Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 April 11

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From today's featured article

SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser built by the Imperial German Navy. She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers. Blücher was larger than earlier armored cruisers and carried more heavy guns, but was unable to match the size and armament of the new battlecruisers. The ship was named for Gebhard von Blücher, commander of Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. After being commissioned in 1909, Blücher served in the I Scouting Group for most of her career, including World War I. She took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth and the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914. At the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915, she was slowed significantly after being hit by British gunfire. Franz von Hipper, the German commander, decided to abandon Blücher to the pursuing enemy ships in order to save his more valuable battlecruisers. She was sunk and British destroyers began recovering the survivors, although they were forced to withdraw when a German zeppelin began bombing them, mistaking Blücher for a British ship. Estimates of the number of casualties range from 747 to around 1,000. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that Beirut's Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral sits on the vestiges of three earlier church structures dating back as early as the 5th century AD?

... that James Nelson Barker's play The Indian Princess is largely responsible for the modern version of the Pocahontas story?

... that Scott Bakula gave a video interview from the set of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Shipment" on Good Day Live, to promote a different episode of the show?

... that in June 1537 Elizabeth Bourchier's servant received two shillings as a reward for bringing strawberries and cream to the future Queen Mary?

... that the whereabouts of the original K'iche' version of the 16th-century Título de Totonicapán was unknown after its translation into Spanish in 1834 until it was shown to American anthropologist Robert Carmack in 1973?

... that Sir Godfrey Haggard directed the American Forces Liaison Division of the Ministry of Information after his retirement as the British Consul General at New York?

... that drunk rabbits up to 30 m (98 ft) high are found in Queensland rainforests?

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In the news

Margaret Thatcher

At least 37 people are killed and 850 are injured following a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Iran.

A gunman kills 13 people in a spree shooting in the village of Velika Ivanča, Serbia.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (pictured) dies at the age of 87.

In horse racing, Auroras Encore wins the 2013 Grand National.

More than 70 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.

At least 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Amid rising tensions, North Korea closes off entry to the Kaesŏng Industrial Region and announces plans to restart a plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon.

Recent deaths: Robert Edwards – Roger Ebert – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

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On this day...

April 11: Gudi Padwa and Ugadi in various parts of India (2013)

1544 – Italian War of 1542–1546: French and Spanish forces fought a massive pitched battle in the Piedmont region of Italy.

1913 - The Nevill Ground's pavilion was destroyed in the only suffragette arson attack on a cricket ground.

1945 – World War II: American forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp (watchtower pictured) near Weimar, Germany.

1951 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands for making public statements about the Korean War that contradicted the administration's policies.

1979 – Uganda–Tanzania War: The Uganda National Liberation Army and Tanzanian forces captured Kampala, forcing Ugandan President Idi Amin to flee.

More anniversaries: April 10 – April 11 – April 12

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Today's featured picture

Sri Mulyani Indrawati is an Indonesian economist who served for five years as Minister of Finance of Indonesia before being selected as managing director of the World Bank. In 2011 she was ranked as the 65th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

Photo: the International Monetary Fund

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