Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 October 1

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From today's featured article

The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their achievements through artworks. Dong was commissioned, and completed the oil painting in three months in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. The success of the painting was assured when Mao viewed it and liked it, and it was reproduced in large numbers for display in homes. Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang from the painting in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967, after government purges. In 1972 a reproduction was painted by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Lydia Zvereva

... that Lydia Zvereva (pictured) was the first Russian woman to earn a pilot's license?
... that the alpine pika can produce three different vocalizations: a long call during the mating season, a short call, and an alarm call when threatened?
... that the phrase "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" helped Grover Cleveland win the 1884 U.S. Presidential election?
... that Prussia entered a secret armistice with Austria in October 1741, but Frederick the Great pretended to continue fighting the First Silesian War for another two months?
... that Caroline B. Winslow opened the Homeopathic Free Dispensary, the first facility in Washington, D.C. where women doctors could practice side-by-side with their male colleagues?
... that Johannes Brahms used the same melody for a song of his Fünf Lieder, Op. 105, as for the theme of the slow movement of his second piano concerto?
... that a hydroelectric diversion project and a dark matter research lab have been developed deep under the Jinping Mountains in Sichuan, China?
... that Don Amador is portrayed in the film Milk by his friend Cleve Jones, while Jones is portrayed by Emile Hirsch?

In the news

German Chancellor
Angela Merkel

In Saudi Arabia, a decree by King Salman effectively removes a longstanding ban on women driving in the country.
Iraqi Kurdistan votes in favour of independence, though the vote is dismissed as unconstitutional by the Iraqi federal government.
The CDU/CSU, led by Angela Merkel (pictured), wins the most seats in the German federal election.
The National Party, led by Bill English, wins the most seats in the New Zealand general election.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes central Mexico, killing more than three hundred people.

On this day...

October 1: Day of Ashura (Islam, 2017); National Day in China (1949); Unification Day in Cameroon (1961); Filipino American History Month

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

1832 – The first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas convened to seek reforms from the Mexican government in hopes of quelling the widespread belief that settlers in Texas wished to secede from Mexico.
1861 – Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (pictured), a book on housekeeping and cooking which remains in print today, was first published in London.
1890 – At the urging of preservationist John Muir and writer Robert Underwood Johnson, the United States Congress established Yosemite National Park in California.
1975 – In boxing, Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in a match known as the "Thrilla in Manila".
1987 – Denmark became the first country to legalise civil unions between same-sex couples.

Henry III of England (b. 1207) · Helen Mayo (b. 1878) · Lucy Li (b. 2002)

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Today's featured picture

Venus and Mars is a panel painting of about 1485 by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It shows the Roman gods Venus, goddess of love, and Mars, god of war, in an allegory of beauty and valour. Probably intended to commemorate a wedding, the painting was likely set into panelling or a piece of furniture to adorn the bedroom of the bride and groom. The painting has been held by the National Gallery in London since 1874.

Painting: Sandro Botticelli

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