Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 May 9

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Satellite image of Hurricane Debbie taken by the TIROS I satellite on September 11, 1961
Hurricane Debbie was the most powerful cyclone on record to strike Ireland in September. The fourth named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Debbie originated from a well-defined tropical disturbance that was first identified in late August over Central Africa. Tracking generally westward, the system moved off the coast of Senegal on September 5 into the Atlantic Ocean. On September 6, Debbie passed through the southern Cape Verde Islands as a strong tropical storm and resulted in a plane crash that killed 60 people. Thereafter its location was uncertain until September 10 and on the following day, Debbie attained its peak intensity as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, with maximum winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). Gradually weakening, it passed over the western Azores as a minimal hurricane on September 15 and skirted the coast of Western Ireland on September 16 as a powerful storm. It brought record winds to much of the country, with a peak gust of 114 mph (183 km/h) measured just offshore, causing widespread damage and disruption, killing 12 people (and a further 6 people in Northern Ireland) and caused US$40–50 million in damage. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's newest content:

Gasherbrum II from Base Camp

  • ... that Gasherbrum II (pictured) is the 13th-highest mountain on Earth?
  • ... that Horacio Cartes, president-elect of Paraguay, has been president of the Libertad football club since 2001?
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  • Today's articles for improvement

    In the news

    Ronnie O'Sullivan
  • At least 23 people are killed when a tank truck crashes and explodes outside Mexico City.
  • The World Snooker Championship concludes with Ronnie O'Sullivan (pictured) defeating Barry Hawkins to defend the title.
  • The Barisan Nasional wins a majority in the Malaysian general election.
  • Israeli warplanes strike multiple targets in southwestern Syria, near Damascus.
  • In horse racing, Orb, ridden by Joel Rosario, wins the Kentucky Derby.
  • Harvard researchers unveil the smallest flying robot ever created, with a wingspan of 3 centimeters (1.2 in).

    Recent deaths: Ray Harryhausen – Giulio Andreotti

  • On this day...

    May 9: Victory Day in various Eastern European countries; Europe Day/Schuman Day in the European Union; Independence Day in Romania (1877)

    Mihail Kogălniceanu

  • 1671 – Irish-born Colonel Thomas Blood was caught trying to steal the English Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
  • 1873Panic of 1873: The Vienna Stock Exchange crashed, following two years of overexpansion in the German and Austro-Hungarian economies.
  • 1877Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu (pictured) made a speech in the Parliament that declared Romania was discarding Ottoman suzerainty.
  • 1960 – The United States Food and Drug Administration announced it would approve the use of Searle's Enovid for birth control, making it the first oral contraceptive pill.
  • 1979 – Prominent Iranian Jew Habib Elghanian was executed after having been convicted by a revolutionary tribunal of various charges, triggering a mass exodus of Jews from Iran.
  • 2005Pope Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor Pope John Paul II, waiving the standard five years required after the nominee's death.

    More anniversaries: May 8 May 9 May 10

    It is now May 9, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page
  • Today's featured picture

    Red-necked Stint

    The Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) is a small migratory wader. It breeds in the tundra of Siberia and Alaska but winters in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The pictured specimen is in its winter plumage.

    JJ Harrison

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