Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 August 30

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From today's featured article

Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second-costliest United States disaster in 2002 behind Hurricane Lili. The name "Pongsona" was contributed by North Korea for the Pacific tropical cyclone list and is the Korean name for the garden balsam. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands while near its peak winds of 175 km/h (110 mph 10-min). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11. It left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses (damage pictured). With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $700 million (2002 USD), making it among the five costliest typhoons on Guam. The typhoon also caused heavy damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Marianas Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that in the 19th century, the residents of four hamlets in Apinac (pictured) voted to become part of Estivareilles because of a spiritual connection?
... that Ann Arbor's County Farm Park occupies the land that was once home to Washtenaw County's poor house?
... that Henry III of England competed in piety with his brother-in-law Saint Louis IX of France, washing the feet of lepers and touching sick people, but was never sainted because his son was sceptical?
... that the large-eared pika lives in high mountains and is listed by the IUCN as "Least Concern" while the Helan Shan pika is restricted to a single mountain and is listed as "Critically Endangered"?
... that Johnny Greene, a converted lineman, was nicknamed the "Cinderella Kid" when he became one of the leading pass receivers in the NFL in the late 1940s?
... that Swahili is the official language in more countries than Mandarin Chinese, the language with the most native speakers?
... that the Jar~with~a~Twist is a peanut butter jar that has a twisting bottom like a deodorant stick to push peanut butter up from the sides and bottom of the jar?

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In the news

U.S. Army officer Nidal Malik Hasan (pictured) is sentenced to death for killing thirteen people in the Fort Hood shooting.
In cricket, the Ashes conclude with England defeating Australia in the series.
A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, kills more than thirty people.
U.S. soldier Robert Bales is sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of sixteen Afghan civilians in the Kandahar massacre.
NASA recommissions the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to search for asteroids.
Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria.
U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) is sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing classified information to WikiLeaks.

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On this day...

August 30: Constitution Day in Kazakhstan (1995); St. Rose of Lima's Day in Peru; Victory Day in Turkey

1813 – Creek War: A force of Creeks, belonging to the Red Sticks faction killed hundreds of settlers in Fort Mims in Alabama.
1835 – European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River in Southeastern Australia founded the city of Melbourne.
1909 – American paleontologist Charles Walcott discovered the Burgess Shale, one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields (Marrella fossil pictured), in the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia.
1959 – The title of National Hero of Indonesia was first given, to the writer-cum-politician Abdul Muis.
1995 – Bosnian War: NATO began its bombing campaign against the Army of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

More anniversaries: August 29 – August 30 – August 31

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Today's featured picture

The United States Space Shuttle Discovery had its maiden flight on August 30, 1984. Its final mission was almost twenty-seven years later. Discovery spent a total of almost a year in space. It helped to assemble the International Space Station, and it flew the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. The shuttle was decommissioned on March 9, 2011. Today Discovery is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Photo: NASA; edit: John O'Neill

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