User:J Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome to my userpage. I became a Wikipedian on 22 August 2006; However, I have been contributing to Wikipedia since 18 February 2006.
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[edit] Featured Article
The Solar System comprises the Sun and the retinue of celestial objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 162 known moons, three currently identified dwarf planets and their four known moons, and thousands of small bodies. This last category includes asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and interplanetary dust. In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four rocky bodies close to it called the inner planets, an inner belt of rocky asteroids, four giant outer planets and a second belt of small icy bodies known as the Kuiper belt. In order of their distances from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the eight planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites (usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon) and every planet past the asteroid belt is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets, other than the Earth, are named after gods and goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology. The three dwarf planets are Pluto, the largest known Kuiper belt object, Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, and Eris which lies beyond the Kuiper belt in a region called the scattered disc. (more...)
Recently featured: Daniel Webster – Germany – The Turk
[edit] In the News
- Two passengers remain unaccounted for after the Greek cruise ship M/S Sea Diamond (pictured) ran aground off Santorini in the Aegean Sea and sank.
- The 15 Royal Navy personnel accused of trespassing into Iranian waters return to the United Kingdom after a two-week detention.
- TGV POS trainset number 4402 sets a new world speed record for railed vehicles at 574.8 km/h (357 mph) during test runs conducted in Champagne, France.
- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves the parliament and calls for an early parliamentary election, a move denounced by the parliament as unconstitutional.
- A tsunami triggered by an earthquake strikes the Solomon Islands, killing at least 20, destroying around 900 homes and leaving thousands homeless.
[edit] Selected anniversaries
April 9: Easter Monday in Christianity (2007); Day of Valor in the Philippines.
- 193 - Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor.
- 1865 - Battle of Appomattox Courthouse: Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War.
- 1917 - World War I: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, advancing behind a creeping barrage known as the 'Vimy Glide'.
- 1959 - NASA announced the selection of the Mercury Seven (pictured), the first astronauts in Project Mercury.
- 1989 - April 9 tragedy: An anti-Soviet demonstration in Tbilisi, Georgia was quashed by the Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and thousands of injured.
Recent days: April 8 – April 7 – April 6
[edit] Gallery
| Picture of the day | |
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A pile of saffron threads (each about 20 mm in length) from Iran. Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus and is among the world's costliest spices by weight. In Western countries, the average retail price is $2200/€1550/£1100 per kilogram ($1,000/€700/£500 per pound). Besides its use as a seasoning, it has also used in its history as fragrance, dye, and medicine. Photo credit: Rainer Zenz |
| WikiDefcon |
 WikiDefcon 3: Significantly elevated levels of vandalism from shared IPs and experimenting users. |
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[edit] Sub pages
[edit] Quotes
- “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” — Isaac Asimov
- “When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.” — Isaac Asimov
- “John Dalton's records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war.” — Isaac Asimov
- “Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” — Mark Twain
- “The more you know, the more you realise that you know nothing.” — Socrates
- “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” — Albert Einstein
- “We must respect other religions even as we respect our own. Mere tolerance thereof is not enough.” — Gandhi
- “The wisest mind has something yet to learn.” — George Santayana
