Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 12

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From today's featured article

Tropical Storm Cindy was a weak but unusually wet Atlantic tropical cyclone that caused destructive floods and mudslides across Martinique in August 1993. Cindy formed east of the island and became the annual hurricane season's third named storm on August 14. After attaining maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h), the storm began to weaken from interaction with the high terrain of Hispaniola. It made landfall in the Dominican Republic as a tropical depression on August 16, dissipating the following day. Despite its poor cloud structure, Cindy dropped torrential rain over portions of the northeastern Caribbean. Martinique received up to 12 inches (305 mm) of rain in 24 hours, affecting many northern villages and communes. Le Prêcheur in particular was devastated by an extensive debris flow, which washed away entire structures and wrought $2.7 million in damage. The disaster left two people dead and hundreds homeless on the island. En route to Hispaniola, Cindy affected the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with rough surf and moderate rain. Heavy downpours and flooding killed two people in the Dominican Republic, though the exact extent of the damage there is unknown. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

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... that Art Nouveau furniture was criticised by the English Arts and Crafts movement for not being "honestly" constructed?

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In the news

Uruguay becomes the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis.
An exoplanet, HD 106906 b, is discovered with the most distant orbit around a single star, farther than thought possible.
The World Trade Organization unanimously adopts the Bali Package, aimed at liberalizing world trade.
Former President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela (pictured) dies at the age of 95.
The United Nations Security Council passes resolution 2127, creating MISCA in response to civil conflict in the Central African Republic.
Recent disclosures suggest that the U.S. National Security Agency is collecting five billion records daily on the locations of mobile phones around the globe.

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On this day...

December 12: Independence Day in Kenya (1963)

1531 – According to traditional Catholic accounts, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared imprinted on Juan Diego's tilma.
1862 – American Civil War: The USS Cairo was sunk in the Yazoo River, the first armored ship sunk by a naval mine.
1901 – Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu Wireless Station in Cornwall, England, to Signal Hill in St. John's, Newfoundland.
1935 – The Nazi Lebensborn programme, which was later mistakenly believed to engage in coercive breeding, was established to provide assistance to the wives of SS members and unmarried mothers.
1988 – Three trains collided (wreckage pictured) near Clapham Junction railway station in London killing 35 people and injuring 500.

More anniversaries: December 11 – December 12 – December 13

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Today's featured picture

An accordion player in a street in the historic centre of Quito, Ecuador. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows to generate a flow of air, while pressing buttons or keys to open valves (called pallets). This directs the air across strips of brass or steel (called reeds) that vibrate to produce sound inside the body. The performer normally plays the melody on the right-hand keyboard, and the accompaniment, consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons, on the left-hand one.

Photo: Claude Meisch

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