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In the news
- A cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone is declared a national emergency following the deaths of more than 300 people.
- At least 36 people are suspected dead after Hurricane Isaac (satellite image pictured) strikes the Gulf Coast of the United States, Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles and the Bahamas.
- The opening ceremony of the Summer Paralympic Games is held in London.
- An Israeli court rules that the Israel Defense Forces and the Ministry of Defense were not responsible for the death of Rachel Corrie in the Gaza Strip in 2003.
- More than 2,000 people riot in Mombasa, Kenya, in reaction to the shooting death of Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo.
- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces the commencement of peace talks with the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Today's featured article
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written by English poet and clergyman John Newton (pictured) and published in 1779. Based on Newton's personal experiences at sea (in the Royal Navy and the slave trade), it was originally written in 1773 and published in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns in 1779. Although it became relatively obscure in England, in the United States it was commonly used during the Second Great Awakening. The original tune, if any, is unknown, but it is now most commonly sung to the tune "New Britain". It conveys a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit, and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God. One of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world, it has been called "the most famous of all the folk hymns", having been recorded thousands of times during the 20th century and becoming emblematic in African American spiritual music. (more...)
Recently featured: Simon Bolivar Buckner – History of Michigan State University – John Martin Scripps
On this day...
September 1: Start of the Liturgical year in the Eastern Orthodox Church; Constitution Day in Slovakia; Independence Day in Uzbekistan (1991)
| 1715 | Louis XIV of France (pictured), the "Sun King", died after a reign of 72 years, longer than any other French or other major European monarch at the time. |
| 1804 | German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding discovered one of the largest main belt asteroids, naming it Juno after the Roman goddess. |
| 1862 | American Civil War: Confederate forces attacked retreating Union Army troops at the Battle of Chantilly during a rainstorm in Chantilly, Virginia, but the fighting ended up being tactically inconclusive. |
| 1914 | The Passenger Pigeon, which once had a population of at least 3 billion birds, became extinct, when the last individual died in captivity. |
| 1969 | A bloodless coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew Idris I of Libya. |
| 1972 | American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer became the 11th World Chess Champion when he defeated Russian Boris Spassky in a match that was widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation. |
Did you know...
- ... that bears may be dispersers of the Japanese mountain cherry (painting pictured)?
- ... that Romani Holocaust survivor Philomena Franz wrote about her deportation to Auschwitz, internment in Ravensbrück, escape from a camp near Wittenberge, and concealment by a farmer?
- ... that a large basin on Neptune's moon Triton may have once been filled with liquid water cryolava, similar to how liquid silicates fill lava lakes on Earth?
- ... that Inman Jackson played "as though he were born with a basketball in each hand"?
- ... that Josephine Kenyon moved from recommendations of rigid scheduling to "on-demand" scheduling in editions of her book Healthy Babies Are Happy Babies?
- ... that Amie Parnes allegedly first heard about her employer, The Messenger, ceasing operations from a New York Times article?
- ... that Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly was released after the main creator of Coffee Talk died in March 2022?
- ... that baritone Liviu Holender chose lieder by five composers whose music was banned by the Nazis—Schreker, Zemlinsky, Mahler, Korngold and Schönberg—for a recital at the Oper Frankfurt?
- ... that some members of the U.S. Army Air Corps were so unimpressed by the Estoppey D-8 that one member stated that he would rather use "nails and a wire"?
Today's featured picture
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De Viron Castle is a castle in the town of Dilbeek in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Commissioned by the de Viron family, which settled in Dilbeek in 1775, the castle was built in 1863 by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar. The Renaissance Revival castle was built on the ruins of a 14th-century fortification that was destroyed in 1862. One of the medieval towers, the Sint-Alenatoren, can still be seen in the park surrounding the current building and is named after Saint Alena, who lived in Dilbeek. The castle has served as the town hall of Dilbeek and housed the offices of the municipality since 1923, and was listed as a Belgian protected monument in 1990. This photograph shows the facade of De Viron Castle with the surrounding park in the foreground. Photograph credit: Benoit Brummer
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