Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 August 17

Leslie Groves (1896–1970) was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. After joining the Corps of Engineers and assisting with projects in Nicaragua, he was posted to the War Department General Staff. In 1940, he became special assistant for construction to the Quartermaster General. He was given responsibility in 1941 for the gigantic office complex to house the War Department's 40,000 staff which would ultimately become the Pentagon. In September 1942, Groves took charge of the Manhattan Project and was involved in most aspects of the atomic bomb's development, including the acquisition of raw materials and selection of target cities in Japan. He remained in charge of the project until the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission assumed responsibility for nuclear weapons production in 1947. He then headed the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, created to control the military aspects of nuclear weapons. He was promoted to lieutenant general just before his retirement in 1948 in recognition of his leadership of the bomb program, and later became a vice-president at Sperry Rand. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Aston Villa F.C. – Marshall Applewhite – Xeromphalina setulipes

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that the scientific name of the black-backed butcherbird (pictured) translates as "mental noisy bird"?
• ... that English sport shooter Mick Gault jointly holds the record for most medals at the Commonwealth Games, but has never been selected for the Olympic Games?
• ... that the video game Device 6 uses mainly text for its gameplay?
• ... that Liebmann Hersch's article "International Migration of the Jews", first published in 1931, became a classic work on the topic?
• ... that as of January 1940, No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF lacked hot water, a kitchen, and a telephone system?
• ... that Michael H. Weber and his writing partner have written four films together despite living on opposite sides of the United States?
• ... that Remedios Circle, now considered the center of Manila's nightlife, was originally a cemetery?

• The 41st Chess Olympiad concludes with China winning the open section and Russia winning the women's section of the tournament.
• Mathematicians Artur Avila, Manjul Bhargava, Martin Hairer, and Maryam Mirzakhani are awarded the Fields Medal; Mirzakhani (pictured) is its first female recipient.
• Actor and comedian Robin Williams dies at the age of 63.
• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins Turkey's first direct presidential election.
• Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 crashes near Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 39 people.
• Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are found guilty of crimes against humanity by a UN-backed tribunal.

Ongoing:

Ebola outbreak –

Gaza conflict –

Libyan conflict –

Ukrainian unrest

Recent deaths:

Lauren Bacall

August 17: Independence Day in Indonesia (1945)

• 1807 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first commercially successful paddle steamer, went into service on the Hudson River in New York.
• 1943 – Second World War: The Royal Air Force began a strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany's V-weapon programme by attacking the Peenemünde Army Research Center.
• 1947 – A commission led by Cyril Radcliffe established the Radcliffe Line, the border between India and Pakistan after the Partition of India.
• 1977 – The Soviet icebreaker NS Arktika (pictured) became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
• 2009 – A turbine at Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia, broke apart violently, flooding the power station, causing widespread power failures, and killing 75 people.

More anniversaries: August 16 – August 17 – August 18

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An 1801 map of the East Indies, prepared by John Cary for his New Universal Atlas, depicting all of Southeast Asia. In a restricted sense, the term East Indies refers to the area's islands, though it has also been used to include certain land-locked areas (mostly those under Indian cultural influence). European powers, beginning with the Portuguese, explored and colonized these regions in the late 15th century; the East Indies were not decolonized until the 20th century.

Map: John Cary