Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 April 12

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Today's featured article
Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states. It has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, only one of three locations in the world to appear on all three lists. Unlike most U.S. national parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect a fragile ecosystem instead of safeguarding a unique geographic feature. Thirty-six species designated as threatened or protected live in the park, including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee. All of South Florida's fresh water, which is stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is recharged in the park. In the 20th century the natural water flow from Lake Okeechobee was controlled and diverted to the explosive growth of the South Florida metropolitan area. The park was established in 1934 to protect the quickly vanishing Everglades. The ecosystems in Everglades National Park have suffered significantly from human activity, and the repair and restoration of the Everglades is a politically charged issue in South Florida. (more...) Recently featured: Black Francis – Sideshow Bob – Battle of Vimy Ridge Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that while Chinese emperors had stone tortoises guard their tombs, some of their subjects in Fujian were laid to rest under plaster tortoises (example pictured)? ... that the General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible was not done by John Wycliffe? ... that Hero Cup was the first cricket tournament to be broadcast on satellite television in India in 1993, prior to which state terrestrial broadcaster Doordarshan had a monopoly on cricket broadcasts? ... that Queensland softball catcher Kym Tollenaere narrowly missed out on the 2004 Summer Olympics and is trying to represent Australia at the 2012 World Championships? ... that the Gabonese Socialist Union, initially an opposition party founded by formerly exiled student activists, aligned itself with the then incumbent president Omar Bongo? ... that Kyeong Kang was the first South Korean to be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft? ... that a large number of street food vendors in Mumbai trade illegally without mandatory permits from the local municipality by bribing officials? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
An 8.6-magnitude earthquake strikes 430 km (270 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, initially prompting tsunami warnings across the Indian Ocean. American golfer Bubba Watson wins the Masters Tournament. Joyce Banda is sworn in as the President of Malawi, following the death of Bingu wa Mutharika (pictured). An avalanche strikes a Pakistan Army base in Siachen, burying at least 135 people in snow. Mali's National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad claims military victory and declares the independence of the state of Azawad. Following an allegation of academic misconduct, Pál Schmitt resigns as President of Hungary. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 12: Yuri's Night; Cosmonautics Day in Russia 1204 – Alexios V Doukas fled Constantinople as forces under Boniface the Marquess of Montferrat and Enrico Dandolo the Doge of Venice entered and sacked the Byzantine capital, effectively ending the Fourth Crusade. 1831 – The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly owing to a mechanical resonance induced by troops marching over the bridge in step. 1980 – Terry Fox (pictured) dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and began running his "Marathon of Hope" towards the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia, to raise funds across Canada for cancer research. 1990 – Jim Gary became the only sculptor to present a solo show at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., featuring his trademark dinosaur sculptures made of automobile parts. 1992 – Disneyland Paris, the first Walt Disney Park in Europe, opened in the Paris suburb of Marne-la-Vallée. More anniversaries: April 11 – April 12 – April 13 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 12, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Two samples of sublimed-dendritic scandium and an argon arc remelted 1 cm³ cube sample for comparison. Scandium is a silvery-white transition metal that is used to make aluminium alloys. Although it is common in the Earth's crust, it is distributed sparsely and occurs only in trace amounts in many minerals.

Photo: Alchemist-hp

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