12th-century illustration of the use of Greek fire

The first Arab siege of Constantinople in 674–678 was a major conflict of the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy towards the Byzantine Empire. In 672–673 Arab fleets secured bases along the coasts of Asia Minor, and set up a loose blockade around Constantinople. They used the peninsula of Cyzicus near the city as a base to spend the winter, and returned every spring to launch attacks against the city's fortifications. Finally the Byzantines managed to destroy the Arab navy using a new invention, the liquid incendiary substance known as Greek fire (pictured). The Byzantines also defeated the Arab land army in Asia Minor, forcing them to lift the siege. A peace treaty was signed, and following the outbreak of another Muslim civil war, the Byzantines experienced a brief period of ascendancy. The siege was the first major Arab defeat in 50 years of expansion. Tales of a large-scale siege of Constantinople even reached China. (Full article...)

Texas and Pacific 610

• ... that Texas and Pacific 610 (pictured) was once bought for $1?
• ... that Helmut Bauer confirmed around 150,000 young people, including 500 in Tanzania?
• ... that although the plant species Dolichostachys elongata was first described in 1962, it was not considered validly published until 60 years later?
• ... that a review described He Fucked the Girl Out of Me as being about "all the ways in which American society fails its most vulnerable"?
• ... that the restoration of Neknampur Lake was recognised "as the best model of lake restoration in India"?
• ... that Benjamin Franklin Shumard's assistant named an oak species after him, and then sabotaged his reinstatement after he was fired?
• ... that the 2013 book Brick by Brick, about how The Lego Group reinvented itself, became a popular business text?
• ... that the Trilobite Wilderness is so rich in trilobite fossils that in places virtually every rock contains a fossil?
• ... that cavalry officer Harvey Tuckett retired from the British Army to become an actor, but was shot in a duel by his former commanding officer?

Samantha Harvey

• Samantha Harvey (pictured) wins the Booker Prize for her novel Orbital.
• Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announces his resignation as a result of the John Smyth abuse scandal in the Church of England.
• In Zhuhai, China, 35 people are killed in a vehicle-ramming attack.
• Alliance for Change, led by Navin Ramgoolam, wins the Mauritian general election.