Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 July 13

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From today's featured article

The recorded history of Gibraltar (pictured in 1782) spans over 2,900 years. First inhabited 50,000 years ago by the Neanderthals, Gibraltar may have been one of their last refuges before their extinction. To the Carthaginians and Romans it was one of the Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. Moors from North Africa first settled and fortified it, calling it Jebel al-Tarik, later corrupted into Gibraltar. Castile contested it and eventually conquered it in 1462, after which it became part of Spain. An Anglo-Dutch force seized it in 1704. It was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht, signed on 13 July 1713. Spain unsuccessfully besieged Gibraltar in 1704, 1727 and 1779–83; its status is still disputed. The territory became a British Crown colony and an important trading post and base for the Royal Navy during the Peninsular War. During the Second World War it was a key British garrison, controlling access to the Mediterranean. Gibraltar's fourteen sieges have led to it becoming "one of the most densely fortified and fought over places in Europe". Today it is a self-governing British Overseas Territory with an economy based largely on financial services, shipping and tourism. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that the captain of the brig Nancy (pictured) is said to have raised the first American flag in a foreign port, during the Revolutionary War?

... that William de Courcy, a 12th century Anglo-Norman baron, not only gave land to Abingdon Abbey but also a fishery named "Sotiswere"?

... that Palkonda literally means "milk hills"?

... that actress Verna Hillie got her first movie contract when she lost a contest to be the Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls?

... that the Plaza de Armas of Manila may have been the exact site where Rajah Sulayman's palisade once stood?

... that in 2007, ONCE named Maximiliano Óscar Rodríguez Magi the Sportsman Lucense do Ano and Disability Sport winner?

... that the recent popularity of Amish romance novels has been seen as a reaction to the increasing popularity of erotic fiction such as Fifty Shades of Grey?

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In the news

A Canadian team wins the Sikorsky Prize for creating a human-powered helicopter.

Widespread flooding in China causes at least 46 deaths and the evacuation of more than 220,000 people.

Ten bombs are detonated at one of the holiest sites in Buddhism, the Mahabodhi Temple complex (pictured) in India, injuring five people.

More than fifty supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi are killed in clashes with the military in Cairo.

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes while landing at San Francisco International Airport, killing three people.

A runaway fuel train derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing at least twenty-four people and destroying at least thirty buildings in the town's core.

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On this day...

July 13

1793 – Charlotte Corday (pictured) assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.

1863 – Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War.

1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.

1977 – Ethiopia and Somalia went to war over the disputed Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia.

2003 – French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian politician Íngrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the press six days later.

More anniversaries: July 12 – July 13 – July 14

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Today's featured picture

The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez which was completed between 1647 and 1651. It depicts the Roman goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by her son Cupid. The painting is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. Since 1906 it has been in the National Gallery in London.

Painting: Diego Velázquez

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