Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" in the U.S. between 1895 and 1954. Originally part of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, it was the westernmost station of the Metropolitan's main line. West of the station, the main line diverged into three branches; this junction, served by the station, has been described as the most complex on the entire Chicago "L" system. After 1905, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an interurban line, also served the station, but limited its service based on direction to avoid competing with the "L". The lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan, including those serving Marshfield, were subject to modifications planned since the 1930s that incrementally withdrew service from the station. It fully closed on April 4, 1954, and was demolished shortly thereafter. The junction Marshfield served was rebuilt in reduced form, but with a new station on Racine Avenue to the east. (Full article...)

White-tailed jay

• ... that the white-tailed jay (example pictured) found in Ecuador and Peru was once thought to have been brought to Mexico by pre-Columbian trade?
• ... that Peter Patton was given the nickname General Patton by the father of his college coach?
• ... that people in Madagascar wrestle bulls to commemorate the unearthing of ancestral corpses?
• ... that Shel Kaphan was the first employee of Amazon?
• ... that the anniversary of the Singh v Canada decision is observed as Refugee Rights Day?
• ... that Alexander Atabekian published the first anarchist periodical in the Armenian language?
• ... that the Mars Society's founding conference included a rancorous debate about the ethics of terraforming?
• ... that one of the first female officers of the Milwaukee Police Department later served as chief of the department?
• ... that in semantics, antonym is an antonym of synonym while synonym is not a synonym of antonym?

Damage in Hualien City

• An earthquake strikes near Hualien City, Taiwan (damage pictured).
• A bus falls from a bridge in Limpopo, South Africa, killing 45 people.
• The Francis Scott Key Bridge in the U.S. city of Baltimore collapses after being hit by a container ship.
• Bassirou Diomaye Faye is elected President of Senegal.
• A mass shoot­ing and ex­plo­sions kill 144 people at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia.

April 4: Hansik in Korea (2024); Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese, 2024)

Alexios I Komnenos

• 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrated a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
• 1081 – The Komnenos dynasty came to full power with the coronation of Alexios I Komnenos (pictured) as Byzantine emperor.
• 1859 – Bryant's Minstrels premiered the minstrel song "Dixie" in New York City as part of their blackface show.
• 1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO, an international military alliance whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.