Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 November 21

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From today's featured article

Westbound I-96 as it passes under Sternberg Road approaching US 31

Interstate 96 (I-96) is an Interstate Highway running 192 miles (309 km) roughly east–west entirely within the US state of Michigan, from east of Lake Michigan at US Highway 31 near Muskegon to I-75 near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. From Grand Rapids through Lansing to Detroit, the freeway parallels Grand River Avenue, never straying more than a few miles from the decommissioned US 16. Within the city of Detroit, the road was renamed the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in 2005 in honor of the late civil rights pioneer. There are four auxiliary Interstate Highways as well as two current and four former business routes associated with I-96. Grand River Avenue originated as an Indian trail before Michigan statehood. It was later used as a wagon road across the state. In 1919 the roadway was included in the State Trunkline Highway System as M-16 and later the US Numbered Highway System as US 16. Construction of the freeway was started in 1956 and initially completed across the state to Detroit in 1962. I-96 was completed in the Detroit area on November 21, 1977. (Full article...)

Part of the Interstate 96 and the Interstate Highways in Michigan series, two of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

South Africa's former flag at the Castle of Good Hope in 2006

... that Nomfunelo Mabedla successfully campaigned for the former flag of South Africa (pictured) to be removed from the Castle of Good Hope because it upset her?
... that trains on the 42nd Street Shuttle, the shortest route in the New York City Subway system, run a distance of 2,700 feet (820 m) in 90 seconds?
... that Rama Pilot and Vijaya Kumari Ganti, both became members of the 13th Lok Sabha after winning by-elections prompted by the death of their respective husbands?
... that as well as feeding on insects, the greater flowerpiercer probes and pecks flowers to obtain nectar?
... that Belhaven University is named after the mansion of Confederate veteran Jones S. Hamilton?
... that kiwi birds are parasitized by lice in the genus Apterygon and in the subgenus Rallicola (Aptericola)?
... that Ethiopian women's rights activist Nahu Senay Girma's given name means "something good is happening now" and is traditionally a masculine name?
... that racing driver Sam Bird beat Felipe Nasr by eight-hundredths of a second to win the 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round sprint race, the closest margin of victory in GP2 Series history?

In the news

Martin Truex Jr.

In auto racing, Martin Truex Jr. (pictured) wins the NASCAR Cup Series.
Scientists describe ʻOumuamua, the first apparent interstellar object to pass through the Solar System.
The Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan goes missing in the South Atlantic, with 44 crew aboard.
Salvator Mundi, generally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sells at auction for US$450.3 million, a new record for an artwork.
Zimbabwe National Army troops seize control of Harare and place President Robert Mugabe under house arrest.
Borut Pahor is re-elected President of Slovenia.

On this day...

November 21: World Hello Day; Armed Forces Day in Bangladesh

"God Defend New Zealand"

1386 – Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur captured and sacked the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, forcing King Bagrat V to convert to Islam.
1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: After capturing the city of Lüshunkou, the Japanese Second Army killed more than 1,000 Chinese servicemen and civilians.
1916 – HMHS Britannic was destroyed by a naval mine off the Greek island of Kea, making it the largest ship lost during the First World War.
1977 – "God Defend New Zealand" (audio featured) became New Zealand's second national anthem, on equal standing with "God Save the Queen", which had been the traditional one since 1840.
2009 – An explosion in a coal mine in Heilongjiang, China, killed 108 miners.

Columbanus (d. 615) · James Hogg (d. 1835) · Annie (b. 1977)

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Today's featured picture

A female giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima) feeding on a tilapia on Lake Naivasha, Kenya. From left to right, this composite of four images illustrates: 1. the kingfisher returning to its perch with its prey; 2. smashing it against the post to break its spine; 3. holding it; 4. beginning to consume it.

Photograph: Charles J. Sharp

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