Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 March 24

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From today's featured article

Mary of Burgundy praying
to the Virgin Mary

The Hours of Mary of Burgundy is a book of hours, a form of devotional book for lay people, completed in Flanders around 1477. It was probably commissioned for Mary of Burgundy, then the wealthiest woman in Europe; Mary was the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and wife of Maximilian I, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The book contains 187 folios (folio 14v pictured), each measuring 22.5 by 15 centimetres (8.9 in × 5.9 in). It consists of the Roman Liturgy of the Hours, 24 calendar roundels, 20 full-page miniatures and 16 quarter-page format illustrations. It includes meticulously detailed illustrations and borders by the influential illuminator known by the notname of the Master of Mary of Burgundy. Other miniatures, considered of an older tradition, were contributed by Simon Marmion, Willem Vrelant and Lieven van Lathem. The two best-known illustrations contain a revolutionary trompe-l'œil technique of showing a second perspective through an open window. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Seattle Monorail red train

... that the Seattle Center Monorail began operating 58 years ago today and still uses its original trains (example pictured)?
... that Edgar Wright, director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, thinks that the film is different from other comedies because it has "a lot of funny women in it"?
... that Gaelic footballer Seán Quigley was banned for one game for turning off the lights in a stadium tunnel?
... that the Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes in Wales doubled for the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula during the filming of Lawrence of Arabia?
... that James Blunt wrote "Monsters" to express his feelings about his father and his father's illness?
... that the Reverend Raphael Warnock has hosted Al Gore at his church, and been arrested at the Georgia State Capitol?
... that darts player Tony David won the 2002 BDO World Darts Championship despite having haemophilia, which prevents him from straightening his throwing arm?
... that in 1725 Hans Sloane described a plant he called Prickly-Pole as the Jamaican tree species that was "the most fit to make Rods and Scowrers for Guns"?

In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Igor Matovič

Igor Matovič (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of Slovakia following elections in February.
Edwin Catmull and Pat Hanrahan receive the Turing Award for their work on computer-generated imagery.
Paleontologists announce the discovery of Asteriornis maastrichtensis, the oldest definitive species of modern bird, which lived at the end of the Mesozoic era.

On this day

March 24: World Tuberculosis Day

Óscar Romero

1550 – Anglo-Scottish Wars: England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Boulogne, ending hostilities between the two nations in the Rough Wooing.
1869 – New Zealand Wars: Māori leader Tītokowaru's conflict ended with the last of his forces surrendering to the New Zealand colonial government.
1946 – Formulated at the initiative of British prime minister Clement Attlee, the Cabinet Mission arrived in New Delhi to discuss the transfer of power from the colonial government to Indian leadership.
1980 – One day after making a plea to Salvadoran soldiers to stop carrying out the government's repression, Archbishop Óscar Romero (pictured) was assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
2008 – Led by Jigme Thinley, the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party won 45 of 47 National Assembly seats in the country's first general election.

Catherine of Vadstena (d. 1381) · Fanny Crosby (b. 1820) · Kitty O'Neil (b. 1946)

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Today's featured picture

The blue pitta (Hydrornis cyaneus) is a species of passerine bird native to tropical south-eastern Asia. It has long legs and a short tail, and is about 23 cm (9 in) long, the female being more sombrely clad than the male. Secretive and shy, it is found in moist lowland and montane forests, particularly in ravines and near watercourses. It forages on the forest floor for insects and other small invertebrates, flicking away leaves and probing the ground with its beak. The nest is a large, bulky dome-shaped structure with a side entrance, hidden amongst tangled plant growth.

This picture shows a male blue pitta photographed in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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