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Today's featured article Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823–1914) was a soldier in the Mexican–American War and a Confederate lieutenant general in the American Civil War. He graduated from West Point and taught there for five years, with an interlude during the Mexican–American War. He left the army in 1855 to manage real estate he inherited in Chicago. In 1857, he returned to his native state (Kentucky) and was appointed adjutant general by Governor Beriah Magoffin. He attempted to enforce Kentucky's neutrality policy during the early days of the Civil War, but enlisted in the Confederate Army in September 1861. He was the first Confederate general to surrender an army, doing so at the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862. He also participated in Braxton Bragg's failed attempt to invade Kentucky. On August 30, 1887, he was inaugurated governor of Kentucky. As governor, he worked to suppress the Hatfield-McCoy feud and the Rowan County War and ordered an audit that prompted state treasurer James W. Tate to abscond with $250,000 from the state treasury. He unsuccessfully sought a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1895 and the U.S. Vice-Presidency in 1896. (more...) Recently featured: History of Michigan State University – John Martin Scripps – Gobrecht dollar Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that a beak-shaped mask (pictured) did not save plague doctor Majus' life in the Great Northern War plague outbreak? ... that Grade 1b 2012 Australian Paralympic equestrian Hannah Dodd is missing four of her vertebrae? ... that the Birch Creek Charcoal Kilns employed 150 people or more, producing fuel for a smelter, but operated for less than three years? ... that despite starting as a 50-to-1 longshot, the filly Jet Ski Lady won the 1991 Epsom Oaks by ten lengths, the second widest winning margin in the race's history? ... that the Hovey Lake Archaeological District in Indiana's southwestern corner is endangered by flooding, oil derricks, bird hunters, and vandals? ... that 2012 Paralympic wheelchair rugby player Andrew Harrison was part of a campaign called "Don't Drink and Dive" which encouraged people to be careful when diving? ... that IBM's Mira is listed by TOP500 as the third-fastest supercomputer in the world as of June 2012? ... that some athletes have been known to break their own toes and electrocute their own testicles to gain a performance boost?

In the news The opening ceremony of the Summer Paralympics is held in London. More than 2,000 people riot in Mombasa, Kenya, in reaction to the shooting death of Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces the commencement of peace talks with the rebel group FARC. A bus crashes into a tanker carrying methanol, killing 36 people in Shaanxi, China. American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, dies at the age of 82. A blast at the Paraguaná Refinery Complex in Falcón, Venezuela, kills at least 41 people and injures at least 90 others. On this day... August 30: Constitution Day in Kazakhstan (1995); St. Rose of Lima's Day in Peru; Victory Day in Turkey 1799 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: A squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic surrendered to the Royal Navy without a fight near Wieringen. 1836 – Real estate entrepreneurs John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen founded the city of Houston on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou in present-day Texas. 1896 – Philippine Revolution: In the Battle of San Juan del Monte, the first real battle of the war, a Katipunan force temporarily captured a powder magazine before being beaten back by a Spanish garrison. 1942 – Second World War: Erwin Rommel (pictured) launched the last major Axis offensive of the Western Desert Campaign, attacking the British Eighth Army position near El Alamein, Egypt. 1984 – Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage. More anniversaries: August 29 – August 30 – August 31 It is now August 30, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture Two workers, c. 1908, use plaster to create a mold of a deceased person's face. This mold will then be used to make that person's death mask. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, used for creation of portraits, or placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites. The best known of the last are those used by ancient Egyptians as part of the mummification process, such the one for Tutankhamun. Photo: Bain News Service; Restoration: AutoGyro Recently featured: Canadian Museum of Civilization – Castello Plan – The Tepees, Petrified Forest National Park, US

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