Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 December 30b

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From today's featured article

Jamiroquai are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in their early releases and later drew from rock, disco, electronic and Latin music. Lyrically, they have addressed social and environmental justice. The band made their debut under Acid Jazz Records, but they subsequently found mainstream success under Sony. Three of their albums have charted at number one in the UK under this label: Emergency on Planet Earth, Synkronized and A Funk Odyssey. The band's 1998 single "Deeper Underground" was also number one in their home country. Jamiroquai have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide. Their third album, Travelling Without Moving, received a Guinness World Record for the best-selling funk album in history. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Dante, Virgil and Cerberus, illustrated by Stradanus

... that Dante used the third circle of hell (illustrated) to discuss contemporary Florentine politics rather than the sin of gluttony?
... that Re'quan Boyette was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team in 2008, making him the second Duke player to receive the honor?
... that a group of self-employed women on the island of Cikobia-i-Ra donate 10 percent of their earnings to combat climate change?
... that George Mackaness showed that by infecting mice with intracellular bacteria, macrophages could be activated to attack other bacteria?
... that the specific and common names of the Argentine seabass refer to different countries?
... that Ingeborg Beugel left Greece following death threats and reported attacks after she questioned the prime minister about pushbacks?
... that Chninkel, a Franco-Belgian comic mixing Tolkien-like fantasy with Biblical themes, has been translated into several languages?
... that trade negotiator Michael Smith's negotiating style was summarized by a sign at his office door that read "This is not Burger King"?

In the news

Pat Cummins

The Supreme Court of Russia orders the closure of Memorial, Russia's oldest human rights group, for violations of the foreign agent law.
In cricket, Australia (captain Pat Cummins pictured) retains The Ashes after winning the first three Tests against England.
South African archbishop and human rights activist Desmond Tutu dies at the age of 90.
Ariane flight VA256, carrying the James Webb Space Telescope, is launched from the Guiana Space Centre.
A ferry fire in Bangladesh kills at least 40 people.

On this day

December 30: Rizal Day in the Philippines (1896)

The second inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos

999 – In Ireland, the combined forces of Munster and Meath crushed a rebellion by Leinster and Dublin.
1813 – War of 1812: British forces captured Buffalo, New York, and burned down nearly all its buildings.
1969 – Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos (pictured) began his second term after being re-elected by a landslide, but economic unrest led him to declare martial law within a year.
2006 – Saddam Hussein, the former President of Iraq, was executed after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal.

Vincenzo da Filicaja (b. 1642)
Rudyard Kipling (b. 1865)
Erica Garner (d. 2017)

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Today's featured picture

The grass snake (Natrix natrix) is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake that grows to around a metre (3 ft) in length. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Its prey, often common frogs or toads, is caught and swallowed whole. While digesting a large meal, the snake does not travel far, preferring to bask in the sun. Two or three significant food items may supply an individual's needs for the whole season, with the snake finding an underground refuge, not subject to freezing, in which to overwinter. This grass snake was photographed near Storkow in Brandenburg, Germany.

Photograph credit: Andreas Eichler

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