Wikipedia:April Fools' Main Page/2009 (1)

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Today's featured article
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a world-renowned institution dedicated to showcasing the finest art acquired from Boston-area refuse. The museum started in a pile of trash in 1994, in a serendipitous moment when an antiques dealer came across a painting of astonishing power and compositional incompetence that had been tragically discarded. Its magnetic pull was immediate; it has since inspired a collection of 500 masterful pieces of art so awful they prompt viewers to appeal loudly for divine intervention. Located next to two Massachusetts bathrooms, the museum's collection aspires to be a monument to creative ecstasy that has resulted in glorious failure. Only the most arresting paintings and sculptures are accepted by MOBA, but priority goes to those that prominently feature a monkey or a poodle. Public reaction has been overwhelming, freeing the art-loving community to point and laugh at art everywhere. Two of their pieces have been stolen, so alarming the museum that they promptly offered a reward in the amount of $6.50 for their return. Some of their more notable pieces show a footless John Ashcroft wearing a diaper, and a hula skirt-wearing wiener dog juggling bones. Such enigmatic images invoke so many mysteries that they are often unable to be explained by artists themselves. (more...) Recently featured: Main sequence – Red River Trails – Barthélemy Boganda Archive By email More featured articles About
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: Big Nose George ... that after Wild West outlaw Big Nose George (pictured) was hanged by a lynch mob, he was made into a pair of shoes? ... that New England used to be part of the Roman Empire, and China is still part of Japan? ... that Gordon Brown and Kim Jong-Il are both known for their athletic abilities? ... that Sparkie Williams is still singing from his grave 47 years after his death? ... that Peter Jackson medaled in table tennis for New Zealand? ... that in Disney's animated film The Story of Menstruation, the flow is snow white? ... that the idea of a two hooded coat to keep your date dry in the rain is genius? ... that sightings of Captain Cook were common around New Zealand as late as the 1950s? ... that two monkeys are employed as waiters at the Japanese Kayabukiya Tavern? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Ireland's Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who has been unexpectedly and publicly hanged in Dublin. The unexpected public hanging of Ireland's Taoiseach, Brian Cowen (pictured), occurs in Dublin, following months of economic uncertainty. NASA reports a shower of diamonds over the Republic of Sudan. German scientists unearth a row of suckers belonging to the ancient Octopoda order. A revolutionary new online tanning service receives one million hits within two months of being established. Henry Allingham of the United Kingdom credits cigarettes, whisky and wild women for his seemingly impossible immortality. A newspaper discovers that pay-per-view porn is amongst a number of unusual things being purchased by British MPs on their claimed expenses. A manufacturer is requested to increase production by over 300,000 in one week following the launch of two Turkish missiles at a former oil giant. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 1: April Fools' Day; Assyrian New Year 1293 – Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by the Pope, only to find that there was none. 1572 – Spanish general and governor Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (pictured) lost his glasses in the town of Brielle, enabling sea beggars to gain the first foothold on what would become the Dutch Republic. 1918 – The British Armed Forces started to grant personnel the power to fly. 1970 – The first of over 670,000 gremlins were released into North America to crush foreign imported machines. 1979 – The people of Iran overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to renovate their government buildings. 2006 – As mandated by a 2005 Act of the British Parliament, several British policing agencies joined together to become very serious. More anniversaries: March 31 April 1 April 2 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Today's featured picture

A typical 20th-century aerial rotating house, as drawn by Albert Robida. The drawing shows a dwelling structure in the scientific romance style elevated above rooftops and designed to revolve and adjust in various directions. An occupant in the lower right points to an airship with a fish-shaped balloon in the sky, while a woman rides a bucket elevator on the left. Meanwhile, children fly a kite from the balcony as a dog watches from its rooftop doghouse.

Artist: Albert Robida

Recently featured: Convention of Kanagawa – Sheep husbandry – Hotel del Coronado

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