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From yesterday's featured article

Reverse of the double sovereign

The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom with a nominal value of two pounds sterling (£2). It features the reigning monarch on its obverse and, most often, Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse (pictured). It was rarely issued in the first century and a half after its debut in 1820, usually in a new monarch's coronation year or to mark the institution of a new coinage portrait of the monarch. In addition to the usual coinage in Britain, specimens were struck at Australia's Sydney Mint in 1887 and 1902. Most often struck as a proof coin, the double sovereign has been issued for circulation in only four years, and few examples worn from commercial use are known. It is now a collector and bullion coin, and has been struck by the Royal Mint most years since 1980. In some years, it has not been issued and the Royal Mint instead placed gold versions of the commemorative £2 piece in the annual gold proof sets. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Albert Tangora

... that Albert Tangora (pictured), one of the most successful competitive typewriter speed typists, once had his hands insured for US$100,000?
... that the managing editor of Aujourd'hui was executed by firing squad in 1944?
... that football player Michael Jurgens never lost in 42 high school varsity games?
... that the success of the British band Shiva was cut short by the death of its lead vocalist?
... that the 1972 Finnish film The Sheep Eaters gathered more than a million viewers opposite the 1975 Ice Hockey World Championships match between Finland and the Soviet Union?
... that according to second-century AD Greek rhetorician Athenaeus, the Phoenicians played a flute-like instrument called the gingras in their mourning rituals?
... that 55 Broad Street, a skyscraper in the Financial District of Manhattan, was called "an unlovable building in an unlivable neighborhood"?
... that when Sithu Pauk Hla was appointed the governor of Yamethin, he was also given command of a 50-strong company of war elephants?

In the news (For today)

Claudia Sheinbaum

The CNSA Chang'e 6 completes sampling and takeoff from the far side of the Moon.
Claudia Sheinbaum (pictured) is elected as the president of Mexico.
In South Africa's general election, the African National Congress wins the most seats but loses its majority for the first time since the end of apartheid.
In association football, the UEFA Champions League concludes with Real Madrid defeating Borussia Dortmund in the men's final and Barcelona defeating Lyon in the women's final.

On the previous day

June 5: World Environment Day; Jerusalem Day in Israel (2024)

Antonio Luna

1897 – The Ancient Temples and Shrines Preservation Law was passed, instituting the protection of structures and artifacts in Japan designated National Treasures.
1899 – Antonio Luna (pictured), Commanding General of the Philippine Army, was assassinated in the midst of the Philippine–American War.
1997 – Anticipating a coup attempt, President Pascal Lissouba of the Republic of the Congo ordered the detention of his rival Denis Sassou Nguesso, initiating a second civil war.
2004 – Noël Mamère, the mayor of Bègles, conducted a marriage ceremony for two men, even though same-sex marriage in France had not yet been legalised.
2009 – After almost two months of civil disobedience, at least 31 people were killed in clashes between the National Police and indigenous people in Bagua Province, Peru.

Ivy Compton-Burnett (b. 1884)
Theippan Maung Wa (b. 1899)
Elizabeth Gloster (b. 1949)
Megumi Nakajima (b. 1989)

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Yesterday's featured picture

The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae, which is native to western North America. The trees grow to a height of around 20 to 100 metres (70 to 330 feet) and commonly reach 2.4 metres (8 feet) in diameter. The largest coast Douglas firs regularly live for more than 500 years, with the oldest specimens more than 1,300 years old. The cones are pendulous and differ from true firs as they have persistent scales. The cones have distinctive long, trifid (three-pointed) bracts, which protrude prominently above each scale. The cones become tan when mature, measuring 6 to 10 centimetres (2+1⁄2 to 4 inches) long for coastal Douglas firs. This photograph shows a young female cone of the variety Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir), cultivated near Keila, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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