Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 December 11

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From today's featured article

The pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi River basins of the United States. Named for its pale coloration, it is related to the much smaller shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorhynchus). When mature at 15 years, individuals average 85 pounds (39 kg) and 30 to 60 inches long (76 to 152 cm). The fish spawns infrequently over its lifespan of up to a century. This sturgeon species has remained virtually unchanged since it coexisted with the Cretaceous dinosaurs 70 million years ago. In 1990, the pallid sturgeon became the first Missouri River basin fish on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species list, after sightings had greatly diminished. Loss of habitat is thought to be responsible for its decline; much of the Missouri River drainage system has been channeled and dammed, reducing the gravel deposits and slow-moving side channels that are its favored spawning areas. In an effort to save the species from extinction, pallid sturgeon are being raised in a dozen hatcheries and released back into the wild. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Recruiting poster for the Cadet Nurse Corps

... that the Cadet Nurse Corps (recruiting poster pictured), established during World War II, influenced the way in which nurses would be educated and trained in the United States?
... that Japanese physicist Toshiko Yuasa studied in Paris under Frédéric Joliot-Curie and developed her own beta-ray spectrometer in Berlin?
... that although Format:B have had their own vanity label for the past six years, their most recent single was released on Ministry of Sound?
... that the Lukut Fort and Museum has a display of the traditional culture of the community, and the customs and practice of adat perpatih (rules of life) typical of the state?
... that General Zhang Tingfa commanded the Chinese Air Force during the Sino-Vietnamese War?
... that while the Huawei Honor 4X was in the same price range as the second generation Moto G and the Sony Xperia M2, the Honor 4X is a phablet?
... that the Magellan Shrine memorial tower was erected in 1866 in honor of the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in the Battle of Mactan in 1521?

In the news

Launch of Akatsuki in 2010

The JAXA probe Akatsuki (launch pictured) enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt.
In a constitutional referendum, Armenia approves becoming a parliamentary republic.
In Venezuela, the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable wins an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections.
At least 29 workers die as a result of fire at the Azerbaijani Gunashli oilfield in the Caspian Sea.
Flooding across southern India kills at least 300 people and displaces approximately 1.8 million others since November.

Ongoing events:
- Syrian Civil War
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Xu Ming
- Scott Weiland

On this day...

December 11: Republic Day in Burkina Faso (1958); Fête de l'Escalade begins in Switzerland (2015)

Eugene Cernan on the lunar rover

220 – Emperor Xian abdicated the throne and the Han Dynasty broke apart, beginning the Three Kingdoms period in China.
1886 – The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs.
1920 – Irish War of Independence: Following an Irish Republican Army ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in Cork, British forces burned and looted numerous buildings in the city.
1972 – Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo moon mission, landed on the Moon.
2005 – A demonstration by Australians in Cronulla, New South Wales, against recent violence towards locals turned into a race riot.

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From today's featured list

Beech Hill Lake in Monken Hadley Common

There are more than 60 nature reserves in the London Borough of Barnet. The borough, which is on the northern outskirts of London, is mainly residential, but it has large areas of green space and farmland. The spread of suburban development into the countryside was halted by the designation of a statutory Green Belt around London after the Second World War, and almost one third of Barnet's area of 8,663 hectares (21,410 acres) is Green Belt. Barnet has large areas with designations intended to protect them from "inappropriate development", and to "provide the strongest protection for the preservation of Barnet's green and natural open spaces". As well as 2,466 hectares (6,090 acres) hectares of Green Belt, Barnet has another 690 hectares (1,700 acres) of Metropolitan Open Land, which receive a similar level of protection. Most of Barnet lies over London Clay, which is poor for agriculture, and open land is mainly used for horse grazing, playing fields, parks and golf courses. (Full list...)

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Fez is an indie puzzle platform game developed by Polytron Corporation and released in 2012. The player-character Gomez receives a fez that reveals his two-dimensional world to be one of four sides of a three-dimensional world; the player rotates between these four views to realign platforms, solve the game's puzzles, and collect cubes and cube fragments to restore order to the universe. Though criticized for technical issues, and in-game navigation and backtracking, Fez was commended for its emphasis on discovery and freedom, and became a keystone example of independent video game development.

Illustration: Bryan Lee O'Malley

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