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Today's featured article W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American civil rights activist, author, and editor. After graduating from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois, one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks. Racism was the main target of Du Bois's polemics, and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and helped organize efforts to free African colonies from European powers. Du Bois wrote several seminal essays and treatises, and published many influential pieces in his role as editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis. He was an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. The United States' Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for which Du Bois had campaigned his entire life, was enacted a year after his death. (more...) Recently featured: Nyon Conference – St Nicholas – Texas Tech University Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the second ship of the Japanese Ibuki class of heavy cruisers (pictured) was scrapped less than a month after she was laid down in order to clear her slipway for an aircraft carrier? ... that Indonesian author Kuntowijoyo said he did not follow a blueprint when writing? ... that Animal Justice Party, federally registered in May 2011, is the first Australian political party dedicated to animal rights issues? ... that the racehorse Sir Peter Teazle was the first winner of the Derby Stakes to sire another winning colt of the race, siring Sir Harry, Archduke, Ditto and Paris? ... that a Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court was removed from office for not removing a granite monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama? ... that small shells of Trigonoconcha are triangular?

In the news A train crash in Buenos Aires kills at least 50 people and injures more than 675 others. Scientists reportedly regenerate specimens of Silene stenophylla from placental tissue frozen approximately 32,000 years ago. At least 44 people are killed during a prison riot in Apodaca, Mexico. Caesar Must Die wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. President of Germany Christian Wulff (pictured) resigns following allegations of corruption during his tenure as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. On this day... February 23: National Day in Brunei (1984); Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia and several other former Soviet republics 1739 – The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognised his handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest. 1944 – In response to an insurgency in Chechnya, the Soviet Union began the forced deportation of native Chechen and Ingush populations of North Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. 1945 – American photographer Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced as the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial (pictured). 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization, responsible for worldwide industrial and commercial standards, was founded. 1987 – Light from the supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud reached the Earth. More anniversaries: February 22 – February 23 – February 24 It is now February 23, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture A fossil of Thrissops formosus, a member of the extinct fish genus Thrissops that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Thrissops were fast predatory fish, about 24 inches (60 cm) long, that fed on other bony fish. They had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins. Photo: H. Zell Recently featured: Return of the Great White Fleet – Nicholas Kratzer – Black morel

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