Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 July 19

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From today's featured article

Nick Stahl, who played Ben Hawkins

The two central characters of Carnivàle, an HBO television series, were Ben Hawkins (actor pictured), a young man working in a traveling carnival; and Brother Justin Crowe, a Californian preacher. Most of the characters are introduced in Ben's story, though several others interact mainly with Brother Justin; some appear in mysterious dreams and visions connecting the slowly converging storylines. Show creator Daniel Knauf submitted elaborate character biographies, which were rewritten before the filming of the first season began and provided to the actors and production personnel. The original character backgrounds were summarized on HBO's website, and were provided in full to fans after the show's cancellation. Due to their nature, these sources contain information on the intended fate of the characters beyond the cancellation of Carnivàle after the second season. They do not offer canon information per se, but provide a frame for the characters' motivation throughout the series. (This article is part of a featured topic: Carnivàle.)

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Did you know ...

One57

... that one apartment at New York City's One57 (pictured) was purchased for a two-year-old girl?
... that Hannah Lee Corbin was the "first Virginia woman to take a stand for women's rights"?
... that hunts for the yeren, a Chinese apeman cryptid, were some of the largest involvements of peasants in scientific endeavors?
... that donors withdrew $4 million in funding from Vote.org after its board fired its founder and CEO, Debra Cleaver?
... that the Royal Rhodesian Air Force Ensign originally had three assegais, but this was reduced to one following the break-up of the Federation?
... that Jim Laker did not become a spin bowler until he played on coconut matting strips in Egypt during World War II?
... that Charlie N. Holmberg developed the idea for her novel The Paper Magician after studying Japanese and learning about the art of origami?
... that a group of men killed Robert Corrigan because they did not like his decisions as a judge of an agricultural fair?

In the news

Flooding in Clausen, Luxembourg

Floods across western Europe (pictured) leave more than 180 people dead.
In South Africa, protests and subsequent unrest over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma result in 212 deaths and more than 2,500 arrests.
The Supreme Court of Nepal designates Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister.
There Is Such a People wins the most seats in the Bulgarian parliamentary election.

On this day

July 19: Day of Arafah (Islam, 2021)

Detail from The Day the Earth Smiled, with Earth as a pale dot between Saturn's rings

998 – Arab–Byzantine wars: After initial Byzantine gains at the Battle of Apamea, a lone Kurdish rider managed to kill Byzantine commander Damian Dalassenos, allowing Fatimid troops to turn the tide of the battle.
1702 – Great Northern War: Polish–Saxon forces were defeated by a Swedish army half their size at the Battle of Kliszów.
1981 – French president François Mitterrand privately showed U.S. president Ronald Reagan a dossier revealing that the Soviets had been stealing American technological research and development.
2013 – The NASA spacecraft Cassini took a photograph of Saturn with Earth in the distance (detail pictured), for which people were invited to "wave at Saturn".

Thomas Talbot (b. 1771)
David Hillhouse Buel (b. 1862)
Yekaterina Budanova (d. 1943)

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From today's featured list

Peter Gabriel

The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the most prestigious competitive award of and the final award presented at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. The award was created by the US network MTV to honor artists with the best music videos. At the first MTV Video Music Awards ceremony in 1984, the Video of the Year honor was presented to the Cars for the video "You Might Think". Eminem holds the record for the most nominations, with seven as a lead artist. Beyoncé has the second-most nominations, with five as a lead artist. David Lee Roth (1985), U2 (1988), and Lady Gaga (2010) are the only artists to have two Video of the Year nominations as a lead artist in a single ceremony. Among them, Gaga was the only to win, with "Bad Romance". Two artists have won Video of the Year and been honored with the Video Vanguard Award—an honorary award for artists who had "profound impact" on music videos and popular culture—in the same night: Peter Gabriel (pictured) in 1987 with "Sledgehammer", and Justin Timberlake (2013) with "Mirrors". (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Robert J. Walker (July 19, 1801 – November 11, 1869) was an American lawyer, economist and politician. He served as a member of the United States Senate representing the state of Mississippi from 1835 until 1845, and as Secretary of the Treasury from 1845 to 1849 during the administration of President James K. Polk. This line engraving of Walker was produced by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of treasury secretaries. The portrait appeared on the fifth issue of 25-cent fractional-currency notes, issued in 1874.

Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva

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