The painting

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

Mugshot of Edgar Matobato

• ... that ex-hitman Edgar Matobato (pictured) fled the Philippines with a fake passport while posing as a gardener?
• ... that Yamada's Symphony in F major had to be reconstructed after a maritime accident and after the bombing of Tokyo during WWII?
• ... that Chris Anderson was one of three members of his family to win a Delaware state golf championship?
• ... that a horse in an episode of The Last of Us previously appeared in The 100 and Jurassic World Dominion?
• ... that Everyone Hates Elon invited members of the public to destroy a Tesla Model S to raise money for food banks?
• ... that the 2004–2005 trial of the Chohan family murders was the longest in the history of the London Metropolitan Police?
• ... that the meningitis storyline in the romance novel Harriet was inspired by the illness of the author's son?
• ... that the 2023 EFL League Two play-off final saw a father–son duo on opposing coaching sides?
• ... that a bird with huge feet once walked by a river near Denali?

Explosions in Tehran

• Israel launches multiple airstrikes (aftermath pictured) against Iran's nuclear program and senior military leadership.
• Air India Flight 171 crashes in Ahmedabad, India, killing 274 people.
• The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson dies at the age of 82.
• A shooting at a secondary school in Graz, Austria, leaves eleven people dead.
• At the Tony Awards, Purpose wins the Best Play and Maybe Happy Ending wins the Best Musical.

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

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop

• 1215 – King John of England and a group of rebel barons agreed on the text of Magna Carta, an influential charter of rights.
• 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: The signing of the Convention of Alessandria brought temporary peace between France and Austria.
• 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge took a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it gallops (animation pictured), which became the basis of motion pictures.
• 1944 – World War II: The United States Army Air Forces began its first air raid on the Japanese archipelago, although little damage was caused.
• 1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in the commercial centre of Manchester, England, injuring more than 200 people and causing widespread damage to buildings.

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Fossil of P. pustulosus at the Jura Museum

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

Burgle Bros 2

• ... that the box of Burgle Bros 2 transforms into a two-layer game board (pictured)?
• ... that Sydney Agudong and her sister were the final two candidates for a role in Lilo & Stitch?
• ... that Alexander McQueen pioneered the use of digitally engineered prints in fashion with Natural Dis-tinction Un-natural Selection?
• ... that Charles Moses competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics, despite previously fabricating claims of his Olympic participation?
• ... that the 1956 album Lonnie Donegan Showcase entered both the UK albums chart and the UK singles chart?
• ... that every team on which Bob Kercher played for seven years went undefeated?
• ... that to comply with broadcasting regulations, some American TV stations claimed that tabloid shows and a Christmas special were educational?
• ... that film director James Ashcroft enjoys "playing in the dark"?
• ... that a 1994 paper tried to claim ancient Babylonian astronomy as a new discovery in diabetes care?

Air India Boeing 787-8 in 2014

• Israel launches multiple airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program and senior military leadership.
• Air India Flight 171 (aircraft pictured) crashes in Ahmedabad, India, killing more than 260 people.
• The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson dies at the age of 82.
• A shooting at a secondary school in Graz, Austria, leaves eleven people dead.
• At the Tony Awards, Purpose wins the Best Play and Maybe Happy Ending wins the Best Musical.

June 14

Killing of Sudbury and Hales

• 1381 – During the Peasants' Revolt in England, rebels stormed the Tower of London, killing Simon Sudbury, Lord Chancellor, and Robert Hales, Lord High Treasurer (both pictured).
• 1644 – First English Civil War: Prince Maurice abandoned his siege of Lyme Regis in Dorset after learning of the approach of a Parliamentarian relief force.
• 1934 – The landmark Australian Eastern Mission concluded after a three-month diplomatic tour of East and South-East Asia.
• 2014 – War in Donbas: An Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by forces of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, killing all 49 people on board.

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1860 bronze farthing, depicting Britannia

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

Emperor Yingzong of Ming

• ... that Emperor Yingzong of Ming (pictured) abolished the practice of concubines committing suicide following an emperor's death?
• ... that FlexiRide bus services have no fixed route, operating only when passengers book a trip?
• ... that Sri Jumahaliah Hanifa was the first woman to be the dean of the University of Indonesia's law school?
• ... that two-thirds of the six-week budget allocated to the filming of a Doctor Who episode was used up in only three days?
• ... that despite being rivals since the 1920s, the 2010 NFC Championship Game was only the second time the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers had ever met in the playoffs?
• ... that the then–prime minister of New Zealand said that the greatest impact of the December 2011 Christchurch earthquakes was on mental health?
• ... that sprinter Ng Ka Yee set four Hong Kong records in 1988 ahead of competing in that year's Olympics?
• ... the 2025 student elections at 15 constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University could not be held due to political conflicts between student organizations?
• ... that Fromage was described as "the cheesiest board game of all time"?

Air India Boeing 787-8 in 2014

• Air India Flight 171 (aircraft pictured) crashes in Ahmedabad, India, killing more than 200 people.
• The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson dies at the age of 82.
• A shooting at a secondary school in Graz, Austria, leaves eleven people dead.
• At the Tony Awards, Purpose wins the Best Play and Maybe Happy Ending wins the Best Musical.
• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigns after weeks of protests.

June 13

USS Jeannette

• 1525 – Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, beginning the practice of clerical marriage in Protestantism.
• 1881 – The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the USS Jeannette (pictured) was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in ice for almost two years.
• 1952 – Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one.
• 1969 – Preston Smith, Governor of Texas, signed a law converting a research arm of Texas Instruments into the University of Texas at Dallas.
• 2013 – Some of the closest advisors and collaborators of Czech prime minister Petr Nečas were arrested for corruption.

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Carey in 2019

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

Statue of Gigeiten at Akishinodera

• ... that the sculpture of the Japanese goddess Gigeiten (pictured) at the temple Akishinodera has an 8th-century head and a 13th-century body?
• ... that David Mavrogonato was exempted from a tax on Jews due to his services to Venice in the 1450s?
• ... that The Old Elm was used by the Ottoman Turks to hang captured hajduci?
• ... that Mohamed Asswai Khalifa was the first Libyan to compete at the Olympics?
• ... that the author of Octavia based one character on a former lover?
• ... that Rae Lil Black, who was at one point one of the 20 most popular models on Pornhub, left the adult industry and converted to Islam after visiting Malaysia?
• ... that the Roman lawyer Cicero defended Gnaeus Plancius in 54 BCE, but neither the verdict nor exactly what Plancius was accused of have survived?
• ... that Larry Steinbach did not start high school until the age of 22?
• ... that the Scottish invasion of England in 1648 was defeated by an army less than half their size?

Brian Wilson in 1990

• The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson (pictured) dies at the age of 82.
• A shooting at a secondary school in Graz, Austria, leaves eleven people dead.
• At the Tony Awards, Purpose wins the Best Play and Maybe Happy Ending wins the Best Musical.
• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigns after weeks of protests.
• In the Netherlands, an early election is called after the Schoof cabinet collapses as the PVV abandons the governing coalition.

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

Boeing 777

• 1798 – Following the successful French invasion of Malta, the Knights Hospitaller surrendered Malta to Napoleon, initiating two years of occupation.
• 1864 – Union general Ulysses S. Grant pulled his troops out of the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia, ending one of the bloodiest, most lopsided battles in the American Civil War.
• 1914 – As part of the Ottoman Empire's policies of ethnic cleansing, Turkish irregulars began a six-day massacre in the predominantly Greek town of Phocaea.
• 1954 – Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at his death in 1857, was canonized by Pope Pius XII, making him one of the youngest non-martyred saints in the Catholic Church.
• 1994 – The Boeing 777 (pictured), the world's largest twinjet, made its maiden flight.

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Excerpt of a piece written for the concerto

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

Beta

• ... that Beta (pictured) brought Scandinavians to the Hawaiian Kingdom to work on sugarcane plantations?
• ... that an Iowa TV station paid its employees in two-dollar bills?
• ... that the 1946 Aviators Affair saw more than a dozen Soviet air force commanders and aircraft industry officials purged on Stalin's orders?
• ... that some conspiracy theorists believe that Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castro's son?
• ... that The Naulahka by Rudyard Kipling depicts the barriers Indian women faced in receiving health care, and the efforts of Western women to help them?
• ... that Hasto Wardoyo required his municipal employees to buy at least 10 kg of locally produced rice every month?
• ... that the fourth first lady of Poland manufactured and smuggled nitroglycerin used by the Polish independence movement to attack Russian officials?
• ... that digitally removing a spider bite from an episode of The Last of Us cost thousands of dollars per shot?
• ... that officials of the Worcester Bus Company blamed television for declining ridership?

Kara Young

• At the Tony Awards, Purpose (Best Featured Actress winner Kara Young pictured) wins the Best Play and Maybe Happy Ending wins the Best Musical.
• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigns after weeks of protests.
• In the Netherlands, an early election is called after the Schoof cabinet collapses as the PVV abandons the governing coalition.
• Lee Jae-myung is elected as president of South Korea.
• In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.

June 11

George Wallace protesting desegregation at the University of Alabama

• 1594 – Philip II of Spain recognized the sovereign rights of the principalía, local Philippine nobles and chieftains who had converted to Catholicism.
• 1724 – Johann Sebastian Bach directed his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 in Leipzig on the first Sunday after Trinity, beginning his chorale cantata cycle.
• 1914 – Around 2,000 members of European society attended a ball at Kenwood House, England, in one of the last major social events before the outbreak of the First World War.
• 1963 – The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor George Wallace stepped aside after defiantly blocking the entrance to an auditorium (pictured).

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

Más Notícias

• ... that an 1895 painting (pictured) stood out to a critic who had described the artist's previous works as a "list of disasters"?
• ... that Jacques Drollet said that he would have Marlon Brando arrested if Brando ever returned to Tahiti?
• ... that the mortar for St Peter's Cathedral in Malawi was made from soil formed by compacted termite mounds?
• ... that the song "100 Great People Who Made Korea Shine" mentions Yi Wanyong, who is known as a traitor for signing the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty?
• ... that Sheldon L. Toomer, tired of the seven-mile trip to the nearest bank, founded a new one?
• ... that the founders of the news website San José Spotlight considered San Jose to be a news desert?
• ... that Najmul Akhyar worked out of a shipping container for some time after the 2018 Lombok earthquakes?
• ... that fans chartered yachts to hear "Thunder" for the first time?
• ... that Kent Haruf wrote his final novel in 45 days while dying of a lung condition?

Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene

• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene (pictured) resigns after weeks of protests.
• In the Netherlands, an early election is called after the Schoof cabinet collapses as the PVV abandons the governing coalition.
• Lee Jae-myung is elected as president of South Korea.
• In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.

June 10

John Diefenbaker

• 1624 – Thirty Years' War: France and the Dutch Republic concluded the Treaty of Compiègne, a mutual defence alliance.
• 1786 – Ten days after being formed by an earthquake, a landslide dam on the Dadu River in China was destroyed by an aftershock, causing a flood that killed an estimated 100,000 people.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The Confederate Army only suffered eight casualties in its victory at the Battle of Big Bethel in York County, Virginia.
• 1957 – Led by John Diefenbaker (pictured), the Progressive Conservative Party won a plurality of House of Commons seats in the Canadian federal election.
• 1987 – Mass protests demanding direct presidential elections broke out across South Korea.

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Kate Moss in 2019

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

Helen Kendall

• ... that Helen Kendall (pictured) was one of 446 Canadians to receive the Royal Red Cross for her service in World War I?
• ... that suggested responses to nihilism include detachment, resignation, defiance, disruption, and the creation of new values?
• ... that Sumahadi, a future Indonesian minister of forestry, was the only person in his cohort to graduate without a thesis?
• ... that Joe Pantoliano thought that he would star in This Is Us, not an episode of The Last of Us?
• ... that the first UK private toll road in a century operated for 14 weeks in 2014?
• ... that Brazilian medium Benjamin Teixeira de Aguiar said that Lula da Silva is the reincarnation of Pedro II of Brazil?
• ... that The Dark Domain was said by one critic to have placed its author "within the canon of supernatural greats"?
• ... that Remedios Varo's only sculpture, Homo rodans, is accompanied by a satirical anthropological manuscript?
• ... that it was feared that Earl Ohlgren had broken his neck during an NFL exhibition game, but he was actually just in shock?

Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene

• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene (pictured) resigns after weeks of protests.
• In the Netherlands, an early election is called after the Schoof cabinet collapses as the PVV abandons the governing coalition.
• Lee Jae-myung is elected as president of South Korea.
• In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.

June 9

Abraham Whipple

• 1549 – The first Book of Common Prayer was legally mandated by Parliament, introducing a fully vernacular Protestant liturgy to the Church of England.
• 1772 – In an act of defiance against the Navigation Acts, American colonists led by Abraham Whipple (pictured) attacked and burned the British schooner Gaspee.
• 1928 – Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew landed the Southern Cross in Brisbane, completing the first transpacific flight.
• 1954 – During hearings investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy, Army lawyer Joseph N. Welch asked McCarthy: "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
• 1999 – Yugoslav Wars: The Kumanovo Agreement was signed, bringing an end to the Kosovo War the next day.

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Official portrait, 1992

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

Kitten in an Opishnia decorated vessel

• ... that Opishnia decorative ceramics (example pictured) use flowers, grapes and wreaths as motifs?
• ... that Paul Tiulana lost his leg in World War II, and afterwards helped to bring back an Iñupiat dance that had not been fully performed in more than fifty years?
• ... that The Oceanic Languages is so ubiquitous among scholars of the Oceanic languages that it is known simply as "the blue book"?
• ... that Blu Fiefer began incorporating pole dancing into her live performances after she visited a strip club in London?
• ... that, soon after the failure of the first British expedition against Sambas, its commander died of illness?
• ... that Richard L. Morrill, as president of the University of Richmond, was the highest-paid private-school president in Virginia?
• ... that, to research her bonkbuster Wicked!, Jilly Cooper visited more than a dozen schools and taught at one?
• ... that Brian Satterfield worked for United Parcel Service before playing in the NFL?
• ... that My Little Pony fan music has developed its own music subgenres such as "dubtrot" and "ponybeat"?

Lee Jae-myung

• Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
• Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigns after weeks of protests.
• In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
• Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as episcopal co-prince of Andorra.

June 8

Margaret Bondfield

• 1826 – In York, Upper Canada, members of the Family Compact destroyed William Lyon Mackenzie's printing press in the Types Riot after Mackenzie accused them of corruption.
• 1929 – Margaret Bondfield (pictured) became the first female member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom when she was named Minister of Labour by Ramsay MacDonald.
• 1941 – World War II: The Allies commenced the Syria–Lebanon campaign against Vichy French possessions in the Levant.
• 1953 – An F5 tornado struck Flint and Beecher, Michigan, causing 116 fatalities, 844 injuries and $19 million in damage during a larger tornado outbreak sequence.

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Confederate flag originally issued to the regiment

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

Francis W. Joaque

• ... that Francis W. Joaque (pictured) was one of the earliest African photographers?
• ... that the Green Bay Packers have achieved a team-record 23-point comeback twice: once in 1982, and again in 2013?
• ... that Bach's Easter Oratorio has been regarded as a sequel to his St John Passion?
• ... that Ayman Hassouna led a student expedition to investigate archaeological sites in Gaza?
• ... that the Grand Prix of Finland was held again in 2022 after Russia was banned from hosting international figure skating competitions?
• ... that as a child, Annis Lee Wister translated Struwwelpeter from German to English?
• ... that Femke Bol's time of 49.17 seconds on 2 March 2024 broke her own 400 m short track world record?
• ... that fighter pilot Luther H. Richmond kept his P-51 Mustang's shiny, silver, no-camouflage finish to tempt enemies into aerial combat?
• ... that the male pink scaled squid has been observed to mate upside down?

Lee Jae-myung

• Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
• Prime minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigns after weeks of protests.
• In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
• Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as episcopal co-prince of Andorra.

June 7

Monument of Branimir

• 879 – Pope John VIII officially recognised Croatia as an independent state, and Branimir (monument pictured) as its duke.
• 1628 – The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of individuals, received royal assent from King Charles I.
• 1917 – First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under German lines, killing perhaps 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion in history during the Battle of Messines.
• 1948 – Anti-Jewish riots broke out in the French protectorate in Morocco, during which 44 people were killed and 150 injured.
• 1969 – In their only UK concert, the rock supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker, debuted in London's Hyde Park in front of 100,000 fans.

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Traffic control on the Red Ball Express

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

• ... that 170 trips on Sounder commuter rail (pictured) were cancelled in a single winter due to mudslides?
• ... that John C. Raaen Jr., at age 103, is the last surviving US Army Ranger from the first D-Day assault wave on Omaha Beach?
• ... that the Donnie Creek fire in 2023 was the largest wildfire in British Columbia's history?
• ... that Teuku Karimoeddin was arrested by the Imperial Japanese military police for resisting mandatory head shaving and other regulations?
• ... that a dinner between Bill Maher and Donald Trump was satirized in "My Dinner with Adolf"?
• ... that Guyanese trade unionist Philomena Sahoye-Shury was nicknamed "Fireball" due to her "outspoken and forthright stance on the workers' behalf"?
• ... that some Byzantine churches in Philadelphia, modern-day Amman, were repurposed from earlier Roman temples?
• ... that upon being drafted by the NFL's Chicago Bears, Ralph Jarvis wanted to thank the judge who sent him to the reform school where he first played American football?
• ... that some bodies at Chalandriani were buried with "frying pans"?

Lee Jae-myung

• Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
• Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as the new episcopal co-prince of Andorra.
• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies at the age of 87.
• Flooding submerges the town of Mokwa, Nigeria, leaving more than 200 people dead.

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

Shivaji

• 1674 – Shivaji (pictured), who led a resistance to free the Maratha from the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, was crowned the first chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.
• 1749 – A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered.
• 1813 – War of 1812: The British ambushed an American encampment near present-day Stoney Creek, Ontario, capturing two senior officers.
• 1912 – The largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century began, forming the volcano Novarupta in the Alaska Peninsula.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy in France.

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The southern entrance

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

Antimonumento 49 ABC

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

Lee Jae-myung

• Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
• Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as the new episcopal co-prince of Andorra.
• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies at the age of 87.
• Flooding submerges the town of Mokwa, Nigeria, leaving more than 200 people dead.

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

Antonio Luna

• 1897 – The Ancient Temples and Shrines Preservation Law was passed, instituting the protection of structures and artifacts in Japan designated National Treasures.
• 1899 – Antonio Luna (pictured), Commanding General of the Philippine Army, was assassinated in the midst of the Philippine–American War.
• 1997 – Anticipating a coup attempt, President Pascal Lissouba of the Republic of the Congo ordered the detention of his rival Denis Sassou Nguesso, initiating a second civil war.
• 2004 – Noël Mamère, the mayor of Bègles, conducted a marriage ceremony for two men, even though same-sex marriage in France had not yet been legalised.
• 2009 – After almost two months of civil disobedience, at least 31 people were killed in clashes between the National Police and indigenous people in Bagua province, Peru.

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Photograph of the convention

The 1880 Republican National Convention (June 2 to 8, 1880, Chicago) resulted in the nominations of James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York as the Republican Party candidates for U.S. president and vice president. Leaders in the early balloting at the convention, which deadlocked for several days, were former president Ulysses S. Grant, Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, and John Sherman, the treasury secretary. After the 35th ballot, Blaine and Sherman switched their support to a new "dark horse", Garfield, a congressman from Ohio, who had nominated Sherman. On the 36th ballot, Garfield won the nomination. After Arthur won the vice presidential nomination on the first ballot, the longest-ever Republican National Convention adjourned. The Garfield–Arthur Republican ticket narrowly defeated Democrats Winfield Scott Hancock and William H. English in the 1880 presidential election. (This article is part of a featured topic: 1880 United States presidential election.)

Beth Sholom Synagogue

• ... that Beth Sholom Synagogue (pictured) has been compared to a concrete ship, a teepee with fins, and a giant fish?
• ... that the Soviet Union designated both communist and non-communist states as national democratic states?
• ... that Ferdinand I of Bulgaria once described historian Dimitar Agura as having "the eyes, gaze and head of a cat"?
• ... that Nathan Crumpton was shirtless while holding the flag of American Samoa at the 2022 Winter Olympics?
• ... that Masanori Tanimoto was elected as the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture seven times?
• ... that more than 500 American law firms signed an amicus brief opposing their government's actions against law firms in 2025?
• ... that Juan Astorquia was the captain of the Athletic Bilbao team that won the first Spanish Cup in 1903?
• ... that Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" is the highest-charting Fifty Shades song on the US Billboard Hot 100?
• ... that Mike Estep was nicknamed "The Terminator"?

Lee Jae-myung

• Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
• Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
• Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as the new episcopal co-prince of Andorra.
• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies at the age of 87.
• Flooding submerges the town of Mokwa, Nigeria, leaving more than 200 people dead.

June 4: Trianon Treaty Day in Romania (1920)

German submarine U-505

• 1784 – Élisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon, covering a distance of 4 km (2.5 mi) and reaching an estimated altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
• 1944 – World War II: A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505 (pictured).
• 1974 – Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians hosted Ten Cent Beer Night, but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to rioting by drunken fans.

• 1989 – Following the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Assembly of Experts elected Ali Khamenei to be Supreme Leader of Iran.

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No. 2 Squadron Canberra, which Evans flew in Vietnam

Selwyn David Evans (3 June 1925 – 2 September 2020) was a senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a writer and consultant on defence matters. He was a member of the Australian contingent in the Berlin Airlift, then a VIP captain with the Governor-General's Flight, the latter of which earned him the Air Force Cross. In the 1960s, Evans was twice posted to No. 2 Squadron, where he flew Canberra jet bombers (example pictured) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after completing a tour in Vietnam. He became Chief of Air Force Operations and was later promoted to Chief of the Air Staff. Evans was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia in 1984. Retiring from the RAAF in 1985, he was a board member and advisor to British Aerospace Australia, and chairman of the National Capital Authority. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for his services to the Australian Defence Force and the Canberra community. (Full article...)

Medway Street footbridge

• ... that after the Medway Street footbridge had become twisted (pictured) in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, part of it was turned into a memorial?
• ... that the first defendants indicted for the crime of apartheid have not yet faced trial?
• ... that the Saxe–Goldstein hypothesis has been used to explain burial practices in Greece, Australia, Madagascar and Peru?
• ... that surveyors in colonial Pennsylvania may have deliberately excluded fertile land from a tract granted to the Okehocking people in 1703?
• ... that the German explorer Gustav Conrau shot himself in 1899 to avoid recapture, according to a later report by his local interpreter?
• ... that the creator of what is considered the world's first escape room attributed his idea to playing the online Flash game Crimson Room?
• ... that a Long Island TV station sued a columnist for satirizing its signal and programming?
• ... that the music video for "The Kids from Yesterday" by My Chemical Romance was directed by a fan?
• ... that Scott Burnside received journalism awards for writing about shift work, murders, and ice hockey?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
• Flooding submerges the town of Mokwa, Nigeria, leaving more than 200 people dead.
• In sumo, Ōnosato Daiki is promoted to yokozuna.
• In association football, Liverpool win the Premier League title.
• In the Surinamese general election, the National Democratic Party wins the most seats in the National Assembly.

June 3: Martyrs Day in Uganda;

Silhouette of Jack Jouett

• 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett (pictured) rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of British cavalry who had been sent to capture them.
• 1892 – Liverpool F.C., one of England's most successful football clubs, was founded.
• 1937 – Half a year after abdicating the British throne, Edward, Duke of Windsor, married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony in France.
• 1969 – During a SEATO exercise in the South China Sea, a collision between HMAS Melbourne and USS Frank E. Evans resulted in the latter vessel being cut in two and the deaths of 74 personnel.
• 1982 – A failed assassination attempt was made on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, triggering an Israeli decision to invade Lebanon three days later.

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Zeng (right) with fellow imperial officials, 1872

Zeng Laishun (c. 1826 – 2 June 1895) was a Chinese interpreter and among the first Chinese students to study at a foreign college. Born in Singapore to a Malay mother and a Teochew father, he was orphaned at a young age, and educated at a Christian mission school. He was sent to the United States in 1843 and later attended Hamilton College for two years, before a lack of funding forced him to move to China. After a few years of mission work, he moved to Shanghai to become a businessman, and later an English teacher at an imperial naval school. In 1871, he was selected as a tutor and interpreter for the Chinese Educational Mission. Alongside Yung Wing, Chen Lanbin, his family, and the first cohort of students, he returned to the U.S. in 1872, staying in Springfield, Massachusetts. He went on speaking tours and was briefly dispatched to Cuba to investigate the abuses of the coolie trade. He was recalled to China in 1874, and took up work as a secretary for statesman Li Hongzhang. (Full article...)

National Windrush Monument

• ... that the National Windrush Monument (pictured) features a family standing on a pile of suitcases and "surveying their new country"?
• ... that a drawing of a dog was promoted by the president of El Salvador, caused an unaffiliated song to peak on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, and got its original creator doxxed?
• ... that the naturalised German Mandenga Diek was denied funds to return to his native Cameroon because he wanted to bring his German wife?
• ... that Chicago's tornado siren has been described as creepier than the city's actual tornadoes?
• ... that a snowstorm resulted in Mickey Volcan and Garry Howatt becoming the first active players to officiate a National Hockey League game?
• ... that Església de Sant Serni de Canillo has the tallest bell tower in Andorra?
• ... that the director of the lesbian film The First Girl I Loved based the plot on true stories gathered from all-girls school graduates he interviewed?
• ... that butcher Leo Franciosi was also a four-time Olympian?
• ... that a homily written by Pseudo-Evodius features Jesus and the devil competing in a fishing tournament in the desert?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
• In sumo, Ōnosato Daiki is promoted to yokozuna.
• In association football, Liverpool win the Premier League title.
• In the Surinamese general election, the National Democratic Party wins the most seats in the National Assembly.
• In motor racing, Álex Palou wins the Indianapolis 500.

June 2: Festa della Repubblica in Italy (1946)

Luigi Galleani

• 1802 – Henry Hacking killed the Aboriginal Australian resistance fighter Pemulwuy after Philip Gidley King ordered that he be brought in dead or alive.
• 1919 – First Red Scare: The anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani (pictured) set off eight bombs in eight cities across the United States.
• 1953 – Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1973 – Della Aleksander co-presented an episode of Open Door on transgender women's lives.
• 2023 – A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasore, Odisha, in eastern India resulted in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured.

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Logo of Namco Limited

Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955 by Masaya Nakamura which operated video arcades, amusement parks, produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. In the 1960s, it manufactured electro-mechanical arcade games such as the 1965 game Periscope. It entered the video game industry after acquiring the Japanese division of Atari in 1974, distributing games such as Breakout and Gee Bee. Among Namco's first major hits was the fixed shooter Galaxian in 1979 and Pac-Man in 1980. During the golden age of arcade video games in the early 1980s, Namco released titles such as Galaga, Xevious, and Pole Position. Namco entered the home market in 1984 with conversions of its arcade games. Namco produced several multi-million-selling game franchises, such as Pac-Man, Galaxian, Tekken, Tales, Ridge Racer, Ace Combat, and Taiko no Tatsujin. In 2006, Namco merged with Bandai to form Bandai Namco Holdings. (Full article...)

Sylvilagus aquaticus

• ... that the swamp rabbit (pictured) is both territorial and a great swimmer?
• ... that no other month in a calendar year starts with the same day of the week as June?
• ... that the Lady Carbisdale led an unsuccessful takeover bid for Sheffield United F.C. and, after a gender transition, was interviewed to become its chief executive?
• ... that the first version of the Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge was heavily damaged by a tornado during construction?
• ... that medicine dean Sjahriar Rasad was accused of being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Indonesian President Sukarno?
• ... that the U.S. Supreme Court is currently deciding whether the family who lived in a house wrongly raided by the FBI may sue the government?
• ... that Romanian sports shooter Petre Cișmigiu demanded the elimination of a pension gap between Olympic and non-Olympic champions, such as himself?
• ... that the novel Looking Glass Girl was launched at Coventry Central Library to highlight the threat of 17 libraries in the city closing?
• ... that John P. Morris won a strike by hiding pigeons in fur coats?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
• In sumo, Ōnosato Daiki is promoted to yokozuna.
• In association football, Liverpool win the Premier League title.
• In motor racing, Álex Palou wins the Indianapolis 500.
• In basketball, the EuroLeague concludes with Fenerbahçe winning the Final Four Playoff.

June 1

Wreckage of American Airlines Flight 1420

• 1676 – Scanian War: The Swedish warship Kronan, one of the largest ships in the world at the time, sank at the Battle of Öland with the loss of around 800 men.
• 1857 – The Revolution of the Ganhadores, the first general strike in Brazil, began in Salvador, Bahia.
• 1974 – In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, to treat victims of choking.
• 1988 – Group representation constituencies were introduced to the parliament of Singapore.
• 1999 – On landing at Little Rock National Airport in the U.S. state of Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 overran the runway and crashed (wreckage pictured), resulting in 11 deaths.

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Members of the victorious Blondie crew

The Boat Race 2018 took place on 24 March. Held annually, The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London, England. For the third time in the history of the event, the men's, the women's and both reserves' races were all held on the Tideway on the same day. The women's race saw Cambridge lead from the start, eventually winning by a considerable margin to take the overall record to 43–30 in their favour. In the women's reserve race, Cambridge's Blondie (crew pictured) defeated Oxford's Osiris by nine lengths. The men's reserve race was won by Cambridge's Goldie, who defeated Oxford's Isis by a margin of four lengths. The men's race was the final event of the day and completed a whitewash as Cambridge won, taking the overall record to 83–80 in their favour. The races were watched by around 250,000 spectators live, and broadcast around the world. (Full article...)

Kitty Marion

• ... that Kitty Marion (pictured) was force-fed over 200 times during a hunger strike?
• ... that the North Korean destroyer Choe Hyon is the largest ship constructed for the Korean People's Navy?
• ... that after the release of High and Low, director Akira Kurosawa received telephone calls imitating his film that threatened to kidnap his daughter?
• ... that May Bradford Shockley is why Silicon Valley is where it is?
• ... that the conservation of a goat might endanger the survival of Aquilegia paui?
• ... that Joy Laking predicted in a school writing assignment that within ten years she would be making a living as an artist?
• ... that the Taiwanese restaurant chain Formosa Chang drew inspiration from McDonald's for its non-greasy atmosphere and corporate practices?
• ... that Haridas Mitra had his death sentence commuted after the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi?
• ... that "Steve's Lava Chicken" recently became the shortest song to enter the UK Top 40?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
• In sumo, Ōnosato Daiki is promoted to yokozuna.
• In association football, Liverpool win the Premier League title.
• In motor racing, Álex Palou wins the Indianapolis 500.
• In basketball, the EuroLeague concludes with Fenerbahçe winning the Final Four Playoff.

May 31: Dragon Boat Festival in China and Taiwan (2025); World No Tobacco Day

Bessarion

• 455 – Petronius Maximus, the ruler of the Western Roman Empire, was stoned to death by a mob as he fled Rome ahead of the arrival of a Vandal force that sacked the city.
• 1223 – Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan Rus' army at the Battle of the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine.
• 1468 – Cardinal Bessarion (pictured) announced his donation of 746 Greek and Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca Marciana.
• 1935 – A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Balochistan in British India, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
• 2013 – A tornado struck Central Oklahoma, killing eight people and injuring more than 150 others.

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GL Mk. II transmitter van

Radar, Gun Laying, Mark I, or GL Mk. I for short, was an early World War II radar system developed by the British Army to provide information for anti-aircraft artillery. There were two upgrades, GL/EF (elevation finder) and GL Mk. II (pictured), both improving the ability to determine a target's bearing and elevation. GL refers to the radar's ability to direct the guns onto a target, known as gun laying. The first GL sets were developed in 1936 using separate transmitters and receivers mounted on gun carriages. Several were captured in 1940, leading the Germans to believe falsely that British radar was much less advanced than theirs. The GL/EF attachment provided bearing and elevation measurements accurate to about a degree: this caused the number of rounds needed to destroy an aircraft to fall to 4,100, a tenfold improvement over early-war results. The Mk. II, which was able to directly guide the guns, lowered the rounds-per-kill to 2,750. About 410 Mk. Is and 1,679 Mk. IIs were produced. (Full article...)

Lieke Klaver ahead in the women's 400 metres final

• ... that a 400-metre race in 2025 (pictured) was won by Lieke Klaver, who pretended that an absent competitor was running in front of her?
• ... that the land snail Drymaeus poecilus is notable for the striking variety of colors and patterns on its shell?
• ... that a forensic investigation of Signalgate has determined how a journalist was included in a group chat about Operation Rough Rider?
• ... that two of the players involved in the 2005 Vietnamese football match-fixing scandal did not accept payment because they felt ashamed?
• ... that a rebellion against a peace treaty with the Yuan dynasty operated out of the Historic Site of Anti-Mongolian Struggle on Jeju Island?
• ... that Nathan Frink fled the United States with enslaved children to settle in Canada, where he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and caught in a smuggling conspiracy?
• ... that Seattle's women's ice hockey team has an expected rival, despite not even having played their first game?
• ... that Cave Johnson Couts was separately acquitted for shooting his foreman, firing on funeral mourners, and whipping a native laborer to death?
• ... that characters' scars in an episode of The Last of Us were made with a paste-based appliance and a food mixer?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

• Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
• In sumo, Ōnosato Daiki is promoted to yokozuna.
• In association football, Liverpool win the Premier League title.
• In motor racing, Álex Palou wins the Indianapolis 500.

May 30: Statehood Day in Croatia (1990)

Johann Sebastian Bach

• 1431 – Hundred Years' War: After being convicted of heresy, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
• 1723 – Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured) assumed the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting the cantata Die Elenden sollen essen in St. Nicholas Church.
• 1922 – The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., featuring a sculpture of the sixteenth U.S. president Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French, opened.
• 1963 – Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination was held outside the National Assembly of South Vietnam in Saigon, the first open demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
• 2008 – The Convention on Cluster Munitions, prohibiting the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, was adopted.

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Dracunculiasis, also called Guinea-worm disease, is a parasitic infection by the Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis. A person becomes infected by drinking water contaminated with Guinea-worm larvae, which penetrate the digestive tract and escape into the body. Around a year later, the adult female migrates to an exit site – usually the lower leg – and induces an intensely painful blister on the skin. Eventually, the blister bursts, creating a painful wound from which the worm gradually emerges. The wound remains painful throughout the worm's emergence, disabling the affected person for the three to ten weeks it takes the worm to emerge. There is no medication to treat or prevent dracunculiasis. Instead, the mainstay of treatment is the careful wrapping of the emerging worm around a small stick or gauze to encourage and speed up its exit. A disease of extreme poverty, there were 14 cases reported worldwide in 2023, as efforts continue to eradicate it. (Full article...)

The Goetsch–Winckler House

• ... that the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy bought the Goetsch–Winckler House (pictured) just two days before it was to be auctioned off?
• ... that Soumen Mitra helped restore a building which had housed one of India's first mental asylums?
• ... that cozy game Wanderstop took so long to develop, according to director Davey Wreden, that "cozy game" became a swear word?
• ... that Yvette Greer-Albrecht was named as the Female College Athlete of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association in 1979?
• ... that NFL player Fred Borak once played basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters?
• ... that one night on the planet Venus lasts just over 58 full days on Earth?
• ... that photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf once improvised protective gear from a cooking pot while documenting a protest?
• ... that the scriptural phrase "fear and trembling" has been used to celebrate hospitality, explore the nature of faith, and justify slavery?
• ... that a sunflower is not a flower?

Nicușor Dan

• Nicușor Dan (pictured) is elected as president of Romania.
• In the Portuguese legislative election, the Democratic Alliance wins the most seats in parliament.
• Austria, represented by JJ with the song "Wasted Love", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• In the Philippines, the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas wins the most seats in the Senate election, while Lakas–CMD, one of its component parties, wins the most seats in the House elections.

May 22: National Maritime Day in the United States

Prayut Chan-o-cha

• 1766 – A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Constantinople and was followed by a tsunami that caused significant damage.
• 1874 – Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem was first performed in the San Marco church in Milan to commemorate the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.
• 1998 – In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.
• 2014 – Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following six months of political crisis.

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The red-capped parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius) is a species of broad-tailed parrot native to southwest Western Australia. Described by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, it is classified in its own genus owing to its distinctive elongated beak. Its closest relative is the mulga parrot. It is not easily confused with other parrot species; both adult sexes have a bright crimson crown, green-yellow cheeks, and a distinctive long bill. The wings, back, and long tail are dark green, and the underparts are purple-blue. Found in woodland and open savanna country, the red-capped parrot consumes seeds (particularly of eucalypts), flowers, berries, and occasionally insects. Nesting takes place in tree hollows. Although the red-capped parrot has been shot as a pest, and affected by land clearing, the population is growing and the species is not threatened. In captivity, it has a reputation of being both anxious and difficult to breed. (Full article...)

Holly-Anne Hull of Remember Monday

• ... that Elizabeth II once asked a future member (pictured) of the "What the Hell Just Happened?" girlband Remember Monday why she was not wearing shoes?
• ... that John P. Metras held all-night recruitment parties including a bathtub full of ice and beer?
• ... that Priamurye Governorate-General, a Russian colony in East Asia, issued passports in order to segregate East Asian migrants from the general population?
• ... that Meng Sufen led a 1993 investigation in Guizhou's Mashan region, sparking a donation campaign raising over 1.6 million yuan for poverty alleviation?
• ... that Britart and the Turner Prize are both lampooned in the Jilly Cooper romance novel Pandora?
• ... that the larvae of the elm zigzag sawfly create distinctive zig-zags in the leaves of elm trees?
• ... that while attempting to "bulk up" for the Olympics, judoka Vlado Paradžik lost 11 pounds (5.0 kg) due to food shortages?
• ... that the developers of UTM needed to make a "slow edition" of their software to get it approved on the App Store?
• ... that NFL player Miles Turpin wrestled alligators when young, calling it "a lot of fun"?

Luís Montenegro

• In the Portuguese legislative election, the Democratic Alliance (leader Luís Montenegro pictured) wins the most seats in parliament.
• Austria, represented by JJ with the song "Wasted Love", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Former president of Uruguay José Mujica dies at the age of 89.
• The Socialist Party led by current prime minister Edi Rama wins an outright majority in the Albanian parliamentary election.

May 21: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Busoni c. 1897

• 1138 – The Crusades: The siege of Shaizar ended, and the Emir of Shaizar became a vassal of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The inconclusive Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia ended with combined Union and Confederate casualties totaling around 31,000.
• 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal, linking Manchester in North West England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the world's largest navigation canal at the time.
• 1925 – The opera Doktor Faust, unfinished when composer Ferruccio Busoni (pictured) died, was premiered in Dresden.
• 2014 – A Taiwanese man carried out a stabbing spree on a Taipei Metro train, killing four people and injuring 24 others.

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Cher (born May 20, 1946) is an American singer and actress. Dubbed the "Goddess of Pop", she gained fame in 1965 as part of the folk duo Sonny & Cher, early exponents of 1960s counterculture. She became a TV star in the 1970s, with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour drawing more than 30 million viewers weekly, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 with narrative pop songs including "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" and "Half-Breed". Transitioning to film, she earned two Academy Awards nominations—for Silkwood (1983) and Moonstruck (1987), winning Best Actress for the latter—and received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Mask (1985). Her dance-pop comeback album Believe (1998) introduced the "Cher effect", a stylized use of Auto-Tune to distort vocals. Her 2002–2005 Farewell Tour grossed $250 million, the highest ever by a female artist at the time. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Cher is the only solo artist with Billboard number-one singles in each of seven decades. (Full article...)

HNLMS Java

• ... that the crew of HNLMS Java (pictured) struggled to access the sinking ship's life vests because these were locked away in a hard-to-reach compartment?
• ... that Gabriel Luna used a flamethrower in an episode of The Last of Us, and afterwards had recurring visions of flaming figures running towards him?
• ... that many North Carolina Farmers' Union members left the organization as a result of leader Henry Quincy Alexander's opposition to American entry into World War I?
• ... that 33 years after The New York Times called David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me "brain-dead" and seemingly "the worst movie ever made", it conceded that the film was now "revered"?
• ... that two future deans of the University of Indonesia, Margono Soekarjo and Djamaloeddin, conducted the first surgery on conjoined twins in Indonesia?
• ... that the nearly 200 sexual encounters Molly Kochan had while terminally ill formed the basis of the Dying for Sex podcast and subsequent TV series?
• ... that a gun club once allegedly parked boats in the living room of a plantation house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright?
• ... that Jane Remover's school counselor made sure Remover felt fine after a classmate wrote an essay about lyrics from Teen Week?
• ... that playwright Jason Grote was involved in releasing 10,000 crickets in New York City?

JJ

• Austria, represented by JJ (pictured) with the song "Wasted Love", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Former president of Uruguay José Mujica dies at the age of 89.
• The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces its dissolution, ending its insurgency against Turkey.
• Robert Francis Prevost is elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholic pope born in the United States.

May 20: National Day of Remembrance in Cambodia (1975); National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908)

• 325 – The First Council of Nicaea (depicted), the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened by Constantine the Great.
• 794 – According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the orders of Offa of Mercia.
• 1714 – J. S. Bach led the first performance of his Pentecost cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder at the chapel of Schloss Weimar.
• 1927 – With the signing of the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia.
• 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers began the Battle of Heraklion on the island of Crete, capturing the airfield and port in Heraklion ten days later.

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Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. To his admirers, he advocated for the rights of African Americans and indicted white America for their actions against black Americans. His detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. After living in foster homes, Malcolm X was involved in criminal activity in Boston and New York. In 1945, he was sentenced to prison where he became a member of the Nation of Islam. After his parole, he became one of the Nation's leaders, its chief spokesmen, and its public face. Tension between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam, led to Malcolm X's departure from the organization in March 1964. Afterwards, he became a Sunni Muslim and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He founded Muslim Mosque, Inc., a religious organization, and the secular, black nationalist Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was assassinated while giving a speech in New York. (Full article...)

Javier Domínguez

• ... that Javier Domínguez (pictured), the current Magic: The Gathering world champion, likes to play more than he likes to win?
• ... that the author of The Perfect Prince Loves Me, His Rival?! used the concept of leveling up in role-playing video games to show that a character was improving in magic?
• ... that the two women athletes Liechtenstein sent to the 1976 Summer Olympics were twins?
• ... that MI5 secretary Hester Leggatt wrote convincing fake love letters for the WWII deception mission Operation Mincemeat?
• ... that a 2023 coal mine workers' union election in Yellandu had a turnout of 98 percent?
• ... that William Arthur Ganfield often wore a red tie when Carroll College was running a deficit and a black tie when it was running a surplus?
• ... that Proceratosaurus is one of the oldest tyrannosaurs?
• ... that AI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo predicts that it will be better than humans at "everything" by the end of 2027?
• ... that writer Jilly Cooper named a goat in her novel Jump! after a critic who revealed spoilers for an earlier work?

JJ

• Austria, represented by JJ (pictured) with the song "Wasted Love", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Former president of Uruguay José Mujica dies at the age of 89.
• The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces its dissolution, ending its insurgency against Turkey.
• Robert Francis Prevost is elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholic pope born in the United States.
• Friedrich Merz is elected Chancellor of Germany and sworn in alongside his coalition government.

May 19: Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919); Victoria Day in Canada (2025)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

• 1655 – Anglo-Spanish War: England invaded Spanish Jamaica, capturing it a week later.
• 1743 – French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer using the centigrade scale, with 0 representing the melting point of water and 100 its boiling point.
• 1828 – The United States Congress passed the largest tariff in the nation's history, which resulted in severe economic hardship in the American South.
• 1915 – First World War: Australian and New Zealand troops repelled the third attack on Anzac Cove, inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Ottoman forces.
• 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (both pictured) took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, England.

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Margaret Sanger (September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instrumental in the development of the first birth control pill. She was an important first-wave feminist and believed that women should be able to decide if and when to have children. Sanger campaigned for the legalization of contraceptives by giving speeches, writing books, and breaking laws – leading to eight arrests. She endorsed both the Malthusianism and eugenics movements, believing that they would generate support for birth control. She established a network of dozens of birth control clinics, which provided services to hundreds of thousands of patients. She discouraged abortion, and her clinics never offered abortion services during her lifetime. Her activism led to the Griswold v. Connecticut decision, which legalized contraception. (Full article...)

Vincent de Groof's flying machine

• ... that Vincent de Groof successfully tested his bat-like flying machine (pictured) in 1874, only to die after crashing it 10 days later?
• ... that the theatre which premiered a play about sex offenders had to hire additional security for its run?
• ... that visitors from various countries come to a temple to see a wild Chinese monkey named Xing Xing?
• ... that Fatima Hassouna was killed shortly after a documentary about her was announced for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival?
• ... that at a Destroy Lonely concert promoting an edition of his debut album, some fans entered his car?
• ... that Carl Jorgensen and Gust Zarnas were the first NFL players from Denmark and Greece?
• ... that in 1917 more than 8,000 African Americans protested lynchings by marching down New York City's Fifth Avenue in silence, accompanied only by the sound of muffled drums?
• ... that a Sicilian soldier killed his own family during an Ottoman attack on Gozo in 1551, to prevent them from being enslaved?
• ... that Costa Rica's most famous bull killed two men and loved mangos?

José Mujica

• Former president of Uruguay José Mujica (pictured) dies at the age of 89.
• The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces its dissolution, ending its insurgency against Turkey.
• Robert Francis Prevost is elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholic pope born in the United States.
• Friedrich Merz is elected Chancellor of Germany and sworn in alongside his coalition government.
• Zhao Xintong defeats Mark Williams to win the World Snooker Championship.
• In horse racing, Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, wins the Kentucky Derby.

May 18: Haitian Flag Day in Haiti (1803); Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Crimean Tatar Genocide in Ukraine

The Bath School after the explosions

• 1302 – Armed insurrectionists massacred the occupying French garrison in Bruges, Flanders, killing approximately 2,000 people.
• 1695 – An earthquake measuring M_s7.8 struck Shanxi Province in northern China, resulting in at least 52,600 deaths.
• 1927 – Disgruntled school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe set off explosives with timers and a rifle (aftermath pictured), causing the Bath School disaster in the Bath Consolidated School in Michigan, killing 44 people in the deadliest mass murder in a school in United States history.
• 2009 – The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war.

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Habitable zones of TRAPPIST-1 and the Solar System

TRAPPIST-1 is a cool red dwarf star with seven known exoplanets. It lies in the constellation Aquarius about 40.66 light-years away from Earth. It has a mass of about 9% of the Sun and is estimated to be 7.6 billion years old, making it older than the Solar System. The discovery of the star was first published in 2000. Observations in 2016 from the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) led to the discovery of two orbiting terrestrial planets, and five more were found in 2017. It takes the seven planets between about 1.5 and 19 days to orbit around the star. They are likely tidally locked to TRAPPIST-1, leading to permanent day on one side and night on the other. Their masses are comparable to that of Earth. Up to four of the planets orbit at distances where temperatures are suitable for the existence of liquid water (diagram pictured), and are thus potentially hospitable to life. This has drawn interest from both researchers and popular culture. (Full article...)

Bertoncelj at the 2015 European Games

• ... that Sašo Bertoncelj (pictured) competed on MasterChef Slovenia during his gymnastics career?
• ... that the Knox Mountain Hillclimb is considered very challenging due to every corner being off camber?
• ... that the works of Yaelokre have been compared to The Lord of the Rings, Gorillaz, and the illustrations of Where the Wild Things Are?
• ... that Camp Growden was envisioned to become a winter sports complex with toboggan runs?
• ... that Paddy Higson was known as the "mother of Scottish film"?
• ... that the robotic costumes used in the Doctor Who episode "The Robot Revolution" were 3D printed in thirty-four different pieces before being assembled?
• ... that Google searches for the word "fortnight" in the US increased by 868% on the release day of the song "Fortnight" by Taylor Swift?
• ... that the Green Bay Packers signed Tom Birney as their new kicker in 1979, even though he had not kicked a field goal in more than five years?
• ... that a 2015 issue of the Strawberry Newspaper features Hello Kitty discussing military conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Ukraine?

José Mujica

• Former president of Uruguay José Mujica (pictured) dies at the age of 89.
• The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces its dissolution, ending its insurgency against Turkey.
• Robert Francis Prevost is elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholic pope born in the United States.
• Friedrich Merz is elected Chancellor of Germany and sworn in alongside his coalition government.
• Zhao Xintong defeats Mark Williams to win the World Snooker Championship.
• In horse racing, Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, wins the Kentucky Derby.

May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

Anne of Denmark

• 1590 – Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
• 1863 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard and captured around 1,700 men.
• 1900 – The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.
• 1954 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.
• 1987 – An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others.