Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 July 22

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From today's featured article

The 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The men were recruited mostly from Manhattan, but some came from New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Most were German immigrants, and many of the officers had served in the armies of Austria, Prussia, and other German states. Organized in July 1861, three months after the outbreak of war, they were initially assigned to the defense of Washington, D.C., with the Army of the Potomac, and later fought at the Battle of Cross Keys in the Shenandoah Valley. They found themselves in the thick of the fighting at Second Bull Run, and were routed by Confederate forces at Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg, they saw battle on two of the three days and took heavy losses. The regiment was then transferred to the west and participated in the Chattanooga campaign. They assisted in the Union victories at Wauhatchie and Missionary Ridge, and marched to relieve the siege of Knoxville. They spent the last year of the war on occupation duty in Tennessee and Georgia, before being disbanded in November 1865. (Full article...)

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In the news

An explosion in the Turkish district of Suruç, Şanlıurfa, kills 32 people and injures more than 100 others.
The United States and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations after 54 years.
Formula One driver Jules Bianchi (pictured in 2012) dies at the age of 25, nine months after an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix left him in a coma.
At least 120 people are killed and 130 injured by a suicide bombing in Diyala Province, Iraq.
An agreement is announced between the P5+1 countries and Iran regarding its nuclear program.

Ongoing events:
- Greek debt crisis
Recent deaths:
- Galina Prozumenshchikova
- Yoichiro Nambu

On this day...

July 22: Feast day of Mary Magdalene; Pi Approximation Day

1793 – Two days after becoming the first recorded person to complete a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico, Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie reached the westernmost point of his journey and inscribed his name on a rock (pictured).
1802 – Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam, which had experienced centuries of feudal warfare.
1944 – In opposition to the Polish government-in-exile, the Soviet-sponsored Polish Committee of National Liberation published its manifesto, calling for radical reforms, a continuation of fighting in World War II against Nazi Germany, nationalisation of industry, and a "decent border in the West".
1975 – Stanley Forman took the photo Fire Escape Collapse, which would receive the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the title of World Press Photo of the Year.
2005 – London metropolitan police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian immigrant, after misidentifying him as being involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts on the city.

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Today's featured picture

The common raven (Corvus corax) is a large, all-black passerine bird and the most widely distributed of all corvids. Averaging 63 centimetres (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in weight, these intelligent birds can live up to 21 years in the wild. They are commonly found in mythology, folklore, art, and literature.

Photograph: David Iliff

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