Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 January 23

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The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of the salmon family native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. Those that spend their lives in streams and rivers average between 1 and 5 lb (0.5 and 2.3 kg); others, called steelhead trout, live in the ocean or the Great Lakes for two to three years before returning to fresh water to spawn, and may reach 20 lb (9.1 kg). Coloration varies widely, but all adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males. Wild-caught and hatchery-reared forms of this species have been transplanted and introduced for food or sport in at least 45 countries. Introductions to locations in the U.S., Southern Europe, Australia and South America outside the fish's native range have damaged native fish species when the trout has preyed on them, out-competed them, transmitted contagious diseases, or hybridized with closely related species. Some local populations of specific subspecies, or in the case of steelhead, distinct population segments, are listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The steelhead is the official state fish of Washington. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that the chat flycatcher (pictured) eats blind snakes?
• ... that silent film actor Frank Erlanger made—and lost—a fortune as a gold prospector?
• ... that Manchester United F.C.'s victory in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final came 40 years after the team's first European Cup title and 50 years after the Munich air disaster?
• ... that the Beirut II parliamentary constituency has the highest percentage of Armenian voters in Lebanon?
• ... that René Echevarria became a screenwriter after selling an unsolicited script to Star Trek: The Next Generation?
• ... that Bloody Run is so named due to a legend that a hunter killed seven deer near the stream in one day?
• ... that plastiglomerates are rock formations that contain plastic?

• King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies and is succeeded by his brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
• Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, and the Yemeni cabinet resign after a coup d'état in Yemen by Shia insurgents.
• British spacecraft Beagle 2 is located intact on the surface of Mars after having been declared lost in 2004.
• After the Swiss National Bank ends its cap on the exchange rate to the euro, the franc increases in value significantly.
• Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson become the first successful free climbers of the 3,000-foot (900 m) Dawn Wall of El Capitan (pictured) in Yosemite National Park, California.
• Giorgio Napolitano, the longest-serving President of Italy, resigns due to age.

Ongoing:

Ebola outbreak –

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Recent deaths:

Leon Brittan – Faten Hamama

January 23

• 1719 – Emperor Charles VI established Liechtenstein, the only principality in the Holy Roman Empire still in existence today.
• 1870 – American Indian Wars: The United States Army massacred a friendly band of Piegan Blackfeet in Montana Territory, resulting in about 200 deaths, mostly women, children, and elderly men.
• 1899 – Pursuant to the adoption of the Malolos Constitution and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic, Emilio Aguinaldo (pictured) was sworn in as the first President of the Philippines.
• 1915 – The Chilembwe uprising, regarded as a seminal moment in the history of Malawi, began as rebels, led by a minister, attacked local plantation owners.
• 1945 – German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered the beginning of Operation Hannibal, which became one of the largest emergency evacuations by sea in history, with over 1 million people transferred over 15 weeks.

More anniversaries: January 22 – January 23 – January 24

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|style="padding:0 0.9em 0 0;"| File:Dresden. Zwinger & Sophienkirche. - Detroit Publishing Co.jpg

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The Sophienkirche in Dresden, Germany, as presented in a photochrom from c. 1895. Established in 1333 as a Franciscan monastery and chapel, the church stood empty for years after the Protestant Reformation. Restored in 1610 by Sophie of Brandenburg, the church received an organ made by Gottfried Silbermann in the 18th century, and the composer Johann Sebastian Bach performed several of his works there. The church, redesigned during the mid-19th century, was heavily damaged during the bombing of Dresden in 1945, and in 1962 the East German government ordered it destroyed.

Photochrom: Detroit Publishing Company; restoration: Adam Cuerden