Wikipedia news from December 12th, 2013

Jump to: navigation, search


Welcome to Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
4,399,106 articles in English

 Arts
Biography
Geography
 History
Mathematics
Science
 Society
Technology
All portals


From today's featured article


Tropical Storm Cindy
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...)
Recently featured: Samuel Merrill Woodbridge – Common Raven – Joseph Desha
Archive – By email – More featured articles...

Did you know...


From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

Longfellow Hall at Radcliffe
... that Alice Mary Longfellow, daughter of the poet, was instrumental in founding the Harvard Annex, now Radcliffe College, which has a building (pictured) named in her honor?
... that oil extracted from the seeds of false sesame can be used as an insecticide?
... that when Hale Holden became president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1914, he was the youngest chief executive of any major American rail system?
... that Sholaye-e Inquilab ("Flame of the Revolution") was the first Tajik Persian newspaper founded in Soviet Turkestan?
... that the extinct ant Anochetus corayi was the first Anochetus species described from a fossil?
... that South African trade union leader Moses Mayekiso was the central figure in the Alexandra township uprising of 1986, subsequently getting arrested and severely beaten?
... that Art Nouveau furniture was criticised by the English Arts and Crafts movement for not being "honestly" constructed?
Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

 
In the news


Nelson Mandela
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.
Recent deaths – More current events...

On this day...


December 12: Independence Day in Kenya (1963)

Wreckage of the Clapham Junction rail crash
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
Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries
It is now December 12, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page



Today's featured picture


Accordionist
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
Recently featured: Israel–Egypt barrier – Windmill – Bush Stone-curlew

Archive – More featured pictures...




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.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
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.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:
Commons Commons
 Free media repository MediaWiki MediaWiki
 Wiki software development Meta-Wiki Meta-Wiki
 Wikimedia project coordination
Wikibooks Wikibooks
 Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Wikidata
 Free knowledge base Wikinews Wikinews
 Free-content news
Wikiquote Wikiquote
 Collection of quotations Wikisource Wikisource
 Free-content library Wikispecies Wikispecies
 Directory of species
Wikiversity Wikiversity
 Free learning materials and activities Wikivoyage Wikivoyage
 Free travel guide Wiktionary Wiktionary
 Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 4,399,106 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.
More than 1,000,000 articles: Deutsch ·
 español ·
 français ·
 italiano ·
 Nederlands ·
 polski ·
 русский ·
 svenska
  
More than 400,000 articles: català ·
 日本語 ·
 norsk bokmål ·
 português ·
 Tiếng Việt ·
 українська ·
 中文
  
More than 200,000 articles: العربية ·
 Bahasa Indonesia ·
 Bahasa Melayu ·
 čeština ·
 српски / srpski ·
 فارسی ·
 한국어 ·
 magyar ·
 română ·
 suomi ·
 Türkçe
  
More than 50,000 articles: български ·
 dansk ·
 eesti ·
 Ελληνικά ·
 English (simple) ·
 Esperanto ·
 euskara ·
 galego ·
 עברית ·
 hrvatski ·
 latviešu ·
 lietuvių ·
 norsk nynorsk ·
 slovenčina ·
 slovenščina ·
 srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски ·
 ไทย
  
Complete list of Wikipedias
 


Navigation menu


Create account
Log in


Main Page

Talk






Read

View source

View history





 Search 



Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools





Print/export



Languages
Simple English
العربية
Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Melayu
Български
Català
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Français
Galego
한국어
עברית
Hrvatski
Italiano
ქართული
Latviešu
Lietuvių
Magyar
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Norsk nynorsk
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
ไทย
Tiếng Việt
Türkçe
Українська
中文
Complete list

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   







Jump to: navigation, search


Welcome to Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
4,399,106 articles in English

 Arts
Biography
Geography
 History
Mathematics
Science
 Society
Technology
All portals


From today's featured article


Tropical Storm Cindy
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...)
Recently featured: Samuel Merrill Woodbridge – Common Raven – Joseph Desha
Archive – By email – More featured articles...

Did you know...


From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

Longfellow Hall at Radcliffe
... that Alice Mary Longfellow, daughter of the poet, was instrumental in founding the Harvard Annex, now Radcliffe College, which has a building (pictured) named in her honor?
... that oil extracted from the seeds of false sesame can be used as an insecticide?
... that when Hale Holden became president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1914, he was the youngest chief executive of any major American rail system?
... that Sholaye-e Inquilab ("Flame of the Revolution") was the first Tajik Persian newspaper founded in Soviet Turkestan?
... that the extinct ant Anochetus corayi was the first Anochetus species described from a fossil?
... that South African trade union leader Moses Mayekiso was the central figure in the Alexandra township uprising of 1986, subsequently getting arrested and severely beaten?
... that Art Nouveau furniture was criticised by the English Arts and Crafts movement for not being "honestly" constructed?
Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

 
In the news


Nelson Mandela
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.
Recent deaths – More current events...

On this day...


December 12: Independence Day in Kenya (1963)

Wreckage of the Clapham Junction rail crash
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
Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries
It is now December 12, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page



Today's featured picture


Accordionist
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
Recently featured: Israel–Egypt barrier – Windmill – Bush Stone-curlew

Archive – More featured pictures...




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.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
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.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:
Commons Commons
 Free media repository MediaWiki MediaWiki
 Wiki software development Meta-Wiki Meta-Wiki
 Wikimedia project coordination
Wikibooks Wikibooks
 Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Wikidata
 Free knowledge base Wikinews Wikinews
 Free-content news
Wikiquote Wikiquote
 Collection of quotations Wikisource Wikisource
 Free-content library Wikispecies Wikispecies
 Directory of species
Wikiversity Wikiversity
 Free learning materials and activities Wikivoyage Wikivoyage
 Free travel guide Wiktionary Wiktionary
 Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 4,399,106 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.
More than 1,000,000 articles: Deutsch ·
 español ·
 français ·
 italiano ·
 Nederlands ·
 polski ·
 русский ·
 svenska
  
More than 400,000 articles: català ·
 日本語 ·
 norsk bokmål ·
 português ·
 Tiếng Việt ·
 українська ·
 中文
  
More than 200,000 articles: العربية ·
 Bahasa Indonesia ·
 Bahasa Melayu ·
 čeština ·
 српски / srpski ·
 فارسی ·
 한국어 ·
 magyar ·
 română ·
 suomi ·
 Türkçe
  
More than 50,000 articles: български ·
 dansk ·
 eesti ·
 Ελληνικά ·
 English (simple) ·
 Esperanto ·
 euskara ·
 galego ·
 עברית ·
 hrvatski ·
 latviešu ·
 lietuvių ·
 norsk nynorsk ·
 slovenčina ·
 slovenščina ·
 srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски ·
 ไทย
  
Complete list of Wikipedias
 


Navigation menu


Create account
Log in


Main Page

Talk






Read

View source

View history





 Search 



Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools





Print/export



Languages
Simple English
العربية
Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Melayu
Български
Català
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Français
Galego
한국어
עברית
Hrvatski
Italiano
ქართული
Latviešu
Lietuvių
Magyar
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Norsk nynorsk
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
ไทย
Tiếng Việt
Türkçe
Українська
中文
Complete list

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki