From today's featured article
The oceanic whitetip shark is a large requiem shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. It has a stocky body with long, white-tipped, rounded fins. The species is typically solitary but can congregate around food concentrations. It is found worldwide between 45°N and 43°S latitudes in deep, open oceans. Bony fish and cephalopods are the main components of its diet. Females give live birth after a gestation period of nine to twelve months. Though slow-moving, it is opportunistic, aggressive, and reputed to be dangerous to shipwreck survivors. The shark was once extremely common and widely distributed; up to the 16th century, mariners noted that this species was the most common ship-following shark. The species has now been listed as critically endangered, and recent studies show steeply declining populations worldwide as the sharks are harvested for their fins and meat, like many other shark species. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that fossil plants (leaf pictured) and damselflies from the Ypresian age are named after the city of Republic?
- ... that South Korean actress Na O-mi's stage name was inspired by the song "I Dream of Naomi"?
- ... that while reviewers generally praised The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, one reviewer complained that the author was "so nice about his colleagues that it makes you long for a juicy academic vendetta"?
- ... that Joseph Tetley, a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council, defrauded several investors to the 2017 equivalent value of NZ$7 million?
- ... that Cleo Hill Jr. coached the college basketball team for which his father played more than 60 years earlier?
- ... that according to the official history of the Song dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's soldiers stormed his bedroom and proclaimed him emperor, to his surprise?
- ... that a video game consisting solely of a clickable image of a banana became the second-most played game on Steam?
- ... that the album covers of Blue Note Records have been considered to be the "look" of jazz?
- ... that on February 3, 1986, African Independence Party leaders Adama Touré and Adama Touré were released from detention?
In the news
- The New Popular Front wins the most seats in the National Assembly in the French legislative election but does not achieve a majority.
- The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election and Keir Starmer (pictured) becomes prime minister.
- Hurricane Beryl, the earliest-recorded Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in a calendar year, leaves at least 15 people dead in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and the United States.
- In the Netherlands, a new cabinet is sworn in, with Dick Schoof serving as the prime minister.
On this day
- 1763 – The Mozart family grand tour began, presenting child prodigies Maria Anna and Wolfgang (both pictured) in Western Europe.
- 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, the world's oldest tennis tournament, began in London.
- 1896 – Politician William Jennings Bryan made his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism, considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history.
- 1958 – An earthquake struck Lituya Bay, Alaska; the subsequent megatsunami, the largest in modern times, reached an elevation of 1,720 ft (524 m).
- 1962 – In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
- Ann Radcliffe (b. 1764)
- Anna Morandi Manzolini (d. 1774)
- Courtney Love (b. 1964)
- Fernando de la Rúa (d. 2019)
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