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July 23

Flask from Iznik, c. 1560–1580

Empire of the Sultans was a touring exhibition from 1995 to 2004 displaying objects from the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. Around two hundred exhibits, including calligraphy, textiles, pottery (example pictured), weapons, and metalwork, illustrated the art and daily life of six centuries of the Ottoman Empire. Many of the objects had been created for the leaders of the empire, the sultans. Two of the calligraphic pieces were the work of sultans themselves. In the 1990s, the exhibition was hosted by institutions in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Israel, and its first catalogue was published by J. M. Rogers. The exhibits visited thirteen cities in the United States from 2000 to 2004, despite controversies in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War. Critics described the exhibition as wide-ranging and informative. They praised it for showing beautiful art works – naming the calligraphy in particular – and for presenting a fresh view of Islam. (Full article...)

July 23: Seventeenth of Tammuz (Judaism, 2024), Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)

Wilfred Rhodes in 1906

• 1860 – The trial of the Eastbourne manslaughter, which later became an important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of corporal punishment in schools, began in Lewes.
• 1927 – Wilfred Rhodes (pictured) of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
• 1942 – The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
• 1995 – Hale–Bopp, one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century, was independently discovered by astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp.
• 1999 – In Tulia, Texas, 47 people were arrested for dealing cocaine; years later, 35 of the 47 were pardoned by the Governor of Texas.

July 23

Censorship under the military dictatorship in Brazil consisted of restrictions on the media, artists, journalists, and others which the government deemed "subversive", "dangerous" or "immoral". The political system of the Brazilian military dictatorship, installed by a 1964 coup d'état and which persisted until 1985, also set out to censor material that went against what it called "morality and good manners". The constitution of 1967 established censorship as an official, centralized activity of the Brazilian federal government. There were several protests against the practice, including the Cultura contra Censura protest in February 1968, depicted in this photograph, which shows the actresses Tônia Carrero, Eva Wilma, Odete Lara, Norma Bengell and Cacilda Becker. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Marabou stork Frances Cleveland Theodore von Kármán Archive More featured pictures

July 24

Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb was suspended for ten days during the 1912 baseball season. Cobb was disciplined for beating Claude Lucker, a fan who had been heckling him during the four-game series between Cobb's Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees. Cobb was ejected from the game on May 15, 1912, and American League president Ban Johnson suspended him indefinitely. Cobb's teammates took his side, and after defeating the Philadelphia Athletics on May 17, told Johnson that they would not play again until Cobb was reinstated. Johnson refused to do so. Seeking to avoid a $5,000 fine, owner Frank Navin told manager Hughie Jennings to recruit a team; he did so. Facing the Athletics, baseball's World Champions, the replacement players, joined by Jennings and his coaches, lost 24–2, after which Cobb persuaded his teammates to return. They and Cobb were fined, but Navin paid. The walkout was baseball's first major league strike; it had little effect, but teams put additional security into stadiums. (Full article...)

July 24: Pioneer Day in Utah, United States (1847)

Konstantinos Karamanlis

• 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, who became James VI.
• 1959 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. vice president Richard Nixon held an impromptu debate at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow.
• 1974 – The Metapolitefsi period began with Konstantinos Karamanlis (pictured) taking office as Prime Minister of Greece after the collapse of the military junta.
• 1980 – The Australian swimming team, nicknamed the Quietly Confident Quartet, won the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics.
• 2014 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 disappeared from radar shortly after take-off from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; its wreckage was found the following day in Mali with no survivors.

July 24

Justice was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. She was the second member of the Liberté class, which included three other vessels and was a derivative of the preceding République class. Justice carried a main battery of four 305 mm (12 in) guns, with ten 194 mm (7.6 in) guns for her secondary armament. On entering service, Justice became the flagship of the 2nd Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, participating in the training routine of squadron and fleet maneuvers and cruises, as well as several naval reviews. During World War I, Justice was used to escort troopship convoys carrying elements of the French Army from North Africa to face the Germans invading northern France and also steamed to contain the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, taking part in the minor Battle of Antivari. She was sent to the Black Sea after the war to oversee the surrender of German-occupied Russian warships, and then briefly became a training ship, before being decommissioned in the early 1920s. This photograph shows Justice in 1909 near New York City. Photograph credit: Detroit Publishing Company; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Censorship under the military dictatorship in Brazil Marabou stork Frances Cleveland Archive More featured pictures

July 25

The great cuckoo-dove (Reinwardtoena reinwardti) is a species of bird in the pigeon family. First described by zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824, it is found on islands from New Guinea to Wallacea in primary forest and the forest edge. It is a large pigeon, and in adults the head, neck, and breast are whitish or blue-grey, the underparts are bluish-grey, the upperparts are chestnut-brown, and the outer wings are black. Females differ from males in having yellower irises and duller orbital skin. Juveniles are mainly dull grey-brown, with dirty-white throats and bellies. The bird feeds on fruit and seeds, usually alone or in pairs, but forms mixed flocks at fruit trees. It will defend fruiting shrubs, an uncommon foraging behaviour among birds. Breeding occurs throughout the year, although timing varies over its range. Nests are platforms made of plant material and the clutch is one white egg. This species is classified as least concern due to its large range and stable population. (Full article...)

July 25: National Day of Galicia, Saint James's Day

Pratibha Patil

• 306 – Constantine the Great was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops after the death of Constantius Chlorus.
• 1788 – Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40, one of his two extant minor-key symphonies.
• 1898 – Spanish–American War: After more than two months of sea-based bombardment, the United States invaded Puerto Rico.
• 1943 – The Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence against Benito Mussolini, who was arrested the same day by King Victor Emmanuel III and replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
• 2007 – Pratibha Patil (pictured) was sworn in as the first female president of India.

July 25

Pisaura mirabilis is a species of arachnid in the family Pisauridae, the nursery web spiders. It has a palearctic distribution, being found all over Europe, and also inhabits the Canary Islands and Madeira, the Asian part of Russia, China and North Africa. It lives in all habitats but prefers wet environments, and inhabits all strata from the ground to the top of trees, at altitudes up to 1,100 metres (3,600 feet), but is not found under rocks or in caves. The spider has relatively long legs, the fourth pair being the longest, and a slender opisthosoma. Males are 10 to 13 millimetres (0.39 to 0.51 in) in length, while females are 12 to 15 millimetres (0.47 to 0.59 in). This photograph shows a female P. mirabilis spider carrying an egg sac, photographed at a lake near Wolvercote in Oxfordshire, England. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: French battleship Justice Censorship under the military dictatorship in Brazil Marabou stork Archive More featured pictures

July 26

Cover of the 1896 Summer Olympics official report

The 1896 Summer Olympics were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. The International Olympic Committee was established in 1894 by a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin in Paris. The committee appointed the Greek capital Athens as the host city, and the games took place from 6 to 15 April 1896. According to the committee, 14 nations took part, and 241 male athletes competed. The participants were all European, or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team. More than 65 per cent of the competing athletes were Greek, and Greece won the most medals overall, 47. The athletic highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was the German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann with four victories. The 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success, with the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. (Full article...)

July 26: Independence Day in the Maldives (1965), Kargil Vijay Diwas in India

L. L. Zamenhof

• 1759 – French and Indian War: Troops led by French brigadier general François-Charles de Bourlamaque attempted to blow up Fort Carillon, near present-day Ticonderoga, New York, instead than defending it against approaching British forces.
• 1887 – L. L. Zamenhof (pictured) published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
• 1936 – The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to the Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed in the First World War, was unveiled in Pas-de-Calais, France.
• 1953 – The Battle of the Samichon River, the last engagement of the Korean War, ended only a few hours before the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed.
• 2007 – After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.

July 26

Map of Connecticut's five congressional districts for the United States House of Representatives since 2022

Since Connecticut became a U.S. state in 1788, it has sent congressional delegations to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, beginning with the 1st United States Congress in 1789. Each state elects two senators to serve for six years in general elections, with their re-election staggered. Each state elects varying numbers of members of the House, depending on population, to two-year terms. Connecticut has sent five members to the House in each congressional delegation since the 2000 United States census. A total of 292 unique individuals have represented Connecticut in Congress; Connecticut has had 57 senators and 259 representatives, and 24 have served in both the House and the Senate. Nine women from Connecticut have served in the House, the first being Clare Boothe Luce, while none have served in the Senate. Two African-Americans from Connecticut, Gary Franks and Jahana Hayes, have served in the House. (Full list...)

July 26

Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the fourth crewed mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of three J missions, with a longer stay on the Moon, a greater focus on science, and the use of the first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). David Scott and James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille and spent 18+1⁄2 hours on extravehicular activity (EVA), collecting 170 pounds (77 kg) of surface material. At the same time, Alfred Worden orbited the Moon, and operated the sensors in the SIM bay of the service module. During the return trip, Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. Apollo 15 splashed down safely, with all goals accomplished. The mission included the collection of the Genesis Rock, thought to be part of the Moon's early crust, and Scott used a hammer and a feather to demonstrate Galileo's theory that absent air resistance, objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. The mission was later marred when it was found that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold by a West German stamp dealer. The crew was reprimanded for poor judgment, and none flew in space again. This photograph, taken by Scott during an EVA on August 2, shows Irwin giving a military salute beside the U.S. flag. The Lunar Module Falcon is in the center, with the LRV on the right. Photograph credit: David Scott / Johnson Space Center; restored by Bammesk and Basile Morin Recently featured: Pisaura mirabilis French battleship Justice Censorship under the military dictatorship in Brazil Archive More featured pictures

July 27

2014 Aston Martin DB9

The Aston Martin DB9 is a two-door, two- or four-seater grand touring car produced by the British carmaker Aston Martin from 2004 until it was discontinued on 27 July 2016. It debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003. The official series manufacture began in January 2004 for the coupe version and February 2005 for the DB9 Volante convertible. Designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker, the DB9 is the successor to the DB7, which Aston Martin produced from 1994 to 2004. The DB9's chassis is composed of aluminium and composite materials. In 2008 and 2010, minor alterations were implemented to the DB9's exterior and engine, and in 2012 prominent adjustments were made to its front fascia, interior and engine. The DB9 was adapted for racing by Aston Martin's racing division in the form of the DBR9 and the DBRS9, both introduced in 2005. To commemorate the discontinuation of the DB9, Aston Martin released the DB9 GT in 2015. (Full article...)

July 27

Comet 1 prototype

• 1054 – During his invasion of Scotland, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland, in an engagement north of the Firth of Forth.
• 1214 – Philip II of France decisively won the Battle of Bouvines, the conclusive battle of the 1213–1214 Anglo-French War.
• 1916 – First World War: British mariner Charles Fryatt was executed in Bruges, Belgium, after a German court-martial found him guilty of being a franc-tireur.
• 1949 – The de Havilland Comet (prototype pictured), the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production, made its maiden flight.
• 1990 – Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group, began a coup attempt against the government of Trinidad and Tobago by taking hostages, including Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson, before surrendering five days later.

July 27

Nathan Francis Mossell (July 27, 1856 – October 27, 1946), was an American physician. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Mossell was the fourth of six children and both his parents were descended from freed slaves. During the American Civil War, the family moved back to the United States, settling in Lockport, New York, where Mossell's father went into business. Mossell earned a degree from Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania, followed by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he graduated in 1882. He was active in the NAACP and also helped found the Douglass Hospital in West Philadelphia in 1895, which he led as chief-of-staff and medical director until he retired in 1933. His wife was the activist and teacher Gertrude Bustill Mossell. This portrait of Mossell was taken in around 1882. Photograph credit: H.D. Carns & Co.; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Apollo 15 Pisaura mirabilis French battleship Justice Archive More featured pictures

July 28

Bruce Springsteen

Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen (pictured), released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded during sessions in New York City with the E Street Band from June 1977 to March 1978, after a series of legal disputes between Springsteen and his former manager Mike Appel. Darkness musically strips the Wall of Sound production of its predecessor, Born to Run, for a rawer hard rock sound emphasizing the band as a whole. The lyrics focus on ill-fortuned characters who fight back against overwhelming odds. Released three years after Born to Run, Darkness did not sell as well as its predecessor but reached number five in the United States. Critics initially praised the album's music and performances but were divided on the lyrical content. In recent decades, Darkness has attracted acclaim as one of Springsteen's best works and has appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time. (Full article...)

July 28: Statehood Day in Ukraine (2022)

Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet

• 1540 – King Henry VIII of England had his chief minister Thomas Cromwell executed for treason and heresy.
• 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream became the youngest artist and first woman to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue—that of Abraham Lincoln currently in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
• 1911 – The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began with the departure of SY Aurora from London.
• 1939 – During the excavation of a 7th-century ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England, archaeologists discovered a helmet (pictured) that is widely associated with King Rædwald of East Anglia.
• 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced the formal end of its armed campaign to overthrow British rule in Northern Ireland and create a united Ireland.

July 28

Bultfonteinite is a pink, light-brown or colorless mineral with chemical formula Ca2SiO2(OH,F)4. It was first discovered in 1903 or 1904 in the Bultfontein mine in Kimberley, South Africa, with other finds in the same country in the following years. It has since been found across the world including in Australia, Botswana, Japan, Russia and the United States. The mineral occurs as radiating prismatic acicular crystals and radial spherules up to 2 cm (0.79 in). This bultfonteinite specimen was extracted from the Shijiangshan mine in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus Recently featured: Nathan Francis Mossell Apollo 15 Pisaura mirabilis Archive More featured pictures

July 29

SMS Bodrog in 1914

Sava was a river monitor, originally built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy as SMS Bodrog. She and two other monitors fired the first shots of World War I in the early hours of 29 July 1914, when they shelled Serbian defences near Belgrade. During the war, she fought the Serbian and Romanian armies, and was captured in its closing stages. She was transferred to the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), and renamed Sava. During the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she fought off several air attacks, but was scuttled on 11 April. Sava was later raised by the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia, and continued to serve under that name until 1944 when she was again scuttled. Following World War II, Sava was raised again, and was refurbished to serve in the Yugoslav Navy from 1952 to 1962. She became a gravel barge after that, but was restored and opened as a floating museum in November 2021. (Full article...)

July 29: Torch Festival in China (2024)

Cape Cod Canal

• 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Byzantine forces defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the mountains of Belasica near present-day Klyuch.
• 1693 – Nine Years' War: French troops defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance led by William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium.
• 1818 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel submitted a memoir on the diffraction of light to the Royal Academy of Sciences, providing strong support for the wave theory of light.
• 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal (pictured), connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis.
• 1954 – The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin.

July 29

Eat Bulaga!, a Philippine television variety show that premiered on Radio Philippines Network on July 30, 1979, has won 58 awards from 129 nominations, with particular recognition for its hosting and acting. The longest-running variety show in the Philippines, it features a disparate set of segments. Eat Bulaga! initially featured Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Chiqui Hollman, and Richie D'Horsie; the show's cast have changed significantly during its run. The show has won twenty-one Box Office Entertainment Awards. It has received twenty-one Golden Screen TV Award nominations (winning eleven) and seventy-nine for PMPC Star Awards for Television (winning twenty). Eat Bulaga! won Best Entertainment (One-Off/Annual) at the 2005 Asian Television Awards. At the 2015 FAMAS Awards, Tito, Vic, and de Leon won FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award. (Full list...)

July 29

The northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a mockingbird commonly found in North America, of the family Mimidae. The species is also found in some parts of the Caribbean, as well as on the Hawaiian Islands. It is typically a permanent resident across much of its range, but northern mockingbirds may move further south during inclement weather or prior to the onset of winter. The northern mockingbird has gray to brown upper feathers and a paler belly. Its tail and wings have white patches which are visible in flight. The species is known for its ability to mimic bird calls and other types of sound, including artificial and electronic noises. This northern mockingbird was photographed in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites Recently featured: Bultfonteinite Nathan Francis Mossell Apollo 15 Archive More featured pictures

July 30

Near-contemporary image of the Battle of Caen

From 1345 to 1347, the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French flared up. Determined to renew the conflict, King Edward III of England despatched a small force to south-west France where they won victories at Bergerac and Auberoche. In 1346 an English army of 10,000 men landed in northern Normandy, devastated the region, and stormed and sacked Caen (pictured). They then cut a swath to within 20 miles (32 km) of Paris, turned north, and inflicted a heavy defeat on the French army at the Battle of Crécy. They exploited this by laying siege to Calais. The period from the English victory outside Bergerac to the start of the siege of Calais is known as Edward III's annus mirabilis (year of marvels). After an eleven-month siege, which stretched both countries' financial and military resources to the limit, the town fell, and for more than two hundred years it served as an English entrepôt into northern France. (This article is part of a featured topic: Hundred Years' War, 1345–1347.)

July 30

Portrait of Miguel Hidalgo by Antonio Fabrés

• 1724 – Bach's chorale cantata, Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 178, based on Justus Jonas's 1524 hymn by the same title, a paraphrase of Psalm 124, was first performed in Leipzig.
• 1811 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (depicted), leader of the Mexican War of Independence, was executed by Spanish forces in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
• 1871 – The boiler of the Staten Island Ferry Westfield II exploded at South Ferry in New York City, killing at least 45 people.
• 1990 – British Conservative Member of Parliament Ian Gow was killed outside his home in a car bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
• 2014 – More than 150 people died after heavy rains triggered a landslide in the village of Malin in Maharashtra, India.

July 30

The Hass avocado is a variety of avocado with dark green, bumpy skin. It was first grown and sold by the American horticulturist Rudolph Hass, who also gave it his name. The Hass is one of the most commercially popular avocado cultivars and accounts for more than 80% of the crop in the United States. This is due to its taste, size, shelf-life, high growing yield and in some areas, year-round harvesting. The fruit has a mass of 200 to 300 grams (8 to 10 oz) and when ripe, its skin becomes a dark purplish-black which yields to gentle pressure. The centre part of the inner fruit then becomes white-green. This photograph shows a whole Hass avocado and a halved fruit, cultivated in Colombia. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus Recently featured: Northern mockingbird Bultfonteinite Nathan Francis Mossell Archive More featured pictures