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From today's featured article

Section of Hatteras Island
washed out by storm surge

Hurricane Isabel struck North Carolina on the East Coast of the United States on September 18, 2003. Forming in early September in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the storm had moved northwestward, with peak winds of 165 mph (265 km/h). Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h), then quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day. It produced moderate to heavy damage across eastern North Carolina. Storm surge and strong winds in Dare County damaged thousands of houses and created a 2,000-foot (600 m) inlet on Hatteras Island (pictured), washing out parts of North Carolina Highway 12 and isolating the village of Hatteras for two months. Across the state, up to 700,000 residents were left without power. Three deaths in North Carolina were attributed to the storm, and statewide damage was estimated at $450 million. (Full article...)

Part of the Hurricane Isabel series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

Romelu Lukaku

... that Belgian footballer Romelu Lukaku (pictured) has scored two international hat-tricks, but only one is recognised by FIFA?
... that the murder of Deborah Linsley on a train in 1988 hastened the speed with which British Rail abolished the use of the type of compartment coach in which she died?
... that from 1660 to 1700, the majority of Japanese porcelain was made to be exported?
... that attorney Kristin Cooper, the current First Lady of North Carolina, has performed in several plays with her daughters?
... that Arrowe Country Park sits on land purchased in 1800 by the Mayor of Liverpool with money earned from the slave trade?
... that the German composer Karl Ludwig Drobisch and his brother calculated planetary movements?
... that Sabrina, a critique of the modern "fake news" era, is the first graphic novel to be longlisted for the Booker Prize?
... that Alexander Polycleitos Cawadias denied there was such a thing as a true hermaphrodite?

In the news

Typhoon Mangkhut

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge sets a new world record at the Berlin Marathon.
Typhoon Mangkhut (pictured) impacts the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, resulting in more than 60 fatalities.
Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, United States, causing the deaths of at least 15 people.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who co-discovered pulsars but was omitted from the related Nobel Prize, receives the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is stabbed during a campaign rally.

On this day

September 18

Illuminated tram in Blackpool

1850 – The United States Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which decreed that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters.
1879 – The Blackpool Illuminations (example pictured) in the English seaside town of Blackpool were switched on for the first time.
1918 – World War I: The Central Powers' defeat in the Battle of Dobro Pole played a role in the Bulgarian withdrawal from the war and opened the way for the subsequent liberation of Vardar Macedonia.
1974 – Hurricane Fifi struck Honduras, destroying 182 towns and villages in the first 24 hours, and ultimately causing over 8,000 deaths.
2001 – Five letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to various media outlets in the United States.

William Hazlitt (d. 1830) · Toni Wolff (b. 1888) · Christian Pulisic (b. 1998)

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Today's featured picture

The noble gases are a group of chemical elements with similar properties in the periodic table. The six noble gases that occur naturally are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and the radioactive radon. Under standard conditions, the gases are all colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonflammable. The noble gases show extremely low chemical reactivity, and only a few hundred noble gas compounds have been formed.

This picture shows argon in a gas discharge tube.

See images of other noble gases: Helium; Neon; Krypton

Photograph: Alchemist-hp

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