Wikipedia:Main Page history/2024 March 18

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Marble head, hypothesized to be of Attalus
Marble head, hypothesized to be of Attalus

Attalus I (269–197 BC) ruled the Ionian Greek Pergamene Kingdom from 241 BC until his death. He won an important victory, the Battle of the Caecus River, against the Galatians, a group of migratory Celtic tribes from Thrace, who had been plundering and exacting tribute through most of Asia Minor for decades. The victory was celebrated with a triumphal monument at Pergamon (The Dying Gaul) and Attalus taking the title of king (basileus). He participated as an ally of Rome in the First and Second Macedonian Wars against Philip V of Macedon. He conducted numerous naval operations in the Aegean, gaining the island of Aegina for Pergamon during the first war and Andros during the second. Attalus styled himself as a protector of the freedoms of the Greek cities of Asia Minor and portrayed himself as the champion of Greeks against barbarians. He funded art and monuments in Pergamon and in Greek cities he sought to cultivate as allies. He died at the age of 72 and was succeeded by his son Eumenes II. (Full article...)

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Joseph Bosworth
Joseph Bosworth

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Luís Montenegro in October 2022
Luís Montenegro

On this day

March 18: Feast day of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (Christianity)

Traian Vuia's monoplane
Traian Vuia's monoplane
More anniversaries:
Launch of Viking 9, 15 December 1952
Launch of Viking 9, 15 December 1952

1952 in spaceflight featured several branches of the United States' military, often in partnership with civilian organizations, continuing their programs of sounding rocket research beyond the 100-kilometre (62-mile) boundary of space (as defined by the World Air Sports Federation) using the Aerobee rocket. The University of Iowa launched its first series of rockoon flights, demonstrating the validity of the balloon-launched rocket, a comparatively inexpensive way to explore the upper atmosphere. The launch of Viking 9 (pictured) at the end of the year to an altitude of 135 miles (217 kilometres), by the Naval Research Laboratory team under the management of Milton Rosen, represented the pinnacle of contemporary operational rocket design. The same year, groundwork was laid for the launch of the first artificial satellite when, in October, the General Assembly of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) scheduled the International Geophysical Year for 1957–58. (Full list...)

Acanthite

Acanthite is a form of silver sulfide with the chemical formula Ag2S. It was first described in 1855 for an occurrence in the Ore Mountains in the present-day Czech Republic. The name is derived from the Greek "akantha" meaning thorn or arrow, in reference to its crystal shape. Acanthite crystallizes in the monoclinic system and is the stable form of silver sulfide below 173 °C (343 °F). As argentite cools below that temperature, its cubic form is distorted to the monoclinic form of acanthite. This crystal of acanthite, with dimensions of 4.0 cm × 2.5 cm × 1.5 cm (1.57 in × 0.98 in × 0.59 in), was extracted from a mine in Imider, in the Jbel Saghro, a mountain range in Morocco. This photograph has been focus-stacked from 42 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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