I started work on Wikipedia as BartBenjamin on
January 27,
2005.
As a child growing up in
Peoria, Illinois, I spent countless hours reading and browsing my family's set of
World Book encyclopedias. Within those bound volumes and innumerable pages, I researched my current hobbies, worked on school assignments, and (perhaps most importantly) gained a life-long appreciation for learning.
In January of 2005, I discovered Wikipedia, which rekindled this same "browsing for knowledge" that I first experienced so many years ago. I quickly realized Wikipedia's limitless potential, and I was excited by the prospect of adding my own knowledge to the collective knowledge contained in Wikipedia's thousands of digital pages.
My first contributions related to my now former position as Director of the
Cernan Earth and Space Center, a planetarium in west suburban River Grove,
Illinois, USA. My primary interests include
astronomy (particularly
eclipses,
occultations and
transits), American history (particularly the
Civil War era), historical events (e.g. marine disasters such as the
Titanic,
Andrea Doria and
Morro Castle and the rise and fall of
airships), natural disasters (e.g.
tornadoes,
earthquakes,
volcanoes),
Mesozoic Era
paleontology (a.k.a.
dinosaurs),
numismatics and
philately, to name just a few. My future writing/editing efforts will largely be drawn from this list. I am particularly proud of those articles listed below that are preceded by a red star. (
)
Gettysburg Address -- In early 2005, I conducted research and then substantially rewrote this article. My initial major revision was uploaded on Feb. 19, 2005. Later that year, with the invaluable contributions of
User:Kaisershatner, this article completed two cycles of Peer Review and was nominated as a
Featured Article Candidate on December 22nd. On December 27, 2005, on the authority of Wikipedia
administrator and
bureaucrat
User:Raul654, this article became a
Featured article! On February 12, 2006, it was the
Featured Article of the Day, which marked Abraham Lincoln's 197th birthday.
SS Morro Castle -- I conducted research and then substantially rewrote this article and added illustrations. My initial major revision was uploaded on March 30, 2005.
Cernan Earth and Space Center -- I created this article.
Triton College -- I created this article.
Illinois in the Civil War -- I created this article.
Occultation -- I substantially rewrote this article and added primary photograph (my own).
Grazing occultation -- a work in progress.
Astronomical transit -- I made a few corrections and added illustration.
Carte de visite -- I inserted my CDV as an illustration, and plan to add a few more details to the copy.
1933 Century of Progress Chicago World's Fair -- I added section about the Graf Zeppelin's visit and added illustrations.
1893 World Columbian Exposition -- I added photograph and external links.
I started work on Wikipedia as BartBenjamin on
January 27,
2005.
As a child growing up in
Peoria, Illinois, I spent countless hours reading and browsing my family's set of
World Book encyclopedias. Within those bound volumes and innumerable pages, I researched my current hobbies, worked on school assignments, and (perhaps most importantly) gained a life-long appreciation for learning.
In January of 2005, I discovered Wikipedia, which rekindled this same "browsing for knowledge" that I first experienced so many years ago. I quickly realized Wikipedia's limitless potential, and I was excited by the prospect of adding my own knowledge to the collective knowledge contained in Wikipedia's thousands of digital pages.
My first contributions related to my now former position as Director of the
Cernan Earth and Space Center, a planetarium in west suburban River Grove,
Illinois, USA. My primary interests include
astronomy (particularly
eclipses,
occultations and
transits), American history (particularly the
Civil War era), historical events (e.g. marine disasters such as the
Titanic,
Andrea Doria and
Morro Castle and the rise and fall of
airships), natural disasters (e.g.
tornadoes,
earthquakes,
volcanoes),
Mesozoic Era
paleontology (a.k.a.
dinosaurs),
numismatics and
philately, to name just a few. My future writing/editing efforts will largely be drawn from this list. I am particularly proud of those articles listed below that are preceded by a red star. (
)
Gettysburg Address -- In early 2005, I conducted research and then substantially rewrote this article. My initial major revision was uploaded on Feb. 19, 2005. Later that year, with the invaluable contributions of
User:Kaisershatner, this article completed two cycles of Peer Review and was nominated as a
Featured Article Candidate on December 22nd. On December 27, 2005, on the authority of Wikipedia
administrator and
bureaucrat
User:Raul654, this article became a
Featured article! On February 12, 2006, it was the
Featured Article of the Day, which marked Abraham Lincoln's 197th birthday.
SS Morro Castle -- I conducted research and then substantially rewrote this article and added illustrations. My initial major revision was uploaded on March 30, 2005.
Cernan Earth and Space Center -- I created this article.
Triton College -- I created this article.
Illinois in the Civil War -- I created this article.
Occultation -- I substantially rewrote this article and added primary photograph (my own).
Grazing occultation -- a work in progress.
Astronomical transit -- I made a few corrections and added illustration.
Carte de visite -- I inserted my CDV as an illustration, and plan to add a few more details to the copy.
1933 Century of Progress Chicago World's Fair -- I added section about the Graf Zeppelin's visit and added illustrations.
1893 World Columbian Exposition -- I added photograph and external links.