Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 October 13

The Hastings Line is a secondary railway line in Kent and East Sussex, England, linking Hastings with the main town of Tunbridge Wells, and from there into London via Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. Although the line primarily carries passengers, a gypsum mine served by the railway is a source of freight traffic. Passenger trains on the line are operated by Southeastern. The railway was built by the South Eastern Railway in the early 1850s across the difficult terrain of the High Weald. Supervision was lax, and contractors skimped on the lining of the tunnels, causing deficiencies that showed up after the railway had opened. Rectifications included a restricted loading gauge along the line, requiring the use of specially made rolling stock. Served by steam locomotives from the time of opening until the late 1950s, passenger services were then taken over by a fleet of diesel-electric multiple units built to the line’s loading gauge. Freight was handled by diesel locomotives, also built to fit the loading gauge. The diesel-electric units were in service until 1986, when the line was electrified and the most severely affected tunnels were singled. (Full article...)

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October 13

• 54 – Claudius, the first Roman emperor to be born outside Italy, died mysteriously, most likely by poison administered by his wife Agrippina.
• 1307 – Agents of King Philip IV of France launched a dawn raid, simultaneously arresting many members of the Knights Templar, and subsequently torturing them into "admitting" heresy.
• 1885 – The Georgia Institute of Technology was established in Atlanta as part of Reconstruction plans to build an industrial economy in the post-Civil War Southern United States.
• 1911 – Prince Arthur, a son of Queen Victoria, became the first Governor General of Canada of royal descent as well as the first Prince of Great Britain and Ireland to hold that position.
• 1958 – The first book featuring the English children's literature character Paddington Bear (statue pictured), created by Michael Bond and Peggy Fortnum, was published.

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Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on using Charles Babbage's planned mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine, and as such she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.

Painting: Alfred Edward Chalon

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