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From today's featured article

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...)

Did you know...

Jenny Hurn

• ... that Jenny Hurn (pictured) in Lincolnshire, England, is said to be haunted by a boggart that crosses the River Trent in a dish propelled by oars the size of teaspoons?
• ... that the Mount Leona Fire was finally contained on the upper slopes of Profanity?
• ... that the International Olympic Committee's TikTok account praised the "incredible strategy" of speed skater Yang Jingru's win at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics?
• ... that according to writer Russell T Davies, he conceived elements of the Doctor Who episode "Empire of Death" decades before he wrote it?
• ... that during his tenure as the manager of Austria's Burgtheater from 1971 to 1976, Gerhard Klingenberg often directed plays with analogies of a divided Europe?
• ... that Red (Taylor's Version) was credited by media publications with popularizing the "Sad Girl Autumn" phenomenon in popular culture?
• ... that 14 months after taking up track cycling, René Heyde only narrowly missed out being selected to the New Zealand team at the 1972 Summer Olympics?
• ... that during the construction of 181 Montague Street in New York City, each of the building's columns was pulled by 14 horses?
• ... that Unilever invited Britons to congregate and worship at a shrine to Marmite in 2010?

In the news

Joe Biden

• Incumbent U.S. president Joe Biden (pictured) withdraws from the 2024 presidential election.
• General secretary and former president of Vietnam Nguyễn Phú Trọng dies at the age of 80.
• The International Court of Justice finds the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories to be a violation of international law.
• A faulty software updatebyCrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity company, causes global computer outages.

On this day

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)ofEngland and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
• 1942 – The Holocaust: The gas chambersatTreblinka 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.