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From today's featured article
Operation Title was an unsuccessful 1942 Allied attack on the German battleship Tirpitz during World War II. The Allies considered Tirpitz to be a major threat to their shipping and after several Royal Air Force heavy bomber raids failed to inflict any damage it was decided to use Royal Navy midget submarines instead. Operation Title involved a pair of two-man British Chariot manned torpedoes which were transported to Norway on board a small boat named Arthur. Both Chariots were lost when bad weather caused them to detach from Arthur on 31 October. It was not possible for the Allied boat to reach the sea due to German security measures, and Arthur was scuttled. The Allied personnel attempted to escape overland and all but one reached neutral Sweden on 5 November. The other – a British serviceman – was taken prisoner by German forces and murdered on 19 January 1943. Tirpitz was eventually sunk by another bomber raid on 12 November 1944. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the exhibition Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands included art from the 8th to 19th centuries (object pictured)?
- ... that a major parade took place in Cairo on 24 August 1472 for the hanging of Shah Suwar?
- ... that Ronald MacDonald was allegedly drugged with chloroform during the 1901 Boston Marathon, sabotaging his race?
- ... that avant-garde musician Mabe Fratti's religious upbringing restricted her to classical and Christian music until she discovered file sharing on LimeWire?
- ... that a North Carolina TV station broadcast from a "residential showplace" that was considered to be "one of [the] finest" houses in town?
- ... that Lithuanian communist activist Valerija Narvydaitė spent more than 14 years in jails and detention centres?
- ... that "Not Strong Enough" by Boygenius describes conflicting mental states of self-hatred and self-importance?
- ... that Ronald Reagan did not publicly mention AIDS until 1985, after more than 5,000 people in the United States had died from it?
- ... that winter wonderland fairs have become a celebrated annual British tradition – but often for the wrong reasons?
In the news
- Switzerland, represented by Nemo (pictured) with "The Code", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
- A series of solar storms impact Earth, creating aurorae seen farther from the poles than usual.
- Former prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama is sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
- Mahamat Déby is declared the winner of the Chadian presidential election.
- Flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, leaves more than 140 people dead and at least 130 others missing.
On this day
May 15: Feast day of Saint Carthage (Catholicism); Nakba Day in Palestinian communities
- 392 – Roman emperor Valentinian II (pictured) was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, in present-day France.
- 1855 – Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London to Folkestone, England.
- 1864 – American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union Army out of the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima sank after striking several mines off Port Arthur, China.
- 1916 – Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas.
- Hilary of Galeata (d. 558)
- Emily Dickinson (d. 1886)
- K. M. Cariappa (d. 1993)
Today's featured picture
The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) is a neotropical species of hummingbird from the Andean regions of South America. Among the largest species of hummingbird, it is characterized by its unusually long beak, being the only bird to have a beak longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. It uses this to drink nectar from flowers with long corollas and has coevolved with the plant Passiflora mixta. While most hummingbirds preen using their beaks, the sword-billed hummingbird uses its feet to scratch and preen due to its beak being so long. Photograph credit: Andy Morffew
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