Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 March 12

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From today's featured article

The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates more than 100 locks (Caen Hill Locks pictured). The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century, and the 57-mile (92 km) canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the canal gradually fell into disuse after the opening of the Great Western Railway. In the latter half of the 20th century the canal was restored in stages, largely by volunteers. After decades of dereliction and much restoration work, it was fully reopened in 1990. The Kennet and Avon Canal has been developed as a popular heritage tourism destination for boating, canoeing, fishing, walking, and cycling, and is also important for wildlife conservation. (Full article...)

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... that the RAe TEE II electric trainsets used by the Gottardo (pictured), a Trans Europ Express (TEE) train, could operate at four different overhead line voltages?

... that slave Austin Dabney was the only African American granted land by the Southern state of Georgia for his military service in the American Revolutionary War?

... that due to quicksand, passengers on the new London and Birmingham Railway detrained for over five months at Denbigh Hall station to continue their journey by stagecoach?

... that Saeed Abedini, an Iranian American Christian pastor, was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on charges of undermining national security?

... that in 1976, U.S. President Gerald Ford tried to prevent Major League Baseball from awarding an expansion franchise to Toronto?

... that there are over 1000 ancient monuments on the Carneddau and Glyderau mountain ranges in North Wales?

... that basketball executive Jim Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers attended jockey school even though he stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m)?

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In the news

Syrian rebels capture ar-Raqqah, making it the first major city to come under rebel control during the Syrian civil war.

A newly discovered Y-chromosome haplogroup is thought to push back the time of Y-chromosomal Adam to 338,000 years ago.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (pictured) dies at the age of 58.

A standoff in Lahad Datu between the Malaysian Armed Forces and a group claiming to represent the Sultanate of Sulu escalates into a military conflict in eastern Sabah.

Al-Qaeda confirms that one of its commanders, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, was killed in the Northern Mali conflict.

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On this day...

March 12: Arbor Day in China and Taiwan

538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths, ended his siege of Rome, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.

1881 – Andrew Watson made his debut with the Scotland national football team and became the world's first black international football player.

1913 – The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra during a ceremony officiated by Gertrude, Lady Denman, the wife of Governor-General Lord Denman.

1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (pictured) broadcast the first of his "fireside chats" to address the nation directly.

1971 – The Turkish Armed Forces executed a "coup by memorandum", forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel.

More anniversaries: March 11 – March 12 – March 13

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Today's featured picture

The Venus flytrap sea anemone (Actinoscyphia aurelia) is a large sea anemone superficially resembling a Venus flytrap. Found in deep water canyons in the Gulf of Mexico, the anemone orients itself to face the upwelling current and catches prey with its tentacles.

Photo: NOAA

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