Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 August 3

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Today's featured article
Melville Island is a small peninsula in Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour, west of Deadman's Island. It is part of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The land is rocky, with thin, acidic soil, but supports a limited woodland habitat. The site was discovered by Europeans in the 1600s, though it was likely earlier explored by aboriginals. It was initially used for storehouses before being purchased by the British, who built a prisoner-of-war camp to hold captives from the Napoleonic Wars and later the War of 1812. The burial ground for the prisoners was on the adjacent Deadman's Island. Melville Island was used as a receiving depot for slaves escaping the United States, then as a quarantine hospital for immigrants arriving from Europe (particularly Ireland). It briefly served as a recruitment centre for the British Foreign Legion during the Crimean War and was then sold to the British for use as a military prison. The land was granted to the Canadian government in 1907, which used it to detain German and Austro-Hungarian nationals during the First World War. During the Second World War, prisoners were sent to McNabs Island instead, and ammunition depots were kept on Melville Island. The peninsula now houses the clubhouse and marina of the Armdale Yacht Club. Melville Island has been the subject of a number of cultural works, most of which concern its use as a prison. (more...) Recently featured: Brunette Coleman – Poppy Meadow – Stephen Trigg Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that screenwriter Chris Carter (pictured) spent 13 years working for Surfing Magazine before creating The X-Files and Millennium? ... that 2012 British Olympic shooter James Huckle took up the sport after his father bought a rifle to deal with a rat problem? ... that Afro-Uruguayan intellectuals founded the Black Native Party in 1936, the third Black political party in Latin America? ... that Australian Olympian Melissa Breen ran the 100 metres 27 times in 2012 trying to achieve an Olympic A qualifying time of 11.29 seconds? ... that the list of threatened fauna of Michigan includes almost 400 endangered, threatened and special concern species? ... that Masaharu Matsushita, president of Panasonic from 1961 to 1977, married the daughter of Panasonic's founder and adopted his family name before joining the company? ... that 2012 Olympic equestrian jumper James Paterson-Robinson of Australia was not selected for the 2004 Olympics because his horse was injured? ... that despite first opening in 1936, Mirabelle was named London's best new restaurant in 1999? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
American author and playwright Gore Vidal (pictured) dies at the age of 86. American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the greatest number of medals won at the Olympics. A power grid failure in India leaves 20 states in the country without electricity, affecting 600 million people. A train fire kills 32 passengers on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, India. Fighting intensifies in Aleppo, Syria, as the Syrian Armed Forces launch an attack to regain control of the city. The Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics is held in London. Olympics summary – Wikinews – Recent deaths More current events...
On this day...
August 3: Independence Day in Niger (1960); Flag Day in Venezuela 1852 – The first Harvard–Yale Regatta—the first intercollegiate sports event in the United States—was held on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. 1916 – Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement was hanged at London's Pentonville Prison for treason for his role in the Easter Rising, a rebellion to win Irish independence from Britain. 1929 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed to likely be the messianic "World Teacher", shocked the Theosophy movement by dissolving the Order of the Star, the organisation established to support him. 1936 – African American athlete Jesse Owens (pictured) won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes of Aryan domination. 1948 – Before the House Un-American Activities Committee of the United States House of Representatives, former spy turned government informer Whittaker Chambers accused U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss of being a communist and a Soviet spy. 2005 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Mayor of Tehran, began his term as the sixth President of Iran. More anniversaries: August 2 – August 3 – August 4 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now August 3, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A pair of Mallards, an easily recognized species of dabbling duck that is found throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The male birds have a bright green head (during breeding season) and are grey on wings and belly, while the females are brown all over. Both sexes have blue speculum feathers. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are gregarious. This species is the ancestor of almost all of the breeds of domestic ducks.

Photo: Richard Bartz

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