Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 14

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From today's featured article

New York State Route 28N (NY 28N) is an east–west state highway in the North Country of New York in the United States. It extends for 50.95 miles (82.00 km) through the Adirondack Mountains from Blue Mountain Lake to North Creek. The route is a northerly alternate route to NY 28 between both locations and passes through several communities that NY 28 bypasses. The westernmost 10 miles (16 km) of NY 28N overlap with NY 30 through the town of Long Lake. The rest of NY 28N is designated as the Roosevelt–Marcy Trail, a scenic byway marking the path taken in 1901 by U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt from Mount Marcy to reach North Creek after he learned that President William McKinley had been assassinated. The route has a rather scant history before its designations. It originated as a highway from Warren County to Long Lake. It was used for transportation in the iron ore industry in Newcomb, and for the lumber industry in Minerva. The state gained control of the road in 1909. The NY 28N designation was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, incorporating part of the former NY 10. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the Lebombo cycad (pictured) is a different species from the Lebombo cycad?
... that when the Alid Muhammad the Pure Soul launched his abortive uprising against the Abbasids, Caliph al-Mansur is said to have remarked that at last he had "enticed the fox out of his hole"?
... that extracts from leaves of the mahogany tree suren toon are used as antibacterial poultices?
... that Runcorn signal box was one of the earliest operational signal boxes built by the LMS to incorporate Air Raid Precautions specifications?
... that during the 2012–13 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season one school advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round in each region of the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament?
... that as President of the American Physical Society, James A. Krumhansl advocated for more visas and immigration opportunities for Chinese scholars following the Tiananmen square massacre?
... that social inertia discourages chickens from attacking one another after a social order has been established?

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In the news

North Korean media announce the execution of senior government official Jang Sung-taek.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla is executed for war crimes committed during the Bangladeshi War of Independence.
Uruguay becomes the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis.
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.

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On this day...

December 14: Day of the Martyred Intellectuals in Bangladesh (1971); Monkey Day

835 – In the Sweet Dew Incident, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty conspired to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot was foiled.
1819 – Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S. state, after the statehood of present-day Northern Alabama was delayed for several years by the lack of a coastline until Mobile was captured from Spain during the War of 1812.
1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole (pictured).
1963 – The dam holding the Baldwin Hills Reservoir in Los Angeles failed, releasing a flood that destroyed 277 homes.
1999 – Torrential rains caused flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.

More anniversaries: December 13 – December 14 – December 15

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Today's featured picture

The Olive Whistler (Pachycephala olivacea) is a species of bird of the whistler family Pachycephalidae that is native to southeastern Australia. Adults measure around 18–20 cm (7–8 in) long. The species' call has been likened to "I'll wet you" or "You're cranky".

Photo: JJ Harrison

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