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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,355,880 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleSatyajit Ray was a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and letters, Ray studied at Presidency College and at the Visva-Bharati University. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing the Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves during a visit to London. Ray directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. Ray’s first film, Pather Panchali, won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Document at Cannes film festival. Along with Aparajito and Apur Sansar, the film forms the Apu trilogy. Ray worked on an array of tasks, including scripting, casting, scoring, cinematography, art direction, editing and designing his own credit titles and publicity material. Apart from making films, he was a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer and film critic. Ray received many major awards in his career, including an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. (more…)Recently featured: Discovery Expedition – Anabolic steroids – Prince’s Palace of MonacoArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that Pogórzanie (pictured) are an ethnic group of Poles from the Subcarpathian Voivodeship?… that Clarence Hailey Long, a ranch foreman in the Texas Panhandle, was the inspiration for the original Marlboro Man advertising campaign by Philip Morris?… that prison contemplative programs like meditation were used in 19th century Pennsylvania as an early prison reform?… that after 12 years of legal tussling over delays and cost overruns on the Taipei Metro Muzha Line, the Taipei City Government was ordered to compensate its contractor Matra for US$50 million?… that Minneapolis businessman Robert “Fish” Jones drove Ulysses Grant and William T. Sherman down Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis on their post-war tours?… that the Doctor Who episode “The Sontaran Stratagem” is the first appearance of the eponymous aliens since the 1985 serial The Two Doctors?… that the Lynchburg Ferry in Lynchburg, Texas is the oldest operating ferry service in Texas?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsA train collision near Zibo, China, kills at least 71 people.Maoists win a plurality of seats in the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, the first election in Nepal in nine years.Researchers discover what is believed to be the first use of oil painting at Bamyan in Afghanistan, predating European oil painting by some six centuries.Fernando Lugo (pictured) wins the presidential election in Paraguay, ending the Colorado Party’s 61-year rule.In auto racing, Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver to win an IndyCar race.An airliner operated by Hewa Bora Airways crashes upon takeoff in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 47 people.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…May 2: Teachers’ Day in Iran; Flag Day in Poland1670 – A Royal Charter granted the Hudson’s Bay Company a monopoly in the fur trade in Rupert’s Land.1808 – Beginning of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rebelled against French occupation of the city.1829 – Captain Charles Fremantle of the Royal Navy established the Swan River Colony, the first British settlement on the west coast of Australia.1945 – World War II: General Helmuth Weidling (pictured), commander of the German troops in Berlin, surrendered the city to Soviet forces led by General Georgy Zhukov, ending the Battle of Berlin.1982 – HMS Conqueror launched three torpedoes and sank ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War.1986 – Henri Toivonen died while leading the Tour de Corse rally, resulting in FISA, the sport governing body for motor racing events, banning the powerful and popular Group B rally cars for the following season.More events: May 1 – May 2 – May 3Archive – By email – More anniversaries…Today’s featured pictureThe Alten Strom (”Old River”) canal in Warnemünde, a sea resort and district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated at the Baltic Sea in the Northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.Photo credit: Martin KünzelRecently featured: Trepanation – American Black Vulture – Steam turbineArchive – More featured pictures…