Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 May 1

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Today's featured article
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously occupied by parkland, Illinois Central rail yards and parking lots. The park, which is bounded by Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive, features a variety of public art. As of 2009, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction. Planning of the park began in October 1997. Construction began in October 1998, and Millennium Park was opened in a ceremony on July 16, 2004, four years behind schedule. The three-day opening celebrations were attended by some 300,000 people and included an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. The park has received awards for its accessibility and green design. Millennium Park has free admission, and features the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the Lurie Garden and other attractions. The park is connected by the BP Pedestrian Bridge and the Nichols Bridgeway to other parts of Grant Park. Millennium Park is considered to be the city's most important project since the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and it far exceeded its originally proposed budget of $150 million. (more...) Recently featured: Fossa – Navenby – "Soprano Home Movies" Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that Polish Countess Eveline Hańska (pictured) was once ordered by a doctor to stick her feet into a small pig in order to treat her gout? ... that the former station house at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway depot in Galesburg, Illinois, had two waiting rooms, one for men and one for women? ... that journalist Iryna Khalip is under incommunicado house arrest following a protest of the 2010 Belarusian presidential election, in which her husband was also a candidate? ... that Sophie Christiansen, the youngest athlete for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, won a bronze medal in dressage? ... that despite intending to cast a 40–50 year old Japanese actor in the upcoming Fringe episode "The Day We Died", American actor Brad Dourif was chosen instead? ... that the Cloth of St Gereon is the oldest known European tapestry still existing? ... that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's state funeral took place twice, once immediately after his death in 1938 and then again in 1953? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Pope John Paul II (pictured) is beatified at a ceremony in Vatican City. The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Kate Middleton takes place in London. Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan wins the men's event at the World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow, setting record scores for the long and short programs. More than 330 people are killed in the Southern United States in the deadliest tornado outbreak since 1936. Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah sign a deal to form a unity government ahead of elections. Sony announces that a breach of its PlayStation Network may have compromised users' personal data. Syrian unrest – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
May 1: May Day; International Workers' Day; Beltane in Ireland and Scotland 880 – The Nea Ekklesia church in Constantinople was consecrated, and would go on to set the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. 1707 – Under the terms of the Acts of Union, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, a single kingdom encompassing the entire island of Great Britain with a single parliament and government based in Westminster. 1753 – Carl Linnaeus (pictured) published his Species Plantarum, which, with his earlier work Systema Naturae, is considered the beginning of modern botanical nomenclature. 1865 – Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina signed a treaty creating an alliance against Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance. 1947 – Italian separatist Salvatore Giuliano and his gang fired into a crowd of May Day marchers near Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily, killing 11 and wounding 33. More anniversaries: April 30 – May 1 – May 2 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now May 1, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Lucy Merriam, a child model and actress known for role as Emma Lavery on the American soap opera All My Children. Child models are used for a wide variety of commercial purposes, often because they evoke a sense of innocence or vulnerability. The visible success of child models who become media celebrities has led numerous children (and their parents) to pursue modeling as a part-time career.

Photo: Merriam family

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