Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 August 19

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Today's featured article
The 766th Independent Infantry Regiment was a light infantry regiment of the North Korean People's Army that existed briefly during the Korean War. Trained extensively in amphibious warfare and unconventional warfare, the 766th Regiment was considered a special forces commando unit. Activated in 1949, the regiment trained for more than a year before the outbreak of the war on June 25, 1950. On that day, half of the regiment led North Korean forces against South Korean troops by land and sea, pushing them back after several days of fighting. Over the next six weeks the regiment advanced slowly down the Korean Peninsula, acting as a forward unit of the North Korean army. Suffering from a lack of supplies and mounting casualties, the regiment was committed to the Battle of Pusan Perimeter as part of a push to force United Nations troops out of Korea. The regiment saw its final action at the Battle of P'ohang-dong, fighting unsuccessfully to take the town from UN troops. (more...) Recently featured: "200" – Air-tractor sledge – Mother's Milk Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that after World War II, Polish resistance organizer and Warsaw Uprising fighter Jan Mazurkiewicz (pictured) was brutally tortured by the authorities in communist Poland? ... that actress Amanda Tapping accepted the part of Helen Magnus, the protagonist of Sanctuary, after she was encouraged to move on from her eleven-year role as Samantha Carter in Stargate? ... that the British-supported Greek-Yugoslav confederation was signed during World War II, but never came to pass? ... that Pulitzer winner William A. Caldwell wrote approximately 12,000 editorial columns, each exactly 85 lines long, six per week for 41 years? ... that after the fall of Suharto, the circulation of his party's newspaper, Suara Karya, dropped by a factor of a hundred? ... that sales of Montana artist Monte Dolack's poster, "Restoring the Wolf to Yellowstone," were banned in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks by the U.S. National Park Service in 1990? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Indian social activist Anna Hazare agrees to leave his jail cell after Delhi police allow a 15-day hunger strike against corruption. Astronomers announce that TrES-2b has the lowest known albedo of any planet, reflecting less than 1% of the starlight falling upon it. Google (headquarters pictured) announces an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion. In golf, Keegan Bradley wins the 2011 PGA Championship. Indian actor Shammi Kapoor dies at the age of 79. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
August 19: Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar); Independence Day in Afghanistan (1919) 1745 – Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands to begin the Second Jacobite Rising. 1953 – The intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States orchestrated a coup d'état of Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh (pictured) and restored the absolute monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 1980 – A fire on Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163 killed all 301 people on board after it made an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Saudi Arabia. 1991 – A Hasidic man accidentally struck two Guyanese immigrant children with his car in the Crown Heights neighborhood of New York City, initiating three days of rioting. 2005 – Thunderstorms in southern Ontario, Canada, spawned at least three tornadoes that caused over C$500 million in damage. More anniversaries: August 18 – August 19 – August 20 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now August 19, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus) eating a cicada. Found throughout Australia, meat ants are omnivorous scavengers that get their name from their use, by farmers, to remove carcasses. However, the main portion of their diet comes from honeydew secreted by hemipterous insects—they even maintain mutualistic relationships with certain species of leafhoppers and caterpillars.

Photo: John O'Neill

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