U.S. Highway 8 runs east–west for 280 miles (451 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It connects Interstate 35 in Forest Lake, Minnesota, to U.S. Highway 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Except for some short freeway segments, it is mostly undivided surface road. It is maintained by the departments of transportation of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Part of the U.S. Highway System, it was commissioned on November 11, 1926, running between Forest Lake and Pembine, Wisconsin, with a planned continuation to Powers, Michigan. The western end was extended to Minneapolis, but the terminus was later moved back to Forest Lake. The eastern terminus was changed from Powers to Norway. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation built a bypass around Rhinelander in the 1990s and created a locally maintained business loop along the old highway through the central business district. The signage for the loop was removed in 2005. (This article is part of a featured topic: U.S. Highways in Michigan.).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/U.S._Highways_in_Michigan

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1902:

The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attained a new Farthest South point in Antarctica. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Expedition

1903:

In one of the deadliest single-building fires in United States history, the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago killed more than 600 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire

1954:

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Investigation_%28Finland%29

2009:

Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests on the holy day of Ashura. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_30,_2009_Iranian_pro-government_rallies

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

blastpipe: (mechanical engineering, rail transport) A pipe forming part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders up into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the firebox; this speeds up the release of smoke through the chimney. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blastpipe

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pelé. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.   --Pelé https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9