Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 March 9

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From today's featured article

AirTrain JFK is an 8.1-mile-long (13 km) elevated people mover system and rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Its three lines and ten stations, operated by the Canadian firm Bombardier Transportation, connect the airport's six terminals with the New York City Subway in Howard Beach, Queens, and with the Long Island Rail Road and subway in Jamaica, Queens. In-depth planning for a dedicated transport system at JFK began in 1990, and construction commenced in 1998. The system opened in December 2003 after multiple delays. Since then, several improvements have been proposed for AirTrain JFK, including an extension to Manhattan. The system was originally projected to carry 4 million annual paying passengers and 8.4 million annual inter-terminal passengers, but the AirTrain has consistently exceeded these projections; in 2017, it had approximately 7.66 million paying passengers and 12.6 million inter-terminal passengers. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Reconstruction of a Lamellenhelm from Niederstotzingen

... that of the three main types of helmets that proliferated in early medieval Europe, the Lamellenhelm (example pictured) was the only one derived from eastern, rather than Roman, examples?
... that "Old Woden" Frederick Hackwood founded the Wednesbury Strollers football club?
... that the motet Lord, have mercy upon us was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1833, setting responses from the Book of Common Prayer?
... that Colorado Springs architect Elizabeth Wright Ingraham incorporated natural light into her designs, outfitting one home with a 100-foot (30 m) high skylight?
... that one of the two hosts of Dopey, a podcast about addiction, died of a drug overdose?
... that Austrian-born Malcolm Mencer Martin was interned by the British at the beginning of World War II, and graduated from King's College, Newcastle, at war's end?
... that during a grand jury investigation into land-sale fraud at New York City's Kissena Park, Queens borough president Joseph Bermel resigned and fled the U.S. the day before he was scheduled to testify?
... that Yarmouth suspension bridge collapsed under a crowd that had gathered to watch a circus clown in a wash tub being pulled along the River Bure by four geese?

In the news

Tornado damage in Lee County, Alabama

A severe tornado outbreak hits the Southeastern United States, with one tornado causing 23 deaths in Alabama (damage pictured).
Heightened tensions remain between India and Pakistan after both countries conduct airstrikes.
Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected President of Nigeria.
Cardinal George Pell becomes the highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church to be convicted of child sexual abuse.

On this day

March 9

Bust of Adam Smith

1776 – The Wealth of Nations by Scottish political economist Adam Smith (bust pictured) was first published, becoming the first modern work in the field of economics.
1862 – American Civil War: In the world's first battle between two ironclad warships, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought to a draw near the mouth of Hampton Roads in Virginia.
1932 – Éamon de Valera, one of the dominant political figures in 20th-century Ireland, became President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.
1944 – World War II: As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviet Air Forces heavily bombed Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians.
2010 – The first legal U.S. same-sex marriages south of the Mason–Dixon line took place in Washington, D.C.

Abu Maʿshar (d. 886) · Eddie Foy Sr. (b. 1856) · Jane Joseph (d. 1929)

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Today's featured picture

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the American state of Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Greater Pittsburgh Region. It is located in the southwest of the state, at the confluence where the Allegheny and Monongahela join to form the Ohio. The city was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, and incorporated as a borough in 1794. It developed as a link between the Atlantic coast and the Midwest, and its nicknames include the "Steel City", for its more than 300 steel-related businesses, and the "City of Bridges" for its 446 bridges.

This picture shows downtown Pittsburgh and the Duquesne Incline funicular, viewed from Mount Washington on the city's south side.

Photograph: Dllu

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