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From today's featured article

Adult male ring ouzel

The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a medium-sized thrush, breeding mainly in Europe. Males are mostly black with a white crescent across the breast, females are browner and duller than males, and young birds may lack chest markings. A high-altitude bird, it breeds in open mountain areas with some trees or shrubs, often including heather or juniper. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, northern Africa and Turkey, often in mountains with juniper. A typical clutch of three to six brown-flecked pale blue or greenish eggs is incubated by the female and hatches after 13 days. The downy chicks fledge in another 14 days. The thrush is omnivorous, eating invertebrates, particularly insects and earthworms, some small vertebrates, and a wide range of fruit. Most animal prey is caught on the ground. With an extensive range and a large population, the ring ouzel is evaluated as a least-concern species by the IUCN. There are declines in several countries, perhaps due to climate change or human disturbance. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Coat of arms of the Falkland Islands

... that the ship on the coat of arms of the Falkland Islands (pictured) represents the Desire, whose crew reportedly sighted the islands in 1592?
... that journalist Al Cartwright started his career writing for The Reading Times at the age of 15?
... that residents at the queer community known as the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch carry firearms and wear body armor while tending to their alpacas due to threats from right-wing militias?
... that the classicist L. D. Reynolds wrote his first publication on the birds of the Caerphilly Basin?
... that the design of King Sombra, the villain in "The Crystal Empire", was meant to illustrate him "as both a solid creature and a flowing mass of smoky darkness"?
... that when Chorus Systèmes SA was founded in 1986, French technology start-up companies were rare?
... that composer Ida Carroll played a central role in the merger of the Northern School of Music and the Royal Manchester College of Music to found the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973?
... that Peluso implores your help?

In the news

Olympics closing ceremony

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report on the state of knowledge of climate change and its effects.
The Summer Olympics close (ceremony pictured) in Tokyo, Japan, with the United States winning the most gold and total medals.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya travels to Poland on a humanitarian visa after attempts by the Belarus Olympic Committee to repatriate her against her will.

On this day

August 14: Independence Day in Pakistan (1947)

Phonograph recording of "The Lost Chord"

1264 – War of Saint Sabas: A Genoese fleet captured or sank most of the ships of a Venetian trade convoy off the coast of Albania.
1888 – One of the first music recordings ever made, of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord" (audio featured), was played at a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London.
1941 – After a secret meeting in Newfoundland, British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter, establishing a vision for a post–World War II world.
1971 – The English rock band the Who released Who's Next, the group's only album to top the UK charts.
2013 – Egyptian security forces raided two camps of ousted president Mohamed Morsi's supporters in Cairo, leading to the death of at least 595 civilians and forcing the government to declare a state of emergency.

Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (d. 1691)
Nüzhet Gökdoğan (b. 1910)
Connie Smith (b. 1941)

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Today's featured picture

George Holdich (14 August 1816 – 30 July 1896) was a British organist and organ builder based in London. In 1851, he produced a pipe organ that was exhibited at the Great Exhibition. This photograph shows Holdich's best-known achievement, the new organ for Lichfield Cathedral, installed in 1861. The instrument, which has 52 stops, was the first in England to have a full pedal specification of stops as was customary among organs in continental Europe.

Photograph credit: David Iliff

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