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From today's featured article
Did you know ...
- ... that Olympic champion Franco Testa (pictured) quit cycling to become a butcher?
- ... that a writer from The Spinoff called the children's book Cliffhanger a "win for the nerds"?
- ... that South African politician Jabu Mbalula is the older brother of Fikile Mbalula, the secretary-general of the African National Congress?
- ... that an English translation of At 25:00, in Akasaka was released as a launch title of a boys' love manga reading service?
- ... that a nomad known as "Mule" sued to protect the "sacred relationship between man and horse to travel together with reverence and respect for this beautiful place in which we all reside called Earth"?
- ... that a killing resulted in five company-sized units of police, soldiers and marines being sent to secure the 2024 Sampang regency election?
- ... that Charles Winckler, a Danish national shot put and discus champion, won his only Olympic medal in a tug-of-war tournament?
- ... that goo from a ship might contain a previously undescribed life form?
- ... that wildlife rehabilitator Mikayla Raines housed two "lesbian goth foxes" at her SaveAFox Rescue in Minnesota?
In the news
- In cycling, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (pictured) wins the Tour de France Femmes.
- In association football, the Copa América Femenina concludes with Brazil defeating Colombia in the final.
- An 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.
- In association football, the UEFA Women's Euro concludes with England defeating Spain in the final.
On this day
August 7: Assyrian Martyrs Day (1933)
- 1461 – Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
- 1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines initiated the first American offensive of the Guadalcanal campaign, with landings on Tulagi (pictured), Gavutu–Tanambogo and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
- 1946 – The Soviet Union informed Turkey that the way in which the latter was handling the Turkish straits no longer represented the security interests of its fellow Black Sea nations, escalating the Turkish Straits crisis.
- 1970 – Jonathan Jackson kidnapped Harold Haley, a judge in Marin County, California, to coerce the release of the Soledad Brothers, including Jackson's brother George.
- 1985 – Five members of the Bamber family were found murdered at a farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, England.
- Jin Shengtan (d. 1661)
- Jöns Jacob Berzelius (d. 1848)
- Charlize Theron (b. 1975)
- Wout Weghorst (b. 1992)
Today's featured picture

The map (Araschnia levana) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from Spain through Europe and east through the Palearctic to Central Asia and the Russian Far East to Korea and Japan. The map exhibits seasonal dimorphism which means it has two different forms, depending on whether its larva grows in the summer or the winter. The summer form (prorsa) has black wings, while the winter form (levana) – adapted for diapause – has red wings. Before the butterfly was fully understood, these were thought to be two different species. The eggs are laid in long strings, one on top of the other, on the underside of stinging nettles, the larval food plant. It is thought that these strings of eggs mimic the flowers of the nettles, thereby evading predators. This map, in the prorsa form, was photographed in the Piatra Craiului Mountains, Romania.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp