Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 11

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Samuel Merrill Woodbridge (1819–1905) was an American clergyman, theologian, author, and college professor. A graduate of New York University and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Woodbridge served several congregations in New York and New Jersey for sixteen years as a minister in the Reformed Church in America. He was the eleventh generation in a large family of English and American clergymen dating back to the late fifteenth century. After accepting a pastoral call in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he was appointed professor of ecclesiastical history and church government at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, where he taught for 44 years. He also taught for seven years as professor of "metaphysics and philosophy of the human mind" at Rutgers College (now Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey). Woodbridge later led the New Brunswick seminary as Dean and President of the Faculty from 1883 to 1901—both positions were equivalent to a seminary president. He was the author of three books and several published sermons and addresses covering various aspects of Christian faith, theology, church history and governance. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the Statue of Tara from Sri Lanka (partly pictured) was kept hidden for 30 years in the British Museum because it was considered too erotic?
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... that Virginia Mae Brown, the "'First Lady of Transportation", was the first woman chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission since its inception in 1887?
... that the Egyptian Olympic Committee distributed counterfeit Nike gear to its delegation to the 2012 Summer Olympics?

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In the news

An exoplanet, HD 106906 b, is discovered with the most distant orbit around a single star, farther than thought possible.
The World Trade Organization unanimously adopts the Bali Package, aimed at liberalizing world trade.
Former President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela (pictured) dies at the age of 95.
The United Nations Security Council passes resolution 2127, creating MISCA in response to civil conflict in the Central African Republic.
Recent disclosures suggest that the U.S. National Security Agency is collecting five billion records daily on the locations of mobile phones around the globe.
China's first lunar rover mission, Chang'e 3, launches successfully.

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On this day...

December 11

220 – Emperor Xian abdicated the throne and the Han Dynasty broke apart, beginning the Three Kingdoms period.
630 – Muslims led by Muhammad conquered Mecca from the Quraysh.
1886 – The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly created UNICEF, originally to help provide emergency food and health care to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II.
1981 – Salvadoran Civil War: About 900 civilians were killed by the Salvadoran armed forces in an anti-guerrilla campaign.
2008 – American stock broker Bernard Madoff (pictured) was arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest such in history.

More anniversaries: December 10 – December 11 – December 12

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Today's featured picture

A section of the Israel–Egypt barrier, north of Eilat. Initially built by the Israeli government to keep out illegal immigrants and smugglers, the fence has been upgraded and expanded in order to prevent penetration by terrorists.

Photo: Idobi1

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