Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 March 19
From today's featured article
The Branford Steam Railroad is a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) standard-gauge industrial railroad that serves the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in North Branford, Connecticut, in the United States. It was founded in 1903 by Louis A. Fisk, a businessman from Branford, Connecticut, to transport passengers to a trotting park for horses. By 1916, the company had ended passenger service in favor of freight transport. The company has hauled trap rock from the Totoket Mountain quarry in North Branford continuously since 1914. A southern extension was built to a dock on Long Island Sound at Pine Orchard, Branford, which remains in use today to transfer rock to barges. Trap rock is also transported by rail to an interchange with the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The company's last steam locomotive was retired in 1960; the name is retained to distinguish it from the nearby Branford Electric Railway, operated by a museum dedicated to streetcars. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the rapid development of the region of Gangnam (pictured) in Seoul was spurred by the 1968 North Korean assassination attempt on military dictator Park Chung-hee?
- ... that Michael Stuart raised three sons to play in the National Hockey League, then established a sled hockey team?
- ... that the 2023 Huwara rampage, a late-night spree of arson and vandalism by hundreds of Israeli settlers, was the worst flare-up of Israeli settler violence in the northern West Bank in decades?
- ... that while defending Zaw Myint Maung following his arrest by the Myanmar junta, lawyer Ywet Nu Aung was herself arrested and charged?
- ... that due to events during the Kinks' 1965 U.S. tour, the American Federation of Musicians blocked the band from performing in the U.S. for the next four years?
- ... that Sanaullah Bhat is considered the father of journalism in Kashmir?
- ... that due to a dispute over who owned a road in Delta County, Michigan, eight school children missed two weeks of school?
- ... that the melody of "Dokdo Is Our Land" is commonly used by South Korean students as a study tool?
In the news
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- The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin (pictured) and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for the abduction of children from Ukraine.
- At the Academy Awards, Everything Everywhere All at Once wins seven awards, including Best Picture.
- Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to re-establish diplomatic relations, seven years after they were severed.
- Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank both collapse over the span of three days, becoming the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history.
On this day
March 19: Saint Joseph's Day (Western Christianity); Mothering Sunday (Western Christianity, 2023)
- 1563 – The Edict of Amboise was signed, ending the first war in the French Wars of Religion and inaugurating a period of official peace that lasted until 1567.
- 1808 – King Charles IV of Spain was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Ferdinand VII as a result of the Tumult of Aranjuez.
- 1962 – Influential American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous debut album, mainly comprising traditional folk, blues and gospel songs.
- 1979 – The American cable television network C-SPAN, covering government proceedings and public-affairs programming, was launched.
- 2008 – The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B (artist's impression pictured), the farthest object that could be seen by the naked eye, was observed.
- Francis B. Spinola (b. 1821)
- Anna Held (b. 1872)
- Kym Bonython (d. 2011)
Today's featured picture
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Margaret Harwood (March 19, 1885 – February 6, 1979) was an American astronomer who specialized in photometry, which involved measuring variation in the light of stars and asteroids. In 1916, at 30 years old, Harwood was named director of Maria Mitchell Observatory, and worked there until her retirement in 1957. In 1917, she discovered the asteroid 886 Washingtonia four days before its formal recognition, but was advised not to report it because it would have been inappropriate for a woman to do so. In 1923, she became the first woman to gain access to the Mount Wilson Observatory, and in 1924 was the first woman allowed to use the observatory's 60-inch telescope, the largest in the world at the time. In 1960, an asteroid discovered at Palomar was named in her honor as 7040 Harwood. This photograph of Harwood is in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
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