Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 July 18

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Today's featured article
Ganoga Lake is a natural lake in Colley Township in southeast Sullivan County in Pennsylvania, United States. The Ricketts family purchased the lake in the early 1850s, and built a stone house on the lake shore by 1852 or 1855; this served as a hunting lodge and tavern. R. Bruce Ricketts added the lake to his extensive holdings after the American Civil War, and in 1873 built a large wooden addition north of the stone house, which became the North Mountain House hotel. The hotel had one of the first summer schools in the United States in 1876 and 1877. After the death of R. Bruce Ricketts in 1918, his heirs sold much of his 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) to the state for Pennsylvania State Game Lands and Ricketts Glen State Park. The state tried to purchase the lake in 1957, but was outbid by investors who turned the land around it into a private housing development; as such it is "off limits" to the public. Ganoga Lake is on the Allegheny Plateau, just north of the Allegheny Front, in sedimentary rocks from the Pocono Formation. The Wisconsin Glaciation some 20,000 years ago changed the drainage patterns of the lake; this diverted its waters to Kitchen Creek and carved the 24 named waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park in the process. (more...) Recently featured: Courageous class battlecruiser – Uncle Tupelo – RKO Pictures Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that a 400 kg (880 lb) statue of the Berlin bear was removed from the city administrative building Altes Stadthaus (pictured) and given to the East Berlin zoo in 1959? ... that children of maternally sensitive mothers scored higher in math and phoneme knowledge than those who had a history of lower maternal sensitivity? ... that the James Dalessandro's 2004 novel 1906 was based upon the 1998 screenplay he wrote about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake for a film by the same name? ... that in the 18th century, the Ottoman garrison at Hisyah served as the dominant military faction in the Homs region? ... that pioneering immunologist Bunny Koshland helped develop an oral cholera vaccine before she worked on the Manhattan Project? ... that The Doon School Weekly, established in 1936, is the oldest publication of The Doon School? ... that because there is no water in the Albert Goldfield in New South Wales, miners relied on wind to separate gold from dirt in a "tedious and unhealthy" method called dry blowing? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
The National Forces Alliance, led by Mahmoud Jibril (pictured), gains a plurality in the Libyan General National Congress election, the first election since the deposition of Muammar Gaddafi. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is elected head of the African Union Commission, becoming the first woman to lead the organisation. The Red Cross declares the Syrian uprising a civil war, triggering the application of international humanitarian law. A road tanker explosion kills more than 120 people in Okobie, Nigeria. Tongan Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala marries Sinaitakala Fakafanua in Nukuʻalofa. Astronomers announce the discovery of S/2012 P 1, the fifth moon of Pluto. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
July 18: Constitution Day in Uruguay (1830) 1389 – France and England agreed to the Truce of Leulinghem, establishing a 13-year peace during the Hundred Years' War. 1870 – The First Vatican Council declared that the Pope is infallible when he solemnly declares a dogmatic teaching on faith as being contained in divine revelation. 1942 – German engineers test flew the Messerschmitt Me 262 (pictured) with jet engines for the first time. 1984 – A gunman massacred 21 people and injured 15 others at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, California. 1994 – Eighty-five people died when a bomb exploded at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, making it Argentina's deadliest bombing ever. 1995 – After a long period of dormancy, the Soufrière Hills volcano began a still-ongoing eruption, devastating the island of Montserrat. More anniversaries: July 17 – July 18 – July 19 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now July 18, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is a European damselfly. It is often found among fast-flowing waters. Males (shown here) have metallic blue wings and metallic blue-green bodies. Females have dark brown iridescent wings, a white pseudopterostigma near the tip of the wings and a metallic green body with a bronze tip of the abdomen.

Photo: Richard Bartz

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