Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 April 8

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From today's featured article

Storm surge from Hurricane Carol

Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and slowly strengthened as it moved northwestward, developing into a major hurricane. While paralleling the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, the storm produced strong winds and rough seas that caused minor coastal flooding and slight damage to houses. It made landfall on Long Island, New York, and Connecticut on August 31 near peak intensity. Early on the following day, Carol transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over New Hampshire. In New York, storm surge flooded LaGuardia Airport and inundated Montauk Highway, leaving the eastern portion of Long Island isolated. There were 65 deaths and 1,000 injuries in New England. About 150,000 people were left without electricity in the region, and over 1,500 houses were destroyed. Overall, Carol caused 68 fatalities and damage totaled about $460 million (1954 USD), making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time. Following the storm, Carol became the first name to be removed from the naming lists in the Atlantic basin. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Canis Minor – Carmen – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

Boat race in the river in Bangui

  • ... that Bangui (picture of a boat race in the river) was once considered to have "the most remote radio station in Africa"?
  • ... that Al Green said that recording his song "Love and Happiness" was "like mixing explosive chemicals – everything had to be added at just the right time and at just the right dose"?
  • ... that the Syrian town of Harran al-Awamid was named after the ruins of three Roman era basaltic columns protruding out from the roof of a mudbrick house?
  • ... that NIRDESH in Kozhikode district of Kerala is India's first centre for research and development in defence shipbuilding?
  • ... that the Nettleton Mill in Wiltshire, an 18th-century Grade II Listed building, is now a country retreat?
  • ... that the London scrivener, Thomas Brend, was the owner of the land on which the Globe Theatre was built?
  • ... that disputes over Nisqually fishing rights led to the Fish Wars of the 1960s?
  • In the news

    Roger Ebert in 1970
  • More than 70 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.
  • American Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert (pictured in 1970) dies at age 70.
  • More than 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.
  • The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Arms Trade Treaty to limit the international trade of weapons.
  • India's Supreme Court denies patent protection for a modified version of the cancer drug imatinib.

    Recent deaths: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

  • On this day...

    April 8: Yom HaShoah in Israel (2013)

    Bahrain World Trade Center

  • 1271 – The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers to the army of the Mamluk sultan Baibars.
  • 1740War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the Spanish ship of the line Princesa and mustered her into British service.
  • 1904 – British occultist and writer Aleister Crowley began transcribing The Book of the Law, a Holy Book in Thelema.
  • 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity.
  • 2008 – The wind turbines at the Bahrain World Trade Center (pictured), the first building to incorporate turbines into its design, became operational.

    More anniversaries: April 7 April 8 April 9

    It is now April 8, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page
  • From today's featured list

    A head and shoulder shot of a smiling man wearing a white cardigan

    Peter Sellers's career on radio, film, television and record lasted from 1948 until his death in 1980. Sellers made his debut on the radio broadcast ShowTime in 1948, followed by appearances on a number of radio programmes, notably the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. He started his film career in the 1950s, and appeared in over fifty films, including Dr. Strangelove, Lolita and the Pink Panther series; at the peak of his career he was one of the most popular stars at the British box office. Sellers's versatility enabled him to portray a wide range of comic characters using different accents and guises, and he would often assume multiple roles within the same film. While best known for his film and radio work, Sellers also made a number of television appearances, in character roles and for interviews and advertisements. His stage appearances were few, largely because he had been unhappy with the touring he had done as a child with his family. During his career he also released a number of albums containing sketches and comic songs; the songs were undertaken in a variety of comic characters. (Full list...)

    Today's featured picture

    Crepuscular rays

    Crepuscular rays are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from the location of the Sun. These rays, which generally appear around dawn and dusk, are columns of sunlit air separated by darker regions caused by obstructions.

    Photo: Alchemist-hp

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