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The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros (pictured), governor of the Dominion of New England that followed the Glorious Revolution deposing James II of England, who had appointed Andros. During the revolt, on April 18, 1689, a well-organized body of Puritan citizens and militiamen entered the dominion capital of Boston and arrested officials of the dominion, a colonial entity composed of present-day Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. The rebellion was inspired by actions taken by Andros and dominion administrators, including promoting the Church of England, invalidating land titles, and famously attempting to seize the colonial charter of Connecticut. Andros had attempted to suppress news of the fall of James II, hoping to prevent even greater instability in the months before the revolt, but his efforts were in vain, and that news served as the immediate cause of the revolt. (more...) Recently featured: Red-capped Robin – Harold Pinter – Lavanify Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Persimmon (pictured), a Thoroughbred race horse owned by Edward, Prince of Wales, broke the race record when he won the 1896 Derby Stakes? ... that Frederick B. Karl served in the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Senate and Florida Supreme Court? ... that Muddy Waters switched from semi-acoustic guitar to electric guitar for his album At Newport 1960? ... that President Sukarno slighted Chief Justice Wirjono Prodjodikoro by inviting Ruslan Abdulgani for breakfast when Abdulgani was supposed to be before the Supreme Court of Indonesia? ... that the Los Angeles Lakers recently signed Malcolm Thomas, whose father goes by the same name and also played college basketball? ... that millions of chickens have viewed life through rose-colored glasses? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Multiple bombings occur in Nigeria, killing at least 39 people. Two coordinated bombings kill at least 44 people in Damascus, Syria. A series of coordinated bombings in Baghdad kills at least 65 people. Soyuz TMA-03M, launched from Baikonur, carries a crew of three men (pictured) to the International Space Station. Russia's largest stock exchanges, MICEX and RTS, merge to form MICEX-RTS. North Korea announces the death of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
December 26: Boxing Day in Commonwealth countries; St. Stephen's Day (Western Christianity); Twelve Holy Days begin (Esoteric Christianity); Kwanzaa begins (United States) 1811 – A theater in Richmond, Virginia, US, was destroyed by fire in what was the worst urban disaster in American history at the time. 1825 – Imperial Russian Army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession. 1900 – A relief crew arrived at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared without a trace. 2006 – The Hengchun earthquake struck off the southwest coast of Taiwan, on the anniversaries of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that devastated the coastal communities across Southeast and South Asia (tsunami pictured), and of the 2003 Bam earthquake that destroyed areas of southeastern Iran. More anniversaries: December 25 – December 26 – December 27 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now December 26, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured list

Rage Against The Machine, whose song "Killing in the Name" achieved the Christmas number one in 2009, 17 years after the song's original release.

Records that have been top of the UK Singles Chart at Christmas have included novelty songs, charity songs and songs with a Christmas theme. The Beatles are the only act to have four Christmas number ones in their own name. Paul McCartney has been top seven times with various acts, Cliff Richard four times. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen is the only record to have reached the top twice, in 1975 and 1991. In recent years, the Christmas charts have been dominated by reality television contests, with the winners often heading straight to number one in the week before Christmas. This trend began in 2002 when Popstars: The Rivals contestants had the top three singles on the Christmas chart. From 2005 to 2010, the winners of The X Factor took the number one spot on five occasions, a run only broken by "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine (pictured) after a successful Facebook campaign in 2009. The 2011 number one single is "Wherever You Are" by The Military Wives Choir and Gareth Malone. (more...)

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The Tasmanian Pademelon is the only species of pademelon endemic to Tasmania. Pademelons are the smallest of the macropods, which also includes kangaroos and wallabies. Males reach around 12 kg (26 lb) in weight, 1–1.2 m (3.3–3.9 ft) in height, and are considerably larger than the females, who average 3.9 kg (8.6 lb).

Photo: JJ Harrison

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