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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,330,050 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleThe Kansas Turnpike is a tolled freeway that lies entirely within the U.S. state of Kansas. The road runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border south of Wichita via Wichita, Topeka, and Lawrence to Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas Turnpike Act defined the turnpike to be built from Oklahoma to Kansas City, Kansas. The turnpike is owned and maintained by the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA), headquartered in Wichita. The Kansas Turnpike was built from 1954 to 1956, predating the Interstate Highway System. The turnpike presently has 27 interchanges and two barrier toll plazas. Exit numbers are assigned by mileage from south to east. After passing the Bonner Springs interchange, exit numbers change to match the mileage of Interstate 70 east from the Colorado border. In the median at mile 97 is the Matfield Green Service Area, which contains a memorial to football coach Knute Rockne, who died in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas. (more…)Recently featured: J. K. Rowling – Chrono Trigger – Victoria CrossArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:…that yearly whale counts of the endangered Humpback Whale (pictured) in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary show their numbers are increasing by 7% per year?…that the Spanish-introduced limestone house of the Ivatans was designed to withstand typhoons?…that English printer Thomas Adams published John Dowland’s The Third and Last Booke of Songes or Aires out of his shop in St. Paul’s Churchyard?…that the Mill Mountain Zoo is host to three endangered species: the Red Panda, Snow Leopard and White-naped Crane?…that Black Grace, an internationally-touring New Zealand contemporary-dance company, melds Maori and Pacific Islander indigenous dance with modern dance and hip hop?…that “the light arises in the East”, an apparently pro-Soviet slogan coined by Romanian writer Mihail Sadoveanu in 1945, is seen by some as a coded warning to his fellow Freemasons about communization?…that the discovery of Lazarussuchus showed that choristoderes, a type of aquatic reptile, had not gone extinct in the Eocene, but persisted for millions of years after?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsThe Channel Island Sark abolishes the last remaining feudal system in Europe.Soyuz TMA-12 is launched, carrying Yi So-yeon (pictured), the first Korean in space, for a mission to the International Space Station.The Olympic torch relay is disrupted in London, Paris and San Francisco by protesters objecting to China’s human rights record.The Washington Post wins six awards and Bob Dylan receives a special citation in the 2008 Pulitzer Prizes.At its summit in Bucharest, NATO invites Albania and Croatia to join the alliance.Jules Verne, the first European Automated Transfer Vehicle, successfully performs a fully automated docking with the International Space Station.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…April 12: Cosmonautics Day in Russia, Yuri’s Night.1204 – Alexios V fled Constantinople as forces under Boniface the Marquess of Montferrat and Enrico Dandolo the Doge of Venice entered and sacked the Byzantine capital, effectively ending the Fourth Crusade.1606 – A royal decree established the Union Flag (pictured) to symbolise the Union of the Crowns, merging the designs of the Flag of England and the Flag of Scotland.1861 – Confederate forces began firing at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War.1927 – Chinese Civil War: A large-scale purge of communists from the nationalist Kuomintang began in Shanghai.1961 – Aboard Vostok 3KA-2, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to enter outer space, completing one orbit in a time of 108 minutes.More events on this day…Recent days: April 11 – April 10 – April 9Archive – By email – More anniversaries…Today’s featured pictureThe jaguar (Panthera onca), shown here at Edinburgh Zoo, is a New World mammal of the Felidae family and one of four “big cats”. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and on average the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere.Photo credit: Pascal BlachierRecently featured: Locusts – Lilac panicle – Notre Dame de ParisArchive – More featured pictures…