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Today's featured article
The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army forces commanded by Ulysses S. Grant had failed several times to bypass or capture the Confederate-held city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant decided to move his army south of Vicksburg, cross the Mississippi River, and then advance on the city. A Confederate division under John S. Bowen prepared defenses—Forts Wade and Cobun—at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. To clear the way for a Union crossing, seven ironclad warships from the Mississippi Squadron of the Union Navy commanded by Admiral David Dixon Porter bombarded the Confederate defenses at Grand Gulf. Union fire silenced Fort Wade, but the overall Confederate position held. Grant decided to cross the river elsewhere. The next day, Union forces crossed the river at Bruinsburg, Mississippi. The position at Grand Gulf was abandoned and became a Union supply point. The Grand Gulf battlefield is preserved in Grand Gulf Military State Park. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that G299.2-2.9 (pictured) is one of the oldest known Type Ia supernova remnants in the Milky Way?
- ... that eccentric Yorkshirewoman Camberley Kate is estimated to have cared for more than 600 dogs in her lifetime?
- ... that Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth was Wole Soyinka's first novel in nearly fifty years?
- ... that cricketer William O'Rourke has the best match-bowling figures by a New Zealander on a Test debut?
- ... that Biodiversity Impact Credits seek to stop species extinction?
- ... that the terms "Palestine" and "Palestinians" were being increasingly used in 1908 by the emergent Palestinian press, which expressed anti-Zionist positions?
- ... that ice hockey player Cameron Butler "had the good fortune not to get pulled over as he raced" to reach his team's game in time for his NHL debut?
- ... that the iZombie episode "And He Shall Be a Good Man" gets its name from an Elton John lyric?
- ... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
In the news
- Acting prime minister of Haiti Ariel Henry (pictured) resigns, and is replaced by Michel Patrick Boisvert while the Transitional Presidential Council is sworn in.
- The Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, led by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, wins the most seats in the Solomon Islands general election but falls short of a majority.
- NASA announces that the Voyager 1 space probe is sending readable data for the first time in five months.
- The HDZ-led coalition wins the most seats in the Croatian parliamentary election but falls short of a majority.
- Ichthyotitan, the largest known marine reptile, is formally described.
On this day
- 1770 – On his first voyage, British explorer James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour (pictured) landed at Botany Bay, making the first recorded European landfall on the eastern coast of Australia.
- 1903 – A rockslide buried part of the Canadian mining town of Frank under 110 million tonnes of rock, killing around 70 people.
- 1944 – Second World War: British agent Nancy Wake parachuted into Auvergne, France, becoming a liaison between the Special Operations Executive and the local Maquis group.
- 1968 – The controversial Broadway musical Hair, a product of the counterculture of the 1960s, opened, with its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement.
- 2006 – Cyclone Mala made landfall near Thandwe, Myanmar, causing 37 deaths.
- George Farquhar (d. 1707)
- Marietta Blau (b. 1894)
- Giacomo dalla Torre (d. 2020)
Today's featured picture
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Sphalerite is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S. It is found in a variety of deposit types, and is found in association with galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite (and other sulfides), calcite, dolomite, quartz, rhodochrosite, and fluorite. Sphalerite is an important ore of zinc, with around 95 percent of all primary zinc extracted from its ore. Due to its variable trace-element content, sphalerite is also an important source of several other metals such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium. The zinc in sphalerite is also used to produce brass. This sample was extracted in Creede, Colorado, and features black tetrahedral crystals of sphalerite up to 8 mm (0.31 in) in size, with minor chalcopyrite and calcite, in a 4.5 cm × 3.0 cm × 2.0 cm (1.77 in × 1.18 in × 0.79 in) matrix. This photograph was focus-stacked from 125 separate images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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