Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 November 18

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From today's featured article
Luke P. Blackburn (1816–1887) was a physician, philanthropist and politician from Kentucky. Early in his career, he gained national fame for effecting the first successful quarantine against yellow fever in the Mississippi River valley and was regarded as an expert on the disease. During the Civil War, he aided Confederate blockade runners in Canada and traveled to Bermuda to combat a yellow fever outbreak threatening Confederate blockade-running operations. A Confederate double agent accused him of collecting linens and garments used by the yellow fever patients and smuggling them into the North to start a yellow fever epidemic to hamper the Union war effort. (It was not yet known that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos.) He was acquitted, and historians disagree regarding the evidence against him. In 1868, Blackburn returned to the U.S. and rehabilitated his public image by rendering aid in yellow fever outbreaks in Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky, propelling him to the governorship of Kentucky in 1879. His signature accomplishments were in penal reform, and he is known as "the father of prison reform in Kentucky". (Full article...) Recently featured: Metroid Prime – Hoodwinked! – David Suzuki: The Autobiography Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Rhododendron spinuliferum (pictured) has been used to treat asthma and phlegm in Chinese traditional medicine? ... that an actor who played a dead body in the Dutch television series Q & Q was later found in the same position after being murdered in his apartment? ... that the Museum of Asian Art houses some 20,000 Asian artifacts, making it one of the largest museums of ancient Asian art in the world? ... that Henri Akoka escaped a prison camp by jumping onto a moving train with his clarinet under his arm? ... that, in May 1965, Josiah Gondo became Rhodesia's first black Leader of the Opposition? ... that the Villa dei Misteri project is recreating the wines of Pompeii by replanting vineyards destroyed by the Vesuvius eruption with ancient grape varieties? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Xi Jinping (pictured) becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated. Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari is killed in an Israeli military operation. A total solar eclipse occurs in parts of Australia and the South Pacific. Justin Welby is announced as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. An earthquake off the Pacific coast of Guatemala kills dozens of people. Recent deaths: Bal Thackeray – Rex Hunt Syrian civil war – Wikinews – More current events...
On this day...
November 18: Independence Day in Latvia (1918); National Day in Oman (1940) 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Marshal Michel Ney's leadership in the Battle of Krasnoi earned him the nickname "the bravest of the brave" despite the overwhelming French defeat. 1865 – American author Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", his first great success as a writer, was published. 1872 – American suffragette Susan B. Anthony (pictured) was arrested and fined $100 for having voted in the U.S. presidential election in Rochester, New York, two weeks prior. 1987 – In London, an underground fire killed 31 people at King's Cross St Pancras. 1991 – Croatian War of Independence: Yugoslav People's Army forces captured the Croatian city of Vukovar, ending an 87-day siege. More anniversaries: November 17 – November 18 – November 19 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now November 18, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The near-elegant frog shell (Bufonaria perelegans) is a species of sea snail in the frog shell family. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Thailand. The shell ranges from 65 to 115 mm (2.6 to 4.5 in) in length.

Photo: George Chernilevsky

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