Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 March 15

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Today's featured article
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two powerplants. The Third Powerplant was completed in 1974 to increase its electric potential. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States. The dam's power plants fueled the growing industries of the Northwest U.S. during World War II. Between 1967 and 1974, the Third Powerplant was constructed in conjunction with the dam and in addition to the original two power houses. Through a series of upgrades and the installation of pump-generators, the dam now supplies four power stations with an installed capacity of 6,809 MW. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. The dam has also prevented the migration of salmon and other fish upstream to spawn, interrupting their habitat and reproductive cycle. (more...) Recently featured: The Fox and the Hound – L. Ron Hubbard – Government of the Han Dynasty Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that crime writer Agatha Christie used her face cream to clean the more than 2500-year-old Nimrud Ivories (example pictured) after their excavation? ... that the U.S. government report Women in America says that in 2009, at all levels of education, American women earned 75 percent as much as their male counterparts? ... that Willie Hume demonstrated the supremacy of John Boyd Dunlop's pneumatic tyres by winning all of the tyre's first races at Queen's College, Belfast in 1889? ... that the name of the Pensacola people means "long-haired people" in both the Pensacola language and the closely-related Choctaw language? ... that the Firemen and Deckhands' Union of New South Wales sent a delegate to the first legal meeting of the African National Congress in 1991? ... that Hugh Kennard was shot down and wounded during World War II while leading a squadron of American fighter pilots from No. 121 Squadron RAF? ... that the font in St Peter's Church, Sudbury, was removed in the 17th century to be used as a horse trough, but was returned to the church when the horses refused to drink from it? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
A third explosion at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Japan, forces the evacuation of workers and increases the risk of a meltdown. The 14th Dalai Lama (pictured) steps down as political leader of the Tibetan government in exile. The Gulf Cooperation Council agrees to send troops, including 1,000 Saudi soldiers, to end protests in Bahrain. The People's Republic of China adopts a new five-year plan, which includes a goal of increasing GDP by eight percent this year. Large tsunamis triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastate stretches of Japan's coastline, killing thousands and leaving thousands more missing. Middle East and North Africa protests Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
March 15: Ides of March; National Day in Hungary (1848); Hōnen Matsuri in Japan 44 BC – Dictator Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic was stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators. 1776 – South Carolina became the first of Great Britain's North American colonies to declare its independence. 1917 – Tsar Nicholas II (pictured) of Russia was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. 1943 – World War II: German forces recaptured Kharkov after four days of house-to-house fighting against Soviet troops, ending the month-long Third Battle of Kharkov. 1985 – The company Symbolics became the first ever entity, individual or party to register a .com top-level domain name: symbolics.com. More anniversaries: March 14 – March 15 – March 16 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now March 15 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A 360° panorama of Trafalgar Square, located in Central London, England. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. The square is a popular tourist attraction, and is used as a location for political demonstrations and community gatherings, such as the celebration of New Year's Eve in London.

Photo: David Iliff

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