MyWiki:Main Page history/2015 December 5

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Australian troops of B Company, 30th Infantry Battalion, crossing a shallow creek between Weber Point and Malalamai

Australian troops

The Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and March 1944, was the break-out and pursuit phase of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Following the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Sattelberg, Australian Army forces broke through positions around Finschhafen. Constant pressure from US Navy PT boats, Australian land forces and Allied aircraft brought the Japanese logistical system to the brink of collapse, resulting in disease, malnutrition and privation for the Japanese soldiers. Australian and Papuan troops advanced along the coast, employing infantry, tanks, and air strikes against the Japanese positions, which were generally sited at creek crossings in the jungle. The Australian and Papuan troops inflicted heavy and disproportionate casualties on the Japanese as they advanced, ultimately linking up with the American forces at Saidor. Australian troops were also able to capture important Japanese cryptographic materials. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers were killed; thousands more died from disease, malnutrition, exhaustion and suicide. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

National Museum of Vietnamese History

... that the National Museum of Vietnamese History (pictured), redesigned by architect Ernest Hébrard, is a blend of French colonial and Vietnamese architecture, called Indochina architecture?
... that Piotr Domaradzki was active in the Polish Solidarity movement before being granted political asylum in the United States?
... that Henning Mankell preferred the African storytelling style used in his novel Chronicler of the Winds to European storytelling because of its ability to "jump between realities"?
... that Jackie Gleason called his orchestra leader Ray Bloch "the flower of the music world"?
... that the Eurasian bittern may visit reedbeds, rice fields, watercress beds, fish farms, gravel pits, sewage works, ditches, flooded areas and marshes?
... that Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade won three Latin Grammy Awards for her song "Hasta la Raíz"?
... that former Khmer Rouge official Sar Kheng is currently Minister of the Interior, Deputy Prime Minister, and a Member of the Cambodian Parliament?
... that the tower of Föra Church contains what may be one of Sweden's oldest toilets?

In the news

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré

Flooding across southern India kills at least 300 people and displaces approximately 1.8 million others since November.
Fourteen people are killed and twenty-one injured in a shooting in San Bernardino, California.
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (pictured) is elected the first president of Burkina Faso since the 2014 Burkinabé uprising.
Japan resumes whaling against the ruling of the International Court of Justice.
The International Monetary Fund approves adding the Chinese renminbi to its basket of reserve currencies.
In tennis, the Davis Cup concludes with Great Britain defeating Belgium in the final.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Scott Weiland
- Joseph Engelberger

On this day...

December 5: International Volunteer Day; St Nicholas's Eve in various European countries; The King's birthday, National Day and Father's Day in Thailand (1927)

Henry Knox's noble train of artillery

1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to arrange the transport of 60 tons of artillery (pictured) that would be used to strengthen the Siege of Boston.
1945 – Flight 19, a squadron of five U.S. naval TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, disappeared in the area now known as the Bermuda Triangle.
1965 – The "Glasnost Meeting" became the first demonstration in the Soviet Union after the Second World War and marked the beginning of a civil rights movement in the country.
1995 – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 crashed shortly after takeoff from Nakhchivan Airport, killing 52 people on board.

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Mars rovers

Two Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers stand with three vehicles, providing a size comparison of three generations of Mars rovers. Front and center is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars Pathfinder Project. On the left is a Mars Exploration Rover test vehicle, a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. On the right is a test rover for the Mars Science Laboratory, which landed Curiosity on Mars in 2012.

Photograph: NASA

Recently featured:

Archive
More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.