Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 November 11

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From today's featured article

George S. Patton (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general who commanded the U.S. Seventh and Third armies during World War II. He had been wounded during World War I leading the newly formed Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces into combat. In 1942 he led U.S. troops in the invasion of Casablanca, and later commanded the Seventh Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily. After slapping two soldiers, he was removed from battlefield command, but returned to lead the Third Army following the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. After a successful armored drive across France, his army helped rescue beleaguered American troops during the Battle of the Bulge. He died from an automobile accident in Germany. While Allied leaders held sharply differing opinions on Patton, he was regarded highly by his opponents in the German High Command. His emphasis on aggressive offensive action proved effective, but his hard-driving personality and success as a commander were at times overshadowed by controversial public statements. He joined his troops on the front lines and inspired them with vulgarity-ridden speeches, as recounted in a 1970 award-winning biographical film. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Alfred Harmsworth

... that Alfred Harmsworth (pictured) was the father of two viscounts, one baron, and two baronets?
... that the 1994 bomb explosion in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad left at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured?
... that Burundian Abraham Niyonkuru finished fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie despite being only 0.03 seconds behind the silver medallist?
... that the modern Palestinian village of Beit Qad is associated with the biblical locality of Beth Ekad, mentioned in the Book of Kings as the site of a massacre?
... that the French Consul to Hawaii Marie Gabriel Georges Bosseront d'Anglade accompanied Queen Liliuokalani on her visit to the leper settlement of Kalaupapa in 1891?
... that flowerpots for the Ming emperors were made in official Jun ware?
... that a 1994 John F. Gaffney proposal would have allowed Donald Trump to own four Atlantic City casino licenses, even though all three of his casino properties there had recent bankruptcy filings?
... that ancient Indian texts include as many as 64 different lipi?

In the news

Derailed tram in Croydon

A tram (pictured) derails on the Tramlink in Croydon, London, killing seven people and injuring more than fifty others.
Donald Trump wins the United States presidential election, while Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate.
India demonetises 500 and 1000 rupee bank notes to fight black money issues.
In baseball, the Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series for the first time since 1908.
In baseball, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters defeat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp to win the Japan Series.

On this day...

November 11: Independence Day in Angola (1975) and Poland (1918); Veterans Day in the United States

Gough Whitlam

1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Seneca allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.
1805 – War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units all suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Dürenstein.
1918 – The armistice treaty between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France.
1926 – The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials.
1975 – During a constitutional crisis in Australia, Governor-General John Kerr dismissed the government of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (pictured) and dissolved Parliament for a double dissolution election.

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From today's featured list

Dwight D. Eisenhower

The class the stars fell on is an expression used to describe the United States Military Academy Class of 1915. In the United States Army, the insignia reserved for generals is one or more stars. Of the 164 graduates that year, 59 (36%) attained the rank of general, the most of any class in the history of the United States Military Academy, hence the expression. Two reached the five-star rank of General of the Army. There were also 2 four-star generals, 7 three-star lieutenant generals, 24 two-star major generals and 24 one-star brigadier generals. Dwight D. Eisenhower (pictured), one of the five-star generals, went on to become the 34th President of the United States. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The memorial tower at the Netherlands American Cemetery, a World War II war cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. Administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the cemetery holds 8,301 graves in an area of 65.5 acres (26.5 ha). The site includes a reflecting pool, museum, and a Court of Honor, the walls of which contain the Tablets of the Missing, on which are recorded the names of 1,722 American missing.

Photograph: Andrew Shiva

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