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赤胸杜鹃(Cuculus solitarius),記錄於烏干達基巴萊國家公園。
Theodosius III was the Byzantine emperor from around May 715 to 717. Before rising to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine navy and the troops of the Opsician Theme, one of the Byzantine provinces, revolted against Anastasius II, acclaiming the reluctant Theodosius as emperor. He led his troops to Chrysopolis and then Constantinople, seizing the city in November 715. Anastasius did not surrender until several months later, accepting exile in a monastery in return for safety. Many themes viewed Theodosius to be a puppet of the troops of the Opsician Theme, and his legitimacy was denied by the Anatolics and the Armeniacs under their respective strategoi (generals) Leo the Isaurian and Artabasdos. Leo entered Constantinople and definitively seized power in 717, allowing Theodosius and his son to retire to a monastery. When Theodosius died is uncertain, but it may have been in 754. (Full article...)
December 12: Beginning of the Yule Lads' arrival in Iceland
Hat-tricks have been achieved 72 times at the Rugby League World Cup, 70 times with tries and twice with field goals. The first player to do this was Alex Watson, who achieved the feat for Australia against New Zealand in the inaugural tournament. Players for Australia have scored the most hat-tricks at the Rugby League World Cup, with 30, while Papua New Guinean players have conceded the most, with 11. Of the 72 hat-tricks scored, seven players have achieved the feat twice, these being Ian Schubert, Billy Slater, Akuila Uate, Manu Vatuvei, Jarryd Hayne, Suliasi Vunivalu, Valentine Holmes (pictured) and Josh Addo-Carr. Fifteen players have scored an additional try on top of the hat-trick. Holmes and Addo-Carr have each scored five tries in a single game, while Holmes is the only player to score six tries in a single game. (Full list...)
The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is a species of mammal in the family Camelidae, the camelids. Closely related to the llama, the guanaco is native to the steppes, scrublands and mountainous regions of South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Argentina. It is a diurnal animal, living in small herds consisting of either one male and several females with their young, or separate bachelor herds. It can run at speeds of up to 64 km/h (40 mph), important for avoiding predation. A herbivore, the guanaco grazes on grasses, shrubs, herbs, lichens, fungi, cacti, and flowers, while its natural predators include the puma and the culpeo (Andean fox). Some guanacos are found domesticated in zoos and private herds around the world, and its fiber is also harvested for use in luxury fabrics, being noted for its soft, warm feel. This guanaco was photographed in Torres del Paine, Chile.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
中华民国現任一、二级行政区行政首长包括中華民國(臺灣地區)6個直轄市、臺灣省11個縣和3個市、福建省2個縣的行政首長以及2個省政府的主席。中央一级行政機關行政院統轄下的直辖市、县和市的地方行政机关分别称作直辖市政府、县(市)政府;各地方政府由市长或县长领导,各县、市长是由个别的县、市民选举产生,任期4年并只能连任一次。

George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Founding Father of the United States. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father. Many clauses in the Constitution were influenced by Mason's input, but he ultimately did not sign, citing the lack of a bill of rights. His prominent fight for a bill of rights led fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First Congress in 1789; these amendments were ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Obscure after his death, Mason later came to be recognized in the 20th and 21st centuries for his contributions to Virginia and the early United States. (Full article...)
Isabella I (Spanish: Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: Isabel la Católica), was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs.
Painting credit: Anonymous
Edmund Ætheling (born 1016 or 1017, died before 1057) was a son of Edmund Ironside and his wife Ealdgyth. Edmund Ironside briefly ruled as king of England following the death of his father Æthelred the Unready in April 1016. Edmund Ironside died in late 1016 after a hard-fought war with Danish invader Cnut who became king of all England shortly after. The following year, Cnut sent Edmund Ironside's two infant sons, Edmund Ætheling and Edward the Exile, to Continental Europe, probably to the King of Sweden, to be murdered. Instead, the princes were spared and sent to Hungary, possibly after a sojourn at the court of Yaroslav I, prince of Kiev, in Russia. As Ironside's marriage lasted no more than 15 months, Edmund and Edward were either twins or one was born after their father's death. Edmund may have married a daughter of the Hungarian king, and he died in Hungary on 10 January in an unknown year before 1057. (Full article...)
December 10: Human Rights Day; Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, Sweden
On the evening of December 10, 2021, a tornado struck Western Kentucky, killing 57 people, and injuring more than 500. Mayfield, Kentucky was one of the hardest hit, with 22 deaths. The town was also mostly leveled and most of the infrastructure was destroyed. Today marks 4 years since the disaster.
Photograph credit: State Farm
Macrobdella decora, the North American medicinal leech, is a species of freshwater leech found in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A medium-sized annelid growing up to 8.5 cm (3.3 in) long, it has a spotted greenish-brown back and a reddish underbelly. M. decora is commonly encountered by swimmers and lives in ponds, ditches, and wetlands. The leeches are both blood-sucking parasites and aggressive predators. They have three saw-like "jaws" which they use to penetrate their host's skin, and they can remain attached for up to two hours. Their hosts include fish, turtles, wading birds, and mammals, including humans. The leeches are also voracious predators who eat other invertebrates, amphibian eggs and larvae, and sometimes even members of their own species. M. decora was historically used for leeching by European colonists in North America, who found the native leeches "equally efficacious" as those from Europe. (Full article...)
December 9: International Anti-Corruption Day
George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. As a writer and composer, he created eighteen comic operas, nearly a hundred musical sketches, some six hundred songs and piano pieces, three books (including the 1892 comic novel The Diary of a Nobody), and both serious and comic pieces for newspapers and magazines. In a four-decade career as a performer, Grossmith created a series of nine characters in Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas from 1877 to 1889, such as Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance. Grossmith then became the most popular British solo performer of the 1890s; some of his comic songs endure today. This 1881 photograph shows Grossmith posing in costume as Reginald Bunthorne in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience at the Opera Comique in London.
Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
The Coventry ring road (A4053) is a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) ring road in Coventry, England, forming a dual-carriageway loop around the city centre. The road encloses Coventry Cathedral, the shopping areas, and much of Coventry University. Except junction 1, all junctions are entirely grade-separated and closely spaced, with weaving sections between them. The road connects with three other A roads: the A4114, the A4600 and the A429. From the 1930s, Coventry City Council began replacing its medieval streets with modern roads, and Donald Gibson, the city architect, began work in 1939 on a plan that was expanded after the Coventry Blitz during the Second World War. The ring road was constructed in six stages from 1959, initially with at-grade junctions, cycle tracks and footpaths, but in the early 1960s the council amended the design to include grade separation and the weaving sections. The road was completed in 1974, with an overall cost of £14.5 million (equivalent to £191 million in 2023). (Full article...)
December 8: Rōhatsu in Japan; Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day in Ethiopia; Liberation Day in Syria
There are fifty-five stations on the Great Northern route, a suburban rail route in London and the East of England. The route consists of services on the southern end of the East Coast Main Line, which is the main railway link between the cities of London and Edinburgh, as well as its associated branches, including the Cambridge line, the Fen Line, the Hertford Loop line, and the Northern City Line. The route is currently operated by Great Northern, which is one brand under the umbrella of Govia Thameslink Railway. Services originating at London King's Cross (pictured) operate to Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City, Cambridge, Ely, and King's Lynn, whereas services originating at Moorgate operate to Welwyn Garden City, Hertford North, Gordon Hill, and Stevenage. (Full list...)
The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory bird in the family Turdidae, the thrushes. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, although the two species are not closely related. The American robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific coast. It is active mostly during the day and assembles in large flocks at night. Its diet consists of invertebrates (such as beetle grubs, earthworms, and caterpillars), fruits, and berries. The American robin's nest consists of long coarse grass, twigs, paper, and feathers, and is smeared with mud and often cushioned with grass or other soft materials. It is among the earliest birds to sing at dawn, and its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated. This American robin was photographed in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York City.
Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

The 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), and the fourth event of the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Held at the Meriadeck Ice Rink in Bordeaux, France, on 13 November 2015, medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition was cancelled after the first day, following the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The ISU later announced that the short program results would be considered the final results for the competition and any prize money and qualifying points for the Grand Prix Final were distributed. Shoma Uno of Japan won the men's event, Gracie Gold of the United States won the women's event, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (both pictured) of Russia won the pairs event, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States won the ice dance event. (Full article...)
December 7: Feast day of Saint Ambrose (Christianity); National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in the United States (1941)
Hugh McCulloch (December 7, 1808 – May 24, 1895) was an American financier who played a central role in financing the American Civil War. He served two non-consecutive terms as United States Secretary of the Treasury under three presidents. He was originally opposed to the creation of a system of national banks, but his reputation as head of the Bank of Indiana from 1857 to 1863 persuaded the Treasury to bring him in to supervise the new system as Comptroller of the Currency from 1863 to 1865. As Secretary of the Treasury from 1865 to 1869 under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, McCulloch reduced and funded the gigantic Civil War debt of the Union, and reestablished the federal taxation system across the former Confederate States of America. He served another six months as Secretary of the Treasury from 1884 to 1885, at the close of Chester A. Arthur's term as president. This line-engraved portrait of McCulloch was created by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation book of the first 42 secretaries of the treasury; McCulloch's portrait was used on the 1902 United States twenty-dollar bill.
Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva

哈维·克洛伊德·菲尔波特为美国企业家及政治人物,于1961年担任北卡罗来纳第24任副州长。菲尔波特成长于北卡罗来纳列克星敦,完成学业后出任联合家具公司总裁兼董事长。在1953年以民主党身份当选州众议员之前,他曾担任过多个地方政治职务。
Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was the president of the Confederate States of America (CSA) from 1861 to 1865. He previously represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and House of Representatives as a Democrat, and was the U.S. secretary of war from 1853 to 1857. A graduate of West Point, Davis served in the U.S. Army, fighting in the Mexican–American War. He was a cotton planter and owned as many as 113 slaves. During the Civil War, Davis served as commander in chief. When the CSA was defeated in 1865, he was captured, accused of involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of treason, and imprisoned at Fort Monroe. He was released without trial after two years. Immediately after the war, Davis was often blamed for the CSA's defeat but, after his release from prison, the Lost Cause movement deemed him a hero, and he was celebrated in the South. In the 21st century, however, he has been viewed more harshly, and many memorials to him have been removed. (Full article...)
December 6: Saint Nicholas's Day (Western Christianity); White Ribbon Day in Canada; Independence Day in Finland (1917)
Curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalidae) are a family of iguanian lizards found in the West Indies, with extant species in the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. There are presently 30 known species in this family, all of which are members of the genus Leiocephalus. Curly-tailed lizards vary in size depending on species, but typically are approximately 9 centimetres (3.5 inches) in snout-to-vent length. As implied by the name, most species of this family exhibit a curling of the tail. This is done both when a potential predator is present, showing the fitness of the lizard to a would-be predator and – in the case of an attack – drawing attention to the tail, which increases the lizard's chance of escaping. The tail is often also curled when predators are not present, however. Curly-tailed lizards mostly forage on arthropods such as insects, but also commonly consume flowers and fruits. Large individuals can eat small vertebrates, including anoles. This curly-tailed lizard of the species Leiocephalus varius, the Cayman curlytail, was photographed on the coast in George Town on the island of Grand Cayman.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

1880年美国总统选举于11月2日举行,是历史上第24次美国总统大选。本次的竞争双方主要是共和党候选人詹姆斯·艾布拉姆·加菲尔德和民主党候选人温菲尔德·斯科特·汉考克,最终加菲尔德胜出当选美国总统,选民投票率在美国历史上属最高之列。两位候选人的普选票总数差距尚不足2000,截至2024年大选,这仍然是美国所有总统大选中普选票差距最小的一次。
December 5: Krampusnacht in parts of Central Europe
Record charts in the UK began life in 1952 when Percy Dickins from New Musical Express (NME) imitated an idea started in American Billboard magazine and began compiling a hit parade. Prior to this, a song's popularity was measured by the sales of sheet music. Initially, Dickins telephoned a sample of around 20 shops asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated to give a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952. In terms of number-one singles, Frankie Laine, Guy Mitchell and Elvis Presley (pictured) were the most successful artists of the 1950s, having four singles reach the top spot. The longest duration of a single at number one was eighteen weeks, achieved by Frankie Laine's "I Believe", which still holds the record for the most non-consecutive weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart. (Full list...)
Till the Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker. Kern was involved with the production, but died before its completion. It was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers. The film, directed by Richard Whorf, premiered on December 5, 1946, in New York City.
Film credit: Richard Whorf

2003年5月,一场正式名称为“第一号特强气旋风暴鲍勃”的热带气旋在斯里兰卡引发56年来最严重的洪涝灾害。系统于5月10日在孟加拉湾上空发展形成,是2003年北印度洋气旋季的首场风暴。气旋于5月13日达到持续风速每小时140公里的最高强度。气旋在孟加拉湾中部上空向北飘移,因风切变增多而逐渐减弱。风暴转向东进,于5月16日退化成强烈低气压,然后蜿蜒向东北方向移动并重新增强成气旋风暴。系统从缅甸西部登岸,于次日在陆地上空消散。
The flag of Hong Kong depicts a white stylised five-petal flower of the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia × blakeana) in the centre of a field of Chinese red, the same red as on the flag of China. The Hong Kong Basic Law prescribes the design, and it is only to be made according to regulation and in approved sizes. Regulations regarding its use are stated in the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance; its desecration is unlawful and has been punished. The flag was unveiled on 4 April 1990 and approved on 10 August 1996. It was first officially hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom back to China, and replaced a colonial flag adopted in 1959. The 1959 flag, and a variant known as the Black Bauhinia, have been displayed by protesters in Hong Kong, particularly during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Government supporters often displayed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags together. (Full article...)
December 4: Navy Day in India
The siege of Baghdad took place in early 1258 when a large army under Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Hulegu had been sent by his brother, the Mongol khan Möngke, to conquer Persia. When Baghdad's ruler, Caliph al-Musta'sim, failed to reinforce the Mongol army, an angered Hulegu decided to overthrow him. The Mongol army routed a sortie led by al-Musta'sim's dawatdar (a leading minister) and besieged the city. After Mongol siege engines breached Baghdad's walls within days, al-Musta'sim surrendered and was later executed. The Mongol army pillaged the city for a week. The number of deaths was inflated by epidemics of disease, but Hulegu estimated his soldiers killed 200,000. Although the siege is often seen as the end of the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad prospered under Hulegu's Ilkhanate. This double-page illustration, taken from a 14th-century manuscript of Rashid al-Din Hamadani's Jami' al-tawarikh, depicts the attempted escape of the dawatdar down the river Tigris (centre right); the soldiers on the pontoons forced him back to Baghdad with the loss of three ships. The manuscript forms part of the Diez Albums, now in the collection of the Berlin State Library in Germany.
Illustration credit: unknown
葛柏(1922年-?),英國殖民地高級警官和貪污犯,曾任皇家香港警隊外籍總警司,他任職期間貪污款項逾430萬港元,在1973年6月潛逃英國。由於英國沒有香港《防止賄賂條例》下「收入與官職不相稱」的罪名,以致香港政府在葛柏潛逃當地後未能即時把他引渡,結果激起香港社會長久以來對貪污問題蘊釀的不滿,而民間更發起「反貪污、捉葛柏」運動,要求港府正視問題。促使香港總督麥理浩爵士在1974年2月成立廉政公署,隨即立案研究緝捕葛柏歸案。葛柏終於在1974年4月於英國家中被捕,翌年1月被解回香港,同年2月被法庭裁定貪污受賄罪名成立,判監四年。不過,葛柏服刑兩年多後就獲准於1977年10月提早出獄,並舉家移居西班牙。
Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as the paddle crab, swimming crab, or pāpaka in Māori, is a species of crab found in shallow, sandy-bottomed waters around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and uncommonly in southern Australia. This species is an opportunistic, aggressive, and versatile feeder active mostly at night, preying predominantly on molluscs and crustaceans. It is also highly prone to cannibalism, which accounts for over a quarter of its diet in some locations. The crab's paddle-shaped rear legs and streamlined carapace allow it to capture prey by swimming rapidly and to escape predation by burrowing in the sand. Its mating season is in winter and spring, after which the female likely moves into deeper waters to incubate and disperse her larvae. Commercial fisheries have harvested paddle crabs since the 1970s, and O. catharus is present in Māori culture as both an artistic motif and as a traditional source of food. (Full article...)
The golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius) is a rare species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae found in the southern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is a small bird, with a length of 25 to 27 centimetres (9.8 to 10.6 in) and a mass of 54 to 56 grams (1.9 to 2.0 oz), and is closely related to the more common hooded parrot and the extinct paradise parrot. Adult males are mainly blue, with a characteristic yellow area over the shoulder and black cap, while adult females are mainly dull greenish-yellow, and have a broad cream bar on the underside of the wings. This pair of golden-shouldered parrots – a female (left) and a male (right) – were photographed near the Peninsula Developmental Road south of Yarraden, Queensland.
Photograph credit: John Harrison
SMS Pommern was a Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy at the AG Vulcan Stettin yard at Stettin, Germany. Named after the Prussian province of Pomerania, she was laid down on 22 March 1904, launched on 2 December 1905, and commissioned into the navy on 6 August 1907. The ship was armed with four 28 cm (11 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Pommern was assigned to II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. At the start of World War I, she was stationed at the Elbe to support the defenses of the German Bight. She participated in sorties into the North Sea in attempts to destroy portions of the British Grand Fleet. These offensive operations culminated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was hit by torpedoes, which detonated one of her 17-centimeter (6.7 in) gun magazines. The resulting explosion broke the ship in half and killed the entire crew. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.)
Pedro II of Brazil (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), also known as Pedro the Magnanimous, was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for more than 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro as the seventh son of Pedro I and Maria Leopoldina, Pedro II inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, but he turned Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. The nation grew to be distinguished from its Hispanic neighbors on account of its political stability, freedom of speech, respect for civil rights, vibrant economic growth, and form of government – a functional representative parliamentary monarchy. Pedro pushed through the abolition of slavery in Brazil despite opposition from powerful political and economic interests. He established a reputation as a vigorous sponsor of learning, culture, and the sciences, and he won the respect and admiration of people such as Charles Darwin, Victor Hugo, and Friedrich Nietzsche, and was a friend to Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among others. Historians have regarded Pedro positively and several have ranked him as the greatest Brazilian. This 1872 painting by Pedro Américo depicts Pedro II delivering the speech from the throne in the General Assembly and wearing the Imperial Regalia.
Painting credit: Pedro Américo
Julio and Marisol was a bilingual public-service advertising campaign that ran from 1989 to 2001 in the New York City Subway promoting condom use to prevent AIDS. The well-known catchphrase was a line from the first installment, in which Marisol sobs, "I love you, but not enough to die for you". The story follows a young Hispanic couple as they explore human sexuality and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their relationship. Designed to appeal to a Hispanic audience particularly at risk due to cultural attitudes discouraging condom use, it has been described as "one part steamy soap opera, one part language instruction, and two parts AIDS education service". The ads were praised by public health officials for presenting situations which people could relate to, and by AIDS activists for breaking down the social stigma associated with the disease. They drew criticism, however, from family values advocates who objected to the promotion of condoms and the tacit acceptance of homosexuality. (Full article...)
December 1: World AIDS Day; Great Union Day in Romania; Rosa Parks Day in some states and cities in the United States
Peru has 258 protected natural areas covering terrestrial and marine environments: 78 managed nationally by the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP), 35 by regional governments, and 145 under private administration. Peru is recognized as one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, due to its high concentration of species and diverse ecosystems. Its protected areas are continental and marine regions formally designated by the State to conserve the country’s biological diversity and associated cultural, scenic and scientific values, while contributing to sustainable development. The protected areas cover 21.67% of the country’s terrestrial territory and 7.89% of its marine territory. The system includes 15 national parks, 18 national reserves, 9 national sanctuaries, 4 historic sanctuaries, 2 landscape reserves, 3 wildlife refuges, 11 communal reserves, 6 protected forests, 2 game reserves, and 8 reserved zones. (Full list...)
The Massacre of the Mamelukes is an 1819 history painting by the French artist Horace Vernet. It depicts one of the final events in the rise to power of Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali, when the Mamluk people was massacred at the Cairo Citadel in 1811. The painting shows Ali sitting calmly after ordering the killings, smoking his narguile as he watches the violence unfold. The Massacre of the Mamelukes, one of several versions of the scene produced by Vernet, was exhibited at the Salon of 1819 in Paris, and is now in the collection of the Musée de Picardie in Amiens, France.
Painting credit: Horace Vernet

The Mechanical Turk, also known as the "Automaton Chess Player" or "the Turk", was a chess-playing machine, first displayed in 1770, which appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess autonomously, but whose pieces were in reality moved via levers and magnets by a chess master hidden in the machine's lower cavity. The machine was toured and exhibited for 84 years as an automaton, and continued giving occasional exhibitions until 1854, when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1857, an article published by the owner's son revealed that it was an elaborate hoax, a fact suspected by some but never fully explained while the machine still existed. Constructed by Wolfgang von Kempelen to impress Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the Turk won most games, including those against statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. The device demonstrated the knight's tour, a puzzle that requires a knight to visit every square of a chessboard once. (Full article...)
November 30: Saint Andrew's Day (Christianity)
Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator, and author. In 1968 she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, and she represented New York's 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972 she became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for president of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. In 2015 Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This photograph shows Chisholm as she was announcing her candidacy for the presidency in 1972.
Photograph credit: Thomas J. O'Halloran; restored by Adam Cuerden
KEXP-FM (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Center, and the transmitter is in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The station is operated by the non-profit entity Friends of KEXP, an affiliate of the University of Washington. Since March 2024, KEXP-FM's programming has been rebroadcast over Alameda, California–licensed KEXC, which serves the San Francisco Bay Area. As well as daily variety mix shows featuring mostly alternative rock music, KEXP hosts weekly programs dedicated to other musical genres. Founded in 1972 as KCMU, the student-run station of the University of Washington, KEXP gained recognition for its influence on the regional music scene. It was the first station to air grunge bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden in the late 1980s. In 2014, the university transferred the FCC license of KEXP-FM to Friends of KEXP. (Full article...)
November 29: Liberation Day in Albania
The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is a philosophical position about how the mathematics used in quantum mechanics relates to physical reality. It asserts that the universal wavefunction is objectively real, and that there is no wave function collapse. This implies that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realized in some "world" or universe. In contrast to some other interpretations of quantum mechanics, the evolution of reality as a whole in MWI is rigidly deterministic and local. Many-worlds is also called the relative state formulation or the Everett interpretation, after physicist Hugh Everett, who first proposed it in 1957. Bryce DeWitt popularized the formulation and named it "many-worlds" in the 1970s. This graphic illustrates the many-worlds interpretation of Schrödinger's cat, a popular thought experiment concerning quantum superposition, depicting the experiment's different outcomes as two branching strips of film stock. Every quantum event is a branch point; the cat is both alive and dead, even before the box is opened, but the "alive" and "dead" cats are in different branches of the multiverse, both of which are equally real, but which do not interact with each other.
Illustration credit: Christian Schirm