Recently featured: James Chadwick – Briarcliff Manor, New York – Battle of Caishi
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:
Kate Alice Candelin aka Vaughan
... that Kate Vaughan (pictured), who developed the skirt dance, was considered the greatest dancer of her time?
... that the Romanian communist Constantin Doncea made a well-publicized break from prison, finding his way to Moscow and then to the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War?
... that Narendra Modi got the idea for the Bharatiya Janata Party slogan for the 2014 Indian general election, Achhe din aane waale hain ("Good days are coming"), from his opposition leader, Manmohan Singh?
... that in his later career, Clifford Hall painted women covered almost head to toe and with their faces usually hidden?
... that film titles like India Speaks, Africa Speaks!, and Mussolini Speaks gave Duke Ellington the idea to call his song "Harlem Speaks"?
... that Stephen Phillips originally auditioned to play the Winners & Losers character Doug Graham, but was cast as Zach Armstrong instead?
... that the penis in male canids contains a structure at the base which helps to create a copulatory tie during mating, locking the animals together for up to an hour?
Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article
In the news
Artist's rendering of Comet Siding Spring's Mars approach
Comet Siding Spring makes a very close approach to Mars (artist's rendering pictured) and is observed by means of surface rovers and satellites.
At least 41 people are killed in Nepal's worst snowstorm disaster around the mountains of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri.
Jean Tirole is awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his analysis of market power and regulation.
Cyclone Hudhud strikes India and Nepal, killing at least 84 people.
Evo Morales is re-elected for a third term as President of Bolivia.
Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their activism against the oppression of children and young people.
Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Hong Kong protests – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Gough Whitlam
On this day...
October 21: Trafalgar Day in various Commonwealth countries
Florence Nightingale
1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Lord Nelson signalled "England expects that every man will do his duty" to the rest of his Royal Navy forces before they defeated Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and his combined French–Spanish navy at the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain's Cape Trafalgar.
1854 – Florence Nightingale (pictured) and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to Turkey to help treat wounded British soldiers fighting in the Crimean War.