Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 April 25

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Today's featured article
Harry Chauvel (1865–1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East during the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps. The son of a grazier, Chauvel was commissioned in 1886 as a captain in a unit organised by his father. After seeing service during the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, he became a regular officer in 1896, and commanded a company of the Queensland Mounted Infantry in the Boer War. He commanded the 1st Light Horse Brigade and later the 1st Division at Gallipoli. In March 1916, Chauvel became commander of the Anzac Mounted Division. He won victories at Romani and Magdhaba, and nearly won the First Battle of Gaza. At Beersheba in October 1917, his light horse captured the town and its vital water supply in one of history's last great cavalry charges. By September 1918, Chauvel was able to effect a secret redeployment of three of his mounted divisions and launch a surprise attack on the enemy that won the Battle of Megiddo. After the war, Chauvel was appointed Inspector General, the Army's most senior post. (more...) Recently featured: Iguanodon – Wage reform in the Soviet Union, 1956–1962 – Kathleen Ferrier Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Australian Aboriginal South Australian softball player Vanessa Stokes (pictured) is vying for a roster spot on the Australian team going to the 2012 World Championships? ... that U.S. Route 6 in Ohio crosses the Black River on the Charles Berry Bridge, the second-largest bascule bridge in the world? ... that WWI British flying ace Bruce Digby-Worsley scored the majority of his aerial victories against the Fokker D.VII? ... that "Saturday Night Glee-ver" is Glee's tribute to the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever? ... that Filipino fashion designer and Project Runway Philippines judge Rajo Laurel has held exhibitions in New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney, and Bali? ... that Puppigerus, an extinct sea turtle, had a specialized jaw structure which kept it from accidentally inhaling water? ... that during World War II, the government occupied Parsi Gymkhana and Islam Gymkhana in Bombay, leading Hindu Gymkhana to offer membership to Muslims and Parsis as an "emergency measure"? 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.

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On this day...

April 25: Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand; Red Hat Society Day; Yom Ha'atzmaut begin at sunset (Israel, 2012)

La Marseillaise

1792 – French composer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote "La Marseillaise" (audio featured), now the national anthem of France.

1849 – After Lord Elgin, the Governor General of Canada, signed the Rebellion Losses Bill into law to compensate the residents of Lower Canada for losses incurred in Rebellions of 1837, protestors rioted and burned down the Parliament building in Montreal.

1898 – The United States retroactively declared war on Spain, stating that a state of war between the two countries had already existed for the past couple of days.

1915 – First World War: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.

1953 – "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids" by molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific journal Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

More anniversaries: April 24 – April 25 – April 26

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It is now April 25, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A view of animals and tourists inside Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The crater is a large volcanic caldera, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago. It is 610 m (2,000 ft) deep and its floor covers 260 km² (100 sq mi).

Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Recently featured: Cattle roundup, 1898 – Pear-shaped puffball – Focus stacking

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