Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 March 3

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From today's featured article

In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea during World War II, American and Australian aircraft attacked a Japanese convoy, causing heavy troop losses. In December 1942, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters decided to reinforce their position in the South West Pacific. The plan was to move some 6,900 troops from Rabaul directly to Lae, New Guinea. Strong Allied air power made it risky, but the alternative was for troops to march through inhospitable terrain. The convoy (eight destroyers and eight troop transports escorted by fighters) set out on 28 February 1943. The Allies had detected preparations for the convoy, and codebreakers had decrypted messages indicating its intended destination and arrival date. The convoy came under sustained air attack on 2–3 March 1943. Follow-up attacks by PT boats and aircraft were made on 4 March. All eight transports and four of the escorting destroyers were sunk, and only about 1,200 troops made it to Lae. Another 2,700 were saved by destroyers and submarines and returned to Rabaul. The Japanese made no further attempts to reinforce Lae by ship, greatly hindering their ultimately unsuccessful efforts to stop Allied offensives in New Guinea. (Full article...)

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In the news

At least 12 people die during a gunfight between the Sultanate of Sulu and the Royal Malaysia Police after a 17-day standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

Following an in-flight explosion, a hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

In the Italian general election, the centre-left alliance Italy Common Good, led by the Democratic Party, wins a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, while no alliance wins a majority in the Senate.

Argo wins Best Picture and Daniel Day-Lewis a record third Best Actor at the 85th Academy Awards.

In stock car racing, Jimmie Johnson wins the Daytona 500 as pole winner Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to achieve a top-10 finish in the event's history.

Recent deaths: Stéphane Hessel – Van Cliburn – C. Everett Koop

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On this day...

March 3: Liberation Day in Bulgaria (1878); Hinamatsuri in Japan

1820 – The U.S. Congress passed the Missouri Compromise, which balanced the addition of Missouri as a slave state with the admittance of Maine as a free state.

1875 – French composer Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, premiered at the Opéra Comique in Paris.

1913 – Thousands of women marched in Washington, D.C. (program pictured) "in a spirit of protest" against the exclusion of women from American society.

1943 – Second World War: During a German aerial attack on London, 173 people were killed in a stampede while trying to enter Bethnal Green tube station, which was being used as an air raid shelter.

1997 – The Sky Tower in Auckland, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 m (1,076 ft), opened.

More anniversaries: March 2 – March 3 – March 4

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Today's featured picture

A map showing the geography of Florida, a state in the United States. Situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida, Florida has an extensive coastline. Its highest point, Britton Hill, is the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Florida is home to over 19 million people, living in 410 municipalities.

Map: Eric Gaba

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