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From today's featured article
White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is ivory in color as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa solids). Of the three traditional types of chocolate (the others being milk and dark), white chocolate is the least popular; its taste and texture are divisive. White chocolate is sold in a variety of forms and it is common for manufacturers to pair white chocolate with other flavors. White chocolate is made industrially in a five-step process. The ingredients are mixed to form a paste; the paste is refined, reducing the particle size to a powder; then agitated for several hours (known as conching); further processing standardizes its viscosity and taste; and the chocolate is tempered by heating, cooling and then reheating. White chocolate was first sold commercially in tablet form in 1936 by the Swiss company Nestlé. It was not until the 1980s that white chocolate became popular in the United States. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the original type specimen of the fish species Cynodon gibbus (example pictured) may have been destroyed in a bombing raid?
- ... that Marty Norton, after leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 1925, was imprisoned in at least eight different years and escaped jail twice?
- ... that three Indonesian presidents have reportedly fallen victim to the "Kediri curse"?
- ... that Marc Mac made his early projects deliberately "faceless" to sidestep racism?
- ... that autocratic legalism allows leaders to use the law to undermine liberal democracy while appearing to uphold it?
- ... that Samuel S. Mayerberg was targeted in a drive-by shooting in 1932 for criticizing political boss Tom Pendergast?
- ... that, after Ustrzyki Górne was burnt down and depopulated following World War II, a students' club from Warsaw played the most important role in its reconstruction?
- ... that Marcel Schwerzmann, before becoming a Swiss cantonal council member, finished second in a transatlantic boat race from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia?
- ... that traditional methods of abortion in Niger often favor the color red?
In the news
- A multi-vehicle collision involving a bus carrying migrants deported from Iran kills at least 79 people in the Guzara District, Afghanistan.
- Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay (pictured), a pre-candidate in the 2026 presidential election, dies two months after being shot.
- Azerbaijan and Armenia sign a declaration to formalize a future peace treaty to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
- American astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, dies at the age of 97.
On this day
- 1305 – William Wallace, a leader of Scottish resistance against England during the Wars of Scottish Independence, was hanged, drawn and quartered.
- 1775 – King George III issued a proclamation that declared elements of the American colonies of Great Britain to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion".
- 1960 – Congo Crisis: In order to stop the secession of South Kasai from the Republic of Congo, Armée Nationale Congolaise forces launched an invasion of South Kasai.
- 2006 – Natascha Kampusch (pictured), who had been abducted at the age of ten in Vienna, escaped from her captor's house in Strasshof an der Nordbahn after more than eight years in captivity.
- 2011 – A 5.8 MW earthquake struck the Piedmont region of Virginia, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history.
- Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1498)
- Jimi Jamison (b. 1951)
- Laura Dahlmeier (b. 1993)
- James White (d. 1999)
Today's featured picture
Say's phoebe (Sayornis saya) is a bird species in the tyrant flycatcher family, Tyrannidae. A common bird across western North America, it prefers dry, desolate areas. The species was named after Thomas Say, an American naturalist. It has a diet consisting primarily of insects such as grasshoppers, flies, crickets, beetles and bees, and occasionally small fish. Similar to the eastern phoebe, it sallies from a perch to catch insects in mid-air. Like other phoebes, it creates nests under bridges, canyon walls, wells and abandoned mine shafts, the cup-shaped nest created by the female out of grass and other fine materials. Say's phoebes have been found to breed anytime between late March and late August, egg clutches numbering between three and seven. Say's phoebe is known to use "song-like" displays as its main form of communication. The song is characterized as having a very loud pitch to begin and then slowly leveling off into a more steady pitch. This Say's phoebe was photographed in Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photograph credit: Simon Pierre Barrette
