Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 3

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From today's featured article

Union Station is an Amtrak railroad station and commercial building in downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the only stop in Pennsylvania for the Lake Shore Limited, a passenger rail line serving Chicago, New York City, and Boston. The first railroad station in Erie, established in 1851, was replaced with a Romanesque Revival-style building in 1866. Union Station, the first Art Deco depot in the U.S., was dedicated on December 3, 1927. Passenger rail service dwindled after World War II, as air and highway travel increased. The station was jointly owned and operated by the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads, which merged to form Penn Central, and passenger rail service was transferred to Amtrak in 1971. From 1972 to 1975, even Amtrak service in Erie was suspended. Union Station was largely neglected and allowed to decay until the freight management company Logistics Plus bought it in 2003. Since then, it has been restored and portions re-purposed as commercial and retail space. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Venice in London programme

... that caterer Sir Joseph Lyons staged Venice in London (programme pictured) in 1891 using 100 gondolas imported from Venice – along with their gondoliers?
... that 45-pound (20 kg) weight plates have been known to weigh as little as 38 pounds (17 kg) or as much as 59 pounds (27 kg)?
... that President Lyndon B. Johnson credited Agnes E. Meyer with having the most influence over his education policy?
... that in 2003, PSLV-C5 deployed the IRS-P6 satellite, then the heaviest and most sophisticated remote sensing satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation?
... that Beatriz de la Cueva, the first female colonial governor in the New World, died in a September 11 disaster two days after taking office?
... that the New York State Insurance Fund once mistakenly categorized puppet making under rubber manufacturing instead of theatrical production?
... that King Henry IV's invasion of Scotland in 1400 has been described as "utterly futile"?
... that the 1000-year-old Bishop Petros with Saint Peter the Apostle ended up in Poland after being saved from a watery grave?

In the news

Maha Vajiralongkorn

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announces official names for recently-discovered superheavy elements Nihonium (113), Moscovium (115), Tennessine (117), and Oganesson (118).
Following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Maha Vajiralongkorn (pictured) is proclaimed King of Thailand.
Magnus Carlsen defeats Sergey Karjakin to retain the World Chess Championship title.
LaMia Flight 2933 crashes in Medellín, Colombia, with the Chapecoense football team on board, killing 71 people.
In Canadian football, the Ottawa Redblacks defeat the Calgary Stampeders to win the Grey Cup.
Former leader of Cuba Fidel Castro dies at the age of 90.

On this day...

December 3: International Day of People with Disability

Bob Marley

1800 – War of the Second Coalition: French forces under General Jean Moreau defeated the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John in Hohenlinden, near Munich, forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice.
1854 – At least 22 people were killed and 35 others were injured when rebelling miners at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, clashed violently with the police and the military.
1904 – Himalia, the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter, was discovered by astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory in San Jose, California.
1959 – The current flag of Singapore was adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
1976 – Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley (pictured) survived an assassination attempt by unknown assailants.

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Today's featured picture

The courtyard at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the hand-painted blue tiles that adorn the mosque’s interior walls, it was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. The mosque's Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, as well as a madrasah and a hospice.

Photograph: Benh Lieu Song

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