Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 May 10

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Today's featured article
The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada. When the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001, the Raptors became the only Canadian team in the NBA. Like most expansion teams, the Raptors struggled in their early years; but after the acquisition of Vince Carter through a draft day trade in 1998, the team set league attendance records and made the NBA Playoffs in 2000, 2001, and 2002. After Carter left, Chris Bosh emerged as the team leader. With the appointment of Bryan Colangelo as General Manager and a revamp of the roster for the 2006–07 season, they qualified for their first playoff berth in five years and captured their first division title. In the following season, they advanced to the playoffs again. In a bid to persuade Bosh to stay beyond the final year of his contract, the team had a roster overhaul in the 2009–10 season. However, the attempt to make the playoffs was unsuccessful and Bosh signed with the Miami Heat in July 2010, ushering in a new era for the franchise. (more...) Recently featured: Edward III of England – House – Stanley Green Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the former British royal yacht *Alexandra* (pictured), sold to Norway in 1925, was sunk by Luftwaffe bombers when she tried to escape to the United Kingdom in 1940? ... that the ASME describes the Oneida Street Station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the "first central power station in the United States to be equipped and successfully operated with pulverized coal?" ... that it was at the wheel of the Brabham BT3 that Jack Brabham became the first driver ever to score Formula One World Championship points in a car of his own manufacture? ... that Osama bin Laden's hideout compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan is known locally as the Waziristan Haveli mansion? ... that after the surge of multinational investments into Indonesia during the 1970s, many Indonesian women became the primary and cheap workforce in manufacturing businesses? ... that socialist politician Arvid Olsson was among the first Swedes to receive political training in Soviet Russia? ... that Banksia candolleana shrubs have been estimated at 1000 years old? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
In the Singaporean general election, the People's Action Party (leader Lee Hsien Loong pictured) is returned to power, while the opposition wins its first Group Representation Constituency. In basketball, the Euroleague 2010–11 season concludes with Panathinaikos defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final. Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao retains his WBO Welterweight championship after defeating American Shane Mosley. Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros dies after a three-year battle with cancer. Voters in the United Kingdom reject the alternative vote system for future parliamentary elections. Established same-sex couples in Brazil are awarded the same legal rights as married heterosexual couples. Syrian unrest – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
May 10: Mother's Day in El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico; Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel, 2011); Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia 1857 – The Sepoy Mutiny against the company rule by the British East India Company began. 1869 – The golden spike (replica pictured) ceremony was held at Promontory Summit, Utah, celebrating the completion of North America's First Transcontinental Railroad between the Missouri and Sacramento Rivers. 1940 – World War II: a British force of 746 soldiers invaded and captured Iceland without opposition. 1997 – A 7.3 M_w earthquake struck Iran's Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes. 2005 – Ethnic Armenian Vladimir Arutyunian attempted to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush in Tbilisi, Georgia, using a hand grenade, which failed to detonate. More anniversaries: May 9 – May 10 – May 11 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now May 10, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Velvet Parachute (Marasmius elegans) is one of about 500 species of mushroom in the Marasmius genus of agarics. Most members of this genus are small, unimpressive brown mushrooms, making them not readily distinguishable to non-specialists, and therefore seldom collected by mushroom hunters.

Photo: JJ Harrison

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