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Today's featured article The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Canada. The ten-day event attracts over one million visitors per year and features a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing and First Nations exhibitions. The first Stampede was held in 1912, organized by American promoter Guy Weadick and supported by four area ranchers as a celebration of their lifestyle. A second Stampede was held in 1919 and it became an annual event in 1923 when it merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition. It is one of Canada's largest festivals and has become synonymous with Calgary's identity. It is a significant tourist attraction for the city which takes on a party atmosphere: businesses decorate their buildings in cowboy and western themes and hundreds of community events are held throughout the city. The Stampede is one of the premier events on the professional rodeo and chuckwagon circuits. Both are televised nationally in Canada and offer one of the largest prize funds in each sport. Some events, particularly chuckwagon racing, are controversial and have become the target of international criticism by animal welfare groups. (more...) Recently featured: Hygeberht – Garret Hobart – Great Auk Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that former Albany, Georgia, mayor Bill McAfee (pictured) participated in a 13-game baseball tour of Japan in 1929 before embarking on a five-year career in Major League Baseball? ... that three new Wildlife Protection Areas have been established in Japan prior to the 2012 Ramsar wetland conference, which started today? ... that at the end of World War I the British Cabinet decided to give Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and India each 100 aircraft as an Imperial Gift? ... that unlike its closest living relatives, lemurs and lorisoids, Djebelemur from Eocene Africa probably lacked a toothcomb? ... that Indonesian singer Pinkan Mambo paid for her brothers' college through her singing? ... that on low magnification the strands of Listerella paradoxa look like a string of pearls? ... that Geoff Charles's photos of 20th-century Welsh life were published at 75 dpi to prevent "illegal copying"?

In the news The Shard (pictured) in London opens to the public as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft). In association football, the Copa Libertadores concludes with Corinthians defeating Boca Juniors in the Finals. CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. GlaxoSmithKline pleads guilty to criminal charges of health care fraud and is fined a record US$3 billion. In association football, UEFA Euro 2012 concludes with Spain defeating Italy in the final to win a second consecutive European Football Championship. On this day... July 6: Independence Day in Comoros (1975) and Malawi (1964); Statehood Day in Lithuania (1253); the festival of San Fermín begins in Pamplona, Spain 1560 – Scotland and England signed the Treaty of Edinburgh to formally conclude the Siege of Leith and replace the Scottish–French Auld Alliance. 1887 – King Kalākaua of Hawai'i was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority as well as disfranchising all Asians, most native Hawaiians, and the poor. 1962 – The United States conducted the Sedan nuclear test (pictured) as part of Operation Plowshare, a program to investigate the use of nuclear explosions for civilian purposes. 1989 – A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member carried out a suicide attack by hijacking a bus and forcing it into a ravine near Kiryat Ye'arim, Israel. 1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of unrest began in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland. More anniversaries: July 5 – July 6 – July 7 It is now July 6, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture An illustration of various Pulmonata (and one predator arthropod in the lower right), an informal group of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. Pulmonata was previously a formal taxon but lost its status as one in 2010. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families. Most species have a shell, but no operculum, although the group does also include several shell-less slugs. Pulmonates are hermaphroditic, and some groups possess love darts. Artist: H. Morin; Restoration: Citron Recently featured: Incahuasi Island, Bolivia – PET scan with radiopharmaceuticals – Plains zebra

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