Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 August 17

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Today's featured article
The air-tractor sledge was a converted fixed-wing aircraft taken on the 1911–14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, the first plane to be taken to the Antarctic. Expedition leader Douglas Mawson had planned to use the Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane as a reconnaissance and search and rescue tool, and to assist in publicity, but the aircraft crashed heavily during a test flight only two months before Mawson's scheduled departure date. The plane, stripped of its wings, was nevertheless sent south with the expedition, and converted to a sledge; brakes were fashioned from a pair of geological drills and a steering system from the plane's landing gear. The air-tractor was first tested in November 1912 and subsequently assisted in laying depots for the summer sledging parties, but its use during the expedition was minimal; the freezing conditions resulted in the jamming of the engine's pistons, and its frame was left on the ice when the expedition returned home in December 1913. In 2008 a team from the Mawson's Huts Foundation began searching for the remains of the air-tractor sledge; a seat was found in 2009, and parts of the tail a year later. The foundation believes that the air-tractor is still at the expedition's base, buried beneath the ice. (more...) Recently featured: Mother's Milk – Hoysala literature – Choe Bu Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that actress Christine Baranski (pictured) canceled a birthday trip to Paris to appear in the television film Who is Simon Miller? ... that Ismail Marzuki wrote his 1945 song "Gugur Bunga di Taman Bakti" to honor the Indonesian casualties of the Indonesian National Revolution? ... that in the center of Bach's cantata Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45, the voice of Christ appears in a "highly virtuosic aria, half Vivaldian concerto, half operatic scena"? ... that Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas F. Darcy drew a political cartoon featuring an L-shaped coffin and the caption "Good news, we've turned the corner in Vietnam!"? ... that in St Botolph's Church, Botolphs, a series of arches on the wall indicate a long-demolished aisle? ... that Indonesian band Kekal has remained active and continues to release newly recorded material even though there are no longer any official members? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Google announces an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion. The Saint Petersburg Dam (pictured), aimed to protect Saint Petersburg from catastrophic flooding, is completed in the Gulf of Finland. Scientists discover the first evidence of live birth among plesiosaurs. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania report preliminary success in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia using gene therapy. Rioting, initially sparked by a fatal police shooting in London, spreads across parts of England. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
August 17: Independence Day in Indonesia (1945) 986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: The Bulgarians defeated the Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan near present-day Ihtiman, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping. 1915 – American Jew Leo Frank was lynched by a mob of prominent citizens in Marietta, Georgia, for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl. 1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed the independence of Indonesia (pictured), igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire. 1947 – A commission led by Cyril Radcliffe established the Radcliffe Line, the border between India and Pakistan after the Partition of India. 2008 – With the victory in the 4×100 m medley relay at the Beijing Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps set the records for the most gold medals won by an individual in a single Olympics (8) as well as total career gold medals (14) in modern Olympic history. More anniversaries: August 16 – August 17 – August 18 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now August 17, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Hohenzollern Bridge crossing the Rhine in Cologne, Germany, with the Cologne Cathedral in the background. The bridge is a tied-arch railway bridge, as well as a pedestrian bridge. Originally built in 1911, it survived numerous Allied bombings in World War II, only to be destroyed by German engineers as the war drew to a close in 1945. Reconstruction began soon after and the bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic in 1948 and completely opened in 1959.

Photo: Thomas Wolf

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