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From today's featured article

US 30 leaving Iowa at Clinton

U.S. Route 30 in Iowa runs generally east–west for 330 miles (530 km), and is the longest primary highway in Iowa. Going east, US 30 enters Iowa at the Missouri River bridge from Blair, Nebraska, and exits at Clinton, crossing the Mississippi River. The highway runs close to the Union Pacific Railroad's Overland Route as both cross Iowa. US 30 was conceived as a part of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States. A route through Iowa was chosen because of the important link between Omaha, Nebraska, and Chicago, Illinois, and, by 1931, it had been paved across the entire state. US 30 originally passed through many small Iowa towns, but over time, the route has been straightened, bypassing most downtown areas, and with long sections upgraded to a four-lane expressway. Since 2006, US 30 has been designated an Iowa Heritage Byway, the first highway in the state with that distinction. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Logo of Sidetalk

... that the phrase "bing bong" became a rallying cry for the New York Knicks because of its appearance on Sidetalk (logo pictured)?
... that Sarkis Lole, the Armenian chief architect of Mardin who constructed much of the early modern architecture of the city, never received any formal training and designed his buildings in the sand?
... that the Cort Theatre has hosted the Broadway debuts of actresses Katharine Hepburn and Grace Kelly?
... that Mimi Fawaz's work includes a documentary on the life of South African president Nelson Mandela?
... that the music video to "I Bet You Think About Me" by Taylor Swift is co-written and directed by Blake Lively in her directorial debut?
... that when home computers used cassette tapes for storage, the data was sometimes distributed on flexi disc records or even broadcast on radio?
... that non-microscopic life forms such as plants associate with microbiomes of microscopic organisms which determine their health and productivity?
... that Herbert Hoover once farmed sugar beets on the Empire Tract?

In the news

Mount Semeru

On the Indonesian island of Java, Mount Semeru (pictured) erupts, killing fourteen people and injuring more than a hundred others.
The Indian agriculture acts are repealed after a year of protests by farmers.
Xiomara Castro is elected as the first female President of Honduras.
Magdalena Andersson, who resigned a week earlier after less than one day as prime minister–designate, is re-elected as Prime Minister of Sweden.

On this day

December 5: Krampusnacht in parts of Central Europe

Henry Knox's noble train of artillery

1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus, giving Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Continental Army colonel Henry Knox arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to arrange the transport of 60 tons of artillery (depicted) to support the Siege of Boston.
1936 – The 1936 Soviet Constitution, also known as the "Stalin constitution", was adopted.
1995 – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 crashed shortly after takeoff from Nakhchivan Airport, killing 52 people on board.
2005 – The Civil Partnership Act came into force, granting civil partnerships in the United Kingdom rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage.

Jacobus Anthonie Meessen (b. 1836)
René Cresté (b. 1881)
Amrita Sher-Gil (d. 1941)

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Today's featured picture

James Guthrie (December 5, 1792 – March 13, 1869) was a Kentucky lawyer, plantation owner, railroad president and Democratic Party politician. His financial acumen was recognized by President Franklin Pierce who appointed him Secretary of the Treasury in 1853. He strongly opposed Kentucky's secession from the United States and attended the Peace Conference of 1861, siding with the Union during the Civil War. This picture is a line engraving of Guthrie, produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 42 secretaries of the treasury.

Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva

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