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From today's featured article

Belarusian stamp commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics

The pairs' figure skating competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held on February 9 and 11 at the Salt Lake Ice Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. Originally, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia won the gold, while Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada won the silver, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the bronze. However, allegations of misconduct led to one judge's scores being discarded; Salé and Pelletier were also awarded gold medals, while the Russians were allowed to keep theirs. In a joint press conference, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee announced that Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge implicated in collusion, was guilty of misconduct and immediately suspended. In 2004, the ISU voted to retire the 6.0 judging system. As a result, the ISU Judging System was created, in which skaters are scored based on a technical evaluation of the required elements. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Philippe Le Bas

... that, when Robespierre was threatened with arrest for tyranny, Philippe Le Bas (pictured) demanded to be arrested too?
... that the National Asian American Theater Company was established to produce and perform classics of Western theater with all–Asian-American casts?
... that Chloe Cherry appeared in a pornographic parody of Euphoria before appearing in the real TV series?
... that philosophers discuss whether truth is correspondence between statements and facts, coherence among beliefs, or something else?
... that Deng Shi called for China to undergo its own version of the Renaissance?
... that Porta d'Europa has been called "an open door that paradoxically is wide shut"?
... that the director of The Tale of Iya created his own production company to finance the film?
... that contemporary historian Procopius described Teia's heroism in his last battle as worthy of the "heroes of legend"?
... that Starface was the first album in 19 years to receive a 0/10 score from Pitchfork?

In the news

Earthquake damage in East Manggarai, Indonesia

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake (damage pictured) strikes off the coast of Flores, Indonesia, causing at least 83 deaths.
Former premier of China Zhu Rongji dies at the age of 97.
A solar eclipse causes totality from Siberia to Iberia.
A ferry capsizes on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, leaving at least 97 people dead.
A magnitude-7.4 earthquake strikes Chocó Department, Colombia, leaving at least 319 people dead.

On this day

August 23: Black Ribbon Day

Natascha Kampusch

1305 – William Wallace, a leader of Scottish resistance against England during the Wars of Scottish Independence, was hanged, drawn and quartered.
1775 – King George III issued a proclamation that declared elements of the American colonies of Great Britain to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion".
1960 – Congo Crisis: In order to stop the secession of South Kasai from the Republic of Congo, Armée Nationale Congolaise forces launched an invasion of South Kasai.
2006 – Natascha Kampusch (pictured), who had been abducted at the age of ten in Vienna, escaped from her captor's house in Strasshof an der Nordbahn after more than eight years in captivity.
2011 – A 5.8 M_W earthquake struck the Piedmont region of Virginia, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history.

Volin (b. 1882)
Sarah Yorke Jackson (d. 1887)
Bah Ndaw (b. 1950)
Alejo Igoa (b. 1996)

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Today's featured picture

The brown parrotbill (Paradoxornis unicolor), also known as the brown suthora, is a species of bird in the parrotbill family, Paradoxornithidae. It is found in the central and eastern Himalayas. Measuring 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) in length, it is grey-brown with a long tail, a small yellowish parrot-like bill, and a dark stripe above the eyes and along the sides of the crown. It occurs in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal, moving in small groups and sometimes joining mixed-species foraging flocks. Originally described by Brian Houghton Hodgson, its closest relative is the three-toed parrotbill. This brown parrotbill was photographed in Darjeeling, in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Photograph credit: Tisha Mukherjee

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