Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 January 1

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Today's featured article
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling songs of the 19th century in terms of sheet music sold. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the Tin Pan Alley firm of Howley, Haviland & Co. in October 1897. The lyrics of the ballad reminisce about life near Dresser's childhood home by the Wabash River in Indiana. It remained popular for decades and the Indiana General Assembly adopted it as the official state song on March 14, 1913. The song was the basis for a 1923 film of the same title. Its longtime popularity led to the emergence of several lyrical versions, including an 1898 anti-war song and a Swedish version that was a number one hit. The song was composed during a transitory time in musical history when songs first began to be recorded for the phonograph. It was among the earliest pieces of popular music to be recorded. Dresser's inability to control the distribution of phonograph cylinders led him and his company to join other composers to petition the United States Congress to expand federal copyright protections over the new technology. (more...) Recently featured: Typhoon Tip – Charles Stewart – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that dancers over seven years of age are forbidden to dress up as Robin Hood in the Fancy Dress Festival (masquerade pictured) held on the first of January in Winneba in Ghana? ... that Tom Loftin Johnson won a 1941 prize for his American Pietà, which substitutes an African American mother for the Virgin Mary and the black victim of a lynching for Jesus? ... that Bach's cantata for New Year's Day, Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16, opens with Luther's German Te Deum and contains "an unusual and imaginative combination of aria and chorus"? ... that Hendy Woods State Park, an old-growth coast redwood forest in the Anderson Valley of northern California, is scheduled to be closed in 2012 because of state budget cuts? ... that two men from Wisbech, constable William Wolsey and painter Robert Pygot, condemned for Christian heresy by the bishop's chancellor John Fuller at Ely, were burnt at the stake on 16 October 1555? ... that Rembrandt's Joseph and Potiphar's Wife is considered "unprecedented in its erotic candor"? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Portia Simpson-Miller The People's National Party, led by Portia Simpson-Miller (pictured), wins a majority in the Jamaican general election. Samoa and Tokelau switch to the western side of the International Date Line, skipping 30 December entirely. Kim Jong-un is officially declared the new Supreme Leader of North Korea. The first stage of China's Compass satellite navigation system becomes operational, covering the China region. Multiple bombings occur in Nigeria, killing at least 39 people. Two coordinated bombings kill at least 44 people in Damascus, Syria. A series of coordinated bombings in Baghdad kills at least 65 people. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
January 1: New Year's Day (Gregorian calendar) 1801 – The Kingdom of Ireland formally merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain, adding Saint Patrick's Saltire to the Union Flag. 1808 – As a result of the lobbying efforts by the Abolitionist Movement, the importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet abolished. 1810 – Lachlan Macquarie became Governor of New South Wales, eventually playing a major role in the shaping of the social, economic and architectural development of the colony in Australia. 1959 – Cuban President Fulgencio Batista (pictured) fled to the Dominican Republic as forces under Fidel Castro took control of Havana, marking the end of the Cuban Revolution. 1983 – The ARPANET changed its core networking protocols from NCP to TCP/IP, marking the beginning of the Internet as we know it today. More anniversaries: December 31 – January 1 – January 2 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now January 1, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

An image of the Earth's cloud cover, which is the amount of sky obscured by clouds, based largely on observations from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Terra satellite. Clouds play multiple critical roles in the climate system. In particular, being bright objects in the visible part of sunlight, they efficiently reflect light to space and thus contribute to the cooling of the planet.

Image: Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA

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