000 more than its nearest rival, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", also by The Beatles. An additional 12 singles also sold over a million copies in the UK by the end of the decade. The best-selling single by a female artist was Cilla Black's version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", which became the UK's 27th highest-selling record of the 1960s. The biggest-selling song not to top the singles chart was Acker Bilk's 1961 instrumental "Stranger on the Shore" – it sold more than 1.13 million copies and peaked at number two, being kept off the top by "The Young Ones" by Cliff Richard & The Shadows. During the 1960s, sales of singles in the UK were monitored by several magazines, including New Music Express, Record Retailer, Melody Maker and Disc. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Elizabeth Farren (c. 1759 – 1829) was an English actress of the late 18th century. She made her premiere in a performance of She Stoops to Conquer in 1777, retiring over twenty years later. Horace Walpole described her as the "most perfect actress" he had ever seen.

Painting: Thomas Lawrence

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