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From today's featured article
"Slug" is a song by Passengers, a side project of musician Brian Eno and rock band U2 (pictured). It was released on 7 November 1995 on Passengers' sole release, the experimental album Original Soundtracks 1. The song was almost left off the album before it was rediscovered later during the recording sessions. Though Eno made most of the creative decisions during the sessions, "Slug" was one of the few tracks that the members from U2 tried to craft themselves. Lyrically, it portrays a desolate soul with the confusion of romance and faith. U2 and Eno tried to create a visual suggestion from the music that was more important than the story within the lyrics. In "Slug", the instrumentation is intended as visual music representing the lights turning on in a city at night. The group primarily drew inspiration for the song from U2's experiences in Tokyo at the conclusion of their Zoo TV Tour in 1993. "Slug" has been praised as one of the best songs on the album by critics from various publications. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
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- ... that YouTuber Dianna Cowern (pictured) has an asteroid named after her?
- ... that the song "Seasons of Change" featured future AC/DC lead vocalist Bon Scott on the recorder?
- ... that Jocelyn Borgella was the first Haitian to be selected in the NFL draft?
- ... that the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association operated its own Diocese of Zhangjiakou prior to Pope Leo XIV establishing a diocese of the same name?
- ... that Japanese businessman Yasuyoshi Kato used embezzled funds to support his wife, who bought twenty Arabian horses, several emus, llamas, potbellied pigs, miniature cattle, and nurse sharks?
- ... that field propulsion comprises types of spacecraft propulsion that move a ship without conventional rocket engines?
- ... that the Regional Workers' Center of Paraguay was largely made up of native Paraguayans, even though its predecessor had been dominated by European and Argentine immigrants?
- ... that Kevo Muney has a mixtape cover that depicts himself being birthed by an anthropomorphic goat?
In the news
- A fire in a retirement home (building pictured) in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaves at least 12 people dead.
- UPS Airlines Flight 2976 crashes after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, United States, killing at least 12 people.
- The United States federal government shutdown becomes the longest in U.S. history.
- Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves more than 140 people dead in the Philippines.
On this day
- 680 – The Third Council of Constantinople convened to settle the Christological controversies of monoenergism and monothelitism.
- 1825 – Jereboam O. Beauchamp murdered Kentucky legislator Solomon P. Sharp; Beauchamp later became the first person legally executed in the state.
- 1917 – World War I: British forces captured Gaza following the retreat of the Ottoman garrison.
- 1972 – A ship collision with the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the U.S. state of Georgia resulted in a bridge collapse (pictured), which killed ten people.
- 1987 – Tunisian prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali deposed and replaced President Habib Bourguiba by declaring him medically unfit for the duties of the office.
- Maldeo Rathore (d. 1562)
- Thomas Brassey (b. 1805)
- Emanuele Luigi Galizia (b. 1830)
- Ri Ul-sol (d. 2015)
From today's featured list
There are currently 42 operational stations on Singapore's Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, a series of local automated guideway transit lines spanning 26.5 kilometres (16.5 mi) and acting as a feeder service to the country's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Conceptualised in 1991 and opened in 1999, there are currently three lines on the system: the Bukit Panjang LRT line (BPLRT), the Punggol LRT line (PGLRT), and the Sengkang LRT line (SKLRT). Of these, there are 13 stations on the BPLRT, 14 on the SKLRT, and 15 on the PGLRT. All stations are elevated and have barrier-free access and fixed platform screen doors. Four LRT stations interchange with MRT lines, being Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Panjang (pictured), Sengkang, and Punggol. These four are also the only LRT stations connected to bus interchanges. Three stations are planned to interchange with upcoming MRT lines: Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, and Riviera. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
The Fraunhofer lines are a set of spectral absorption lines. They are dark absorption lines, seen in the optical spectrum of the Sun, and are formed when atoms in the solar atmosphere absorb light being emitted by the solar photosphere. The lines are named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer, who observed them in 1814. This image shows the solar spectral irradiance measured with a calibrated optical spectrometer, as viewed on a sunny day in Switzerland in 2022. Some of the characteristic Fraunhofer lines and their corresponding elements are indicated for the extended visible spectrum – the highlighted area of the graph.
Graph credit: Cyamahat
