Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 August 30

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Today's featured article
Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823–1914) was a soldier in the Mexican–American War and a Confederate lieutenant general in the American Civil War. He graduated from West Point and taught there for five years, with an interlude during the Mexican–American War. He left the army in 1855 to manage real estate he inherited in Chicago. In 1857, he returned to his native state (Kentucky) and was appointed adjutant general by Governor Beriah Magoffin. He attempted to enforce Kentucky's neutrality policy during the early days of the Civil War, but enlisted in the Confederate Army in September 1861. He was the first Confederate general to surrender an army, doing so at the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862. He also participated in Braxton Bragg's failed attempt to invade Kentucky. On August 30, 1887, he was inaugurated governor of Kentucky. As governor, he worked to suppress the Hatfield-McCoy feud and the Rowan County War and ordered an audit that prompted state treasurer James W. Tate to abscond with $250,000 from the state treasury. He unsuccessfully sought a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1895 and the U.S. Vice-Presidency in 1896. (more...) Recently featured: History of Michigan State University – John Martin Scripps – Gobrecht dollar Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the right to push the button for the implosion of Radio Network House (pictured) received the third-highest views ever on New Zealand auction website TradeMe? ... that the soundtrack of the Marathi film Kaksparsh (2012) was released after the film's theatrical release on public demand and features songs rendered without any musical accompaniment? ... that Ethiopian-Australian Paralympic powerlifter Abebe Fekadu was treated by a local medicine man after being involved in a police car chase as a result of his pro-democracy activities? ... that the red supergiant NML Cygni is the largest star currently known, at about 1,650 times the Sun's diameter? ... that philosopher George Santayana reportedly called The Sense of Beauty, his book on aesthetics, a "wretched potboiler" that he wrote mainly for tenure? ... that volleyball player Brian Thornton set single-season and career assists records at the University of California, Irvine? ... that the BBC documentary Nature's Microworlds covers the wildlife of microclimates ranging from the Serengeti grasslands in Africa to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard? ... that despite being nicknamed "Sparrow", British Paralympian Katrina Hart is scared of birds? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
The opening ceremony of the Summer Paralympics is held in London. More than 2,000 people riot in Mombasa, Kenya, in reaction to the shooting death of Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces the commencement of peace talks with the rebel group FARC. A bus crashes into a tanker carrying methanol, killing 36 people in Shaanxi, China. American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, dies at the age of 82. A blast at the Paraguaná Refinery Complex in Falcón, Venezuela, kills at least 41 people and injures at least 90 others. Syrian civil war – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
August 30: Constitution Day in Kazakhstan (1995); St. Rose of Lima's Day in Peru; Victory Day in Turkey 1799 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: A squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic surrendered to the Royal Navy without a fight near Wieringen. 1836 – Real estate entrepreneurs John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen founded the city of Houston on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou in present-day Texas. 1896 – Philippine Revolution: In the Battle of San Juan del Monte, the first real battle of the war, a Katipunan force temporarily captured a powder magazine before being beaten back by a Spanish garrison. 1942 – Second World War: Erwin Rommel (pictured) launched the last major Axis offensive of the Western Desert Campaign, attacking the British Eighth Army position near El Alamein, Egypt. 1984 – Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage. 1992 – German driver Michael Schumacher won his first Formula One race at the Belgian Grand Prix. More anniversaries: August 29 – August 30 – August 31 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now August 30, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Two workers, c. 1908, use plaster to create a mold of a deceased person's face. This mold will then be used to make that person's death mask. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, used for creation of portraits, or placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites. The best known of the last are those used by ancient Egyptians as part of the mummification process, such the one for Tutankhamun.

Photo: Bain News Service; Restoration: AutoGyro

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