Wikipedia:Main Page history/2022 June 13
From today's featured article
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The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua (pictured) made him the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. His agenda was to negotiate contract labor for the Kingdom of Hawaii's sugar plantations, with hopes of saving the dwindling Native Hawaiian population by drawing immigration from Asia-Pacific nations. Rumors circulated that the King secretly intended to use the trip to sell the Hawaiian Islands. He visited American legislators, had an audience with Pope Leo XIII in Rome, and met with European and Asian heads of state. In between negotiations, Kalākaua and his companions visited tourist sites and attended local Masonic lodge meetings. As a result of his visit with Thomas Edison, Iolani Palace became the first building in Hawaii with electric lighting. The King's amiable personality generated worldwide goodwill, and he succeeded in increasing Hawaii's labor force with Japanese workers. Their arrival was commemorated a century later with a new statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the petunia carnage of 2017 (cause pictured) led to worldwide economic losses?
- ... that the first episode of the British pop music TV show Top of the Pops was broadcast on 1 January 1964 from Dickenson Road Studios, a converted church in Manchester?
- ... that archaeologist Lawrence H. Keeley refined the methods of microscopic use-wear analysis to learn about prehistoric stone tools?
- ... that players are cheating in esports by using performance-enhancing drugs?
- ... that Las Vegas radio station KVBC-FM offered Monica Lewinsky $5 million to do a tell-all interview?
- ... that the reactions to food depicted in the manga series Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma were decided on through free association games?
- ... that although the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled, Iceland's planned entry for that year was chosen as the alternative winner in several countries, including Sweden and Australia?
- ... that Floyd Griffin lost a mayoral election by just 35 votes?
In the news
- Former Bolivian president Jeanine Áñez (pictured) is sentenced to ten years in prison on charges related to her succession to office during the 2019 political crisis.
- Voters in Kazakhstan pass 56 constitutional amendments in a referendum, following the January 2022 unrest.
- In Nigeria, at least 40 people are killed in an attack at a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State.
- A fire and explosions at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 41 people and injure more than 450 others.
On this day
- 1525 – Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, beginning the practice of clerical marriage in Protestantism.
- 1881 – The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the USS Jeannette (pictured) was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in ice for almost two years.
- 1935 – In one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, the underdog James J. Braddock defeated Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
- 1952 – Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one.
- 1983 – Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first man-made object to leave the proximity of the major planets of the Solar System.
- Mansur I (d. 976)
- Charles Algernon Parsons (b. 1854)
- Christo and Jeanne-Claude (b. 1935)
From today's featured list
The Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality vocal performances in the genre of rock music. The honor was first presented to Bruce Springsteen (pictured) at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards (1988) for the album Tunnel of Love. Paul McCartney was the final recipient of the award, for the song "Helter Skelter", before its discontinuation from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; all solo or duo/group performances in the rock category are now honored in the category of Best Rock Performance. Springsteen holds the record for the most wins in this category, with five, while Neil Young holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
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The Danube Delta is the second-largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and the best preserved on the continent. While a small part of the delta lies in Ukraine (Odessa Oblast), a majority of its area of 3,446 km2 (1,331 sq mi) lies in Romania (Tulcea County). With the lagoons of Razim–Sinoe, located south of the main delta, the combined territory of 5,165 km2 (1,994 sq mi) is designated a World Heritage Site. Photograph credit: European Space Agency
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