Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 August 8

From today's featured article

Cyril Bassett (1892–1983) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest combat award for gallantry at the time. He was the only soldier serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War to receive this award. Born in Auckland, Bassett was a bank worker when the First World War began. Posted to the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company of the Territorial Force as a sapper, he saw action on the opening day of the Gallipoli campaign. It was during the Battle of Chunuk Bair in August 1915 that he performed the actions that led to his award. Medically evacuated due to sickness shortly after the battle, he later served on the Western Front and finished the war as a second lieutenant. Recalled to active duty during the Second World War, he served in the Home Guard as a commander of signals in the Northern Military District, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. (Full article...)

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August 8: Eid al-Ghadir (Shia Islam, 2020)

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Portsmouth Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral church in Portsmouth, England. A chapel was built on the site and dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury in 1188, and became a parish church in the 14th century. Following substantial damage during the English Civil War, the tower and nave were reconstructed between 1683 and 1693. The building became a pro-cathedral when the Diocese of Portsmouth was split from the Diocese of Winchester in 1927. Plans to enlarge it were interrupted by World War II, and the building was finally consecrated as a cathedral in 1991.

This photograph shows Portsmouth Cathedral's three-manual and pedal, 49-stop organ, installed in 1994 by Nicholson & Co Ltd. The pipes originated from the John Nicholson organ of 1861 built for Manchester Cathedral, which had been relocated to Holy Trinity Church, Bolton.

Photograph credit: David Iliff

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