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From today's featured article

Prussian grenadiers at the Battle of Leuthen, as depicted by Carl Röchling

The Third Silesian War was a conflict between Prussia and an Austrian alliance that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesia, Bohemia and Upper Saxony and formed one theatre of the Seven Years' War. It can be viewed as a continuation of the First and Second Silesian Wars of the previous decade. The war was costly on both sides and ended inconclusively when neither of the main belligerents could sustain the conflict any longer. The war began with a Prussian invasion of Saxony in mid-1756, and it ended in a Prussian diplomatic victory with the 1763 Treaty of Hubertusburg. The conflict formed part of the ongoing Austria–Prussia rivalry that would shape German politics for more than a century. The war enhanced the prestige of Prussia, which was recognised as a major European power, and of Frederick, who cemented his reputation as a preeminent military commander. (This article is part of a featured topic: Silesian Wars.)

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Did you know ...

Necci from Tuscany

... that although nowadays neccio (pictured) is considered a dessert, peasants used to eat it with salty food?
... that the Confederate Army's 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment was considered a cavalry regiment, an infantry regiment, and an infantry battalion at different points of its existence?
... that Theodor Scheidl, who participated in the pentathlon at the 1906 Olympic Games and in the 1928 Bayreuth Festival, appeared as Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca to celebrate his 75th birthday?
... that a medal depicting Minerva, sometimes identified as the East India Company's Monghyr Mutiny Medal, may in fact be a Freemasons' award?
... that D'Alton Corry Coleman was the first Canadian Pacific Railway president who was not listed in Burke's Peerage, and was described by Maclean's as "the Great Commoner"?
... that in Eurovision Song Contest history, over 1,500 songs, representing 52 countries, have been performed?
... that Argentinian LGBT-rights activist Carlos Jáuregui had a station named after him on the Buenos Aires Underground?
... that the Three Brothers was part of the English crown jewels for more than 90 years, but was lost to history after Charles I tried to pawn it?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; Testing; Impact; Portal

Shinzo Abe

Parliamentary elections in Montenegro result in the first victory for opposition parties in 30 years.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (pictured) of Japan announces his intention to resign due to medical concerns.
Hurricane Laura kills more than 50 people across the Caribbean and the United States.
The Africa Regional Certification Commission declares that wild polio has been eliminated in Africa.

On this day

September 2: National Day in Vietnam (1945)

Napoleon III

47 BC – Caesarion, a possible son of Julius Caesar, became the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, ruling jointly with his mother Cleopatra.
1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Prussian forces captured Napoleon III (pictured) in Sedan, France, which led to the collapse of the Second French Empire within days.
1957 – South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm began an official visit to Australia, the first by a foreign incumbent head of state to the country.
1992 – An earthquake registering 7.7 M_w off the coast of Nicaragua became the first tsunami earthquake to be captured on modern broadband seismic networks.
1998 – A fire on Swissair Flight 111, en route from New York City to Geneva, caused the aircraft to crash into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 229 people on board.

Kösem Sultan (d. 1651)
Wilhelm Ostwald (b. 1853)
Roekiah (d. 1945)

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Today's featured picture

Intaglio is a printing and printmaking technique in which an image is incised into a surface, with the resulting incised lines and sunken areas holding ink. It is the direct opposite of relief printing, in which the parts of the matrix that make the image project from the main surface. The intaglio process probably originated in Germany in the 15th century, and came to be used for many mass-printed materials. Nowadays, intaglio engraving is mostly used for paper currency, passports, and occasionally high-value postage stamps. This macro photograph is of an 18.1 mm × 13.5 mm (0.71 in × 0.53 in) section of a Hungarian 1,000-forint banknote, depicting intaglio printing on the face of King Matthias Corvinus.

Photograph credit: Petar Milošević

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