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From today's featured article Abe Waddington (1893–1959) was a professional cricketer for Yorkshire who played in two Test matches for England, both against Australia in 1920–21. Between 1919 and 1927 he played 266 first-class cricket matches, taking a total of 852 wickets with his left arm fast-medium bowling. Capable of making the ball swing, Waddington was admired for the aesthetic quality of his bowling action. He first played for Yorkshire after the First World War, when the team had been weakened by injuries and retirements. He was effective for Yorkshire, but often inconsistent. A hostile bowler, he sometimes verbally abused opposing batsmen and questioned umpires' decisions, unusual behaviour in those days, and was found guilty of dissent and inciting the crowd in a game against Middlesex. A succession of injuries reduced his effectiveness and he retired from first-class cricket in 1927. He continued to play league cricket and worked for the family business, a fat-refining firm, but maintained his connection with Yorkshire cricket. After retiring from cricket he enjoyed some success as an amateur golfer. (Full article...) Recently featured: "R U Professional" Radical Dreamers Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo Did you know... Dibatag ... that rock paintings of the dibatag (pictured) have been discovered on the west bank of the Nile River, far from its present range? ... that Brenda Andrews co-led a team of scientists to create the first fully detailed cell protein map? ... that the ancient Sanskrit text Kundika Upanishad states a man should go visit sacred places in his retirement, and take his wife with him? ... that Yolanda Marculescu, prima donna of the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest, defected to the U.S. in 1968 and founded the International Festival of the Art Song in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? ... that South Sudan has the world's second largest animal migration, but there are no tourists to see it? ... that the eleventh-century Norman noblewoman Rohese Giffard is listed as a landowner in her own right in the Domesday Book? ... that the Great Comet of 1819 was the first comet analyzed using polarimetry, by François Arago?

In the news Angelique Kerber A death certificate is issued for the British peer Lord Lucan, who disappeared in 1974 after the murder of his children's nanny. The rapid spread of Zika fever in Latin America leads to the World Health Organization issuing a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. In tennis, the Australian Open concludes with Novak Djokovic winning the men's singles and Angelique Kerber (pictured) winning the women's singles. AlphaGo becomes the first computer program to defeat a professional human Go player. Ongoing events: European migrant crisis Recent deaths: Terry Wogan Jacques Rivette Paul Kantner On this day... February 4: Liberation Movement Day in Angola (1961); Independence Day in Sri Lanka (1948) Text from the Codex Sinaiticus 960 – Emperor Taizu began his reign in China, initiating the Song dynasty period that eventually lasted for more than three centuries. 1859 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovered the Codex Sinaiticus (text sample pictured), a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. 1974 – American newspaper heiress and socialite Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, which she later joined in one of the most well-known cases of Stockholm syndrome. 1999 – The Panamanian-flagged freighter New Carissa ran aground near Coos Bay, Oregon, causing one of the worst oil spills in Oregon history. 2006 – A stampede at the PhilSports Stadium in Pasig City, Metro Manila, in the Philippines, killed 78 people and injured about 400. More anniversaries: February 3 February 4 February 5

Today's featured picture A plate from Urania's Mirror depicting the constellations Delphinus (the dolphin), Sagitta (the arrow), and Aquila (the eagle), as well as the former constellation Antinous (according to legend, a young man who saved Hadrian from drowning). Illustration: Sidney Hall; restoration: Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Abhinaya SMS Kaiserin Augusta Portrait of an African Man

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