Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 November 4

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From today's featured article

Fossil tooth

Cretoxyrhina is an extinct genus of the order Lamniformes of mackerel sharks. Living in subtropical and temperate oceans worldwide about 107 to 73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous, Cretoxyrhina was one of the largest sharks of its time, 8 meters (26 ft) in length, and also among the fastest, with estimated burst speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph). It was an apex predator, preying on sharks and other large fish, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, and occasionally dinosaurs. Thanks to numerous discoveries of exceptionally well-preserved skeletons during the 19th and 20th centuries, the type species, C. mantelli, is one of the best-understood extinct sharks. These fossils show that it may have had a lifespan of up to forty years and a general build similar to the modern great white shark, but with facial and optical features similar to those of thresher sharks and crocodile sharks. Its ability to function in cold water was probably enhanced by regional endothermy. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Michael Hargrave with other
medical students who assisted
at Bergen-Belsen

... that in 1945, British medical student Michael Hargrave (pictured, second from right) volunteered to provide assistance in the Netherlands, but was sent to help survivors at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp instead?
... that Toki Pona, a constructed language devised in 2001, uses only around 120 to 125 root words?
... that Ramatoulie DK Sanneh, The Gambia's first woman general, has campaigned against gender-based violence?
... that Ramin Djawadi was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for an episode of the Westworld season 2 soundtrack, but lost out to his own work on Game of Thrones season 7?
... that Jiang Weipu has been called the "patron saint of lianhuanhua"?
... that the assassin bug Rhynocoris longifrons will feed on moth larvae in preference to sap-sucking pests?
... that Mikhail Semyonov swapped a career in mining for one in politics, rising to the position of Chairman of the People's Khural of Buryatia?
... that Mill Creek, Washington, was not named after a mill or a creek?

In the news

Duane Vermeulen

In rugby union, the World Cup concludes with South Africa defeating England in the final (Player of the Match Duane Vermeulen pictured).
A series of earthquakes hit Mindanao, Philippines, killing at least 21 people.
A fire on a passenger train near Liaquatpur, Pakistan, kills at least 75 people.
In baseball, the Washington Nationals defeat the Houston Astros to win the World Series.

On this day

November 4: Constitution Day in the Dominican Republic (2019); Flag Day in Panama

Yitzhak Rabin

1780 – In the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, Túpac Amaru II led a rebellion of Aymara, Quechua, and mestizo peasants in protest against the Bourbon Reforms.
1791 – Northwest Indian War: In the most severe defeat ever suffered by U.S. forces at the hands of Native Americans, the Western Confederacy won a major victory at the Battle of the Wabash near present-day Fort Recovery in Ohio.
1912 – The keel of USS Nevada was laid down, beginning construction on the first "super-dreadnought" of the United States Navy.
1964 – Ayatollah Khomeini was arrested by SAVAK and secretly exiled to Turkey.
1995 – Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (pictured) was assassinated by ultranationalist Yigal Amir while at a peace rally at Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv.

John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester (d. 1576) · Shakuntala Devi (b. 1929) · Matthew McConaughey (b. 1969)

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From today's featured list

New Zealand, the 2011 champions

The Rugby World Cup final is the last match of the international rugby union competition established in 1987. The Rugby World Cup is contested by the men's national teams of the member unions of the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and takes place every four years. The winning team in the final is declared world champion and receives the Webb Ellis Cup. The winners of the first final were New Zealand, who beat France 29–9. New Zealand are the most successful team in the history of the tournament, with three wins. They are also the only team to have won consecutive tournaments, with their victories in the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup (2011 New Zealand team pictured). Australia and South Africa have won the competition twice, while England have one win. They are the only nation from the northern hemisphere to have won the competition. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Rear Admiral Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers (November 4, 1819 – January 8, 1892) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, and also as Superintendent of the Naval Academy, President of the United States Naval Institute, and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron. Rodgers was appointed midshipman in 1833 and served in the Pacific Squadron and at the New York Navy Yard, later taking part in operations in the Second Seminole War from 1839 to 1840. He was assigned to the Home Squadron in 1847 to serve in the Mexican–American War; he participated in the Siege of Veracruz in March, and in the capture of Tabasco and Tuxpan by his uncle Commodore Matthew C. Perry. In 1859, Rodgers was appointed Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, serving there until the start of the Civil War in 1861, in which he saw action at the Battle of Port Royal and the Siege of Fort Pulaski. After the war, he served as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks from 1871 to 1874 and later as Superintendent of the Naval Academy until 1878, before a two-year tour as Commander of the Pacific Squadron and returning to the Naval Academy as superintendent in 1881, retiring in November of that year.

This picture of Rodgers was taken sometime between 1860 and 1865, during the Civil War, and is in the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Photograph: unknown; restored by Eddie891

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