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Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune, discovered on October 10, 1846, by William Lassell. It is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit, which is an orbit in the opposite direction to its planet's rotation. At 2700 km in diameter, it is the seventh-largest moon in the Solar System. Because of its retrograde orbit and composition similar to Pluto's, Triton is thought to have been captured from the Kuiper belt. Triton consists of a crust of frozen nitrogen over an icy mantle believed to cover a substantial core of rock and metal. The core makes up two-thirds of its total mass. Triton has a mean density of 2.061 g/cm³ and is composed of approximately 15–35% water ice. Triton is one of the few moons in the Solar System known to be geologically active. As a consequence, its surface is relatively young, with a complex geological history revealed in intricate and mysterious cryovolcanic and tectonic terrains. Part of its crust is dotted with geysers believed to erupt nitrogen. (more...) Recently featured: "Just Like Heaven" – Telopea speciosissima – The Author's Farce Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that transit of cargo between the Croatian Port of Ploče (pictured) and Bosnia and Herzegovina is exempt of duties and taxes? ... that Victor Pascall of Trinidad was considered the best left-arm spinner in West Indies cricket during his career? ... that it has been said that the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99, "would still work perfectly well if the vocal parts were entirely removed"? ... that due to the sexually explicit content of Saman, Ayu Utami's debut novel, her mother refused to read it to her father? ... that Nnamdi Azikiwe was concerned about a possible "Pakistan" emerging in Nigeria? ... that Thomas Edison hoped to make furniture, refrigerators, and pianos using the concrete he developed but it was instead used to make the Yankee Stadium? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (pictured), Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakel Karman share the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to advance women's rights. Tomas Tranströmer becomes the 108th winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs dies at the age of 56. Dan Shechtman wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals. Russia restores the full satellite constellation of global satellite navigation system GLONASS. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
October 8: Yom Kippur ends at nightfall (Judaism, 2011); Independence Day in Croatia (1991); 451 – The Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council in Christianity, opened. It repudiated the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, and set forth the Chalcedonian Creed. 1076 – Demetrius Zvonimir, the last native king who exerted any real power over the entire Croatian state, was crowned. 1897 – Composer Gustav Mahler (pictured) was appointed the director of the Vienna Court Opera. 1967 – Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara was captured near La Higuera, Bolivia. 2001 – At Linate Airport in Milan, Italy, Scandinavian Airlines Flight SK686 collided on take-off with a Cessna Citation II business jet, killing 118 people. More anniversaries: October 7 – October 8 – October 9 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now October 8, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

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Jesse Jackson (seen here in 1983) is an African American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. Jackson came to prominence with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, working closely with Martin Luther King, Jr., but he clashed with King's successor Ralph Abernathy and left the organization to form Operation PUSH. Jackson was unsuccessful in both his 1984 and 1988 attempts to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Since then, he has remained active in the African American community and is seen by many as one of America's most important black leaders.

Photo: Warren K. Leffler, USN&WR; Restoration: Fletcher

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