Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 October 18

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From today's featured article

The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) was a railway company that constructed the deep-level underground railway that is now the core central section of London's Piccadilly line. The GNP&BR, formed in 1902 through a merger of two older companies, was a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL). A number of different routes were planned, but most were rejected by Parliament. When it opened in 1906, the GNP&BR's line served 22 stations (Russell Square pictured) and ran for 14.17 kilometres (8.80 mi) between its western terminus at Hammersmith and its northern terminus at Finsbury Park. A short branch connected Holborn to the Strand. Most of the route was in a pair of tunnels, with 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) at the western end above ground. Within a year of opening it became apparent to the management and investors that the estimated passenger numbers for the GNP&BR and the other UERL lines were over-optimistic. Despite improved integration and cooperation with the other tube railways, the GNP&BR struggled financially, and in 1933 it and the rest of the UERL were taken into public ownership. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the publisher Lonely Planet called the Comodoro Rivadavia Cathedral (pictured) the "ugliest cathedral you'll ever see"?
... that Clearwater mayor George Cretekos served as a legislative aide to Congressman Bill Young for 36 years?
... that Nipsey Hussle released the Crenshaw mixtape for free online with limited edition copies worth $100 that were sold out within 24 hours?
... that John Triscari, the coach of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, works at Rockingham Senior High School?
... that before a drought caused Hart Lake to dry up, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service captured and relocated rare Warner suckers, re-introducing them when water returned to the lake?
... that Argentine thrash metal guitarist Antonio Romano was considered a potential guitarist for V8?

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In the news

U.S. President Barack Obama signs a bill passed by Congress to reopen the federal government and raise the debt limit.
Lao Airlines Flight 301 (aircraft type pictured) crashes on approach to Pakse Airport, Laos, killing all 49 people on board.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines, resulting in more than 100 deaths.
American economists Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J. Shiller win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their empirical analysis of asset prices.
A stampede breaks out during the Navratri festival in Madhya Pradesh, India, killing 115 and injuring at least 110.

Recent deaths: Oscar Hijuelos

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On this day...

October 18: Feast day of Saint Luke; Alaska Day (1867)

320 – Pappus of Alexandria, one of the last great Greek mathematicians of antiquity, observed an eclipse that allowed historians to calculate the approximate dates of his life.
1009 – Under orders from Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church now within the walled Old City of Jerusalem, was destroyed.
1851 – Moby-Dick, a novel by American writer Herman Melville, was first published as The Whale.
1967 – The Soviet space probe Venera 4 (pictured) performed direct analysis of the environment of Venus and became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, although it stopped working before that.
2004 – SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe announced that Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was "permitted to retire on health grounds", but then had him arrested.

More anniversaries: October 17 – October 18 – October 19

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It is now October 18, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

A geological map of Yosemite National Park (full size), showing the Cathedral Peak Granodiorite, the largest unit in the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, which in turn is the largest granitic suite in the park.

Cathedral Peak Granodiorite

Rest of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite

Map: Grandiose, based on a map by the United States Geological Survey

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