Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar

Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar. The Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar is a half dollar commemorative coin struck by the United States Mint in 1937, though it bears the date 1936. Designed by William Marks Simpson and Marjory Emory Simpson, the coin commemorates the 200th anniversary...

Coprinellus micaceus

Coprinellus micaceus. Coprinellus micaceus is a common species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. The species typically grows in dense clusters on or near rotting hardwood tree stumps or underground tree roots. Depending on their stage of development, the tawny-brown...

1907 Tiflis bank robbery

1907 Tiflis bank robbery. A bank robbery was committed by Bolsheviks on 26 June 1907 in the city of Tiflis, Russian Empire, what is now Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. Planned by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Maxim Litvinov, Leonid Krasin, and Alexander Bogdanov, it was carried out by revolutionaries...

Raymond Leane

Raymond Leane. Raymond Leane (1878–1962) was an Australian Army brigadier general. Twice decorated for gallantry, he was wounded three times during the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I, and temporarily commanded the 11th Battalion there before the Australian force was withdrawn to Egypt. Leane...

Shergar

Shergar. Shergar (1978–1983) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1981 Shergar ran in six races, winning five of them. In June that year he won the 202nd Epsom Derby by ten lengths—the longest winning margin in the race's history. Three weeks later he won the Irish Sweeps Derby...

Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies

Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies is a music reference book by American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau (pictured). It was first published in October 1981 by Ticknor & Fields. Covering a variety of genres...

SOLRAD 1

SOLRAD 1. SOLRAD 1 was a science and surveillance satellite launched into orbit on June 22, 1960. Developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory, it was the first satellite to successfully observe solar X-rays, the first to conduct surveillance from orbit, and the first to be launched with another...

Irakli Tsereteli

Irakli Tsereteli. Irakli Tsereteli (1881–1959) was a Georgian politician and Menshevik during the Russian Revolution. He was born and raised in Georgia when it was part of the Russian Empire. A member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, Tsereteli was elected to the Duma in 1907, but was...

Echo parakeet

Echo parakeet. The echo parakeet (Psittacula eques) is a species of parrot endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and formerly Réunion. It is the only living native parrot of these islands; all others have become extinct due to human activity, including the subspecies P. e. eques,...

Knight Lore

Knight Lore. Knight Lore is a 1984 action-adventure game that popularised isometric graphics in video games. It was developed and published for the ZX Spectrum by Ultimate Play the Game and written by Chris and Tim Stamper (pictured). Each monochrome castle room consists of blocks to climb, obstacles...

Astronomica (Manilius)

Astronomica (Manilius). The Astronomica is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. It was written c. AD 10–20 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius. The earliest work on astrology that is extensive, comprehensible, and mostly...

North-Eastern Area Command

North-Eastern Area Command. North-Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in January 1942 and controlled units in central and northern Queensland, and Papua New Guinea. Headquartered at...

Gallimimus

Gallimimus. Gallimimus was a theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. The genus is part of the ostrich dinosaur group of feather-bearing, fast runners. Its head was small and light with large eyes and a bulbous structure at the base...

Adam Eckfeldt

Adam Eckfeldt. Adam Eckfeldt (June 15, 1769 – February 6, 1852) was the second chief coiner of the United States Mint. His father owned a large smithy and involved himself in early attempts at American coinage. Eckfeldt built early presses for the Mint, engraved some of its early dies, and was...

The X-Files

The X-Files. "Ice" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Premiering on the Fox network on November 5, 1993, "Ice" was directed by David Nutter (pictured) and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. The debut was watched by 10 million...

Newberry Volcano

Newberry Volcano. Newberry Volcano is a large shield-shaped stratovolcano located 35 miles (56 km) east of the major crest of the Cascade Range and about 20 miles (32 km) south of Bend, Oregon, within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Considered an active volcano, it is closely monitored...

RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor

RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor. RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor is an 89-hectare (220-acre) wetlands nature reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It lies on the junction of the A633 and A6195 roads and is bordered by the Trans...

Cyclone Raja

Cyclone Raja. Cyclone Raja was a severe tropical cyclone that spawned in the South Pacific in December 1986. It holds the 24-hour rainfall record of 674.9 mm (26.57 in) for the French Overseas Territory of Wallis and Futuna. After it was named on 23 December, it unexpectedly headed southeast...

Mukhtar al-Thaqafi

Mukhtar al-Thaqafi. Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (c. 622 – 687) was an early Islamic revolutionary based in Kufa who led a rebellion against the Umayyads during the Second Islamic Civil War and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months. Mukhtar had allied with the Mecca-based rival caliph Abd Allah ibn...

Round the Horne

Round the Horne. Round the Horne is a British radio comedy show, first broadcast by the BBC in four series of weekly shows between 1965 and 1968, and frequently repeated since then. The programme was created by the writers Barry Took and Marty Feldman (pictured), and stars Kenneth Horne, with a supporting...

Realme X Pro

The Realme X Pro mobile features a 6.5" (16.51 cm) display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and runs on Android v9.0 (Pie) operating system. The device is powered by Octa core (2.84 GHz, Single core, Kryo 485 + 2.42 GHz, Tri core, Kryo 485 + 1.8 GHz, Quad core, Kryo 485) processor...

Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters. Kim Clijsters (born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian tennis player who competed professionally from 1997 to 2012. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, she won four Grand Slam singles titles, including three US Open championships. Together with Justine Henin, she established...

History of aluminium

History of aluminium. The history of aluminium in human usage goes back at least 2,500 years, when its compound alum was used for dyeing and city defense. During the Middle Ages, alum was traded in international commerce. In the Age of Enlightenment, the earth of alum, alumina, was shown to be an oxide...

Smythe's Megalith

Smythe's Megalith. Smythe's Megalith was a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, it was discovered in 1822, at which point it was dismantled. Built...

Black mamba

Black mamba. The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a species of extremely venomous snake native to parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the second-longest venomous snake after the king cobra; mature specimens generally exceed 2 metres (6.6 feet) and commonly grow to 3 m (10 ft). Specimens...

Droxford railway station

Droxford railway station. Droxford railway station was a rural station on the Meon Valley Railway in Hampshire, England. In 1944 it was used by Winston Churchill during preparations for the Normandy landings. Based in an armoured train parked in its sidings, he met with numerous ministers, military...

Kaiman-class torpedo boat

Kaiman-class torpedo boat. The 24 Kaiman-class ships were high-seas torpedo boats built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1904 and 1910. Yarrow Shipbuilders built the lead ship (launched on 3 June 1905), Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino of Trieste built 13 boats, and Ganz-Danubius constructed the...

Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) was an Italian composer known for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. In the period 1810–1823 he wrote his most popular works including the comic operas L'italiana in Algeri, Il...

Cleopatra

Cleopatra. Cleopatra (69–30 BC) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, though nominally survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander...