Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 August 11

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Today's featured article
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago. Regions of the city, referred to as sides, are divided by the Chicago River and its branches. The South Side of Chicago was originally defined as all of the city south of the main branch of the Chicago River, but it now excludes the Loop. The South Side has a varied ethnic composition, and it has great disparity in income and other demographic measures. The South Side covers 60% of the city's land area, with a higher ratio of single-family homes and larger sections zoned for industry than the rest of the city. Neighborhoods such as Armour Square, Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, and Pullman tend to be composed of more blue collar residents, while Hyde Park, the Jackson Park Highlands District, Kenwood, and Beverly tend to have middle, upper-middle class, and affluent residents. The South Side boasts a broad array of cultural and social offerings, such as professional sports teams, landmark buildings, nationally renowned museums, elite educational institutions, world class medical institutions, and major parts of the city's elaborate parks system. (more...) Recently featured: Gregorian mission – Western Ganga Dynasty – CenturyLink Field Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that following a Facebook campaign, Lee Merrien (pictured) was named as one of the three British competitors in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics? ... that Ruth Ann Steinhagen regularly set an empty place at the dinner table for baseball player Eddie Waitkus before she shot him, becoming one of the first stalkers and an inspiration for The Natural? ... that the Conroy Virtus, intended to carry the Space Shuttle orbiter, would have used two B-52 bomber fuselages in its construction? ... that 1948 Olympics rowing gold medallist Bert Bushnell was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk during the Second World War? ... that Niki Reiser, composer for such films as Alles auf Zucker!, was awarded the Rheingau Music Prize in 2005 for "suffusing each individual work with its own unique sound"? ... that residents of the Iron Age village of Khirbet Zanuta near Hebron achieved a revision of the planned demolition of their dwellings by the Israeli military authorities? ... that 2012 Olympian Coolboy Ngamole won the South African Marathon Championships in 2010 and 2012? ... that Bank on Dave, an alternative to High Street banks in Burnley, Lancashire, now has a waiting list for would-be customers? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Researchers announce new fossils of Homo rudolfensis, helping to confirm it as a species distinct from Homo habilis. Libya's National Transitional Council transfers power to the recently elected General National Congress. American composer Marvin Hamlisch (pictured) dies at the age of 68. Three gunmen kill nineteen people in a church near Okene, Nigeria. Flooding from Typhoon Haikui forces the evacuation of at least 250,000 people in Metro Manila. Olympics summary – Wikinews – Recent deaths More current events...
On this day...
August 11: Independence Day in Chad (1960) 3114 BC – The epoch of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, a non-repeating, vigesimal calendar used by the Maya civilization and several other Mesoamerican cultures, occurred. 106 – The region of Dacia, comprising regions of modern Romania, became a province of the Roman Empire. 1492 – The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII. 1952 – King Talal of Jordan abdicated due to health reasons and was succeeded by his eldest son Hussein (pictured). 1965 – Violent race riots began in Watts, Los Angeles, California, lasting for six days and leaving 34 people dead and 1,032 others injured. 1973 – At a party in the recreation room of a New York City apartment building, DJ Kool Herc began rapping during an extended break, laying the foundation for hip-hop music. More anniversaries: August 10 – August 11 – August 12 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now August 11, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Chlorine liquefied under pressure, sealed in a quartz ampoule and then in an acrylic cube. Chlorine, a chemical element belonging to the halogen group, is most commonly found in the compound sodium chloride. It is a strong oxidizing agent, which led it to its bleaching and disinfectant uses, as well as uses as an essential reagent in the chemical industry. Elemental chlorine is extremely dangerous and poisonous for all lifeforms, but chloride ions are necessary to most forms of life.

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