Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 April 9

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869–77). He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and retired after serving in the Mexican–American War. When the Civil War began in 1861, he rejoined the U.S. Army and won major victories at Shiloh and Vicksburg, and in the Chattanooga Campaign. After promotion to Commanding General, Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles in Virginia in 1864, trapping Lee's army in the siege of Petersburg. Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, ended the war. After the war, he implemented Congressional Reconstruction. Elected president in 1868, Grant led the Republicans in their effort to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism, protect African American citizenship, and support economic prosperity nationwide. In foreign policy, Grant sought to increase American trade and influence, while remaining at peace with the world. His presidency has often come under criticism for tolerating corruption and, in his second term, leading the nation into an economic depression. After an unsuccessful attempt at nomination for a third term in 1880, he completed his memoirs, garnering critical acclaim and financial success. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

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• ... that Esther Ballestrino, the former boss of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (later Pope Francis), was thrown from an aircraft by the Argentine security services?
• ... that Carnufex is an extinct relative of crocodiles that lived 231 million years ago in Carolina?
• ... that Marvel's character Deadpool is getting his own solo film after appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009?
• ... that Great Depression-era economist E. Wight Bakke focused on the social and psychological aspects of unemployment in addition to the economic ones?
• ... that Laurel Run is classified as a Least Disturbed Stream by the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program?
• ... that Chinese writer Chen Xuezhao attended the 1942 Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art with Mao Zedong?
• ... that the star of Bethlehem can be found in Torndirrup National Park?

• In basketball, the Duke Blue Devils defeat the Wisconsin Badgers to win the NCAA Men's Championship (MOP Tyus Jones pictured).
• A preliminary deal is reached between Iran and six other countries regarding Iran's nuclear program.
• Al-Shabaab gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing more than 140 people.
• Russian fishing trawler Dalniy Vostok sinks, killing at least 56 people.
• Muhammadu Buhari is elected President of Nigeria.
• Islam Karimov is re-elected President of Uzbekistan.
• In cricket, the World Cup concludes with Australia defeating New Zealand in the final.

Ongoing:

Yemeni crisis – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Recent deaths:

Elmer Lach – Robert H. Schuller – Manoel de Oliveira

April 9: Maundy Thursday (Eastern Christianity, 2015); Vimy Ridge Day in Canada; Day of National Unity in Georgia (1989); Bataan Day in the Philippines

• 1918 – World War I: Aníbal Milhais's actions during the Battle of the Lys made him the only person to be awarded Portugal's highest military honour, the Order of the Tower and Sword, directly on the battlefield.
• 1939 – After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African American singer Marian Anderson (pictured) gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• 1940 – During the German invasion of Norway, Vidkun Quisling seized control of the government in a Nazi-backed coup d'état.
• 1967 – The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the world.
• 2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales, married his long-time mistress Camilla Parker Bowles.

More anniversaries: April 8 – April 9 – April 10

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