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I-40 in the Pigeon River gorge

In Tennessee, Interstate 40 (I-40) runs from west to east, from the Mississippi River at the Arkansas border to the Blue Ridge Mountains at the North Carolina state line. Paralleling the older U.S. Route 70 corridor, I-40 passes through Tennessee's three largest cities—Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville—and serves the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most-visited national park in the United States. At 455.28 miles (732.70 km), the Tennessee segment of I-40 is the longest of those in the eight states through which the highway passes and the state's longest Interstate Highway. Built in segments, I-40 in Tennessee was mostly complete by the late 1960s. The construction of the highway resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe (1971), increasing the scope for judicial review of administrative actions. The case caused the state to realign I-40's route through Memphis onto what was originally a section of I-240. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Henry, the London Bridge station pipe organ

... that anyone can play Henry (pictured) at London Bridge?
... that Turku remained the largest city in Finland after three quarters of it burned down?
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... that according to a book by a friend of the Columbine shooters, students at Columbine High School would joke that their school was next for a mass shooting?
... that authorities said the killing of Wadea al-Fayoume in Illinois was a response to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war?
... that the city council of Bandung in the Dutch East Indies initially met at the site of a former coffee-packing factory?
... that when he was in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, future politician Tim Costley starred in a YouTube video that joked about having sex with sheep?

In the news

Ryan Blaney

In the Myanmar civil war, opposition forces capture multiple cities in a major offensive against the ruling military junta.
In stock car racing, Ryan Blaney (pictured) wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
In baseball, the Hanshin Tigers defeat the Orix Buffaloes to win the Japan Series.
An earthquake strikes Karnali Province, Nepal, leaving more than 150 people dead.

On this day

November 16

SARS Virus

1914 – World War I: Austro-Hungarian forces launched an assault against Serbian defensive positions at the Kolubara river, beginning the Battle of Kolubara.
1973 – U.S. president Richard Nixon signed an act authorizing the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to transport oil from the Beaufort Sea to the Gulf of Alaska.
1997 – Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, released on ostensibly medical grounds after spending eighteen years in prison, was deported to the United States.
2002 – The first case of SARS (pictured), a zoonotic respiratory coronavirus disease, was recorded in Guangdong, China.
2020 – The El Dorado Fire in California, United States, was extinguished after 71 days, having destroyed 20 structures and killed one firefighter.

Turibius of Mogrovejo (b. 1538)
Augustus Jones (d. 1836)
Shigeru Miyamoto (b. 1952)
Henry Taube (d. 2005)

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Today's featured picture

Vang Vieng is a town in Vientiane province of Laos, lying on the Nam Song River. It is surrounded by karst topography. The town was first settled around 1353 as a staging post between Luang Prabang and the Laotian capital, Vientiane. Originally named Mouang Song after the body of the deceased King Phra Nha Phao of Phai Naam was seen floating down the river, the town was renamed Vang Vieng during French colonial rule in the 1890s. During the Vietnam War, the United States military constructed an air-force base and runway in Vang Vieng, known as "Lima site 6". Since Laos opened up for tourism in the late 1990s, the town has grown substantially due to the influx of backpacker tourism and associated business development. This view of the town and surrounding karst was taken from the top of Mount Nam Xay in June, during the monsoon season.

Photograph credit: Basile Morin

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