Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 November 23

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Today's featured article
Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867) was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became the highest-paid magazine writer of his day. For a time, he was the employer of former slave and future writer Harriet Jacobs. Born in Portland, Maine, Willis came from a family of publishers. He developed an interest in literature while attending Yale College and began publishing poetry. After graduation, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the New York Mirror. He eventually moved to New York and began to build his literary reputation. In 1846, he started his own publication, the Home Journal, which was eventually renamed Town & Country. Shortly after, Willis moved to a home on the Hudson River where he lived a semi-retired life until his death in 1867. Willis embedded his own personality into his writing and addressed his readers personally, specifically in his travel writings, so that his reputation was built in part because of his character. Critics, including his sister in her novel Ruth Hall, occasionally described him as being effeminate and Europeanized. Despite his intense popularity for a time, at his death Willis was nearly forgotten. (more...) Recently featured: Blackbeard – Canoe River train crash – M-6 Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that state highway K-143 (shield pictured) near Salina, Kansas, uses three different types of pavement on its 4.6 miles (7.4 km)? ... that Kevin McIntosh was named the Australian Paralympic Committee Coach of the Year three times? ... that the Tian Shan region is a key place to study mountain formation far from continental and tectonic plate boundaries? ... that Leederville Oval was built on part of a series of wetlands north of Perth, Western Australia? ... that during controlled burns of wooded areas, the Japanese climbing fern can inadvertently become a fuel ladder that brings flames into the canopy? ... that Israeli sport shooter Sergy Rikhter was denied a 2011 ISSF World Cup silver medal because he was late? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Tony Stewart The interim government of Egypt resigns amidst violent protests in which at least 30 people were killed and more than 1,500 wounded. In auto racing, Tony Stewart (pictured) wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. The People's Party, led by Mariano Rajoy, wins a majority in the Spanish general election. Scientists announce the development of the world's lightest solid material. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, banned in Burma since May 2010, announces that it will re-register as a political party. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia sign a cooperation agreement, setting a target of establishing the Eurasian Union by 2015. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
November 23: St George's Day in Georgia; Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan 1867 – The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while assisting two Irish nationalists, who had played important roles in the failed Fenian Rising, to escape from custody. 1876 – William "Boss" Tweed, a major New York City politician who had been arrested for embezzlement, was handed to US authorities after having escaped from prison to Spain. 1934 – An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden encountered a garrison of Somalis in Italian service at Walwal, which led to the Abyssinia Crisis. 1996 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum, then crashed into the Indian Ocean near Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 people on board. 2005 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (pictured) was declared the winner of the Liberian general election, making her the first democratically elected female head of state of an African country. More anniversaries: November 22 – November 23 – November 24 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now November 23, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A 360° panorama of the night sky above Paranal Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in northern Chile. This view shows the Milky Way forming an arc, the moon on the horizon just rising, the zodiacal light above it, and on the right, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.

Photo: H. H. Heyer, ESO

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