Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 April 19

Bart Simpson is a character voiced by Nancy Cartwright (pictured) on the animated TV series The Simpsons, the longest-running American sitcom. Created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening, the mischievous and rebellious Bart (an anagram of brat) is the ten-year-old son of Homer and Marge and the older brother of Lisa and Maggie. The character has also appeared in video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, comic books, merchandising, and (for three years before The Simpsons) on The Tracey Ullman Show. Hallmarks of the character include his chalkboard gags in the opening sequence, his prank calls to Moe, and the catchphrases "Eat my shorts", "¡Ay, caramba!", and "Don't have a cow, man!" During the first two seasons of The Simpsons, Bart was the show's breakout character, though educators derided Bart's pride in being an underachiever. Time named Bart one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. Nancy Cartwright has won several awards for voicing Bart, including a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 and an Annie Award in 1995. In 2000, Bart and the rest of his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Hurricane Erika (1997) – Aldwych tube station – Vernon Sturdee

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that the fruit bodies of Ramaria gracilis (example pictured) smell of anise?
• ... that the Crimean Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire on 19 April 1783?
• ... that Edward Sinnott and his crew, known as "The Seven Placentia Giants", carried their boat 145 km (90 mi) overland to compete in and win the Royal St. John's Regatta?
• ... that stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan will star as a fictionalized version of himself in ''The Jim Gaffigan Show?
• ... that the Argeș County Museum in Pitești, Romania, operates a Dacian fort and a medieval citadel?
• ... that the feminist writings of Carmen de Burgos were censored in Spain until democracy was restored?
• ... that the solar eclipse of 1 May 1185 gave rise to the first known description of flame-like tongues of live embers?

• Nokia agrees to buy telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion (US$16.6 billion).
• United States President Barack Obama moves to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list amid diplomatic efforts to improve relations between the two countries.
• Wildfires in southern Siberia, Russia, kill at least 33 people and damage more than 1,400 homes.
• Günter Grass (pictured), Nobel laureate and author of The Tin Drum and Dog Years, dies at the age of 87.
• In basketball, USK Praha beat UMMC Ekaterinburg to win the EuroLeague Women title.
• In golf, American Jordan Spieth wins the Masters Tournament.

Ongoing:

Yemeni Civil War – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Recent deaths:

Percy Sledge – Eduardo Galeano

April 19: Feast of Saint Alphege (Western Christianity)

• 1713 – With no living male heirs, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure one of his daughters would inherit the Habsburg lands.
• 1809 – War of the Fifth Coalition: The French won a hard-fought victory over Austria in Lower Bavaria when their opponents withdrew from the field of battle that evening.
• 1927 – American actress Mae West was sentenced to ten days in jail for "corrupting the morals of youth" for her play Sex.
• 1960 – Students in South Korea held a nationwide pro-democracy protest (pictured) against President Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
• 1995 – A car bomb destroyed much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and injuring over 800 others.

More anniversaries: April 18 – April 19 – April 20

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Mycena overholtsii is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae which produces mushrooms which are relatively large for its genus, Mycena. The caps reach up to 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, with stems up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. M. overholtsii grows on well-decayed conifer logs near snowbanks, during or just after snowmelt. It is commonly found in North America, though it has also been reported in Japan.

Photograph: Noah Siegel, United States Forest Service