Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 October 26

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From today's featured article

William Anderson (1840 – October 26, 1864), known as "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was one of the deadliest pro-Confederate guerrilla leaders of the American Civil War, leading a band of volunteer partisans who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in Missouri and Kansas. After his father was killed by a Union loyalist judge during the war, Anderson killed the judge and fled to Missouri where he robbed travelers and killed several Union soldiers. In 1863 he took a leading role in the Lawrence massacre and later participated in the Battle of Baxter Springs. By 1864 Anderson was the leader of a group of raiders in Missouri. In September 1864, he led a raid on the town of Centralia, where his men captured a passenger train; they executed 24 unarmed Union soldiers in the Centralia Massacre. Later that day they killed more than a hundred Union militiamen in an ambush. Anderson died in battle a month later. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Coney Island shore

... that New York City's Coney Island (pictured) has not been an island since the 1930s?
... that when the army of Spendius was surrounded, his men ate their horses, their prisoners, and then their slaves before forcing him to negotiate?
... that the children's picture book Julián is a Mermaid was initially going to be about drag balls, until the author learned about the meaning of mermaids to transgender people?
... that the hymn "Singt dem Herrn ein neues Lied" (Sing to the Lord a new song) was written in both French and German in Nazi-controlled Alsace in 1941?
... that astrophysicist and space-weather specialist Professor Peter T. Gallagher led the building of Ireland's first serious radio telescope, the 3,000-antenna I-LOFAR, at Birr Castle?
... that choreographer Justin Peck cast himself in his ballet Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes when a dancer was injured the night before the premiere?
... that Dina Pomeranz was ranked highest in social-media influence by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in its 2019 ranking of economists?
... that one critic wrote that he had banned his children from watching Doctor Who due to the ending of the first episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Portal

Lewis Hamilton

In motor racing, Lewis Hamilton (pictured) breaks the record for the most race wins in Formula One.
The OSIRIS-REx probe touches down and collects a sample from the asteroid Bennu.
Luis Arce is elected President of Bolivia in the general election.
Floods in Hyderabad, India, kill at least 81 people.

On this day

October 26

Ida B. Wells

1341 – The Byzantine army proclaimed chief minister John VI Kantakouzenos emperor, triggering a civil war between his supporters and those of John V Palaiologos, the heir to the throne.
1892 – Ida B. Wells (pictured) began to publish her research on lynching in the United States, for which she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020.
1955 – Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.
1994 – Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, settling relations between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country.
2000 – Following protests against military leader Robert Guéï, Laurent Gbagbo became the first elected president of Ivory Coast.

Gómez González (d. 1111)
Carlo Collodi (d. 1890)
Masaharu Iwata (b. 1966)

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From today's featured list

Fortress of Suomenlinna

As of 2020, there are seven World Heritage Sites in Finland. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Finland accepted the convention on 4 March 1987, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. The first two sites added to the list were Old Rauma and the Fortress of Suomenlinna (pictured), both in 1991, at the 15th Session of the World Heritage Committee. Six of Finland's sites are classified as cultural sites according to the UNESCO criteria, while one, the High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago, is a natural site. This is a transnational site and is shared with Sweden. In addition to its World Heritage Sites, Finland also maintains six properties on its tentative list. (Full list...)

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Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient Persian necropolis located about 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest of Persepolis in Iran. The site includes rock reliefs from the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods, and four tombs of Achaemenid kings. The oldest relief, dating from around 1000 BC, is thought to be Elamite in origin. The tombs carved into the rock, as seen from left to right in this panoramic photograph, are thought to belong to Darius II (423–404 BC), Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC), Darius I (522–486 BC), and Xerxes I (486–465 BC), respectively. An inscription on the facade of Darius I's tomb mentions his conquests and achievements. In the far left of the image is the Cube of Zoroaster, belonging to the Achaemenid era (5th century BC); its purpose is unclear. Inscriptions on its walls in three languages have been described as the "most important historical documents from the Sassanian era".

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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