Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 November 12b

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Umatilla Bridge

Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States that passes through parts of Washington and Oregon. It runs southeasterly for 144 miles (232 km) from I-90 in Ellensburg, Washington, to I-84 in Hermiston, Oregon. The highway passes through Yakima, the Yakima Valley agricultural region, and the Tri-Cities area, also serving as part of the link between Seattle and Boise, Idaho. It crosses the Columbia River on the Umatilla Bridge (pictured), which opened in 1955 and was later twinned. The corridor was originally used by several state and national highways until I-82 was created in late 1957. The first section to be constructed was a bypass of Yakima, opened in 1963, which was extended north to Ellensburg on November 12, 1971. The Yakima Valley section, connecting Union Gap to Prosser, was constructed between 1977 and 1982. The Tri-Cities bypass opened in 1986, delayed by a lengthy routing dispute, and the final section was completed in 1988. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Micah Joseph Lebensohn

... that Micah Joseph Lebensohn (pictured) began to translate poetry into Hebrew at the age of twelve?
... that to reflect the neighbourhood's heritage as a songbird-watching community, Singapore's Mayflower MRT station is decorated with 22 bird sculptures?
... that Earl Old Person, lifetime honorary Chief of the Blackfeet Nation, inadvertently broke a 1000-year tradition in 1971 when he asked the Shah of Iran to stand up?
... that the plant Dyssodia papposa was given to horses for coughs by the Dakota and smoked for epilepsy by the Keres?
... that the first pendulum clock was invented in 1657 by Christiaan Huygens?
... that Kursdorf is "the loudest village in Germany" and a "sound inferno"?
... that Ed Beauvais co-founded the "darling of deregulation"?
... that workers have the right to sit in some jurisdictions?

In the news

F. W. de Klerk in 1990

Former South African president F. W. de Klerk (pictured), who negotiated the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela, dies at the age of 85.
In stock car racing, Kyle Larson wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Kenyans Albert Korir and Peres Jepchirchir win the New York City Marathon men's and women's races.
Daniel Ortega is re-elected as President of Nicaragua.

On this day

November 12

William Heffelfinger

1330 – Led by the voivode Basarab I, Wallachian forces defeated the Hungarian army in an ambush at the Battle of Posada.
1892 – William Heffelfinger (pictured) was paid $500 by the Allegheny Athletic Association, becoming the first professional American football player.
1940 – World War II: Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrived in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis powers.
1991 – Indonesian forces opened fire on student demonstrators protesting the occupation of East Timor in the capital Dili, killing at least 250 people.
2011 – An explosion in the Shahid Modarres missile base led to the deaths of 17 members of the Revolutionary Guards, including Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a key figure in Iran's missile program.

Zhang Jing (d. 1555)
Ben Travers (b. 1886)
Edward Soriano (b. 1946)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Mounted skeletons of Tyrannosaurus (left) and Apatosaurus (right)

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago, although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 million years ago; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record demonstrates that birds are modern feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch. As such, birds were the only dinosaur lineage to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs, or birds; and non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The saddle-billed stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. The species has a widespread distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, and feeds on fish, frogs, crabs and other small creatures. This saddle-billed stork was photographed fishing in the shallow waters of the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Teahouse – To ask your first basic questions about contributing to Wikipedia.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.