Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 April 20

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Today's featured article
The Convention of 1832 was the first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas. Delegates sought reforms from the Mexican government and hoped to quell the widespread belief that settlers in Texas wished to secede from Mexico. The convention was the first of a series of unsuccessful attempts at political negotiation that eventually led to the Texas Revolution. On October 1, 1832, 55 political delegates met at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Texas. Notably absent was any representation from San Antonio de Béxar, where many of the native Mexican settlers (Tejanos) lived. The delegates elected Stephen F. Austin (pictured), a highly respected immigrant, as president of the convention. Delegates passed a series of resolutions requesting, among other things, a repeal of the immigration restrictions, a three-year exclusion from custom duties enforcement, permission to form an armed militia and independent statehood. They also voted themselves the power to call future conventions. Before the petition could be delivered to Mexico City, the political chief of Texas, Ramón Músquiz, ruled that the convention was illegal and annulled the resolutions. In a compromise, the ayuntamiento (city council) of San Antonio de Béxar drafted a new petition with similar language to the convention resolutions and submitted it through proper legal channels. Músquiz forwarded the new document to the Mexican Congress. (more...) Recently featured: General relativity – Nigel Kneale – St Cuthbert Gospel Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Cherimoya's unanticipated victory at the 1911 Epsom Oaks (pictured), the only start of her career, left "the spectators too dumbfounded to cheer"? ... that an amendment to Slovakia's Citizenship Act, which states that any national who takes another citizenship loses their Slovak citizenship, was enacted in reaction to Hungary's nationality law? ... that Catalan guitarist Pedro Javier González won both the Premio al Toque por Bulerías and Certamen de Guitarra flamenca flamenco competitions in the 1980s? ... that former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was buried in 1881 in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels Church, Hughenden in Buckinghamshire, England? ... that LaVell Blanchard was the fifth person to lead a National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball team in scoring and rebounding four times? ... that Léopold Sédar Senghor chaired the 1955 congress of the Youth Council of the French Union in Madagascar? ... that the 1920s film The Virgin with the Hot Pants was the first known pornographic film to use animation? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
India successfully test launches the Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile. Jim Yong Kim (pictured) is elected President of the World Bank. Amid a dispute with Repsol and the government of Spain, Argentina announces re-nationalisation of the oil company YPF. Taur Matan Ruak is elected President of East Timor. In Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents launch coordinated attacks on NATO's headquarters, foreign embassies, military bases and the country's parliament. In the United Kingdom, Neptune Collonges wins the Grand National horse race. The rocket carrying Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, explodes shortly after launch. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 20: Ridván begins at sunset (Bahá'í Faith); 4/20 (cannabis culture) 1792 – After Foreign Minister Charles François Dumouriez presented the French Legislative Assembly with a long list of grievances against Austria, France declared war to begin the French Revolutionary Wars. 1912 - Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, and Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, were opened. 1939 – Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday in Nazi Germany. 1968 – Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester B. Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada. 1998 – The violent German revolutionary group known as the Red Army Faction (logo pictured) announced that it had dissolved. 2008 – Fernando Lugo became the first non-Colorado Party candidate to be elected President of Paraguay in 61 years. More anniversaries: April 19 – April 20 – April 21 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 20, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the semi-submersible oil platform Deepwater Horizon started a massive oil spill caused by a sea-floor gusher that released an estimated 53,000 barrels per day (8,400 m³/d) of crude oil before it was capped. This picture from the Terra satellite shows sunlight reflecting off the oil (center) a little over one month after the explosion.

Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response Team

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