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Hypothetical restoration

Paranthodon was a stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in present-day South Africa between 139 and 131 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous. Discovered in 1845, it was one of the first stegosaurians found. The only remains of the genus, a partial skull, isolated teeth, and fragments of vertebrae, were found in the Kirkwood Formation. British paleontologist Richard Owen initially identified the fragments as those of the pareiasaur Anthodon. After remaining untouched for years in the British Museum of Natural History, the partial skull was identified by South African paleontologist Robert Broom as belonging to a different genus; he named the specimen Palaeoscincus africanus. Several years later, Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa, unaware of Broom's new name, similarly concluded that it represented a new taxon, and named it Paranthodon owenii. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek para (near) with the genus name Anthodon, to represent the initial referral of the remains. (Full article...)

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Christ Church in Russell, New Zealand

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In the news

Judd Trump

Judd Trump (pictured) wins the World Snooker Championship, defeating John Higgins in the final.
The United Nations reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline unprecedented in human history.
At least 29 people are killed in clashes at the Gaza–Israel border.
Aeroflot Flight 1492 crash lands and bursts into flames at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, killing 41 of the 78 people on board.

On this day

May 11

Frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra

868 – A copy of the Diamond Sutra (frontispiece pictured) was printed in China, making it the world's oldest dated complete printed book.
1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: French forces defeated those of the Pragmatic Allies at the Battle of Fontenoy in the Austrian Netherlands in present-day Belgium.
1889 – An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort resulted in the theft of over $28,000 and the award of two Medals of Honor.
1997 – Deep Blue became the first computer to win a match against a world chess champion, when it defeated Garry Kasparov in six games.
2013 – Two car bombs by unknown perpetrators exploded in Reyhanlı, Turkey, resulting in 52 killed and 140 injured.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (b. 1752) · Juliette Récamier (d. 1849) · Zenna Henderson (d. 1983)

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Today's featured picture

Minnesota is a state situated in the Midwestern United States, carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. While the state's residents are primarily white and northern European, substantial influxes of African, Asian and Hispanic immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants and of the original Native American inhabitants. Nearly 60 percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the Twin Cities. The remainder of the state, often referred to as Greater Minnesota, consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; eastern deciduous forests, also heavily farmed and settled; and the less-populated northern taiga. The state, known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", is known for its moderate-to-progressive politics and social policies, its civic involvement and its high voter turnout.

This picture is a depiction of the historical coat of arms of Minnesota, illustrated by American engraver Henry Mitchell as part of State Arms of the Union, published in 1876 by Louis Prang. The escutcheon features a Native American riding on horseback in the background, while a farmer ploughs a field in the foreground, with his rifle resting on a stump nearby; these represent the state's peoples and industries. The French motto below the shield reads L'Étoile du Nord, meaning 'The Star of the North'.

Illustration credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Andrew Shiva

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