User:Allard

Hello and a warm welcome to all my fellow Wikipedians. How nice of you to drop in to see who I am!

Morning>

Wikipedia & me:

How I discovered Wikipedia, I do not remember. But from being a reader I slowly became a contributor. Although I don't work that much on Wikipedia I do see myself as a Wikipedian. I don't go searching on Wikipedia what I can edit next, I edit what I find and want to do. This means I add and mainly improve a lot of small things and only rarely I make large edits.

My work:

My list of contributions

Articles I've started on Wikipedia:

Images I made for Wikipedia:

Article guide:

A list of articles worth looking at, if one can find them:

And there's always the Random article

And to all citizens of the European Union, please read this: Oneseat.eu

News

Azzi Fudd

A nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, kills 226 people.
In basketball, the UConn Huskies win the NCAA Division I women's championship (Most Outstanding Player Azzi Fudd pictured) and the Florida Gators win the men's championship.
In the National Hockey League, Alexander Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals scored.
In horse racing, Nick Rockett, ridden by Patrick Mullins, wins the Grand National.

Selected anniversaries

April 14: Tamil New Year and other New Year festivals in South and Southeast Asia (2024); N'Ko Alphabet Day in West Africa

Hailstones from the 1999 Sydney hailstorm

1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Friesoythe was razed by the 4th Canadian Division on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.
1999 – A storm dropped around 500,000 tonnes of hailstones on Sydney (examples pictured) and the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history.
2014 – Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in the town of Chibok, Nigeria.

Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton (b. 1852)
Robert Carlyle (b. 1961)
Rachel Carson (d. 1964)

More anniversaries:

Did you know...

Haniwa horse from Kamichūjō

... that a haniwa horse (pictured) in Tokyo National Museum is of particular significance due to its horse trappings?
... that more than half of all children in the United States under the age of 16 played Roblox in July 2020?
... that the detention of Mahmoud Khalil raises constitutional questions similar to a 1945 court case?
... that Aquilegia vulgaris subsp. nevadensis has remained genetically distinct from other columbines despite frequent hybridization within the genus?
... that a dam failure at a Chinese-owned copper mine released 50 million litres of highly toxic waste into the Kafue River in Zambia, devastating ecosystems at least 100 kilometres (62 mi) downstream?
... that novvot, a popular traditional candy in the Middle East and Central Asia, is often served with tea and has roots in Persian cuisine?
... that Canadian football player Paul Shorten played college football after his pro career?
... that Betsy Arakawa's house was once featured in Architectural Digest?
... that Twitch streamer Morgpie went viral for using her buttocks as a green screen?

Today's featured article

Map of the Emirate of Granada

Muhammad IV (14 April 1315 – 25 August 1333) was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada (map pictured) on the Iberian Peninsula from 1325 to 1333. He was the sixth sultan of the Nasrid dynasty, succeeding to the throne at the age of 10 when his father, Ismail I, was assassinated. The initial years of his reign were marked by civil war between his ministers, drawing in Castile, Granada's neighbour to the north. The civil war ended in 1328 when Muhammad took a more active role in government. Castile and the kingdom of Aragon invaded Granada in 1330. In 1332, Muhammad sailed to the Marinid court at Fez to request help, and the new Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali sent 5,000 troops, who besieged the Castilians at Gibraltar. The town surrendered in June 1333 but was in turn besieged. After confused fighting a truce was agreed on 24 August 1333 that restored the 1331 treaty. One day later, Muhammad was assassinated, aged 18. He was succeeded by his brother Yusuf I. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Picture of the day

Black Sunday was a severe dust storm that occurred on April 14, 1935, as part of the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms in the American prairies in the 1930s. The storm first hit the Oklahoma panhandle and northwestern Oklahoma, then moved south into Texas. The conditions were the most severe in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, but the storm's effects were also felt in surrounding areas. Drought, erosion, bare soil, and winds caused the dust to fly freely and at high speeds. It is estimated that 300,000 tons of topsoil were displaced from the prairie area. Black Sunday was one of the worst dust storms in American history and caused immense economic and agricultural damage. This photograph shows the storm approaching Stratford, Texas.Photograph credit: George Everett Marsh Jr.; restored by Yann Forget

Archive – More featured pictures...