Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 April 24

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Today's featured article
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs. Many species of Iguanodon have been named, dating from the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic Period to the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous Period from Asia, Europe, and North America. However, research in the first decade of the 21st century suggests that there is only one well-substantiated species named I. bernissartensis, that lived from the late Barremian to the earliest Aptian ages (Early Cretaceous) in Belgium, between about 126 and 125 million years ago. Iguanodon's most distinctive features were its large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defence against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food. Named in 1825 by English geologist Gideon Mantell, Iguanodon was the second dinosaur formally named, after Megalosaurus. A large, bulky herbivore, Iguanodon is a member of Iguanodontia, along with the duck-billed hadrosaurs. (more...) Recently featured: Wage reform in the Soviet Union, 1956–1962 – Kathleen Ferrier – 2009 Orange Bowl Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the undefeated 1910 Michigan football team featured three All-Americans in Albert Benbrook, Stanfield Wells and Joe Magidsohn (pictured)? ... that the Carrara marble baptismal font of the church of Augustenborg Palace was a gift from Tsar Alexander I of Russia? ... that Salomon Schweigger published the first German language translation of the Qur'an? ... that ice XI, one of the fifteen known phases of ice, may be present on Pluto and Charon? ... that professional softball player Clare Warwick is one of three national team players from Australian Capital Territory vying to represent Australia at the 2012 World Championship? ... that the Baptism of Poland in 966 led to the emergence of Poland as a proper European state, recognized by other European powers? ... that the survival of descendants of the Banker horses used by Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290 of Ocracoke, North Carolina, relies upon one testicle? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Two trains collide in Amsterdam, killing one person and severely injuring dozens more (aftermath pictured). Bhoja Air Flight 213 crashes on its final approach in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 127 people on board. India successfully test launches the Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile. American broadcaster, television producer and music promoter Dick Clark dies at the age of 82. Jim Yong Kim is elected President of the World Bank. Amid a dispute with Repsol and the government of Spain, Argentina announces re-nationalisation of the oil company YPF. Taur Matan Ruak is elected President of East Timor. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 24: Republic Day in The Gambia (1970) 1547 – Schmalkaldic War: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, led Imperial troops to a decisive victory in the Battle of Mühlberg over the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes. 1800 – The Library of Congress, the de facto national library of the United States, was established as part of an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the nation's capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. 1904 – Realizing that the Russification of Lithuania was not working, the Russian Empire lifted the 40-year-old ban on publications using the Lithuanian language. 1916 – Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse (pictured) began the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state. 1990 – Gruinard Island in Scotland, the site of biological warfare testing by British scientists, was declared free of anthrax after 48 years of quarantine. More anniversaries: April 23 – April 24 – April 25 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 24, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

An 1898 photochrom print of a cattle roundup in Cimarron, Colorado, U.S. Known as a muster in Australia and New Zealand, the North American roundup was an iconic image of the American Old West: the gathering of cattle in the open range, followed by them being driven vast distances from ranches to distant railheads over a period of several weeks.

Photographer: William Henry Jackson; Print: Detroit Publishing Co.; Restoration: A. Cuerden

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