Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 April 20

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From today's featured article

King's Highway 420 is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with downtown Niagara Falls. The roadway continues east as the limited-access expressway Niagara Regional Road 420, which was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in 1998; it connects with the Rainbow Bridge at the border with the United States over the Niagara River. King's Highway 420 has a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), making it the only 400-series highway to have a speed limit less than 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for its entirety. Originally constructed as a divided four-lane road with two traffic circles, the route of Highway 420 formed part of the QEW between 1941 and 1972. It was assigned a unique route number during its reconstruction as a freeway and the construction of the large interchange at its western terminus at Montrose Road. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Fat innkeeper worm

... that in the 1970s, spoon worms (example pictured) helped promote biodiversity around the effluent outlets from the Los Angeles sewage system?
... that despite being demoted three times, Nikolai Kulakov rose to the rank of vice admiral and became a Hero of the Soviet Union?
... that the motet Sicut cervus by Palestrina, suitable for Holy Saturday, has been described as the expression of "serene but fervent spiritual yearning"?
... that cinematographer Mike Gioulakis was inspired by the photography of Gregory Crewdson when shooting the 2014 horror film It Follows?
... that during Cardiff City F.C.'s 1921–22 season, trainer George Latham became the oldest player in club history when called into action after members of the first team fell ill?
... that Shah Faesal, the first Kashmiri to top the Indian civil services exam, has become a politician?
... that in 1941, the far-right French National-Collectivist Party proposed sending its women paramilitaries to fight for Vichy France in Syria?
... that Necdet Turhan, a visually impaired mountaineer and long-distance runner, ran five marathons and climbed five summits on five continents?

In the news

NGC 7027

Scientists announce the discovery of naturally occurring helium hydride ions in the planetary nebula NGC 7027 (pictured).
The former President of Peru Alan García commits suicide after a warrant is issued for his arrest.
At the Boston Marathon, Lawrence Cherono and Worknesh Degefa win the men's and women's foot races, respectively.
A fire heavily damages Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

On this day

April 20: First day of Passover (Judaism, 2019); 4/20 (cannabis culture)

René Caillié

1537 – Bacatá, the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation, was conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada during the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, effectively ending the Confederation in the Colombian Eastern Andes.
1657 – Anglo-Spanish War: An English fleet sank much of a Spanish treasure fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands but was unable to capture the treasure.
1828 – French explorer René Caillié (pictured) became the first European to enter Timbuktu and return safely, for which he received a 10,000-franc prize from the Société de géographie.
1939 – Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday in Nazi Germany.
1999 – Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on a massacre, killing 13 people and wounding over 20 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.

Elizabeth Barton (d. 1534) · Paul Poiret (b. 1879) · Nina Davuluri (b. 1989)

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Today's featured picture

Esperanza Base, established in 1953, is located in Hope Bay on the Trinity Peninsula of the larger Antarctic Peninsula. One of 76 Antarctic research stations maintained by 30 countries, it is among the 44 permanent bases, which remain open all year, and one of Argentina's 13 research bases. The base contains 43 buildings with just over 3,744 square metres (40,300 sq ft) of space. In 1978, Emilio Palma was born there, becoming the first person to be born on the continent of Antarctica.

Photograph: Godot13

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