Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 January 12

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From today's featured article
Little Moreton Hall is a moated half-timbered manor house near Congleton in Cheshire, England. The earliest parts of the house were built for the prosperous Cheshire landowner William Moreton in about 1504–08, and the remainder was constructed in stages by successive generations of the family until about 1610. It remained in the possession of the Moreton family for almost 450 years, until ownership was transferred to the National Trust in 1938. The building is highly irregular, with three asymmetrical ranges forming a small, rectangular cobbled courtyard. Little Moreton Hall and its sandstone bridge across the moat are designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The house has been fully restored and is open to the public from April to December each year. At its greatest extent, in the mid-16th century, the Little Moreton Hall estate occupied an area of 1,360 acres (550 ha) and contained a cornmill, orchards, gardens, and an iron bloomery with water-powered hammers. The gardens lay abandoned until their 20th-century re-creation. As there were no surviving records of the layout of the original knot garden it was replanted according to a pattern published in the 17th century. (Full article...) Recently featured: Cracker Barrel – Metropolitan Railway – Richard Nixon Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that dishes based on perfumes (DKNY adaptation pictured) are served at El Celler de Can Roca, ranked second in The World's 50 Best Restaurants? ... that Jack Crossland was expelled from county cricket for living in the wrong place? ... that the strategic fortress of Baarin in central Syria was captured by Imad ad-Din Zengi from the Crusaders in the Battle of Ba'rin in 1137? ... that on 18 July 1967, the Fourth Legislative Assembly of Madras state unanimously adopted a resolution to change the name of the state to Tamil Nadu? ... that in the Southern Hemisphere, the coral Acropora secale normally spawns in November, six days after the full moon? ... that in the Chicken Kiev speech, then-US President George Bush encouraged Ukraine to remain within the Soviet Union? ... that Welsh actress Tara Bethan was babysat by Giant Haystacks? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
France commits troops to aid government forces in the Mali conflict. Sakine Cansız, one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and two other Kurdish activists are shot dead in Paris. More than 100 people are killed and 270 injured in several bomb blasts in Pakistan. In association football, Lionel Messi wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or. In ice hockey, the National Hockey League's owners reach a tentative agreement with the National Hockey League Players' Association to end the 2012–13 NHL lockout. Wegelin & Co., Switzerland's oldest bank, announces it will close after being fined by U.S. authorities for enabling tax evasion. Syrian civil war – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
January 12: Memorial Day in Turkmenistan (1881); Zanzibar Revolution Day in Tanzania (1964) 1838 – In order to avoid persecution by anti-Mormons, Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith (pictured) and his followers fled Kirtland, Ohio, for Far West, Missouri. 1899 – During a storm, the crew of the Lynmouth Lifeboat Station transported their 10-ton lifeboat 15 mi (24 km) overland in order to rescue a damaged schooner. 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union's Red Army crossed the Vistula River in Poland on their way to invade Germany. 1969 – In American football, the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III in one of the greatest upsets in American sports history. 2007 – Comet McNaught reached perihelion and became the brightest comet in over 40 years with an apparent magnitude of −5.5. More anniversaries: January 11 – January 12 – January 13 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now January 12, 2013 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

This photo, taken the day after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, shows the damage it caused to the National Palace of Haiti. The palace's collapsed cupola has become a symbol of the devastation caused by the quake. The Haitian government is currently in the process of demolishing the remains in preparation for reconstruction.

Photo: Logan Abassi, UNDP Global

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