Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 December 29

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Mensa (Latin for "table") is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere near the south celestial pole. It is one of the 88 modern constellations, and one of twelve drawn up in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. Originally named for Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town, South Africa, where Lacaille made observations, it covers a keystone-shaped wedge of sky of approximately 153.5 square degrees. Other than the south polar constellation of Octans, it is the most southerly of constellations and is only observable south of the 5th parallel of the Northern Hemisphere. Barely visible in suburban skies, Mensa is one of the faintest constellations in the night sky. At least three of its star systems have been found to have exoplanets. Parts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, several star clusters and a quasar lie in the area covered by the constellation. (Full article...)

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Damage from the Sunda Strait tsunami

A tsunami hits the Sunda Strait, Indonesia, killing at least 429 people and injuring more than 1,400 others (aftermath pictured).
In field hockey, the World Cup concludes with Belgium defeating the Netherlands in the final.
The Balangiga bells, taken by US Army soldiers from the Philippines in 1901 as war trophies, are repatriated.
Nine people are killed when a high-speed train collides with a locomotive in Ankara, Turkey.

Sun Yat-sen

1860 – To counter the French Navy's Gloire, the world's first ironclad warship, the British Royal Navy launched the world's first iron-hulled armoured warship, HMS Warrior.
1876 – A railway bridge over the Ashtabula River in Ohio collapsed when a Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway train was crossing over it, killing 92 people and injuring 64 others.
1911 – Sun Yat-sen (pictured) was elected in Nanjing as the Provisional President of the Republic of China.
1959 – Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", anticipating the field of nanotechnology.
1997 – In order to prevent the spread of the H5N1 flu virus, the Hong Kong government began the slaughter of 1.3 million chickens.

Maria Margaretha Kirch (d. 1720) · Christina Rossetti (d. 1894) · Ashleigh Banfield (b. 1967)

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Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson assumed the presidency as he was vice president of the United States at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. The new president favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the former slaves, and he came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote. Although his ranking has fluctuated over time, he is generally considered among the worst American presidents.

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