Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 August 10

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From today's featured article

The United Kingdom's military intervention in Sierra Leone in May 2000 was the first large-scale intervention by British forces in the country's civil war. A team was dispatched under Brigadier David Richards (pictured in 2012) to evacuate foreign citizens after the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) advanced on the country's capital, Freetown. British forces then began to assist the U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leone Army (SLA). They first came into direct contact with the RUF 10 days after arrival, when the rebels attacked a British position near Lungi International Airport. While training the SLA for confrontations with the RUF, a British patrol was taken captive by a militia group known as the West Side Boys. Negotiations achieved the release of five soldiers; three weeks later, British special forces freed the remaining six, restoring confidence in the British mission. The RUF began to disarm after political pressure and economic sanctions were exerted on its supporter Liberia. The British training teams were replaced by an international force in September 2001. The mission's success vindicated several concepts, including the retention of high-readiness forces. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that La Feria Chapultepec Mágico (pictured) is a Mexican amusement park which once had the world's tallest roller coaster, Montaña Rusa?

... that Ny Dag publisher Knut Olsson was sentenced to eight months of hard labour for articles published regarding the 1931 Ådalen riots?

... that the Keen Kutter Building in Wichita is now a hotel that displays a vast collection of Keen Kutter hardware on every floor?

... that despite being native to New York City, the Gotham Bee was not discovered until 2010?

... that Terry McDaniel, who later became an NFL cornerback, won his state's high school championships in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes?

... that the bushshrikes, helmetshrikes, Ioras, vangas and woodswallows all belong to a group of shrike-like songbirds known as the Malaconotoidea?

... that the Sun in the Sands pub gets its name from the sight of the setting sun amidst dust, kicked up by drovers' sheep travelling from Kent to London?

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In the news

More than 160 people are killed in flash floods across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Jeff Bezos (pictured) announces the purchase of The Washington Post for $250 million in cash.

Major League Baseball announces the suspension of thirteen players, pending appeal, for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Enele Sopoaga is elected Prime Minister of Tuvalu.

The World Aquatics Championships conclude with the United States winning the most medals, including six gold medals by Missy Franklin.

Robert Mugabe is re-elected as President of Zimbabwe.

In rugby union, the Chiefs defeat the Brumbies to win the Super Rugby championship.

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On this day...

August 10: Feast Day of Saint Lawrence (Roman Catholic Church)

1270 – Yekuno Amlak deposed the last Zagwe king and seized the imperial throne of Ethiopia, beginning the reign of the Solomonic dynasty that would last for more than 700 years.

1793 – The Louvre (pictured) officially opened in Paris with an exhibition of 537 paintings.

1861 – American Civil War: The first major battle west of the Mississippi River, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, was fought.

1953 – First Indochina War: The French Union withdrew its forces from Operation Camargue against the Viet Minh in central modern-day Vietnam.

1988 – Japanese American internment: The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 became law, authorizing US$20,000 in reparations to each surviving internee.

More anniversaries: August 9 – August 10 – August 11

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Today's featured picture

Averbode Abbey, founded about 1134–35 by Count Arnold II of Loon, is a Premonstratensian monastery situated in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels in Belgium. The abbey reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, though over the past hundred years it has been in a state of decline.

Photograph: JH-man

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