Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 April 9

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Today's featured article
Pithole is a ghost town in Cornplanter Township, Venango County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Oil Creek State Park and the Drake Well Museum, the site of the world's first commercial oil well. Pithole's sudden growth and equally rapid decline, as well as its status as a "proving ground" of sorts for the burgeoning petroleum industry, made it one of the most famous of oil boomtowns. Oil strikes at nearby wells in January 1865 prompted a large influx of people to the area that would become Pithole, most of whom were land speculators. The town was laid out in May 1865, and by December was incorporated with an approximate population of 20,000. At its peak, Pithole had at least 54 hotels, 3 churches, the third largest post office in Pennsylvania, a newspaper, a theater, a railroad, the world's first pipeline and a red-light district "the likes of Dodge City's." By 1866, economic growth and oil production in Pithole had slowed. Oil strikes around other nearby communities and numerous fires drove residents away from Pithole and, by 1877, the borough was unincorporated. The site was cleared of overgrowth and was donated to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1961. Pithole was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. (more...) Recently featured: The Pit and the Pendulum – Phan Dinh Phung – Philitas of Cos Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that trolleybuses in Derby (example pictured) last operated in 1967, but there are still five preserved by collectors? ... that Gent Strazimiri, who began his career as an anti-communist activist, is now a member of the Albanian parliament for the Democratic Party of Albania? ... that the influential 2000 oncology paper "The Hallmarks of Cancer" identified six features that all cancers have in common? ... that Reverend Heinrich Schmelen, a German missionary in South-West Africa, married an indigenous Nama woman in 1814, an action encouraged by the missionary societies of that time? ... that the 1965 Pacific hurricane season had 10 named storms, with one storm becoming a hurricane? ... that Jayden Pitt, the lightest player on the Fremantle Football Club playing list at only 70 kg (150 lb), was a surprise selection when he made his début in the opening round of the 2011 AFL season? ... that John T. Cunningham, who has chronicled much of New Jersey's past, once said, "My goals did not include either the writing of books or becoming a historian"? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Ai Weiwei At least 27 people are killed in anti-government protests in the Syrian city of Daraa. The government of the People's Republic of China announces the arrest of artist and dissident Ai Weiwei (pictured). Indian social activist Anna Hazare ends a five-day hunger strike after the Indian government agrees to his movement's anti-corruption demands. At least 11 people are killed and 20 more injured in a shooting at a school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who shared the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the Hepatitis B virus, dies at the age of 85. A shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, leaves at least 20 people dead and more than 100 missing. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 9: Day of National Unity in Georgia (1989); Vimy Ridge Day in Canada 1865 – With their supply trains destroyed by Union troops one day earlier, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House near the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. 1917 – World War I: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France. 1948 – Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100. 1969 – The "Chicago Eight" pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, US. 1999 – President of Niger Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was shot to death by soldiers in Niamey. 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled (pictured). More anniversaries: April 8 – April 9 – April 10 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 9, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

San Francisco Bay shrouded in fog, as seen from the Marin Headlands looking east. The fog of San Francisco is a specific case of sea fog, created when warm, moist air blows from the central Pacific Ocean across the cold water of the California Current, which flows just off the coast. The water is cold enough to lower the temperature of the air to the dew point, causing fog generation. In this photo, the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen poking through the fog, and the Bay Bridge is visible in the distance.

Photo: Mila Zinkova

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