Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 December 15

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties is a 2009 nonfiction book by law professor Christopher M. Fairman about freedom of speech, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, censorship, and use of the word in society. Citing studies in social science, psychoanalysis, and linguistics, Fairman says that most of its current usages have connotations distinct from its meaning of sexual intercourse. The book discusses the efforts of American conservatives to censor the word from common parlance, and says that legal precedent regarding its use is unclear because of contradictory court decisions. The book, which was a follow-up by Fairman to an article in 2007 on the same topic, received mostly favorable reception from news sources and library trade publications. Library Journal described the book as a sincere analysis of the word and efforts to censor it, while Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries called it stimulating. After the book's release, Fairman was consulted by media sources including CNN and The New York Times, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, on issues surrounding word taboo in society. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Quainton Road railway station – Bombing of Singapore (1944–45) – Geoffrey (archbishop of York)

Archive – By email – More featured articles...

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the east window of Liverpool Cathedral (pictured), designed by J. W. Brown, is themed on the Te Deum laudamus?
... that Jyoti Amge, the world's smallest living woman, made her American TV debut in the American Horror Story: Freak Show episode "Monsters Among Us"?
... that in 2000, the Osteopathic Oath was used by every osteopathic medical school in the U.S.?
... that after the 1966 Tashkent earthquake destroyed most of the city, Tashkent was rebuilt in a more Soviet style?
... that male brown soft scale insects are rarely found?
... that Beaver Brook State Park's name may derive from a beaver pond that was once present?
... that Operation Booster Shot parachuted shoes into trackless muddy wilderness?

Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito coalition secures a supermajority following a snap general election.
The Alliance Lepep coalition, led by Anerood Jugnauth, wins the general election in Mauritius.
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee releases a report strongly criticizing the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture.
Former Chinese domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang (pictured) is arrested and expelled from the Communist Party of China.
NASA successfully conducts the maiden flight of its Orion spacecraft.
Dozens of people are killed or injured in clashes between security forces and insurgents in Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russia.

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Ralph H. Baer – Queen Fabiola of Belgium – Jean Béliveau

On this day...

December 15: Kingdom Day in Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten (1954); Zamenhof Day in Esperanto culture

687 – Sergius was elected pope, ending the last disputed sede vacante of the Byzantine Papacy.
1161 – Emperor Hailing of the Jin dynasty was assassinated in a military camp near the Yangtze River front during a campaign against the Southern Song.
1864 – American Civil War: Union troops defeated the Army of Tennessee, one of the largest Confederate forces, at the Battle of Nashville.
1939 – The American historical epic film Gone With the Wind (poster pictured), adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, made its premiere in Atlanta, Georgia.
1961 – Former Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death after being found guilty on fifteen criminal charges, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

More anniversaries: December 14 – December 15 – December 16

Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries

It is now December 15, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

From today's featured list

Many of the wettest tropical cyclones in the United States have moved into the contiguous United States from the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The highest rainfall totals in the country have been measured across the Gulf Coast and lower portions of the Eastern Seaboard. Tropical Storm Amelia's total rainfall is the most recorded within the contiguous United States. Tropical Storm Claudette (pictured) holds the national 24-hour rainfall record, with 42 inches (1,100 mm) falling within a day. Taking place only one year apart, in 1978 and 1979, Amelia and Claudette are also the two wettest tropical cyclones to have occurred in Texas. Hurricane Hiki in 1950 led to significant rainfall in the mountains of Hawaii; with 52 inches (1,300 mm) of rainfall reported, this is the most rainfall reported to have been produced by a tropical cyclone within the entirety of the United States. (Full list...)

Recently featured: Shah Rukh Khan filmography – National Tourist Routes – Global Peace Index

Archive – More featured lists...

Today's featured picture

An aerial view of Manhattan in 1873, with Battery Park in the foreground and the Brooklyn Bridge under construction at the right. After the American Civil War concluded in 1865, New York saw an influx in immigration from European countries looking for a new life in the United States. However, the squalid conditions and low wages allowed these immigrant communities to become hotbeds of revolutionary ideas.

Engraving: George Schlegel; restoration: Adam Cuerden

Recently featured: Masada – Maria Anna of Spain – Percival Lowell

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.