Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 May 19

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Joppenbergh Mountain

Joppenbergh Mountain is a nearly 500-foot (150 m) mountain in Rosendale Village, in Ulster County, New York. The mountain is composed of a carbonate bedrock overlain by glacially deposited material. It was named after Rosendale's founder, Jacob Rutsen, and mined throughout the late 19th century for dolostone that was used in the manufacture of natural cement. Extensive mining caused a large cave-in on December 19, 1899, that destroyed equipment and collapsed shafts within Joppenbergh. During the late 1930s, Joppenbergh became the site of several ski jumping competitions, which continued until the early 1940s. Skiing began again in the 1960s, when a new slope was built on the mountain, and the revived competitions continued until 1971. In March 2011, the Open Space Institute offered to purchase Joppenbergh and sell it to the town. The Rosendale town board initially agreed to the deal the following month, with payment planned to come from a surplus fund. That June, however, the board found that the surplus fund had already been exhausted and could not cover the entire cost of the purchase. Ultimately, the OSI completed its purchase of Joppenbergh in October 2011, without town money. (Full article...)

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  • Today's articles for improvement

    In the news

    Emmelie de Forest
  • "Only Teardrops" by Danish singer Emmelie de Forest (pictured) wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
  • An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 170 people dead over three days.
  • Cyclone Mahasen causes significant damage in Southern and Southeastern Asia, resulting in more than 90 deaths.
  • The Maya site Nohmul in Belize is largely destroyed by contractors seeking road construction materials.
  • The Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, led by Boyko Borisov, wins a plurality in the Bulgarian parliamentary election.

    Recent deaths: Jorge Rafael Videla

  • On this day...

    May 19: Pentecost (Western Christianity, 2013); Greek Genocide Remembrance Day in Greece; Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey; Ho Chi Minh's birthday in Vietnam

    Thai soldiers on 19 May 2010 during the crackdown on political protests

  • 1542 – The Prome Kingdom, in present-day central Burma, was conquered by the Taungoo Dynasty.
  • 1743 – French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer with the centigrade scale where zero represents the freezing point of water and 100 its boiling point.
  • 1776American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison west of Montreal surrendered to British troops in the Battle of The Cedars.
  • 1911Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, was established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
  • 1997 – The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, which encompasses the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, was established as a result of grassroots efforts.
  • 2010 – In Bangkok, the Thai military (pictured) concluded a week-long crackdown on widespread protests by forcing the surrender of opposition leaders.

    More anniversaries: May 18 May 19 May 20

    It is now May 19, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page
  • Today's featured picture

    Rembrandt

    Rembrandt (1606–69) was a Dutch painter and etcher generally considered one of the greatest in European art history. The artist attained fame as a portrait painter, although he later painted numerous Bible scenes. In this 1659 self-portrait, known as Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar, he depicts himself in a way which shows "the stresses and strains of a life compounded of creative triumphs and personal and financial reverses".

    Painting: Rembrandt

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