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Today — 4 July 2025wikipedia英文首页

20250704

4 July 2025 at 08:17

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George Washington

George Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States. Born in Virginia, he opposed the perceived oppression of the American colonists by the British Crown and was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After being forced to retreat from New York City, he crossed the Delaware River and won the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Washington led a decisive victory at Yorktown, then served as president of the Constitutional Convention that drafted the US Constitution. As president, he set precedents for the office of president, such as republicanism, a peaceful transition, and the two-term tradition. Washington owned many slaves but opposed the practice near the end of his life. His image is an icon of American culture and he has been extensively memorialized. In both popular and scholarly polls, he is consistently considered one of the greatest presidents in American history. (Full article...)

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Douglas at the 2016 Olympic Games
Douglas at the 2016 Olympic Games

In the news

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae
Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

On this day

July 4: Independence Day in the United States (1776); Republic Day in the Philippines (1946); Liberation Day in Rwanda (1994)

The Brazilian cruiser Bahia
The Brazilian cruiser Bahia
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Aerial view of Guam on 13 November 1944
Aerial view of Guam on 13 November 1944

The United States Navy began building a series of battlecruisers in the 1920s, more than a decade after their slower and less heavily armed armored cruisers had been rendered obsolete by the Royal Navy's Invincible-class battlecruisers. At first unconvinced of the importance of the superior speed of the British battlecruisers, the US Navy changed its position after evaluating the new type of ship in fleet exercises and Naval War College wargames, and after the Japanese acquisition of four Kongō-class battlecruisers in the early 1910s. When Congress authorized a large naval building program in 1916, six Lexington-class battlecruisers were included. None were completed before the arms-limiting Washington Naval Treaty was ratified in 1922. Two ships in the Alaska class were commissioned in time to serve during the last year of World War II but were decommissioned two years after the war. (Full list...)

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States Presidents recommended by Borglum: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively.

Photograph credit: Thomas Wolf



Yesterday — 3 July 2025wikipedia英文首页

20250703

3 July 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Happy Feet emperor penguin on Peka Peka beach

Happy Feet was an emperor penguin who, in June 2011, arrived at Peka Peka Beach in New Zealand's North Island after travelling about 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) from Antarctica. He was one of the northernmost emperor penguins ever recorded outside of captivity and the second emperor penguin to have been found in New Zealand. After arriving, he ingested sand on the beach, mistaking it for snow, and filled his stomach with it. He soon became unwell and was transported to Wellington Zoo, where he was given a 50 per cent chance of survival. Most of the sand was removed and he was kept at the zoo to recover. Happy Feet was released in the Southern Ocean on 4 September 2011. He was fitted with a satellite transmitter to track his location; this ceased transmission on 9 September, possibly due to the transmitter falling off or the penguin being preyed upon. Happy Feet's arrival and recovery attracted worldwide media coverage. He was named after the 2006 film Happy Feet. (Full article...)

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Sylvilagus nuttallii
Sylvilagus nuttallii

In the news

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae
Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

On this day

July 3

The 2017 Boundary Fire
The 2017 Boundary Fire
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Slaty-crowned antpitta

The slaty-crowned antpitta (Grallaricula nana) is a species of bird in the Antpitta family, Grallariidae. It has a disjunct distribution, inhabiting montane forest in the subtropical to temperate zone of northern South America. It is 10.5 to 11.5 cm (4.1 to 4.5 in) long and weighs 17.5 to 23 g (0.62 to 0.81 oz). This slaty-crowned antpitta of the subspecies G. n. occidentalis was photographed near Manizales, Colombia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

Before yesterdaywikipedia英文首页

20250702

2 July 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Paul Creston
Paul Creston

The Sonata for E Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19, was composed by Paul Creston (pictured) in 1939. The sonata was commissioned by Creston's frequent collaborator, the American saxophonist Cecil Leeson. Creston began composition by June; it was completed by the end of August and slated for publication in 1940, although this was postponed to 1945 due to World War II. The sonata is in three movements and takes around thirteen minutes to perform. Its form follows a traditional, Classical-era structure. The sonata as a whole is of considerable difficulty for both players. Creston and Leeson premiered the sonata at the Carnegie Chamber Hall on February 15, 1940. No critics were present at the premiere, but the sonata's 1955 debut recording by Vincent Abato and Creston received a mixed response. Most found the sonata enjoyable, but there was criticism of a perceived simplistic and salon-like styling. (Full article...)

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In the news

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae
Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

On this day

July 2

A demonstration against the Soviet blockade of Lithuania
A demonstration against the Soviet blockade of Lithuania
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Boeing–Saab T-7 Red Hawk

The Boeing–Saab T-7 Red Hawk is an American–Swedish transonic advanced jet trainer produced by Boeing with Saab. In September 2018, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected it for the T-X program to replace the Northrop T-38 Talon as the service's advanced jet trainer. It is named the Red Hawk as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, who painted their airplane's tails bright red, and to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the first aircraft flown in combat by the 99th Fighter Squadron, the U.S. Army Air Force's first black fighter squadron. Its first flight took place in June 2023, and the first aircraft was delivered to the USAF in September 2023. This air-to-air photograph shows a T-7 Red Hawk on a test flight over Edwards Air Force Base in November 2023.

Photograph credit: Bryce Bennett



20250701

1 July 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Bottled maple syrup
Bottled maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple or black maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the sap. This is processed by heating to evaporate some of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. Maple syrup was first collected and used by the Indigenous people of North America; the practice was adopted by European settlers. Quebec, Canada, is by far the largest producer, making about three-quarters of the world's output. The syrup is graded based on its density and translucency. Maple syrup is often eaten as an accompaniment to food, as an ingredient in baking and as a sweetener and flavouring agent. Maple syrup and the sugar maple tree are symbols of Canada and several US states, in particular Vermont. (Full article...)

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Jean-Baptiste Belley
Jean-Baptiste Belley

In the news

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae
Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

On this day

July 1: Canada Day (1867)

Sack of Lunenburg
Sack of Lunenburg
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Trillium erectum

Trillium erectum, the red trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a spring ephemeral plant whose life-cycle is synchronized with that of the forests in which it lives. It is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada from northern Georgia to Quebec and New Brunswick. Like all trilliums, it has a whorl of three bracts (leaves) and a single trimerous flower with three sepals, three petals, two whorls of three stamens each, and three carpels (fused into a single ovary with three stigmas). It is a perennial plant that persists by means of an underground rhizome. Trillium erectum has carrion-scented flowers that produce fetid or putrid odors purported to attract carrion fly and beetle pollinators. This T. erectum flower was photographed in Stephen's Gulch Conservation Area in Ontario, Canada.

Photograph credit: The Cosmonaut

20250630

30 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Painting of a princess, most likely Pari Khan Khanum
Painting of a princess, most likely Pari Khan Khanum

Pari Khan Khanum (1548–1578) was a Safavid princess, the daughter of the second Safavid shah, Tahmasp I, and of his Circassian consort, Sultan-Agha Khanum. Pari Khan played a central role in the succession crisis after her father's death in 1576. She thwarted the plans of her brother Haydar Mirza and enthroned her favoured brother, Ismail Mirza, as Ismail II. Instead of gratitude, she received restrictions and house arrest, and may have been behind his death in 1577. She endorsed her brother Mohammad Khodabanda, who was almost blind, expecting to rule behind the scenes, but his wife, Khayr al-Nisa Begum, emerged as a rival and procured her killing. Regarded as the most powerful woman in Safavid history, Pari Khan was able to dominate the ineffective Safavid court in a society that imposed harsh restrictions on high-class women. Praised by her contemporaries for her intelligence, in later chronicles she was portrayed as a villain who murdered two brothers and tried to usurp the throne. (Full article...)

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Khachkars at Aprank Monastery
Khachkars at Aprank Monastery

In the news

On this day

June 30

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From today's featured list

Michael Schur
Michael Schur

From 2013 to 2021, 153 episodes over eight seasons of the American police procedural comedy television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine were aired, with five seasons on Fox and three seasons on NBC. The series was created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur (pictured) and follows a team of detectives and a police captain in the 99th Precinct of the New York City Police Department in Brooklyn. The series was ordered by Fox in May 2013. The first season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine aired on Fox from September 17, 2013, to March 25, 2014. On May 13, 2018, Fox canceled the series; the following day, NBC picked up the series. The eighth and final season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine aired from August 12, 2021, through September 16. (Full list...)

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Boyd's forest dragon

Boyd's forest dragon (Lophosaurus boydii) is a species of arboreal lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is native to rainforests and their margins in the Wet Tropics region of northern Queensland, Australia. It spends the majority of its time perched on the trunks of trees, usually at around head height. It is a sit-and-wait predator, catching prey that it spies from its perch. Its diet consists primarily of invertebrates, with earthworms making up a relatively high proportion. Small fruits and vertebrates are also occasionally consumed. This Boyd's forest dragon was photographed in Daintree National Park.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

20250629

29 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Magic tablet from Pergamon
Magic tablet from Pergamon

The Orphic Hymns are a collection of 87 hymns in ancient Greek, addressed to various deities. Attributed in antiquity to the mythical poet Orpheus, they were composed in Asia Minor (in modern-day Turkey), most likely around the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, and seem to have belonged to a cult community which used them in ritual. The collection is preceded by a proem (or prologue) in which Orpheus addresses the legendary poet Musaeus. The hymns in the collection, all of which are brief, typically call for the attention of the deity they address, describing them and their divinity, and appealing to them with a request. The first codex containing the Orphic Hymns to reach Western Europe arrived in Italy in the first half of the 15th century, and in 1500 the first printed edition of the Hymns was published in Florence. During the Renaissance, some scholars believed that the hymns were a genuine work of Orpheus; later, a more sceptical wave of scholarship argued for a dating in late antiquity. (Full article...)

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Forrest modeling in 2018
Forrest modeling in 2018

In the news

On this day

June 29: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Western Christianity)

Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield
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Thousand-yard stare

The thousand-yard stare (also referred to as the two-thousand-yard stare) is the blank, unfocused gaze of people experiencing dissociation due to acute stress or traumatic events. The phrase was originally used to describe war combatants and the post-traumatic stress they exhibited but is now also used to refer to an unfocused gaze observed in people under any stressful situation, or in people with certain mental health conditions. The thousand-yard stare is sometimes described as an effect of shell shock or combat stress reaction, along with other mental health conditions. However, it is not a formal medical term. This painting by the war artist Thomas C. Lea III, titled Marines Call It That 2,000 Yard Stare, popularized the term after it was published in Life in 1945. It depicts an unnamed US Marine at the Battle of Peleliu, which took place in 1944.

Painting credit: Thomas C. Lea III

20250628

28 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

HMS Neptune

HMS Neptune was a dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century, the sole ship of her class. Laid down at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth, in January 1909, she was the first British battleship to be built with superfiring guns. Shortly after her completion in 1911, she carried out trials of an experimental fire-control director and then became the flagship of the Home Fleet. Neptune became a private ship in early 1914 and was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron. The ship became part of the Grand Fleet when it was formed shortly after the beginning of the First World War in August 1914. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, and the inconclusive action of 19 August several months later, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Neptune was deemed obsolete after the war and was reduced to reserve before being sold for scrap in 1922 and subsequently broken up. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Cui Daozhi
Cui Daozhi
  • ... that Cui Daozhi (pictured) has been called the Chinese Sherlock Holmes?
  • ... that "whatever the Glossa does not recognize, the court does not recognize"?
  • ... that American football players Tommy Akingbesote and Kyonte Hamilton grew up in the same community, play in the same position, and were both selected in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL draft?
  • ... that Mighty Doom features a cartoonish aesthetic that contrasts with the dark, gritty tone of the mainline Doom series?
  • ... that sprinter Abdul Wahab Zahiri made his international debut in the same year that he competed at the Olympics?
  • ... that the 14th-century builder of Gaza's Zofor Domri Mosque was buried in the mosque?
  • ... that actor Ben Ahlers learned watchmaking from the Horological Society of New York for his role in The Gilded Age?
  • ... that due to difficulty reading the biography Edison, a reviewer read it backwards?
  • ... that Horace Niall served as magistrate, defence lawyer, executioner, and coroner – for the same group of men?

In the news

On this day

June 28: Vidovdan in Serbia

Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
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Myosotis scorpioides

Myosotis scorpioides, the water forget-me-not, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, but is widely distributed elsewhere, including much of North America, as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed. It is an erect to ascending plant of up to 70 cm, bearing small (8-12 mm) flowers that become blue when fully open and have yellow centers. It is usually found in damp or wet habitats, such as bogs, ponds, streams, ditches, fen and rivers. This focus-stacked photograph shows a water forget-me-not growing in Niitvälja bog, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

20250626

26 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Game Boy, platform of Donkey Kong Land
Game Boy, platform of Donkey Kong Land

Donkey Kong Land is a platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy (pictured). Released on June 26, 1995, it condenses the side-scrolling gameplay of Donkey Kong Country with a different level design and boss fights. The player controls Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong as they recover their stolen banana hoard from King K. Rool. Development began in 1994: Rare's Game Boy programmer, Paul Machacek, developed Land as an original game rather than a port of Country, believing that it would be a better use of resources. Land features pre-rendered graphics converted to sprites through a compression technique. Rare retooled Country's gameplay to account for the lower-quality display, and David Wise and Graeme Norgate converted the soundtrack to the Game Boy's sound chip. Critics praised it as successfully translating Country's gameplay, visuals, and music to the Game Boy. Land was rereleased for the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch. (Full article...)

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Erena So
Erena So

In the news

Vera Rubin Observatory in 2022
Vera Rubin Observatory

On this day

June 26

Douglas Skymaster plane "Amana"
Douglas Skymaster plane "Amana"
  • 2010 – A G20 summit, the largest and most expensive security operation in Canadian history, began in downtown Toronto.
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Atacamite

Atacamite is a copper halide mineral: a copper(II) chloride hydroxide with the chemical formula Cu2Cl(OH)3. It was first described in 1802 by Dmitri Alekseyevich Golitsyn from deposits in Chile's Atacama Desert, after which it is named. Atacamite is a comparatively rare mineral, formed from primary copper minerals in the oxidation or weathering zone of arid climates. It has also been reported as a volcanic sublimate from fumarole deposits, as sulfide alteration products in black smokers. This photograph shows a specimen of atacamite, on a malachite matrix, from the Mount Gunson Mines in South Australia. The picture was focus-stacked from 42 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

20250625

25 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

School in Sketty, Swansea, photographed in 1854
School in Sketty, Swansea, photographed in 1854

The period between 1701 and 1870 saw an expansion in access to formal education in Wales, though schooling was not yet universal. Several philanthropic efforts were made to provide education to the poor during the 18th century. In the early to mid-19th century, charitable schools were established to provide a basic education. Private schools aimed at the working classes also existed. State funding was introduced to schools from 1833. Some use of the Welsh language was made in 18th-century philanthropic education, at a time when most agricultural workers in Wales spoke only Welsh, and public opinion was keen for children to learn English. Many schools punished children for speaking Welsh, despite government studies that found such methods ineffective. The government did little to promote bilingual education. Grammar schools experienced difficulties and, by the end of the period, secondary education was limited. Dissenter academies and theological colleges offered higher education. (Full article...)

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Sae Kitamura
Sae Kitamura

In the news

Vera Rubin Observatory in 2022
Vera Rubin Observatory

On this day

June 25

Original rainbow flag
Original rainbow flag
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1795 Turban Head eagle
1797 Turban Head eagle
  • 1795 Turban Head eagle
    1795 Turban Head eagle with original reverse
  • 1797 Turban Head eagle
    1797 Turban Head eagle with heraldic eagle reverse

The Turban Head eagle was a ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle, struck by the United States Mint from 1795 to 1804. The piece was designed by Robert Scot, and was the first in the eagle series, which continued until the Mint ceased striking gold coins for circulation in 1933. The common name is a misnomer; Liberty does not wear a turban but a cap, believed by some to be a pileus or Liberty cap: her hair twisting around the headgear makes it appear to be a turban. The number of stars on the obverse was initially intended to be equal to the number of states in the Union, but with the number at 16, that idea was abandoned in favor of using 13 stars in honor of the original states. The initial reverse, featuring an eagle with a wreath in its mouth, proved unpopular and was replaced by a heraldic eagle. Increases in the price of gold made it profitable for the coins to be melted down, and in 1804, President Thomas Jefferson ended coinage of eagles; the denomination was not struck again for circulation for more than 30 years. These Turban Head eagles are in the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.

Coin design credit: United States Mint; photographed by Jaclyn Nash

20250624

24 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Sirius A with Sirius B, a white dwarf, indicated by the arrow
Sirius A with Sirius B, a white dwarf, indicated by the arrow

A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter, supported against its own gravity only by electron degeneracy pressure. A white dwarf is very dense: in an Earth sized volume, it contains a mass comparable to the Sun. What light it radiates is from its residual heat. White dwarfs are thought to be the final evolutionary state of stars whose mass is insufficient for them to become a neutron star or black hole. This includes more than 97% of the stars in the Milky Way. After the hydrogen-fusing period of such a main-sequence star ends, it will expand to a red giant and shed its outer layers, leaving behind a core which is the white dwarf. This, very hot when it forms, cools as it radiates its energy until its material begins to crystallize into a cold black dwarf. The oldest known white dwarfs still radiate at temperatures of a few thousand kelvins, which establishes an observational limit on the maximum possible age of the universe. (Full article...)

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Joanna Schaffhausen
Joanna Schaffhausen

In the news

On this day

June 24: Jaanipäev in Estonia

Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
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Springbok

The springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in the dry areas of southern and southwestern Africa. A slender, long-legged bovid, it reaches 71 to 86 cm (28 to 34 in) at the shoulder and weighs between 27 and 42 kg (60 and 93 lb). Both sexes have a pair of long black horns that curve backwards, a white face, a dark stripe running from the eyes to the mouth, a light-brown coat with a reddish-brown stripe, and a white rump flap. Primarily browsing at dawn and dusk, it can live without drinking water for years, subsisting on succulent vegetation. Breeding peaks in the rainy season, when food is more abundant. A single calf is weaned at nearly six months of age and leaves its mother a few months later. Springbok herds in the Kalahari Desert and the semi-arid Karoo used to migrate in large numbers across the countryside. The springbok is the national animal of South Africa. This male springbok was photographed in Etosha National Park, South Africa.

Photograph credit: Yathin S Krishnappa

20250623

23 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Battle of Groix

The Battle of Groix was fought on 23 June 1795 off the Biscay coast of Brittany between elements of the British Channel Fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport, and the French Atlantic Fleet, under Vice-admiral Villaret de Joyeuse. The British fleet of 14 ships of the line was covering an invasion convoy when it encountered the 12 French ships of the line returning to base at Brest. Villaret ordered his force to take shelter in protected coastal waters, but several ships fell behind. After fierce fights, three French ships were captured; the remainder became scattered and were vulnerable, but Bridport, concerned by the rocky coastline, called off the action. Most historians have considered Bridport's retirement from the battle to be premature, and concluded that an opportunity to destroy the French fleet may have been squandered. The French were trapped in Lorient where food supplies ran out, crippling the fleet. Several French captains were court-martialled following the battle. (Full article...)

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Constitution Defense Monument
Constitution Defense Monument

In the news

On this day

June 23: Grand Duke's Official Birthday in Luxembourg

Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin
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Fatih Tutak
Fatih Tutak

There are 14 restaurants in Turkey with a Michelin star rating as of the 2025 Michelin Guide. The Michelin Guides have been published by the French tire company Michelin since 1900. They were designed as a guide about eateries worth driving to. Chefs in Turkey with Michelin stars include Fatih Tutak (pictured), who had previously been awarded a Michelin Plate in 2018, and Maksut Aşkar, whose restaurant, Neolokal, also won a Michelin green star. The Turkish guide originally launched in 2023, reviewing restaurants solely in the city of Istanbul. In 2024, it expanded to also review restaurants in the Turkish seaside regions of Bodrum and İzmir Province. TURK Fatih Tutak is the only restaurant in Turkey with more than one star. (Full list...)

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Geraldine Ulmar

Geraldine Ulmar (June 23, 1862 – August 13, 1932) was an American soprano and actress known for her performances in Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1879, she made her debut in Boston as Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore and soon joined the Boston Ideal Opera Company, where she remained as leading soprano for six years. From 1885 to 1886, Ulmar played Yum-Yum in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's first American production of The Mikado in New York. Over the next two years she played further Gilbert and Sullivan roles in New York, Germany and England. In London, she was the first to play the leading characters of Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard (1888) and Gianetta in The Gondoliers (1889) before leaving D'Oyly Carte in 1890. She remained in Britain to play leading roles in other works, such as O Mimosa San in the musical comedy The Geisha. In 1904 she retired from the stage and taught singing. Ulmar was married to composer Ivan Caryll for a time. The photo shows Ulmar as Yum-Yum in New York in 1886.

Poster credit: Benjamin Joseph Falk; restored by Adam Cuerden

20250622

22 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Scott Carpenter

Scott Carpenter (1925–2013) was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury. In 1962, Carpenter flew the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission to become the second American to orbit Earth and the fourth to fly into space. His spacecraft, which he named Aurora 7, malfunctioned and landed 250 miles (400 km) from its intended splashdown point. In 1964, Carpenter took a leave of absence to join the U.S. Navy's SEALAB project. During aquanaut training, he suffered injuries that grounded him, making him unavailable for further spaceflights. In 1965, he spent 28 days on the ocean floor as part of SEALAB II. He returned to NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center. He retired from NASA in 1967 and the Navy in 1969, with the rank of commander. Carpenter became a consultant on space flight and oceanography. He appeared in television commercials and wrote a pair of technothrillers and an autobiography. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Katen, one of the Juniten
Katen, one of the Juniten
  • ... that the paintings of the Juniten (Katen pictured) were used in esoteric Buddhist rituals?
  • ... that Lenny Brown almost left his college basketball team after two games, but stayed to become one of its all-time leading scorers?
  • ... that Ananth Subramaniam came up with Bleat! after thinking of a pregnant goat?
  • ... that after seizing the island of Bangka in an 1812 military expedition, the British quickly abandoned it due to high mortality rates?
  • ... that in his first year as an NBA G League head coach, Scott King was named its coach of the year?
  • ... that TJ Monterde recorded his song "Puhon" under a blanket in his bedroom?
  • ... that a California TV station lost the rights to air Sacramento Kings basketball for declining to share revenue from pre-game and post-game shows?
  • ... that while making Caressing My Hibernating Bear, the creator said a real bear appeared in the neighborhood?
  • ... that the neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Dan Burros killed himself when The New York Times revealed that he was Jewish?

In the news

Aleksander Barkov in 2024
Aleksander Barkov

On this day

June 22: Windrush Day (United Kingdom)

George V and Mary after their coronation
George V and Mary after their coronation
More anniversaries:

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Shah Mosque (Isfahan)

The Shah Mosque, officially known as the Imam Khomeini Mosque, is located on the south side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, Iran. The mosque was commissioned by Abbas the Great to a design by the architect Ali Akbar Isfahani. Its construction began in 1611, during the Safavid Empire, and was completed c. 1630. The photograph shows the Persian blue tiling of the entrance iwan, looking up at the muqarnas above.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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20250621

21 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Johann Reinhold Forster

Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–1798) was a German pastor and naturalist. After studying theology at the University of Halle, Forster was hired in 1765 by Russia to inspect its colonies on the Volga; his report was critical and he left for England unpaid. Forster succeeded Joseph Priestley at Warrington Academy, and published a mineralogy textbook and translations of foreign works. After Joseph Banks withdrew from James Cook's second voyage, Forster became the naturalist on Cook's ship. On the journey, they made the first recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle and observations and discoveries in New Zealand and Polynesia. Amid disputes with Cook over who should publish accounts of the journey, Forster published his scientific Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World. Having alienated many powerful men in England, Forster returned to Germany, becoming a professor at Halle; he died in 1798. He is commemorated in the names of species, including the genera Forstera and Forsterygion. (Full article...)

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Warren Truitt
Warren Truitt

In the news

Aleksander Barkov in 2024
Aleksander Barkov

On this day

June 21: Fête de la Musique; International Day of Yoga; National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada; Xiazhi in China (2025)

Replica of the Manchester Baby
Replica of the Manchester Baby
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Today's featured picture

Cape Barren goose

The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It was first formally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. Adult Cape Barren geese are large birds, typically measuring 75 to 100 centimetres (30 to 39 inches) long and weighing between 3.7 to 5.2 kilograms (8.2 to 11.5 pounds), with males generally being larger than females. The plumage is mostly pale grey with a slight brown tint. The head is somewhat small in proportion to the body and mostly grey in colour, save for a pale whitish patch on the forehead and crown. Cape Barren geese are largely terrestrial, only occasionally swimming. They predominantly graze on grasses, sedges, legumes, herbs, and succulents. This group of Cape Barren geese in flight was photographed near Hanson Bay, on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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20250620

20 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Paperback cover of Jaws
Paperback cover of Jaws

Jaws is an American thriller film that was released on June 20, 1975, directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel Jaws (paperback cover shown; for the film poster, see today's Picture of the Day). It stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw), hunts a man-eating great white shark that has attacked beachgoers at his summer resort town. The film was distributed by Universal Pictures to more than 450 screens, a wide release for the time. It was extensively marketed and followed by three sequels. Regarded as a watershed in motion picture history, Jaws was the prototypical summer blockbuster and the highest-grossing film of all time until Star Wars two years later; both films were pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model. Jaws was in 2001 selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Welsh presbytery meeting, 1940
Welsh presbytery meeting, 1940

In the news

Aleksander Barkov in 2024
Aleksander Barkov

On this day

June 20: World Refugee Day; Eid al-Mubahalah (Shia Islam, 2025)

Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria
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From today's featured list

Boris Johnson's 56th birthday party
Boris Johnson's 56th birthday party

Events of the UK's Partygate scandal began on 23 March 2020, when, in an effort to limit deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new rules prohibiting gatherings of people who were not in the same household. Despite these regulations, regular social gatherings continued to take place in Downing Street and Whitehall, including a surprise party for Johnson's 56th birthday on 19 June (pictured). News articles about these events began to appear in late 2021, with the majority of them published by the journalists Pippa Crerar and Paul Brand. Johnson denied any wrongdoing, and stated that the rules were followed at all times. In January 2022, a criminal investigation into the scandal was launched by the Metropolitan Police. As a result, 126 fixed penalty notices were issued, including one to Johnson for attending his surprise birthday party, making him the first serving prime minister to be found to have broken the law. Johnson subsequently resigned as prime minister on 7 July, and as a member of parliament the following year. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Jaws

This famous design, by Roger Kastel, of a shark with a mouth filled with jagged teeth, rising towards an unsuspecting female swimmer, was completed in 1974. Its first appearance was as a book cover (illustrated as the image accompanying Today's Featured Article) with publication of the paperback edition of the novel by Peter Benchley, on January 1, 1975. Later that year, it formed the basis for one of the most iconic film posters in history (shown here) with the release of the movie on June 20, 1975. In 2014, the Review Board of the United States Copyright Office upheld the denial of a copyright for the artwork as there was no proper notice of copyright, since the only copyright notice in the paperback was that of Benchley's 1974 copyright of the text.

Illustration credit: Roger Kastel; courtesy of the Everett Collection; retouched by Crisco 1492

20250619

19 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

1820 historical world map
1820 historical world map

History is the systematic study of the past with its main focus on the human past. Historians analyse and interpret primary and secondary sources to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. They engage in source criticism to assess the authenticity, content, and reliability of these sources. It is controversial whether the resulting historical narratives can be truly objective and whether history is a social science rather than a discipline of the humanities. Influential schools of thought include positivism, the Annales school, Marxism, and postmodernism. Some branches of history focus on specific time periods, such as ancient history, particular geographic regions, such as the history of Africa, or distinct themes, such as political, social, and economic history. History emerged as a field of inquiry in antiquity to replace myth-infused narratives, with influential early traditions originating in Greece, China, and later in the Islamic world. (Full article...)

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Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks

In the news

Melissa Hortman in 2023
Melissa Hortman

On this day

June 19: Feast of Corpus Christi (2025), Juneteenth in the United States (1865)

Lou Gehrig baseball card
Lou Gehrig baseball card
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Dred Scott

Dred Scott (c. 1799 – 1858) was an enslaved African American who, along with his wife, Harriet Robinson Scott, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the 1857 legal case Dred Scott v. Sandford. The Scotts claimed that they should be granted freedom because Dred had lived for four years in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was illegal, and laws in those jurisdictions said that slave holders gave up their rights to slaves if they stayed for an extended period. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled against Scott in a landmark decision that held the Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges that the Constitution conferred upon American citizens. The Dred Scott decision is widely considered the worst in the Supreme Court's history, being widely denounced for its overt racism, judicial activism, poor legal reasoning, and crucial role in the events that led to the American Civil War four years later. The ruling was later superseded by the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery, in 1865, followed by the Fourteenth Amendment, whose first section guaranteed birthright citizenship for "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof", in 1868. This posthumous oil-on-canvas portrait of Scott was painted by Louis Schultze, after an 1857 photograph by John H. Fitzgibbon, and now hangs in the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.

Painting credit: Louis Schultze, after John H. Fitzgibbon

20250618

18 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Ian Carmichael

Ian Carmichael (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who had a career that spanned seventy years. Born in Kingston upon Hull, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but his studies—and the early stages of his career—were curtailed by the Second World War. After initial success in revue and sketch productions, he was cast by the film producers John and Roy Boulting to star in a series of satires, starting with Private's Progress in 1956 through to I'm All Right Jack in 1959. In the mid-1960s he played Bertie Wooster for BBC Television for which he received positive reviews, including from P. G. Wodehouse, the writer who created the character of Wooster. In the early 1970s he played another upper-class literary character, Lord Peter Wimsey, the amateur but talented investigator created by Dorothy L. Sayers. Carmichael was often typecast as an affable but bumbling upper-class innocent, but he retained a disciplined approach to training and rehearsing. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Boulder–Deer Creek Pass
Boulder–Deer Creek Pass
  • ... that Boulder–Deer Creek Pass (pictured) is home to "Togo" wolves and is a potential habitat for grizzly bears?
  • ... that Wang Yungui lifted her family out of poverty, then helped hundreds of other people in her home village to do likewise?
  • ... that Inua Ellams created the antagonist for "The Story & the Engine" after learning that "ghost writer" translates to 'Black person' in French?
  • ... that Regina George was once voted the "meanest high school film character of all time"?
  • ... that The Guardian recommended Buried Alive! as a book to help children make friends?
  • ... that John Lynch was at one point the only honors linguistics student at the University of Sydney?
  • ... that Pope John Paul I broke with tradition by declining to be crowned with a tiara at his inauguration?
  • ... that Robin Adair Harvey reached 17 state championships in 24 years as a high school field hockey coach?
  • ... that British troops during the sack of Yogyakarta looted all the court archives and manuscripts except for a single Quran?

In the news

Melissa Hortman in 2023
Melissa Hortman

On this day

June 18: Autistic Pride Day

Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon
Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon
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Garni Temple

The Garni Temple is a classical colonnaded structure in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km (19 mi) east of Yerevan. Built in the Ionic order, it is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. It has been described as the "easternmost building of the Greco-Roman world" and the only largely preserved Hellenistic building in the former Soviet Union. It is conventionally identified as a pagan temple built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr (Mithra). It collapsed in a 1679 earthquake, but much of its fragments remained on the site. Renewed interest in the 19th century led to excavations in the early and mid-20th century. It was reconstructed in 1969–75, using the anastylosis technique. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Armenia and the central shrine of Hetanism (Armenian neopaganism). This aerial photograph shows the Garni Temple in the winter.

Photograph credit: Yerevantsi

20250617

17 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

The russet sparrow is a passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae, distributed in eastern Asia. A chunky little seed-eating bird with a thick bill, it has a body length of 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in). Its plumage is mainly warm rufous above and grey below. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the plumage of both sexes patterned similarly to that of the corresponding sex of the house sparrow. Its vocalisations are sweet and musical chirps, which when strung together form a song. The russet sparrow is known well enough in the Himalayas to have a distinct name in some languages, and is depicted in Japanese art. It feeds mainly on the seeds of herbs and grains, but it also eats berries and insects, particularly during the breeding season. This diet makes it a minor pest in agricultural areas, but also a predator of insect pests. It is a social bird within its own species, but disperses to breed. The typical clutch has five or six whitish eggs. Both sexes incubate and feed the young. (Full article...)

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HNLMS De Ruyter
HNLMS De Ruyter

In the news

Melissa Hortman in 2023
Melissa Hortman

On this day

June 17

Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal
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Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor, considered to be one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. He studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov until the latter's death in 1908. Soon after, Stravinsky met the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who commissioned the composer to write three ballets for Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913), the last of which caused a near-riot at its premiere in Paris. His compositional style varied greatly, being influenced at different times by Russian folklore, neoclassicism, and serialism. His ideas influenced Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Béla Bartók, and Pierre Boulez, who were all challenged to innovate beyond traditional tonality, rhythm, and form. This photograph of Stravinsky in the early 1920s is from the collection of the American photojournalist George Grantham Bain.

Photograph credit: Bain News Service; restored by MyCatIsAChonk

20250616

16 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Emmy Noether (1882 – 1935) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to abstract algebra. Described by Einstein as the most important woman in the history of mathematics, she proved Noether's first and second theorems, fundamental in mathematical physics. Noether's first theorem explains the connection between symmetry and conservation laws. She also developed theories of rings, fields, and algebras. Born to a Jewish family in Erlangen; her work in Germany, principally at Göttingen University came at a time when women were largely excluded from academia there. In 1933, Germany's Nazi government dismissed Jews from university positions, and Noether moved to the U.S., teaching at Bryn Mawr College and at the Institute for Advanced Study. Noether was generous with her ideas and is credited with several lines of research published by others, even in fields far removed from her main work, such as algebraic topology. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Traffic camera video of the Jonesboro tornado
  • ... that the COVID-19 pandemic was credited with saving lives by keeping people indoors during a tornado (video featured)?
  • ... that the construction of the Colosseum was funded by spoils from the First Jewish–Roman War?
  • ... that "The Interstellar Song Contest" featured the return of a Doctor Who character last seen more than 40 years earlier?
  • ... that a diner who was denied a table caused Máximo Bistrot to temporarily close by raising concerns about the reservation system?
  • ... that baseball player Ed Stone may have been born on January 2, 1909, or August 21, 22, or 23, 1909, or August 21 or August 22, 1910?
  • ... that almost no fuel was found at the crash site of a fuel transport aircraft?
  • ... that former ambassador Diennaryati Tjokrosuprihatono used to work as a kindergarten teacher?
  • ... that the musical duo Food House was named after their frequent use of Uber Eats?
  • ... that Tom Farris thought that he was a jinx for every team for which he played, so he once asked to be traded to an opposing team to make them lose?

In the news

Melissa Hortman in 2023
Melissa Hortman

On this day

June 16: Foundation Day of the Akal Takht (Sikhism)

James Joyce
James Joyce
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From today's featured list

Songs written by Gen Hoshino, a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, and actor, include the majority of songs on his discography, which consists of six studio albums, two extended plays (EPs), and twenty-three singles. Outside of his solo work, he has received non-artist writing credits and guest-performed on singles, cover albums, a remix, and other works. Hoshino began his musical career as the guitarist and marimba player of Sakerock (2000–2015), an instrumental band that he formed with high-school classmates, and released his debut studio album, Baka no Uta, in 2010. His discography also includes soundtrack appearances, annual birthday songs for the comedian Yūki Himura, radio jingles and unreleased tracks, and he has also written songs for other artists. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Sabella pavonina

Sabella pavonina, commonly known as the peacock worm, is a species of marine polychaete worm in the family Sabellidae. It can be found along the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, in shallow, tidal waters with a bed of mud, sand or gravel. The worm is 10 to 25 centimetres (4 to 10 inches) in length, with its body divided into 100 to 600 small segments. The head has two fans of 8 to 45 feathery radioles arising from fleshy, semi-circular lobes. The body is mostly grey-green while the radioles are brown, red or purple with darker bands. This group of S. pavonina worms was photographed with a short-snouted seahorse in a protected marine natural area near Porto Cesareo, Italy.

Photograph credit: Romano Gianluca

20250615

15 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

The painting
The painting

The Combat: Woman Pleading for the Vanquished is an oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty which is inspired by the Elgin Marbles and intended by the artist to provide a moral lesson on "the beauty of mercy". It shows a near-nude warrior whose sword has broken, forced to his knees in front of another near-nude soldier who prepares to inflict a killing blow. A woman, also near-nude, clutches the victorious warrior to beg him for mercy. Unusually for a history painting of the period, it does not depict a scene from history, literature or religion and is not based on an existing artwork. When it was shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1825, it attracted praise from critics for its technical excellence, its fusion of the styles of different schools of painting, and its subject matter. It was later bought by fellow artist John Martin and in 1831 he sold it on to the Royal Scottish Academy. It was transferred in 1910 to the National Gallery of Scotland. (Full article...)

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Mugshot of Edgar Matobato
Mugshot of Edgar Matobato

In the news

Explosions in Tehran
Explosions in Tehran

On this day

June 15: Trinity Sunday (2025); King's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom (2024)

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
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Embroidery of Magna Carta wikipedia article

Magna Carta (An Embroidery) is a 2015 work by English installation artist Cornelia Parker. The artwork is an embroidered representation of the complete text and images of an online encyclopedia article for Magna Carta, as it appeared in English Wikipedia on 15 June 2014, the 799th anniversary of the document. The hand-stitched embroidery is 1.5 metres (5') wide and nearly 13 metres (42') long. The embroidery formed part of an exhibition celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta on 15 June 2015. It was displayed in the Entrance Hall of the British Library from 15 May to 24 July 2015.

Embroidery credit: Cornelia Parker; Scanned by British Library; edited by Bammesk

20250614

14 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Fossil of P. pustulosus at the Jura Museum
Fossil of P. pustulosus at the Jura Museum

Pseudastacus is an extinct genus of decapod crustaceans that lived during the Jurassic period in Europe, and possibly the Cretaceous period in Lebanon. Reaching up to 6 cm (2.4 in) in total length, Pseudastacus had a crayfish-like build, with long antennae, a triangular rostrum and a frontmost pair of appendages enlarged into pincers, with those of females being more elongated. There is evidence of possible gregarious behavior in P. lemovices in the form of multiple individuals preserved alongside each other, possibly killed in a mass mortality event. With the oldest known record dating to the Sinemurian age of the Early Jurassic, and possible species surviving into the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, Pseudastacus has a long temporal range and was a widespread taxon. Fossils of this animal were first found in the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany, but have also been recorded from France, England and Lebanon. All species in this genus lived in marine habitats. (Full article...)

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Burgle Bros 2
Burgle Bros 2

In the news

Air India Boeing 787-8 in 2014
Air India Boeing 787-8 in 2014

On this day

June 14

Killing of Sudbury and Hales
Killing of Sudbury and Hales
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Raspberry

The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus. The name also applies to the plant itself. Raspberry plants are perennial with woody stems. It is an aggregate fruit, developing from the numerous distinct carpels of a single flower. Originally occurring in East Asia, the raspberry is now cultivated across northern Europe and North America and is eaten in a variety of ways including as a whole fruit and in preserves, cakes, ice cream and liqueurs. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

20250613

13 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

1860 bronze farthing, depicting Britannia
1860 bronze farthing, depicting Britannia

Beginning in 1860, Britain replaced its copper coinage with bronze pieces. The existing copper coins (principally the penny, the halfpenny and the farthing) were seen as too large and heavy. Thomas Graham, the master of the Mint, persuaded William Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to replace them. Gladstone secured authorising legislation and a vote of funds in Parliament. Leonard Charles Wyon of the Royal Mint was tasked with rendering designs for the new coinage. He produced an obverse for the new coins depicting Queen Victoria, who modelled for him. The reverse featured Britannia (pictured). With the aid of two outside firms, the Royal Mint struck enough of the new bronze coins that it began calling in the copper pieces in 1861, a process complete after 1877, although less than half in terms of value of the extant coppers were paid in. The new coins remained current until the run-up to decimalisation in 1971, except for the farthing, which was demonetised from 1 January 1961. (Full article...)

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Emperor Yingzong of Ming
Emperor Yingzong of Ming

In the news

On this day

June 13

USS Jeannette
USS Jeannette
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From today's featured list

Hongwu Emperor
Hongwu Emperor

The emperors of the Ming dynasty ruled over China proper from 1368 to 1644 during the late imperial era of China (960–1912). The Ming dynasty, which succeeded the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and preceded the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, was founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang, known as the Hongwu Emperor (pictured). All Ming emperors were of the House of Zhu. After 1644, members of the dynasty continued to rule a series of rump states, commonly known as the Southern Ming, in southern China until 1662. The longest-reigning emperor of the dynasty was the Wanli Emperor (reigned 1572–1620), who ruled for 48 years; the shortest-reigning was his successor, the Taichang Emperor, who ruled for only 29 days in 1620. The Ming emperor, following a practice established in the Zhou dynasty, was known as the "Son of Heaven". He was viewed as the intermediary between humans and heaven, and was responsible for conducting numerous rituals to honor the supreme deities who safeguarded the empire. (Full list...)

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Challenger 2

The Challenger 2 is a third-generation British main battle tank. As of 2025, it is in service with the British Army, the Royal Army of Oman, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The tank was designed by Vickers Defence Systems in 1986 as an extensive redesign of the company's earlier Challenger 1. More than 400 Challenger 2 tanks were built between 1990 and 2002. This photograph, taken in 2014, shows a Challenger 2 tank firing a practice squash-head round at the Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Photograph credit: Si Longworth

20250612

12 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Carey in 2019
Carey in 2019

Mariah Carey (born 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She rose to fame with her self-titled debut album, released on June 12, 1990, and has released fifteen studio albums, most recently Caution (2018). Known for her five-octave vocal range and signature use of the whistle register, she has been dubbed the "Songbird Supreme" by the Guinness World Records. Carey is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 220 million units sold worldwide, and holds the record for the most number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist. In addition, Carey's singles have spent a record 97 weeks on the chart, and she is the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the chart. Carey has received various accolades, and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. Rolling Stone ranked her as the fifth-greatest singer of all time in 2023. (Full article...)

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Statue of Gigeiten at Akishinodera
Statue of Gigeiten at Akishinodera

In the news

Brian Wilson in 1990
Brian Wilson in 1990

On this day

June 12: Dia dos Namorados in Brazil; Loving Day in the United States (1967)

Boeing 777
Boeing 777
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Today's featured picture

Grey-breasted mountain toucan

The grey-breasted mountain toucan (Andigena hypoglauca) is a near-threatened species of bird in the toucan family, Ramphastidae, and a member of the genus Andigena, the mountain toucans. Found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, grey-breasted mountain toucans are 41 to 48 centimetres (16 to 19 inches) long and weigh 244 to 370 grams (8.6 to 13 ounces). The species inhabits wet temperate montane forest, including cloud, elfin, and secondary forest, generally between 2,200 and 3,650 metres (7,200 and 12,000 feet) in elevation. This grey-breasted mountain toucan of the subspecies A. h. hypoglauca was photographed perching on a branch in the mountains of the Cordillera Central near Manizales, Colombia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

20250611

11 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Excerpt of a piece written for the concerto
Excerpt of a piece written for the concerto

The concerto delle donne was an ensemble of professional female singers of late Renaissance music in Italy. The term usually refers to the first and most influential group, which existed between 1580 and 1597 in Ferrara. The Ferrarese group's core members were the sopranos Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco and Anna Guarini; they were renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity. In 1580, Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, formally established the concerto delle donne, including professional singers of upper-class, but not noble, backgrounds. Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing brought prestige to Ferrara and inspired composers of the time such as Lodovico Agostini, Carlo Gesualdo and Claudio Monteverdi. The concerto delle donne revolutionized the role of women in professional music, and continued the tradition of the Este court as a musical center. Word of the ensemble spread, inspiring imitations in the courts of the Medici and Orsini. (Full article...)

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Beta
Beta

In the news

On this day

June 11

George Wallace protesting desegregation at the University of Alabama
George Wallace protesting desegregation at the University of Alabama
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Auricularia auricula-judae

Auricularia auricula-judae, commonly known as the wood ear, the jelly ear, or historically the Jew's ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. The basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are brown, gelatinous, and have a noticeably ear-like shape, normally up to 90 millimetres (3.5 inches) across and up to 3 millimetres (0.12 inches) thick. It is edible but not widely consumed, and has been used as a medicinal fungus by herbalists. It grows on wood, especially elder, and is widespread throughout Europe, but is not known to occur elsewhere. The specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree after his betrayal of Jesus. These A. auricula-judae basidiocarps were photographed on a log in the London Borough of Enfield.

Photograph credit: Stuart Phillips



20250610

10 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson (born 1986) is a British actor known for his work in major studio productions and independent films. He played minor roles in Vanity Fair (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), the latter becoming the highest-grossing film of 2005. He continued taking on small roles before rising to prominence as Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–2012). The franchise has collectively grossed more than US$3.3 billion worldwide. Pattinson began working in independent films from auteur directors before returning to big-budget cinema with Tenet (2020) and The Batman (2022). Pattinson's sex appeal is widely discussed in the media, and he is regarded as a sex symbol; People has included him in its "Sexiest Men Alive" list twice. Beyond acting, Pattinson has modelled since childhood and has been the face of the Dior Homme fragrance since 2013. He is involved in philanthropy and supports the GO Campaign, and he is also a musician, playing the piano and guitar. (Full article...)

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Más Notícias
Más Notícias

In the news

On this day

June 10

John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
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Today's featured pictures

Batalha Monastery

Batalha Monastery is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha in Portugal. Originally and officially known as the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory, it was erected in commemoration of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota and would serve as the burial church of the 15th-century Aviz dynasty of Portuguese royalty. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Flamboyant Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style. The monastery is a historic and cultural monument and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. This photograph of the main facade of Batalha Monastery was taken in 2021.

Photograph credit: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

20250609

9 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Kate Moss in 2019
Kate Moss in 2019

The illusion of Kate Moss is an art piece first shown at the conclusion of the Alexander McQueen runway show The Widows of Culloden (Autumn/Winter 2006). It consists of a short film of English model Kate Moss dancing slowly while wearing a long, billowing gown of white chiffon, projected life-size within a glass pyramid in the centre of the show's catwalk. Although sometimes referred to as a hologram, the illusion was made using a 19th-century theatre technique called Pepper's ghost. McQueen conceived the illusion as a gesture of support for Moss; she was a close friend of his and was embroiled in a drug-related scandal at the time of the Widows show. It is regarded by many critics as the highlight of the Widows runway show, and it has been the subject of a great deal of academic analysis, particularly as a wedding dress and as a memento mori. The illusion appeared in both versions of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective exhibition of McQueen's designs. (Full article...)

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Helen Kendall
Helen Kendall

In the news

On this day

June 9

Abraham Whipple
Abraham Whipple
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From today's featured list

Bini at Billboard Korea K Power 100 event
Bini at Billboard Korea K Power 100 event

Filipino girl group Bini (pictured) has won 44 awards from 83 nominations and 8 honorees. The group includes Aiah, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna and Sheena, and debuted on June 11, 2021. They are the recipients of five Awit Awards, twelve Ppop Music Awards, and one MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2021, Bini released their debut song "Born to Win" and was nominated for Wish Pop Song at the Wish Music Awards. In 2022, they earned multiple nominations at the 2023 Awit Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year on their single "Lagi" (lit.'Always'), under their second album, Feel Good. In 2024, Bini became the first Filipino group to win Best Asia Act at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards and was also honored with the Rising Star Award at the Billboard Philippines Women in Music. In 2025, they also won Top Local Artist of the Year at the launching of the Official Philippines Chart. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Lestes dryas
Lestes dryas

Lestes dryas is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include emerald spreadwing, scarce emerald damselfly, and robust spreadwing. This species is native to the Holarctic realm, especially northern parts of Eurasia and North America, and relictual in North Africa. It is about 35 to 42 millimetres (1.4 to 1.7 in) long, with the males generally longer than the females. The males have a wingspan of about 45 millimetres (1.8 in), and the females of about 47 millimetres (1.9 in). Both sexes of L. dryas have largely metallic green bodies with a bronze iridescence, with blue pruinescence developing as they age. This male emerald spreadwing was photographed in Kulna, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

20250608

8 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Official portrait, 1992
Official portrait, 1992

Barbara Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, the wife of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush. Born in New York City and raised in Rye, her children include George W. Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another. Bush was generally popular as First Lady, recognized for her apolitical grandmotherly image. Founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, and diagnosed with Graves' disease in 1989, she frequently carried out charity work, including support for people with AIDS. She spoke at commencement in 1990 at Wellesley College; her selection was controversial, but the speech was widely regarded as a success. She remained active in political campaigning after leaving the White House, as her sons George and Jeb each ran for both governor and president. (Full article...)

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Kitten in an Opishnia decorated vessel
Kitten in an Opishnia decorated vessel

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On this day

June 8

Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
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Gustave III (Auber)

Set design for Act III of the opera Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué, composed by Daniel Auber with a libretto by Eugène Scribe. Created for the première performance at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opera on 27 February 1833.

The opera concerns some aspects of the real-life assassination of Gustav III, King of Sweden. Its libretto was used as the original basis for Giuseppe Verdi's later Un ballo in maschera, though Italian censorship forced numerous changes to that version.

Set design credit: Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri; restored by Adam Cuerden

20250607

7 June 2025 at 08:17

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Confederate flag originally issued to the regiment
Confederate flag originally issued to the regiment

The 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In 1862, the unit entered Confederate service and participated in the Battle of Prairie Grove, where the unit's charges against the Union lines were repulsed by artillery fire. The regiment spent early 1863 encamped near Little Rock and Pine Bluff in Arkansas, and was part of the Confederate defense of Little Rock before retiring to Camp Bragg. In 1864, the regiment went to Louisiana to help defend against the Red River campaign. It was part of a failed attack at the Battle of Pleasant Hill, then sent back to Arkansas. The regiment took part in a failed attack at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, then was stationed at several points in Louisiana and Arkansas. After the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered, the men of the 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment were paroled on June 7, ending the regiment's service. (Full article...)

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Francis W. Joaque
Francis W. Joaque

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On this day

June 7

Monument of Branimir
Monument of Branimir
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Mount Rundle

Mount Rundle is a mountain in Banff National Park that overlooks the towns of Banff and Canmore in the Canadian province of Alberta. Geologically, it consists of limestones, dolomitic limestones, dolomites and shales of Paleozoic age. In ascending order, they belong to the Palliser, Exshaw and Banff Formations, topped by the Rundle Group, which was named after the mountain. Mount Rundle could be considered a small mountain range as the mountain extends for more than 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway eastward from Banff to Canmore, and has seven distinct peaks. The southeasternmost of these peaks is the East End of Rundle, pictured here from the trail to Ha Ling Peak, with Whitemans Pond in the foreground.

Photograph credit: The Cosmonaut

20250606

6 June 2025 at 08:17

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Traffic control on the Red Ball Express
Traffic control on the Red Ball Express

American logistics in the Northern France campaign played a key role in the breakout of the Allies from the lodgment in Normandy that began on 25 July 1944 and the subsequent pursuit of the defeated German forces. The advance was much faster than expected; the rapid increase in the length of the line of communications threw up unanticipated logistical challenges. The logistical plan lacked flexibility, the rehabilitation of railways and construction of pipelines could not keep up with the pace of the advance, and resupply by air had limited capacity. Critical shortages developed, particularly of petrol, oil and lubricants. Motor transport was used as a stopgap, with the Red Ball Express (pictured) organized to deliver supplies from Normandy, but there was a shortage of suitable vehicles and trained drivers, and racial segregation complicated personnel assignment. Logistical problems and increased German resistance eventually stalled the American advance. (Full article...)

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In the news

On this day

June 6: National Day of Sweden, Eid al-Adha (Islam)

Shivaji
Shivaji
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Bill Walton
Bill Walton

Since 1970, 397 basketball players have played at least one game for the Portland Trail Blazers throughout their 55 seasons as a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise. Ten players have had their number retired by the team following their playing careers. Seven players have been enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Carmelo Anthony is expected to become the eighth Hall of Famer when he is enshrined in September 2025. Four Blazer rookies have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, including Damian Lillard. On December 19, 2022, Lillard became the team's all-time scoring leader. Bill Walton (pictured) is the franchise's most decorated player; he was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 1977 NBA Finals, and the regular-season MVP the following year. (Full list...)

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Bearded vulture

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a very large bird of prey in the monotypic genus Gypaetus. It is vernacularly known as the Homa, a bird in Iranian mythology. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of 70 to 90 per cent bone. It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in Iran, southern Europe, East Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, and the Caucasus. The bearded vulture population is thought to be in decline; since 2014, it has been classified as near threatened on the IUCN Red List. Bearded vultures are 94 to 125 centimetres (37 to 49 inches) long, with a wingspan of 2.31 to 2.83 metres (7.6 to 9.3 feet). This bearded vulture was photographed carrying a piece of carrion in the Alps in Switzerland, where the species was reintroduced in the late 20th century after having become locally extinct in the early 20th century.

Photograph credit: Giles Laurent

20250605

5 June 2025 at 08:17

From today's featured article

The southern entrance
The southern entrance

Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) southwest of Manchester city centre. Until the late 19th century, it was the ancestral home of the Trafford family, who sold it to financier Ernest Terah Hooley in 1896. It was the first planned industrial estate in the world and remains the largest in Europe, at 4.7 square miles (12 km2). Trafford Park was a major supplier of materiel in the First and Second World Wars, producing the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines used to power both the Spitfire and the Lancaster. At its peak in 1945, an estimated 75,000 workers were employed in the park. Employment began to decline in the 1960s as companies closed in favour of newer, more efficient plants elsewhere. The new Manchester Metrolink line from Pomona to the Trafford Centre opened in 2020. (Full article...)

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Antimonumento 49 ABC
Antimonumento 49 ABC
  • ... that sculptures of children's shoes at the Antimonumento 49 ABC (pictured)—honoring those killed in a fire—were later stolen?
  • ... that marmalade, mashed potato and fish knives were all used in the book Class to identify different British social classes?
  • ... that until the 1990s, linguists often confused the Nizaa language with a similarly named local language?
  • ... that Julian Yacoub Mourad, an archbishop of the Syriac Catholic Church, escaped from the Islamic State after being held captive for more than four months?
  • ... that the role of the British Mobile Defence Corps was to carry out rescue work in the aftermath of a nuclear attack?
  • ... that the chairman of the board of a Texas TV station was found to have died from drinking cyanide-laced cola?
  • ... that Tyla became the second female African artist to score multiple solo entries on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Push 2 Start"?
  • ... that pianist Phyllis Chen started playing the smaller toy piano after both her arms became sore from tendinopathy?
  • ... that Welwitschia mirabilis only ever grows two leaves, which last for the plant's entire life?

In the news

On this day

June 5: World Environment Day; Day of Arafah (Shia Islam)

Antonio Luna
Antonio Luna
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London King's Cross railway station

London King's Cross railway station is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest railway stations in the United Kingdom, and the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line to Yorkshire and the Humber, North East England and Scotland. The station was opened in King's Cross in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway, and has been expanded and redeveloped several times since. This panoramic photograph shows the western departures concourse of King's Cross station, which was designed by John McAslan and opened in March 2012 as part of a major renovation project. McAslan said that the roof was the longest single-span station structure in Europe; the semi-circular structure has a radius of 59 yards (54 metres) and more than 2,000 triangular roof panels, half of which are glass.

Photograph credit: Colin



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