Llullaillaco is a dormant stratovolcano on the border between Argentina and Chile. It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of tall volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places in the world. Its maximum elevation is most commonly given as 6,723 metres (22,057 ft), making it the second- or third-highest volcano in the world. Between 3700 m and 5000 m elevation there is a sparse plant cover, while at lower altitudes the climate is too dry for plants to grow. The volcano formed during the Pleistocene in two stages. The oldest rocks are about 1.5 million years old. About 150,000 years ago, the volcano's southeastern flank collapsed, generating a debris avalanche that reached as far as 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the summit. There are reports of activity from the 19th century. There are a number of archaeological sites on the mountain; Llullaillaco marks the highest archaeological site in the world. (Full article...)

Ivan I of Moscow

• ... that Ivan I of Moscow (pictured) earned the nickname "Kalita", which literally means 'money bag'?
• ... that Morocco's abortion law requires spousal consent, but not explicitly the consent of the woman receiving the procedure?
• ... that Chinese pilot Shi Bangfan lost his left arm in a dogfight in which he downed a Japanese plane, and was later honored with a brand of cigarettes named after him?
• ... that El Salvador's only goal at a FIFA World Cup occurred during a 10–1 loss to Hungary?
• ... that Nurtami Soedarsono helped to identify victims of the 2012 Sukhoi crash?
• ... that The Big Con observes that big consultancies play both sides – advising the fossil-fuel industry while also shaping government climate policy?
• ... that sprinter Kenaz Kaniwete was the youngest athletics competitor at the 2024 Summer Olympics?
• ... that a socialist youth organization held an anti-NATO music festival attended by 20,000 people in 1982 West Berlin?
• ... that, despite calls in 1988 to remember housing activist Michael Brown, a 2024 academic article could not find any subsequent trace of him?

Flooding near Hunt, Texas

• Flooding in Central Texas (pictured), United States, leaves at least 120 people dead.
• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.

July 11: Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide in Poland (1943)

Depiction of Michael I Rangabe (centre)

• 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I Rangabe (depicted), under threat by conspiracies, abdicated in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and became a monk.
• 1848 – Waterloo Bridge Station, which later became Britain's busiest railway station by passenger usage, was opened by the London and South Western Railway.
• 1914 – The US Navy launched the USS Nevada (BB-36) as its first standard-type battleship.
• 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee featuring themes of racial injustice and the loss of innocence in the Deep South of America, was published.
• 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.

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Fresco excavated by Marinatos at Akrotiri

Spyridon Marinatos (1901–1974) was a Greek archaeologist who specialised in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean Bronze Age, and excavated the Minoan site of Akrotiri (fresco pictured) on Thera between 1967 and 1974. He received several honours in Greece and abroad, and was considered one of the most important Greek archaeologists of his day. He joined the Greek Archaeological Service in 1919 and spent much of his early career on the island of Crete, where he excavated several Minoan sites. He served three times as head of the Greek Archaeological Service, including under the military junta which ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the junta; in the late 1930s, he had been close to the dictatorial regime of Ioannis Metaxas. Marinatos died while excavating at Akrotiri in 1974, and is buried at the site. (Full article...)

National Geographic Society Administration Building

• ... that a 1932 building (pictured) of the National Geographic Society Headquarters was constructed in part to house the group's collection of 300,000 photographs?
• ... that many of Johann Sebastian Bach's manuscripts were lost because some of his family members did not care about preserving them?
• ... that it took searchers three days to find the crash site of Western Air Lines Flight 34?
• ... that Roy Soemirat led the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Iran during the Iran–Israel war?
• ... that Bill Maynard received letters thanking him for making Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt "the cleanest show on television"?
• ... that Mary Kahil, an Egyptian Christian mystic, cofounded one of the earliest women's movements in the Arab world?
• ... that the band Pinmonkey got their name from an episode of The Simpsons?
• ... that Imogen was described as "puns-and-needles"?
• ... that Chad McCharles, before becoming a bishop, moonlighted as a school bus driver?

Flooding near Hunt, Texas

• Flooding in Central Texas (pictured), United States, leaves more than 110 people dead.
• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.

July 10: Independence Day in the Bahamas (1973)

Depiction of the Isshi incident

• 645 – In a plot to eliminate the Japanese Soga clan, Prince Naka no Ōe assassinated Soga no Iruka (depicted), beginning the Isshi incident.
• 1519 – Zhu Chenhao declared Ming emperor Zhengde to be a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion.
• 1668 – Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660): Henry Morgan with an English privateer force landed at Porto Bello (in modern-day Panama) in an attempt to capture the Spanish city.
• 1925 – Indian mystic and spiritual master Meher Baba began his silence until his death in 1969, only communicating by means of an alphabet board or by unique hand gestures.
• 1978 – Moktar Ould Daddah, the first president of Mauritania, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Mustafa Ould Salek.

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Head of a goblin shark

The goblin shark is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage 125 million years old. This species looks unlike any other shark, with a long, flattened snout, highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth and pink coloration. Its snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that enable it to sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. It is usually three to four metres long (10 to 13 ft) when mature. Goblin sharks inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons and seamounts deeper than 100 metres (330 ft). Anatomical features, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in nature. It hunts for teleost fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans both near the sea floor and in the middle of the water column. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as Least Concern. (Full article...)

Mandan Bull Dancer

• ... that the end of the Okipa involved Bull Dancers of the Mandan tribe (example pictured) having ritual sex with married women and then smoking a "pipe of reconciliation" with their husbands?
• ... that the Cova de les Dones contains prehistoric art and ancient Roman inscriptions?
• ... that baseball player Chuck Hockenbery had to refuse an offer to join an MLB team?
• ... that around 2,000 prison guards were fired after the 2025 New York corrections officers' strike ended?
• ... that an openly gay referee officiated the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship final?
• ... that old bridge abutments became artificial reefs during the South Coast Rail project?
• ... that the limited edition of Reira Ushio's debut EP includes a booklet featuring short stories she wrote?
• ... that financial issues including the misuse of funds emerged at an Illinois TV station after its director died?
• ... that, before designing the Millard House, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Millard House?

Flooding near Hunt, Texas

• Flooding in Central Texas (pictured), United States, leaves more than 110 people dead.
• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.

July 9

Millard Fillmore

• 1640 – The Virginia Governor's Council made John Punch the first legally recognized slave in England's North American colonies.
• 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: French victory at the Battle of Melle enabled their subsequent capture of Ghent from the Austrian Netherlands.
• 1790 – Russo-Swedish War: During the Battle of Svensksund in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captured a third of the Russian fleet.
• 1850 – Following Zachary Taylor's death, Millard Fillmore (pictured) became president of the United States, the last member of the Whig Party to hold that office.
• 1995 – Sri Lankan civil war: After advising civilians to take shelter in places of worship, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in Navaly, killing at least 147 people.

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14th-century depiction of Edgar

Edgar (c. 944 – 8 July 975) was King of the English from 959 until his death. He mainly followed the political policies of his predecessors but made major changes in the religious sphere, with the English Benedictine Reform becoming a dominant religious and social force. His major administrative reform was the introduction of a standardised coinage, and he issued legislative codes concentrated on improving the enforcement of the law. After his death, the throne was disputed between the supporters of his two surviving sons; Edward the Martyr was chosen with the support of Dunstan, the archbishop of Canterbury. Chroniclers presented Edgar's reign as a golden age when England was free from external attacks and internal disorder. Modern historians see Edgar's reign as the pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon culture but disagree about his political legacy, and some see the disorders following his death as a natural reaction to his overbearing control. (Full article...)

Red Fićo monument

• ... that a monument in Croatia (pictured) depicts a small red car triumphing over a battle tank?
• ... that the 2025 St. Louis tornado caused the worst residential damage in the U.S. since the 2011 Joplin tornado?
• ... that Isabel Gutiérrez del Arroyo considered preserving Puerto Rican history to be the best way to serve her people?
• ... that players of a 2022 strategy board game have to manage stress, overheating, and tight cornering?
• ... that Jim Lankas retired from professional boxing and wrestling to enter farming?
• ... that Utah Jazz basketball broadcasts returned in 2023 to a station that is named after the team?
• ... that the first headquarters of New York magazine was a former political clubhouse?
• ... that Lucie Lagerbielke had a public feud in the press with critic Poul Bjerre after he criticised one of her books?
• ... that Angelina Jolie paid homage to Marilyn Monroe with a dress?

Flooding near Hunt, Texas

• Flooding in central Texas (pictured), United States, leaves more than 100 people dead.
• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.

July 8

Players during the Agony of Mineirão

• 1758 – French and Indian War: French forces defeated the British at Fort Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain in the British colony of New York.
• 1950 – Korean War: American troops withdrew from Cheonan, in modern-day South Korea, after suffering heavy casualties from a North Korean attack.
• 1962 – Following student protests at Rangoon University, Burmese general Ne Win ordered the demolition of the historic students' union building.
• 1965 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 was destroyed by a bomb near 100 Mile House, Canada, killing 52.
• 2014 – In the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, Germany defeated Brazil 7-1 in the Agony of Mineirão (players pictured), breaking several tournament records.

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Madi Diaz

Weird Faith is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Madi Diaz (pictured), released on February 9, 2024, on the record label Anti-. The album followed her fifth studio album, History of a Feeling, as well as tours with Angel Olsen, Waxahatchee, and Harry Styles. It was written in Nashville and upstate New York, recorded in the latter by Diaz and Sam Cohen, and produced by Diaz, Cohen, and Konrad Snyder. Weird Faith has been described as an indie rock, indie folk, and indie pop album. The album features sparse, acoustic arrangements that highlight Diaz's lyrics and vocals, and it addresses themes of love, trust, and intimacy. Critics positively reviewed the album, particularly praising Diaz's emotional songwriting and the album's production. It was featured on several year-end lists and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. (Full article...)

Fossil Bohlenia americana leaflets

• ... that the fossil soapberry Bohlenia (pictured) was named after Oregon's 1972 biology teacher of the year?
• ... that Libya's opposition to abortion has led it to form alliances with the United States and the Catholic Church?
• ... that Ipuk Fiestiandani defeated her husband's former deputy in a 2020 election?
• ... that the carnivorous dinosaur Eocarcharia may be a chimaera, its bones coming from two different families?
• ... that Jeannie Rice went from running to lose weight to running to set world records?
• ... that the Houston Rockets sold a majority stake in their League of Legends esports team for US$30 million?
• ... that Irene D. Paden turned an annual family summer trip into a book on American westward expansion trails?
• ... that Albanian investment in the AI startup Thinking Machines Lab required an amendment to the country's 2025 budget?
• ... that Pedro Durruti was executed by firing squad, but the Spanish State officially recorded his cause of death as cardiac arrest?

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

• Flooding in central Texas, United States, leaves at least 80 people dead.
• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS (pictured), an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.

July 7

A painting depicting the Raid on Dunkirk

• 1575 – Anglo-Scottish Wars: A dispute between Sir John Forster and Sir John Carmichael led to a Scottish raid on Northumberland, England, in which 27 men were killed.
• 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: The British Royal Navy force attacked the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk (depicted), capturing a French frigate.
• 1937 – The Peel Commission published a report stating that the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine had become unworkable and recommended the partition of British-administered Mandatory Palestine into two states.
• 1983 – After writing a letter to Soviet premier Yuri Andropov, American schoolgirl Samantha Smith visited the Soviet Union as Andropov's personal guest, becoming known as "America's Youngest Ambassador".

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Haasts Bluff, where Wintjiya was first involved in art

Wintjiya Napaltjarri (c. 1923–1934 – 2014) was an Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Wintjiya's involvement in contemporary Indigenous Australian art began in 1994 at Haasts Bluff (pictured) when she participated in a group painting project and in the creation of batik fabrics. She was also a printmaker, using drypoint etching. Her paintings typically use an iconography that represents the eggs of the flying ant (waturnuma) and hair-string skirts (nyimparra). Her palette generally involves strong red or black against a white background. A finalist in the 2007 and 2008 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Wintjiya's work is held in several of Australia's public collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the National Gallery of Australia, and the National Gallery of Victoria. Her work is also held in the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. (Full article...)

Kate Nash

• ... that Kate Nash (pictured) part-funded a tour promoting her fifth album using an OnlyFans account?
• ... that some people chanted "USA, USA!" and others waved Peruvian flags at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV?
• ... that Malawian bishop Fanuel Magangani was circumcised as an adult to promote its effectiveness in reducing HIV transmission?
• ... that Justyna Święty-Ersetic "snatch[ed] gold in the dying strides" of the women's 400 metres at the 2018 European Athletics Championships?
• ... that Mabel MacFerran Rockwell was the only female engineer to work on designing the electrical systems for Hoover Dam?
• ... that G: Gaya Hidup Ceria was the first gay magazine in Indonesia?
• ... that William R. Ferguson received a two-year prison sentence for selling a device that was claimed to cure disease through "a force unknown to science"?
• ... that the name of the song "Shagidi" was inspired by a children's game?
• ... that a Twitter user and an animal sanctuary were involved in a copyright dispute over Meatball?

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS (pictured), an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.

July 6

Walt Nauta

• 1685 – Troops loyal to James II of England defeated those of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth at the Battle of Sedgemoor, the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion.
• 1915 – First World War: The British and French prime ministers, H. H. Asquith and René Viviani, met at Calais to discuss future offensives including the Gallipoli campaign.
• 1940 – The Story Bridge in Brisbane, the longest cantilever bridge in Australia, was opened by Sir Leslie Wilson, Governor of Queensland.
• 2013 – In the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 airliner, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed on final approach to San Francisco International Airport, resulting in three deaths.
• 2023 – As part of the federal prosecution of Donald Trump, Trump's personal aide Walt Nauta (pictured) pleaded not guilty to six charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

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A medieval depiction of a fortification being assaulted

The siege of Breteuil was the investment of the Norman town of Breteuil, held by partisans of Charles II, King of Navarre, by French forces between April and about 20 August 1356. It was interrupted on 5 July when a small English army relieved and resupplied the town. The French king, John II, attempted to bring the English to battle, but they evaded him and the siege was renewed. The French attracted praise for the splendour and high status of many of the participants, but made little progress as the town was well-garrisoned and stocked with food for a year. Attempts to mine under the walls were to no avail. In August a large mobile siege tower was pushed up to the walls and an assault launched, but the tower was set on fire and the attack repulsed with many casualties. Taking Breteuil became a matter of prestige for John and he refused to take the army south to face a major English offensive. Eventually the garrison was given free passage and a huge bribe to persuade them to depart. (Full article...)

Douglas at the 2016 Olympic Games

• ... that gymnast Gabby Douglas (pictured) has a Barbie doll modeled after her?
• ... that one of former British prime minister Rishi Sunak's favourite books is the 1988 romance Rivals?
• ... that when Matthew Wild directed Wagner's Tannhäuser, he made its main character gay?
• ... that after a tornado strike at a St. Louis–area Amazon warehouse killed six workers, the rebuilt warehouse still had no proper storm shelter?
• ... that Jamaican-Welsh noblewoman Justina Jeffreys was the inspiration for the character of Anthelia in the 1817 novel Melincourt?
• ... that Grand Theft Auto V is a popular video game in North Korea?
• ... that Frank Page's sons stole his corpse after he died, leaving their stepmother to bury an empty casket?
• ... that following the sinking of HNLMS Kortenaer, an officer responded to ethnic tensions on the lifeboats by beating his subordinates with a paddle?
• ... that after playing just one game, Michael Basinger retired from the NFL and became a country music performer?

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

• Astronomers announce the discovery of 3I/ATLAS (pictured), an interstellar object passing through the Solar System.
• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.

July 5: Fifth of July in New York

Coat of arms of the Regency of Algiers

• 1830 – Algiers surrendered to French invaders, ending the Regency of Algiers (coat of arms pictured).
• 1937 – The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, and urban legend.
• 1922 – Brazilian Army rebels took over Fort Copacabana and launched a rebellion in Rio de Janeiro against President Epitácio Pessoa and President-elect Artur Bernardes.
• 1950 – Korean War: In the first encounter between North Korean and American forces, an unprepared and undisciplined U.S. Army task force was routed at the Battle of Osan.
• 1990 – An explosion at a petrochemical plant in Channelview, Texas, killed 17 people and injured five others.

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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...)

Douglas at the 2016 Olympic Games

• ... that gymnast Gabby Douglas (pictured) has a Barbie doll modeled after her?
• ... that one of former British prime minister Rishi Sunak's favourite books is the 1988 romance Rivals?
• ... that when Matthew Wild directed Wagner's Tannhäuser, he made its main character gay?
• ... that after a tornado strike at a St. Louis-area Amazon warehouse killed six workers, the rebuilt warehouse still had no proper storm shelter?
• ... that Jamaican-Welsh noblewoman Justina Jeffreys was the inspiration for the character of Anthelia in the 1817 novel Melincourt?
• ... that Grand Theft Auto V is a popular video game in North Korea?
• ... that Frank Page's sons stole his corpse after he died, leaving their stepmother to bury an empty casket?
• ... that following the sinking of HNLMS Kortenaer, an officer responded to ethnic tensions on the lifeboats by beating his subordinates with a paddle?
• ... that after playing just one game, Michael Basinger retired from the NFL and became a country music performer?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

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

The Brazilian cruiser Bahia

• 1837 – The Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway with steam traction, opened between Birmingham and Newton Junction.
• 1918 – World War I: Allied forces led by the Australian general John Monash won the Battle of Hamel, demonstrating the effectiveness of combined-arms techniques in trench warfare.
• 1941 – German AB-Aktion in Poland: After capturing Lwów, the Nazis executed professors of the University of Lwów along with their families.
• 1945 – The Brazilian cruiser Bahia (pictured) was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 people.
• 1998 – The monster movie Pulgasari, the most-widely-seen North Korean film ever made, premiered in Tokyo, Japan.

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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...)

Sylvilagus nuttallii

• ... that the mountain cottontail (pictured) is abundant in the Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear production complex?
• ... that the YouTuber behind Stop Killing Games compared video-game publishers shutting down online-only games to silent-era film studios "burning their own films ... to recover the silver content"?
• ... that 17-year-old José Segundo Decoud helped to convince Antonio Estigarribia to surrender during the siege of Uruguaiana?
• ... that nucleariid amoebae are among the closest relatives of fungi?
• ... that a Thompson Seattle rooftop bar distributes drinks from copper containers shaped like flamingos?
• ... that one of the priority programmes announced by Supian Suri as mayor of Depok involved repairing school toilets?
• ... that a New Jersey TV station claimed that potential advertisers were "hostile" to efforts to encourage them to air commercials?
• ... that surgeon Stuart Stanton popularised an operation for stress incontinence?
• ... that Cybersocket, Inc., started by repackaging public domain information into a niche paperback guide to gay pornographic sites?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

July 3

The 2017 Boundary Fire

• 1810 – Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811: A French frigate squadron under Guy-Victor Duperré defeated a convoy of three British East Indiamen near the Comoro Islands.
• 1970 – The Troubles: The British Army began the Falls Curfew in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which resulted in greater Irish republican resistance.
• 1988 – The US Navy warship Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
• 2005 – Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain with the coming into effect of a law passed by the Cortes Generales.
• 2017 – In Arizona, the Boundary Fire (pictured) burned out after 32 days, burning 17,788 acres (7,199 ha) of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.

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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...)

Harpagofututor

• ... that male fish in the subclass Holocephali (pictured) often have special organs on top of their head that are used to grasp females while mating?
• ... that Simmie Knox was recommended to paint the official White House portraits of Hillary and Bill Clinton by Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
• ... that My Schizophrenic Life concludes by its author realizing her illness is not a "life sentence"?
• ... that although he was only active for three games with them, NFL player Dick Capp made a play that helped his team win the Super Bowl?
• ... that a Christian army was allegedly saved from a fire when Archbishop Robert I of Nazareth raised the True Cross against the flames?
• ... that in 1956 a brand new Swissair plane crashed on delivery?
• ... that the colour of Rockbank railway station's pedestrian bridge represents the earth surrounding the station?
• ... that Windsor-style pizza features shredded pepperoni and canned mushrooms?
• ... that Liquid Glass was criticised for being too transparent?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

July 2

A demonstration against the Soviet blockade of Lithuania

• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: French troops landed near St. George's, Grenada, and began their capture of the island.
• 1990 – Singing Revolution: The Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania (pictured) was lifted when the Lithuanian parliament agreed to suspend the effects of their act to re-establish Lithuania as a state.
• 1998 – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling, the second novel of the Harry Potter series, was published.
• 2013 – In the Indonesian province of Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra, a M_w 6.1 strike-slip earthquake killed at least 35 people and injured 276 others.
• 2020 – A landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant killed 175–200 miners, the deadliest mining accident in Burmese history.

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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...)

Jean-Baptiste Belley

• ... that in 1793, Jean-Baptiste Belley (pictured), a former black slave, was elected as a deputy to the French National Convention?
• ... that "Seigfried" by Frank Ocean credits all four Beatles as songwriters?
• ... that the McKenzie & Willis Store was demolished after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, but its facade was kept and restored?
• ... that Suzy Knickerbocker called James Ross Mellon one of the world's most eligible bachelors?
• ... that a 44-point comeback in a 2024 semi-final was the Australian Football League's largest semifinal comeback ever?
• ... that Alena Veselá, at age 101, was present at the cornerstone ceremony for a new concert hall in Brno, which she had promoted for decades?
• ... that residents of the Acres hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design their houses, but eventually lost patience with him over his approach to the project?
• ... that artist Agnes Gallus fled Hungary for Canada during the 1956 revolution?
• ... that a single horsehair helped solve the murder of Nancy Titterton?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

July 1: Canada Day (1867)

Sack of Lunenburg

• 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Five American privateer vessels raided the British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (depicted).
• 1935 – The first Grant Park Music Festival was held in Chicago's Grant Park.
• 1940 – Second World War: The Grand Quartier Général of the French Army was disbanded, following the French surrender.
• 1960 – Ghana became a republic, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first president.
• 1970 – The Belfast Banking Company, which issued banknotes in Northern Ireland, merged with its rival Northern Bank.

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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...)

Khachkars at Aprank Monastery

• ... that the monumental khachkars (pictured) at Aprank Monastery can be seen from eight kilometres (five miles) away?
• ... that ducks, an owl, a horse and a baby were utilized for the opening scene of a Doctor Who episode?
• ... that despite winning Australia's top literary prize, The Hand That Signed the Paper has since been labelled a hoax?
• ... that an Oregon TV station planned to be off the air for two to four weeks to complete a move—but did not fully return to air for nearly two years?
• ... that the Academy of Music was the name of three different theaters located on the same property on the Atlantic City Boardwalk which were all destroyed by fires?
• ... that Taylor Swift did not contact the family of actress Clara Bow before releasing a song about her?
• ... that Jeremiah Chamberlain was murdered outside of his home by a local landowner?
• ... that a whistled language created for a video game was reused in an episode of The Last of Us?
• ... that the Bishop of Chiclayo Edinson Edgardo Farfán Córdova described his predecessor Pope Leo XIV as smelling like sheep?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

June 30

• 1598 – Anglo-Spanish War: After a 15-day siege Spanish troops in San Juan, modern-day Puerto-Rico, surrendered to an English force under Sir George Clifford.
• 1905 – Nadir of American race relations: A mob of white Americans killed eight people in Oconee County, Georgia, as part of a mass lynching.
• 1960 – The Belgian Congo gained independence from colonial rule, beginning a period of instability that would lead to the dictatorship of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.
• 2015 – An Indonesian Air Force military transport aircraft (pictured) crashed near a residential neighborhood in Medan, killing 139 people.
• 1963 – The coronation of Pope Paul VI took place, the last such ceremony before its abandonment by later popes.

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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...)

Forrest modeling in 2018

• ... that Diandra Forrest (pictured) was bullied for her white skin before becoming a professional model?
• ... that the Savannah River Site was where the neutrino was discovered?
• ... that one of the earliest Ukrainian science fiction novels, written in 1918 by Mykola Chaikovsky, features solar power and a radiotelephone?
• ... that the Philadelphia School of Anatomy began as a private dissection room?
• ... that having been elected to Indonesia's House of Representatives five times, Muhidin Mohamad Said is its longest-serving incumbent member?
• ... that Horvat Mazad's walls, which also functioned as storage rooms, were likely a revival of centuries-old military architecture?
• ... that despite never having visited China, cyclist Howard Wing competed for it at the 1936 Summer Olympics?
• ... that a leader of a terrorist group in the Russian Empire was revealed in 1908 to have been a police agent for 15 years?
• ... that Ben Lashes is a talent manager for cat memes?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

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

Jayne Mansfield

• 1613 – The original Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground after a cannon employed for special effects misfired during a performance of Henry VIII and ignited the roof.
• 1764 – One of the strongest tornadoes in history struck Woldegk in present-day northeastern Germany, killing one person.
• 1950 – The United States defeated England during the FIFA World Cup in one of the greatest upsets in the competition's history.
• 1967 – Actress Jayne Mansfield (pictured), her boyfriend Sam Brody, and their driver were killed in a car accident outside of New Orleans, while her children Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska Hargitay escaped with only minor injuries.
• 2020 – Reddit banned r/The_Donald, a pro-Trump subreddit, for rule violations and antagonizing the company.

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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...)

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?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

June 28: Vidovdan in Serbia

Ned Kelly

• 1880 – Police captured Australian bank robber and cultural icon Ned Kelly (pictured) after a gun battle in Glenrowan, Victoria.
• 1895 – The U.S. Court of Private Land Claims ruled that James Reavis's claim to 18,600 sq mi (48,000 km²) of land in present-day Arizona and New Mexico was "wholly fictitious and fraudulent".
• 1904 – In the worst maritime disaster involving a Danish merchant ship, SS Norge ran aground on Hasselwood Rock and sank in the North Atlantic, resulting in more than 635 deaths.
• 1950 – Korean War: South Korean forces began the Bodo League massacre, summarily executing tens of thousands of suspected North Korean sympathizers.
• 1969 – In response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, groups of gay and transgender people began demonstrations, a watershed event for the worldwide gay rights movement.

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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...)

Erena So

• ... that a Hong Kong porn actress (pictured) once invited her cyberbullies to talk?
• ... that the manga Doing Time is based on the author's experiences while incarcerated for three years in a Japanese prison?
• ... that Minnesota Pioneer editor James M. Goodhue called a judge "absentee", after which the judge's brother stabbed him?
• ... that the average transit time of water through the Wharepapa Arthur Marble Aquifer is eight years?
• ... that Leon Hatziioannou played for two different Canadian football teams within 48 hours?
• ... that Heimito von Doderer's novel The Strudlhof Steps was not allowed to be published until the author had undergone denazification?
• ... that Lotus L. Kang "tans" sheets of photographic film before using them in her art?
• ... that a Doctor Who episode was still in post-production in the month before it aired?
• ... that artist Samantha Nye unsuccessfully auditioned for The All-New Mickey Mouse Club by performing a Rick Astley song?

Vera Rubin Observatory

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (pictured) in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-meter (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

June 26

Douglas Skymaster plane "Amana"

• 1740 – War of Jenkins' Ear: Spanish troops stormed the British-held strategically crucial position of Fort Mose in Spanish Florida.
• 1945 – At a conference in San Francisco, delegates from 50 nations signed a charter establishing the United Nations.
• 1950 – A Douglas DC-4 Skymaster aircraft (pictured) crashed after departing from Perth, becoming the worst aviation accident in Australia's peacetime history.

• 2010 – A G20 summit, the largest and most expensive security operation in Canadian history, began in downtown Toronto.

• 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the right of same-sex couples to marry is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

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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...)

Sae Kitamura

• ... that Sae Kitamura (pictured) has had her university students contribute to the Japanese Wikipedia as part of their coursework?
• ... that the lead actress of The Grub-Stake brought her personal menagerie—which included bears and wolves—to the set for use as extras?
• ... that James Patrick Shea thought that an invitation to meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the White House was a hoax?
• ... that Robby Krieger was unable to record his guitar solo for "You're Lost Little Girl" until he got stoned on hashish?
• ... that all three podium finishers at the 2024 Tour de France were members of cycling's Big Four?
• ... that the directors of Final Destination Bloodlines "debated the ethics" of a character being killed by an MRI machine?
• ... that one newspaper described the mansions of Riverside Drive as "glitter[ing] like a wedding cake"?
• ... that Galidor has been described as Lego's biggest failure?
• ... that the first review of Ellen, Countess of Castle Howel complained that its marriage plot focused too much on love?

Vera Rubin Observatory

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (pictured) in Chile releases the first light images from its new 8.4-meter (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• A terrorist attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

June 25

Original rainbow flag

• 1658 – Anglo-Spanish War: The largest battle ever fought on Jamaica, the three-day Battle of Rio Nuevo, began.
• 1910 – The United States Congress passed the Mann Act, which prohibited the interstate transport of females for "immoral purposes".
• 1944 – World War II: U.S. Navy and Royal Navy ships bombarded Cherbourg, France, to support U.S. Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
• 1978 – The rainbow flag (original version pictured) representing gay pride was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade.
• 2009 – Singer Michael Jackson died as a result of the combination of drugs in his body.

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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...)

Joanna Schaffhausen

• ... that Joanna Schaffhausen (pictured) earned a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience before writing serial-killer novels?
• ... that the book Animals in War inspired the campaign that led to the Animals in War Memorial?
• ... that Chinese actress Huang Wei portrayed a single historical figure in numerous Chinese films and dramas for more than 20 years?
• ... that bills to postpone the 2025 Philippine barangay elections were filed even after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the postponement of the 2023 elections?
• ... that Janet Evans was banned from Coldbath Fields Prison, where her husband was imprisoned, for inciting a riot at the gates?
• ... that even before its first broadcast, a Florida TV station was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case and a protest by a competitor over its antenna?
• ... that Perceval, the Story of the Grail by Chrétien de Troyes is considered by literary historians to be the earliest example of the narrative technique of entrelacement?
• ... that German athlete Leander Wiegand received a scholarship to play American football at an American college that had never seen him play?
• ... that a judge on DVD Verdict found Death Race 2 guilty of "running on empty"?

Vera Rubin Observatory

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (pictured) releases the first light images from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.
• In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.

June 24: Jaanipäev in Estonia

Julia Gillard

• 1374 – An outbreak of dancing mania, in which crowds of people danced themselves to exhaustion, began in Aachen (in present-day Germany) before spreading to other parts of Europe.
• 1717 – The first Grand Lodge of Freemasonry, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London.
• 1724 – On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach led the first performance of Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle.
• 1943 – Amid racial tensions, U.S. Army military police shot and killed a black serviceman after a confrontation at a pub in Bamber Bridge, England.
• 2010 – Julia Gillard (pictured) was sworn in as the first female prime minister of Australia after incumbent Kevin Rudd declined to contest a leadership spill in the Labor Party.

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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...)

Constitution Defense Monument

• ... that the Constitution Defense Monument in Bangkok (pictured c. 1939) disappeared overnight in 2018 without any official explanation?
• ... that Thomas Kerr protested the Iraq War with his SNP-supporting aunt, later campaigned for Labour, joined the Conservatives, and defected to Reform UK?
• ... that James Joyce's "untranslatable" novel Ulysses was translated into at least 43 languages?
• ... that in 2023, Chinese Coast Guardsman Wang Xiaolong was officially declared a Martyr?
• ... that a 2022 issue of Civilization was designed to be horrible, unlikable and partly AI-generated?
• ... that the memoir of Saudi poet Huda al-Daghfaq has been described as an expression of her "existential battle"?
• ... that technical geography, which studies the application of computer cartography and remote sensing, has origins in Greco-Roman and medieval Islamic cartography?
• ... that Jakarta deputy governor Eddie Marzuki Nalapraya used to babysit future member of parliament Rhoma Irama?
• ... that the TV show Ancient Aliens speculated that the CIA caused Hillary Clinton to lose the 2016 U.S. presidential election in order to foil UFO disclosure?

B-2 stealth bomber

• The United States carries out military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran (bomber pictured).
• In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
• In motorsport, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson of AF Corse win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.

June 23: Grand Duke's Official Birthday in Luxembourg

Pierre de Coubertin

• 1865 – Stand Watie became the last Confederate general of the American Civil War to surrender to Union forces.
• 1894 – Led by French historian Pierre de Coubertin (pictured), an international congress at the Sorbonne in Paris formed the International Olympic Committee to revive the ancient Olympic Games.
• 1985 – A bomb attributed to the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 on board.
• 2014 – Under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 2118, the last of Syria's declared chemical weapons were shipped out for destruction.

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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...)

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?

Aleksander Barkov

• In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers (captain Aleksander Barkov pictured) defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
• In motorsport, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson of AF Corse win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.
• Former president of Nicaragua and first elected female president in the Americas Violeta Chamorro dies at the age of 95.

June 22: Windrush Day (United Kingdom)

George V and Mary after their coronation

• 1593 – Habsburg troops defeated a larger Ottoman force at the Battle of Sisak in the Kingdom of Croatia, triggering the Long Turkish War.
• 1911 – King George V and Queen Mary (both pictured) were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1941 – World War II: As Axis troops began their invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front started an uprising to liberate Lithuania from Soviet occupation.
• 1979 – Former British Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.
• 2002 – A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck northwestern Iran, killing at least 230 people and injuring 1,300 others; the official response, perceived to be slow, later caused widespread public anger.

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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...)

Warren Truitt

• ... that Warren Truitt (pictured) served as a legislator in Oregon and a judge in Alaska in the 19th century, and as both a legislator and a judge in Idaho in the 20th?
• ... that the announcement of Crash Team Rumble at The Game Awards 2022 was teased on a receipt attached to a pizza box?
• ... that future world and Olympic champion fencer Nikolay Alyokhin was once slapped by a coach and told "you're not talented"?
• ... that white supremacist Ralph Perry Forbes sued the devil?
• ... that Nazaruddin Dek Gam bought the football club Persiraja after ten of the wealthiest men in Aceh declined the offer?
• ... that former archbishop Philip Hannan became a world-traveling reporter for the New Orleans TV station founded by his archdiocese?
• ... that the book Science Without Numbers argues that numbers are just useful fictions?
• ... that Lisa McCorkell co-authored the first major study of long COVID while battling the condition herself?
• ... that some researchers have studied Tetris as a potential form of psychological treatment?

Aleksander Barkov

• In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers (captain Aleksander Barkov pictured) defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
• In motorsport, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson of AF Corse win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.
• Former president of Nicaragua and first elected female president in the Americas Violeta Chamorro dies at the age of 95.

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

• 217 BC – Second Punic War: The Carthaginians under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, capturing or killing 25,000 men.
• 1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government in present-day Romania.
• 1898 – In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam from Spain.
• 1919 – During a general strike in Winnipeg, Canada, members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police attacked a crowd of strikers, armed with clubs and revolvers.
• 1948 – The Manchester Baby (replica pictured), the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first program.

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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...)

Welsh presbytery meeting, 1940

• ... that the term "middle judicatory", which many denominations use for their mid-tier organizations, originated in Presbyterian courts (example pictured) for church discipline?
• ... that texting someone a poop emoji in Japan is a way to wish them good luck?
• ... that American football player Dominic Vairo went from being forced off the freshman team at Notre Dame to becoming captain of the varsity team?
• ... that an anime programming block that originally aired on the American television channel TechTV was the inspiration for the co-founder of a Japanese animation studio?
• ... that ratline organizer Ivo Omrčanin once beat a suspected informant with an umbrella?
• ... that a leak from a natural-gas storage field led to the destruction of or damage to almost 30 buildings in Hutchinson, Kansas?
• ... that Lorenzo Pace performed a candlelit flute concerto at the outset of his dissertation defense?
• ... that Queen Afua inspired New York City mayor Eric Adams to become vegan?
• ... that the Fuck Tree has been described as a "physical embodiment of desire"?

Aleksander Barkov

• In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers (captain Aleksander Barkov pictured) defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
• In motorsport, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson of AF Corse win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.
• Former president of Nicaragua and first elected female president in the Americas Violeta Chamorro dies at the age of 95.

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

Queen Victoria

• 1837 – Queen Victoria (pictured) acceded to the British throne, beginning a 63-year reign.
• 1921 – British Army officer Thomas Stanton Lambert was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army near Moydrum, Ireland.
• 1959 – The extratropical remnants of an Atlantic hurricane reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada, causing 22 fishing boats to capsize and killing 35 people.
• 1979 – Bill Stewart, an American journalist, was executed by Nicaraguan Guardia forces.
• 1982 – The International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide, the first major conference in genocide studies, opened despite Turkish attempts to cancel it due to the inclusion of presentations on the Armenian genocide.

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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...)

Rosa Parks

• ... that Rosa Parks (pictured) refused to surrender her seat not because she was physically tired, but because she was "tired of giving in"?
• ... that most of the population of Niamey has consisted of first- and second-generation immigrants since the city was established?
• ... that Harry Wunsch, despite appearing "short and fat", was a "savage tackler"?
• ... that Black dandyism flourished during and after the Harlem Renaissance as a means of self-expression in the African-American community?
• ... that 17th-century mathematician Carlo Rinaldini studied gall-inducing insects, air convection, and the design of thermometers?
• ... that the title of Elegies comes from a suite of poems that its director read during the film's pre-production?
• ... that Saba's airport, known for its short runway, was named after Juancho Yrausquin in honor of his efforts to secure funding?
• ... that Sculpture Space lets artists create large-scale works in a former metalworking shop?
• ... that Olympic historians were unconvinced by speculation that an unknown boy coxswain grew up to be a a renowned Georgian mathematician?

Melissa Hortman

• In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman (pictured) is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.
• Former president of Nicaragua and first elected female president in the Americas Violeta Chamorro dies at the age of 95.
• Israel launches multiple airstrikes across cities in Iran, killing various nuclear scientists and military officials, including IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami.
• Air India Flight 171 crashes in Ahmedabad, India, killing 279 people.

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

Lou Gehrig baseball card

• 1785 – The proprietors of King's Chapel, Boston, voted to adopt James Freeman's Book of Common Prayer, thus establishing the first Unitarian church in the Americas.
• 1838 – The Maryland province of the Jesuits contracted to sell 272 slaves to buyers in Louisiana in one of the largest slave sales in American history.
• 1939 – American baseball player Lou Gehrig (pictured) was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, now commonly known in the United States as "Lou Gehrig's disease".
• 1987 – The Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at a Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45 others.
• 2009 – War in Afghanistan: British forces began Operation Panther's Claw, in which more than 350 troops made an aerial assault on Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan.

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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...)

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?