Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 November 12

Umatilla Bridge

Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States that passes through parts of Washington and Oregon. It runs southeasterly for 144 miles (232 km) from I-90 in Ellensburg, Washington, to I-84 in Hermiston, Oregon. The highway passes through Yakima, the Yakima Valley agricultural region, and the Tri-Cities area, also serving as part of the link between Seattle and Boise, Idaho. It crosses the Columbia River on the Umatilla Bridge (pictured), which opened in 1955 and was later twinned. The corridor was originally used by several state and national highways until I-82 was created in late 1957. The first section to be constructed was a bypass of Yakima, opened in 1963, which was extended north to Ellensburg on November 12, 1971. The Yakima Valley section, connecting Union Gap to Prosser, was constructed between 1977 and 1982. The Tri-Cities bypass opened in 1986, delayed by a lengthy routing dispute, and the final section was completed in 1988. (Full article...)

Engineers' Club Building

• ... that the Engineers' Club Building (pictured) and Engineering Societies' Building in New York City were described in the mid-20th century as "the engineering crossroads of the world"?
• ... that Andreas Reize assumed the post of Thomaskantor as the first Swiss and the first Catholic since the Reformation?
• ... that Johann Reinhold Forster's 1778 book Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World has been described as "the beginning of modern geography"?
• ... that Marguerite Dunlap sang in the first radio broadcast of WEAF in New York?
• ... that the streaming service Alchemiya has been dubbed the "Muslim Netflix"?
• ... that David Whitaker has been called "the father of the ISBN"?
• ... that for his appearance in the fourth-season finale of The Drew Carey Show, Hal Linden spoke with a German accent because he had trouble speaking with a Dutch accent?
• ... that Indonesian historian Sartono Kartodirdjo's father wanted him to be a doctor, but he refused as he claimed to be afraid of blood?

F. W. de Klerk in 1990

• Former South African president F. W. de Klerk (pictured), who negotiated the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela, dies at the age of 85.
• In stock car racing, Kyle Larson wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
• Kenyans Albert Korir and Peres Jepchirchir win the New York City Marathon men's and women's races.
• Daniel Ortega is re-elected as President of Nicaragua.

November 12

William Heffelfinger

• 1330 – Led by the voivode Basarab I, Wallachian forces defeated the Hungarian army in an ambush at the Battle of Posada.
• 1892 – William Heffelfinger (pictured) was paid $500 by the Allegheny Athletic Association, becoming the first professional American football player.
• 1940 – World War II: Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrived in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis powers.
• 1991 – Indonesian forces opened fire on student demonstrators protesting the occupation of East Timor in the capital Dili, killing at least 250 people.
• 2011 – An explosion in the Shahid Modarres missile base led to the deaths of 17 members of the Revolutionary Guards, including Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a key figure in Iran's missile program.