Main Page

The 1968 Illinois earthquake was the largest recorded earthquake in the "Prairie State", measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale. Although there were no fatalities, the earthquake caused considerable structural damage to buildings, including the toppling of chimneys. The earthquake was one of the most widely felt in U.S. history, affecting 23 states over an area of 580,000 square miles (1,500,000 km²). In studying its cause, scientists discovered the Cottage Grove Fault in the Southern Illinois Basin. Within the region, millions felt the rupture. Reactions to the earthquake varied: some people near the epicenter did not react to the shaking, while others panicked. A future earthquake in the region is extremely likely; seismologists and geologists estimate a 90% chance of a magnitude 6–7 tremor before 2055, likely originating in the Wabash Valley seismic zone on the Illinois–Indiana border, or the New Madrid fault zone. (more...)

Recently featured: Victoria Cross for Australia – Darjeeling – Franklin Knight Lane

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that the underwater glue secreted by the sandcastle worm (pictured) is being investigated for potential medical applications, including holding bone fragments together?
• ... that the Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford, Oregon, receives patients from as far as 200 miles (320 km) away?
• ... that the Georgian actress Nato Vachnadze was one of the first film stars of the Soviet Union?
• ... that Asturian magnate Pedro Alfonso had vast landholdings in the Asturias, the province of León, and the subkingdom of Toledo, including in the cities of León and Toledo?
• ... that the 155-student Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley was selected by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 2009, one of only 50 private schools selected throughout America?
• ... that demonstrations in Oslo, Norway in 2009, held by Arne Tumyr and the organization Stop the Islamisation of Norway, developed into street clashes?
• ... that Stewart Brand wrote Whole Earth Discipline knowing that many environmentalists would disagree with him?
• ... that a century ago this year, 20,000 women participated in a successful strike in New York's garment industry?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• A gunman opens fire at Fort Hood, a United States Army base in Texas, killing 13 people and injuring 30 others.
• Cambodia and Thailand recall their ambassadors from each other over the Cambodian government's appointment of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured) as an economic advisor.
• The Sa'dah insurgency, a civil war in Yemen, spreads into Saudi Arabia.
• In baseball, the New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies to win their 27th World Series.
• The Israeli navy seizes hundreds of tons of arms from the MV Francop off the coast of Cyprus.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

November 8: Remembrance Sunday in the United Kingdom (2009); St. Demetrius' Day in Republika Srpska

• 1520 – Following a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under Christian II of Denmark, scores of Swedish leaders were executed despite Christian's promise of general amnesty.
• 1576 – The provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands signed the Pacification of Ghent, a peace treaty with the rebelling provinces Holland and Zeeland, and also an agreement to form an alliance to drive the occupying Spanish out of the country.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The USS San Jacinto stopped the British mailship Trent and arrested two Confederate envoys enroute to Europe, sparking a major diplomatic crisis between Great Britain and the United States.
• 1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range that is known today as X-rays (example pictured).
• 1987 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing at least eleven people and injuring sixty-three others.

More anniversaries: November 7 – November 8 – November 9