Wikipedia news from October 2, 2013

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From today's featured article


Lexington at sea, October 1941
USS Lexington (CV-2) was an early aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy during the 1920s. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into an aircraft carrier during construction to comply with the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. Lexington was at sea when the Pacific War began in 1941, ferrying fighter aircraft to Midway Island. She was sent to the Coral Sea in February 1942 to block any Japanese advances into the area. Together with the carrier Yorktown, she successfully attacked Japanese shipping off the east coast of New Guinea in early March. Lexington rendezvoused with Yorktown in the Coral Sea in early May. A few days later the Japanese began Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and the two American carriers attempted to stop the invasion. Aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown succeeded in badly damaging the carrier Shōkaku, but Japanese aircraft crippled Lexington. Vapors from leaking aviation gasoline tanks sparked a series of explosions and fires that could not be controlled, and the carrier had to be scuttled by an American destroyer during the evening of 8 May to prevent her capture. (Full article...)
Recently featured: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) – Ramaria botrytis – Les pêcheurs de perles
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Did you know...


From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

Red Ruffing Goudey baseball card
... that Red Ruffing (pictured) became a Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher despite losing four toes in a coal mining accident as a child?
... that scramble competition is one of the causes of the large population swings experienced by the field vole?
... that Eknath Ranade, who founded the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari, was honoured as a Karmayogi?
... that more than fifty pharmacies in North Dakota deliver pharmaceutical care without a pharmacist present using telepharmacy?
... that Ed Gagnier, the first gymnast to represent Canada at the Olympic games, later coached three NCAA national championship teams at Iowa State?
... that the trailer for the Japanese horror film Henge was described by a reviewer as "a minor work of art"?
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In the news


Marathon runner
The U.S. federal government shuts down non-essential services after it is unable to pass a budget measure.
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (pictured) of Kenya wins the Berlin Marathon in a world record time of 2:03:23.
Over fifty students are massacred by members of Boko Haram at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Nigeria.
Dozens of people are killed in protests against a fuel price hike in Sudan.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change publishes the first part of its Fifth Assessment Report.
Recent deaths: Tom Clancy
More current events...

On this day...


October 3: National Day in Iraq (1932); National Foundation Day in South Korea

Boris III of Bulgaria
1918 – World War I: Following his armed forces' defeat to the Allied Powers, Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I abdicated in favor of his son Boris III (pictured).
1935 – Italian forces under General Emilio De Bono invaded Abyssinia during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
1963 – Oswaldo López Arellano replaced Honduran President Ramón Villeda Morales in a violent coup and initiated two decades of military rule.
1993 – American armed forces attempted to capture officials of Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization at the Battle of Mogadishu.
2003 – Roy Horn of the American entertainment duo of Siegfried & Roy was mauled by a tiger during a performance at The Mirage hotel and casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
More anniversaries: October 2 – October 3 – October 4
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It is now October 3, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page



Today's featured picture


Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares
Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (1587–1645) was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip IV and minister. As prime minister from 1621 to 1643, he over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform. His policies of committing Spain to recapture Holland led to his major involvement in the Thirty Years War. This portrait was completed in 1634, with its composition referring to Olivares' military leadership in the service of King Philip.
Painting: Diego Velázquez
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