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From today's featured article
An attempted coup took place on September 13, 1964, in South Vietnam against the ruling military junta, led by Nguyễn Khánh (pictured). In the preceding month, Khánh had tried to improve his leadership by declaring a state of emergency, provoking protests and riots. He made concessions to the protesters and removed military officials linked to former President Ngo Dinh Diem, including Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức. They responded with a coup, broadcasting their promise to revive Diem's policies. Khánh evaded capture and rallied allies while the U.S. continued their support for his rule. Khánh forced Phát and Đức to capitulate the next morning and various coup leaders appeared at a media conference where they denied that a coup had taken place. To maintain power, Khánh tried to court support from Buddhist activists, who supported negotiations to end the Vietnam War. As the Americans were strongly opposed to such policies, relations with Khánh became strained. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the flag of Rwanda (pictured) depicts the sun illuminating the country's lush vegetation?
- ... that two cosmetic companies engaged in a "rose war" with advertising campaigns based around the song "You're More Beautiful Than a Rose" and the film The Rose of Versailles?
- ... that Fede Vigevani once presented an awards ceremony in which he won an award?
- ... that the course of the River Tay was diverted to allow the construction of the Jubilee Bridge?
- ... that "New York's wealthiest janitor" lived atop the Bergdorf Goodman Building?
- ... that Henry Charles Swan, a law graduate from Oxford, spent more than 25 years living on a yacht in a stream in New Zealand?
- ... that according to legend, after one of the Earl de Grey's parrots was killed, the other never spoke again?
- ... that due to a lack of good men, Sabrina Carpenter settles for someone who does not know the difference between "their", "there", and "they are" in her song "Slim Pickins"?
- ... that although Armond Seidler invented the pugil stick for military training purposes, it later found use in the television show American Gladiators?
In the news
- Typhoon Yagi leaves more than 370 people dead across six Asian countries.
- Michel Barnier (pictured) is appointed prime minister of France by President Emmanuel Macron, leading to nationwide anti-government protests.
- An attempted jailbreak at Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, leaves 129 people dead.
- A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Kamchatka, Russia, killing all 22 people on board.
On this day
- 509 BC – According to Roman tradition, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (depicted), the most important temple in ancient Rome, was dedicated.
- 1567 – The siege of Inabayama Castle, the final battle in Oda Nobunaga's campaign to conquer Mino Province, began; it culminated in a decisive victory for Nobunaga.
- 1848 – An explosion drove an iron rod through the head of railroad foreman Phineas Gage; his survival and recovery influenced 19th-century discussion of psychology and neuroscience.
- 1919 – The Boston police strike ended after four days of rule by the state militia, the deaths of nine people, and accusations that striking officers were "agents of Lenin".
- 2005 – A software bug caused a simulated pandemic in the online video game World of Warcraft, serving as a model for epidemiologists to understand how human interaction influences disease outbreaks.
- Kavad I (d. 531)
- Laura Secord (b. 1775)
- Arnold Schoenberg (b. 1874)
- Louis Laybourne Smith (d. 1965)
From today's featured list
In 1961, Billboard magazine launched a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States which were considered to be "easy listening". The chart has undergone various name changes and since 1996 has been published under the title Adult Contemporary. Initially, the listing was compiled simply by extracting from the magazine's pop music chart, the Hot 100, those songs which were deemed by the magazine's staff to fit under the Easy Listening banner and ranking them according to their placings on the Hot 100. In 1961, seven different songs topped the Easy Listening chart in 24 issues of the magazine. The number one song on the first Easy Listening chart was "The Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton (pictured), which was at number 2 on the Hot 100 that week. The longest-running Easy Listening number one of 1961 was "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean, which spent the final ten weeks of the year in the top spot. It was one of three songs to top the Hot 100 as well as the Easy Listening chart during the year, along with "Wooden Heart" by Joe Dowell and "Michael" by the Highwaymen. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world. It is located in the Midway Geyser Basin. Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The bright, vivid colors in the spring are the result of microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The mats produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids and on the temperature gradient in the runoff. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green. The deep blue color of the water in the center of the pool results from the intrinsic blue color of water. The effect is strongest in the center of the spring, because of its sterility and depth. This aerial photo shows Grand Prismatic Spring from the south in August 2022. Photograph credit: Carsten Steger
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