Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 January 1

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From today's featured article

The Battle of Calais took place in the early morning of 1 January 1350, during the Hundred Years' War. English troops in the occupied French city of Calais ambushed and defeated an unsuspecting French force which was attempting to take the city. Despite a truce being in effect, the French commander Geoffrey de Charny had planned to take the city by subterfuge, and bribed Amerigo of Pavia, an Italian officer of the city garrison, to open a gate for them. The English king, Edward III, became aware of the plot and personally led his household knights and the Calais garrison in a surprise counter-attack. The French were routed by this smaller force, with significant losses and all of their leaders captured or killed. Later that day, Edward dined with the highest-ranking captives, treating them with royal courtesy except for Charny, whom he taunted for having abandoned his chivalric principles by both fighting during a truce and attempting to purchase his way into Calais rather than fight. (Full article...)

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Fossil teeth of Alopias palatasi

... that the extinct giant thresher shark Alopias palatasi is the only one of its kind to possess serrated teeth (pictured)?
... that actress Anne Baxter's roles included an Egyptian princess, a ruthlessly ambitious understudy, an alcoholic, and two villains in the 1960s Batman television series?
... that Priestly's Hydraulic Ram in Gooding County, Idaho, pumped water uphill with no moving parts?
... that "Tom's Secret", an animated short film by Israeli artist Ohad Elimelech, was selected as the official video for the 2016 European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse?
... that 110 East 42nd Street and the Pershing Square Building, both located above a subway station, were designed with interlocking structures, including what is thought to be New York City's tallest party wall?
... that Carla's coach at the French talent show The Voice Kids did not want her to release a record?
... that the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia was published before the copy-editing process was completed?
... that in 1975, Donna Tobias became the United States Navy's first female deep-sea diver?

In the news

Jamal Khashoggi

Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes near Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 54 others.
A court in Saudi Arabia sentences five people to death for the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi (pictured).
In the Netherlands, the supreme court upholds a ruling that the government must meet established emissions reduction milestones, creating the first legal precedent on the impact of climate change on human rights.

On this day

January 1: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Catholicism)

"Am I not a man and a brother", emblem used by abolitionists

1785 – The Times began publication in London as The Daily Universal Register.
1808 – As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet abolished.
1928 – Joseph Stalin's personal secretary, Boris Bazhanov, crossed the Iranian border and defected from the Soviet Union.
1965 – The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which later helped the country become a republic, was founded.
2009 – A nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand, killed 66 patrons celebrating the New Year.

Marie-Louise Lachapelle (b. 1769) · J. D. Salinger (b. 1919) · Lhasa de Sela (d. 2010)

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Today's featured picture

Mantella baroni, commonly known as Baron's mantella, variegated golden frog or Madagascar poison frog, is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is native to Madagascar and is seen here in Ranomafana National Park in the southeastern part of the country. The species was described in 1888 by George Albert Boulenger, who named it after its collector, Richard Baron. It has been classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its relatively wide distribution, but is threatened by habitat loss. The frog's diet includes mites, which cause it to accumulate a high alkaloid concentration in its skin, making it toxic. The bright colours may serve as a warning sign to potential predators of the frog's toxicity.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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