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From today's featured article

Historic US 101 in California

U.S. Route 101 is a major north–south highway on the West Coast of the United States that runs along the Pacific Ocean through California, Oregon, and Washington. It was established on November 11, 1926, as part of the United States Numbered Highway System and spans 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Several sections were later rebuilt to eliminate curves and address traffic congestion. The highway's southern terminus is at a major interchange in Los Angeles. US 101 follows the historic El Camino Real from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where it reaches the Golden Gate Bridge. The highway then runs through coastal towns and around the west, north, and east sides of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to its northern terminus near Olympia. The highway does not serve the largest cities in Oregon and Washington; that role is instead filled by Interstate 5. Several portions of US 101 are designated as scenic byways, and it serves three national parks: Pinnacles, Redwood, and Olympic. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Flag of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast

... that the flag of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (pictured) was investigated by Russian authorities because of its similarity to the rainbow pride flag?
... that painter Itji Tarmizi escaped an anti-communist purge by hiding with his grandmother?
... that Kendrick Lamar performed "The Blacker the Berry" at the 58th Grammy Awards while marching onto the stage in chains?
... that, when Axel Wrede Sparre was appointed governor of Stockholm in 1770, Daniel Tilas remarked that "no more incompetent man" could have been appointed?
... that employees of the Bureau of Land Management found the dinosaur quarry of Big Al while searching for wildfires?
... that a single folio from a Polier album fetched more than £2,400,000 at auction in 2025?
... that Irish workers during the 1843 Lachine Canal strike marched into the heart of Montreal, led by fife players?
... that Toluca were unable to host an international tournament at their stadium because it lacked floodlights?
... that during the Battle of Callinicum, Byzantine troops were so eager to fight while fasting for Easter that their commanders feared mutiny if they were denied battle?

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Spinning tops

This week's article for improvement is spinning top, a type of toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom that is designed to be spun on its vertical axis.

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Expanding the "History" section
Finding reliable sources about spinning methods and its physics

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In the news

Kraków Main Square

A mass shooting in the Main Square (pictured) of Kraków, Poland, leaves six people dead and sixteen others injured.
President of Paraguay Santiago Peña is impeached, arrested, and replaced by Vice President Pedro Alliana amid a banking crisis involving Ueno Bank.
In the United States, the Democratic Party wins a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections.
In motorsport, Kimi Antonelli becomes the youngest ever winner of the Formula One World Championship.

On this day

November 11: Armistice Day (known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations and Veterans Day in the United States); Singles' Day in China and Southeast Asia

Józef Piłsudski

1880 – In spite of sympathizers holding rallies for his reprieve, Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged in Melbourne.
1918 – Józef Piłsudski (pictured), appointed the commander-in-chief of Polish forces by the Regency Council, was entrusted with the creation of a national government for the newly independent Poland.
1926 – The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials.
2008 – After 30 years in power, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was succeeded by Mohamed Nasheed as the president of the Maldives.

Yazid I (d. 683)
Marion L. Brittain (b. 1866)
Martha Annie Whiteley (b. 1866)
Maria Teresa de Filippis (b. 1926)

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From today's featured list

Iranian coin commemorating the 1974 Asian Games

Athletes from 19 National Olympic Committees won medals at the 1974 Asian Games, of which 15 secured at least one gold medal. The 1974 Asian Games, officially known as the Seventh Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event held in Tehran, Iran, from 1 September to 16 September. The 1974 Games had 3,010 athletes from 25 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participating in a total of 202 events in 16 sports. The host NOC, Iran, finished second in the medal table, its best performance since the 1951 Asian Games, claiming 81 medals (including 36 gold). Japan took the top spot on the table with 175 medals (including 75 gold). The Republic of China (Taiwan) was expelled from the Games after the decision, made at the Asian Games Federation's conference in November 1973, to allow the entry of the People's Republic of China. Due to political reasons, athletes from the Arab nations, Pakistan, China, and North Korea refused to face Israel in the tennis, fencing, basketball and football events. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

"Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War?" is a British military recruitment poster created by Savile Lumley and published by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee in 1915. It depicts a girl, sitting on her father's lap, asking him about his service in the First World War; at his feet, his son plays with toy soldiers. The poster uses indirect messaging to tell the prospective recruit that, if he does not join up now, he will feel regret or shame when he is older. Not popular or widely printed at the time of the war, the poster only became well-known afterwards. Recruitment posters of the period increasingly appealed to guilt and patriotism, but "Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War?" attracted criticism for its use of shame. The poster was mocked by opponents of the war and even parodied by soldiers serving in the trenches.

Poster credit: Savile Lumley; restored by Adam Cuerden

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