Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 August 26

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From today's featured article

Misterioso is a live album by American jazz ensemble the Thelonious Monk Quartet, released in 1958 by Riverside Records. Pianist and composer Thelonious Monk (pictured) had overcome an extended period of career difficulties by the time of his 1957 residency at the Five Spot Café in New York City. He returned to the venue the following year for a second residency and recorded Misterioso with drummer Roy Haynes, bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Misterioso and its title track refer to Monk's reputation as an enigmatic, challenging musician. The album features four of his earlier compositions, which Monk reworked live. It was one of the first successful live recordings of his music and was produced by Orrin Keepnews, who said that Monk played more distinctly than on his studio albums in response to the audience's enthusiasm. Music critics at the time complimented Monk's performance, but were critical of Griffin, whose playing they felt was out of place with the quartet. Later critics have viewed Griffin's playing as a highlight. The album was remastered and reissued in 1989 and 2012 by Original Jazz Classics. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that birds found in Indonesia's Gunung Ambang Nature Reserve include the golden-mantled racket-tail (pictured), the chestnut-backed bush warbler, the Matinan blue flycatcher, the dark-eared myza, the scaly-breasted kingfisher, the cerulean cuckooshrike and the Sulawesi masked owl?
... that General San Martín's Monument was inaugurated on the 50th anniversary of Neuquén, Argentina?
... that Anna Rüling, "the first lesbian activist" and one of the first women to publicly declare her homosexuality, believed that lesbians were more suited to careers than straight women?
... that in pursuit of his foreign policy objectives, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an official visit to Nepal and was the first foreign leader to address that country's parliament?
... that baseball's Jim Manning was one of the organizers of both the Western League and its successor the American League?
... that the radical PUNGA party was the sole force in Gabon that called for a "No" vote in the 1958 French constitutional referendum?
... that Tony Kaye appeared on the cover of The Yes Album with his foot in plaster, having broken it in a car accident?

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In the news

At the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, Modern Family wins Outstanding Comedy Series and Breaking Bad wins Outstanding Drama Series.
An edition of the 1938 Action Comics #1 is auctioned for $3.2 million, the highest price paid for a single issue of a comic.
Bank of America agrees to pay more than US$16 billion for the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities before the Great Recession.
At least 52 people are killed in a series of landslides (damage pictured) in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
The 41st Chess Olympiad concludes with China winning the open section and Russia winning the women's section of the tournament.

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Gaza conflict – Ukrainian unrest – ISIL Iraq offensive
Recent deaths: Richard Attenborough – B. K. S. Iyengar – Hashim Khan

On this day...

August 26: Heroes' Day/Herero Day in Namibia; Women's Equality Day in the United States

1071 – Byzantine–Seljuq Wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan captured Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
1346 – Hundred Years' War: English forces established the military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights at the Battle of Crécy (pictured).
1768 – HMS Endeavour departed Plymouth, England, marking the start of the first voyage of explorer James Cook.
1810 – Juan José Castelli ordered the execution of Santiago de Liniers, during the Argentine War of Independence.
1966 – The South African Defence Force launched an attack against SWAPO guerrilla fighters at Omugulugwombashe, starting the Namibian War of Independence.

More anniversaries: August 25 – August 26 – August 27

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It is now August 26, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

The central part of the ceiling at the Galerie des Batailles, a 120-by-13-metre (394 by 43 ft) gallery at the Palace of Versailles joining onto the grand and petit appartements de la reine. Designed by Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine and Frédéric Nepveu upon the order of Louis Philippe I, the gallery's design includes a wide cornice supporting a coffered painted ceiling with entablatures supported by Corinthian columns along the length of the gallery.

Photo: -donald-

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