Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 February 8b

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From today's featured article

Elizabeth Raffald (1733–1781) was an English author, innovator and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Raffald went into domestic service for fifteen years, ending as the housekeeper to the Warburton baronets at Arley Hall, Cheshire. She moved with her husband to Manchester, where she opened a register office to introduce domestic workers to employers; she also ran a cookery school and sold food from the premises. In 1769 she published her cookery book The Experienced English Housekeeper, which contains the first recipe for a "Bride Cake" that is recognisable as a modern wedding cake. She is possibly the inventor of the Eccles cake. In August 1772 Raffald published The Manchester Directory, a listing of 1,505 traders and civic leaders in Manchester—the first such listing for the up-and-coming town. Her recipes were plagiarised by other authors, notably by Isabella Beeton in her bestselling Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Newspaper cartoon of Mary Aldis published in 1897

... that "noted controversialist" Mary Aldis (depicted) tried to get Auckland City Council to stop a woman being fired from a cannon in 1887?
... that Jimmie Rodgers's appearance on The Singing Brakeman made him the first country musician to be featured in a film?
... that the new chairman of the BBC has a twin sister who is a leading judge?
... that the 1989 book Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science examines the role of happenstance in the history of science?
... that the manufacturing of knife cutlery at Babakale in Turkey goes back to the 1720s, started by masters who immigrated from Kazakhstan?
... that gospel pianist Rudy Atwood, heard on Old Fashioned Revival Hour radio broadcasts of the 1930s to the 1960s, attributed his hymn arrangements to the influence of J. S. Bach?
... that the Bangkok neighbourhood of Bang Rak is home to Buddhist temples, mosques, a Chinese shrine, and the city's Catholic cathedral?
... that station officials climbed the 500-foot (150 m) tower of the first WFMZ-TV, smashed a bottle of champagne against the top, and christened it "Miss Ultra High"?

In the news

Tom Brady

In American football, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl (MVP Tom Brady pictured).
Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar, is detained by the military in a coup d'état.
A coordinated short squeeze targeting American hedge funds causes GameStop's stock price to spike.
Kaja Kallas becomes the first female Prime Minister of Estonia, following the resignation of Jüri Ratas.

On this day

February 8

Mickey Mouse's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, led a failed rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I of England.
1837 – Richard Mentor Johnson became the only person ever to be elected Vice President of the United States by the Senate.
1879 – Enraged by a controversial umpiring decision, cricket spectators rioted and attacked the England team during a match in Sydney, Australia.
1960 – The official groundbreaking of the Walk of Fame (example star pictured) took place in Hollywood, California.
2010 – A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggered a series of avalanches that buried over 3.5 km (2.2 mi) of road, killed 175 people and trapped more than 2,500 travellers.

Gerolamo Emiliani (d. 1537)
Franz Marc (b. 1880)
Ernest Titterton (d. 1990)

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From today's featured list

A Good Scout by Norman Rockwell

Between 1925 and 1990, Boy Scout calendars featured a painting by illustrators Norman Rockwell (from 1925 to 1976) and Joseph Cesatari (from 1977 to 1990). Rockwell only failed to complete a painting for two years, 1928 and 1930; Cesatari completed a painting for every year. The illustrations show scouts of different kinds engaging in mostly outdoor activities. The idea for the calendar series was devised by an unknown staff member at Brown & Bigelow in 1923. Later that year, James E. West, Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), agreed to Brown & Bigelow's proposal for a 1925 calendar with repurposed art. The chosen painting, A Good Scout (pictured), was originally titled A Red Cross Man in the Making and depicts a scout bandaging the foot of a spaniel puppy under the eye of its mother. Between 1925 and 1976, Rockwell created 49 paintings for the BSA's Brown & Bigelow calendar. After Rockwell's retirement in 1976, the BSA asked Cesatari to take over the calendar series. (Full list...)

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The Rudra Mahalaya Temple is an ancient temple complex at Siddhpur in the Patan district of Gujarat, India. The temple was completed in 1140 by Jayasimha Siddharaja, but in 1296, Alauddin Khalji sent an army under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, who dismantled the structure. In 1414 or 1415, the temple was further destroyed and the western part was converted into a congregational mosque by Muslim ruler Ahmad Shah I of the Muzaffarid dynasty. Apart from the mosque, the surviving fragments consist of two porches, a torana (ornamental gateway) and a few pillars.

Photograph credit: Bourne & Shepherd; retouched by Yann Forget

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