Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 13

The giant eland is an open-forest savanna antelope. Although it is the largest species of antelope, with a body length ranging from 220–290 cm (87–110 in), the epithet "giant" refers to its large horns. It is also called "Lord Derby's eland" in honour of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, by whose efforts it was first introduced to England. As a herbivore, it eats grasses, foliage and branches. It usually forms small herds consisting of 15–25 members, both males and females. Giant elands are not territorial, and have large home ranges. They are naturally alert and wary, which makes them difficult to approach and observe. They can run at up to 70 km/h (43 mph) and use speed as a defence against predators. They mostly inhabit broad-leafed savannas, woodlands and glades. The giant eland is native to Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and South Sudan. It is no longer present in Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Togo. Its presence is uncertain in Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and Uganda. There are two subspecies, which have been given different conservation statuses by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Tropical Storm Cindy (1993) – Samuel Merrill Woodbridge – Common Raven

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that in 1975 TIME magazine named Schwester Selma (pictured), head nurse at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, as one of the world's "living saints", alongside Mother Teresa and Sister Annie?
• ... that Sammy Drake and his brother Solly Drake were the first two African-American brothers to play in Major League Baseball?
• ... that although the 1962 Sino-Indian War was fought for just a few weeks, the subsequent internment of Chinese Indians lasted for years?
• ... that when a person's belief is disconfirmed, it can actually lead to stronger conviction?
• ... that Lilian Bland was the first woman to design and build her own aircraft, in 1910, but gave up flying when offered a motorcar instead?
• ... that despite some reviewers praising ATV: Quad Frenzy's graphics and soundtrack, VideoGamer.com's review said it was "quite disgraceful" that it "even made it onto the store shelves"?

• Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla is executed for war crimes committed during the Bangladeshi War of Independence.
• Uruguay becomes the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis.
• An exoplanet, HD 106906 b, is discovered with the most distant orbit around a single star, farther than thought possible.
• The World Trade Organization unanimously adopts the Bali Package, aimed at liberalizing world trade.
• Former President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela (pictured) dies at the age of 95.
• The United Nations Security Council passes resolution 2127, creating MISCA in response to civil conflict in the Central African Republic.

December 13: Tenth of Tevet (Judaism, 2013); Saint Lucy's Day in Italy and Scandinavia; Republic Day in Malta (1974)

• 1545 – The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council convoked by Pope Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism, opened in Trent, Bishopric of Trent (now in modern Italy).
• 1809 – American physician Ephraim McDowell (pictured) performed the world's first removal of an ovarian tumor.
• 1960 – With Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt and installed Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as the new Emperor.
• 1989 – The Troubles: A Provisional Irish Republican Army engaged in a fierce firefight with the King's Own Scottish Borderers at a vehicle checkpoint complex in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
• 2011 – A man threw grenades and fired an automatic rifle at crowds in the Place Saint-Lambert, Liège, Belgium, killing 15 people and injuring 125 others, before committing suicide.

More anniversaries: December 12 – December 13 – December 14

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Kallima inachus, also known as the Dead Leaf or Orange Oakleaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia. The species uses mimicry, resembling a dead leaf when it closes its wings, in order to avoid predators.

Photo: Quartl