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From today's featured article

The two Rivadavia-class battleships were constructed for Argentina as a part of a wider South American naval arms race. To counter Brazil's two Minas Geraes-class dreadnought battleships, Argentina began seeking bids for at least two of their own in 1908. Over the next two years, multiple shipbuilders from five countries vied for the contracts, complemented by efforts from their respective governments. Argentina's choice in early 1910 of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, based in the United States, shocked the European bidders, but could partly be explained by the American steel trust's ability to produce steel at a lower cost than any other country. Amid increasing tension in Europe that would lead to the First World War, newspapers speculated that the Argentine dreadnoughts would be sold to a European nation. Under diplomatic pressure, the Argentines decided to keep the ships; after numerous delays, they arrived in the country in February and May 1915. The dreadnoughts were modernized in the 1920s, and in the latter half of their life were frequently employed as training ships and diplomatic envoys. Both were sold for scrap in the late 1950s. (Full article...)

Part of the Rivadavia-class battleships and the South American dreadnought race series, two of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Alto's Adventure (pictured) was inspired by Journey (2012), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), and Windosill (2009)?
... that the family of North Dakota college student Andrew Sadek believes he was murdered for his work making drug buys for police?
... that protesters blockaded construction on the world's largest telescope proposed for Mauna Kea, the most sacred mountain of the Native Hawaiian people?
... that according to Martin v. Hearst Corp., expungement of your criminal record does not entitle you to make old news disappear?
... that recumbent stone circles are thought to have been used by prehistoric people for rituals involving the moon?
... that Marie Uchytilová's Memorial to the Children Victims of the War commemorates the gassing of 82 children from Lidice at Chełmno during World War II?
... that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first wrote for the series Highway Patrol under the pseudonym "Robert Wesley" as he was still in the LAPD at the time?
... that Neal Howard's debut EP contained mixes by Bad Boy Bill, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson?

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In the news

Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (pictured) is sentenced to death for his role in the Wadi el-Natrun prison break during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
An industrial fire in Valenzuela City, Philippines, kills at least 72 people.
Scientists discover that the opah maintains its body temperature above its surroundings, making it the first fish known to do so.
At least 45 people are killed in a gun attack on a bus in Karachi, Pakistan.
An Amtrak train derails in Philadelphia, killing 8 people and injuring more than 200.
Telecommunication company Verizon agrees to purchase media company AOL for US$4.4 billion.
A 7.3-magnitude aftershock of the recent earthquake in Nepal kills more than 125 people and injures more than 2,500.
The World Health Organization declares Liberia Ebola-free.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to three years in prison for corruption.

Ongoing: Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Recent deaths: B.B. King – Peter Gay – Kenan Evren

On this day...

May 17: Galician Literature Day in Galicia, Spain

1590 – Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen consort of Scotland in the abbey church at Holyrood Palace.
1792 – Twenty-four stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement to establish the New York Stock Exchange.
1865 – The International Telecommunication Union, an international organization that standardizes and regulates international radio and telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris.
1902 – The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving geared mechanism, was discovered among artifacts retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.
1995 – After 18 years as Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac (pictured) was inaugurated as President of France.

More anniversaries: May 16 – May 17 – May 18

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It is now May 17, 2015 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

Snow delineates the escarpment formed by the Alpine Fault along the Southern Alps' northwest edge, near the South Island of New Zealand's west coast, in a satellite image showing the aftermath of a blizzard that hit the island in July 2003. This geological fault, which forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, has experienced numerous earthquakes over the past millennium, including four which reached magnitude eight on the Richter scale.

Photograph: Jacques Descloitres / MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA/GSFC

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