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David Scott (born June 6, 1932) is a retired NASA astronaut, the seventh person to walk on the Moon and the only commander of a successful lunar landing mission still alive. Born in Texas, he attended West Point and was commissioned in the Air Force, flying as a fighter pilot in Europe, and then as a test pilot. He was selected in 1963 as one of NASA's third group of astronauts. He first flew into space in 1966 as pilot of Gemini 8 alongside Neil Armstrong. Scott spent ten days in orbit in March 1969 as command module pilot of Apollo 9. He made his third and final spaceflight in 1971 as commander of Apollo 15, the fourth crewed lunar landing, and explored the Moon with James Irwin for three days. Scott retired from the Air Force in 1975 with the rank of colonel. After serving as director of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, he retired from the agency in 1977, entering the private sector. He served as a consultant for several films about the space program, including Apollo 13. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Italian Renaissance relief by Leon Battista Alberti

... that new forms appearing in 15th-century Italian Renaissance sculpture (example pictured) include the medal and the plaquette?
... that the chicken turtle is one of the shortest-lived turtle species in the world?
... that Joseph Eiboeck called the period from July 4, 1884, to 1890 "a reign of terror for Iowa"?
... that the Storia de Mahometh contains the earliest Latin translation of any part of the Quran?
... that Paul Delvaux's painting The Sacrifice of Iphigenia has been interpreted as a work about the little death?
... that actress Dorothy Van Engle starred in the 1935 movie Murder in Harlem with a "proto-feminist role" that was then a primary source of positive representation for African Americans in film?
... that the Oshima Brothers started singing together in the bathtub?
... that Solomon Hughes was a Harlem Globetrotter before he played a Laker in film?

In the news

Elizabeth II

An explosion and fire at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 49 people and injure more than 450 others.
The Commonwealth of Nations celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II (pictured).
In cricket, Gujarat Titans win the Indian Premier League, defeating Rajasthan Royals in the final.
Tara Air Flight 197 crashes in Nepal, killing all 22 people on board.

On this day

June 6: Queen's Official Birthday in New Zealand (2022); National Day of Sweden; Western Australia Day (2022)

Syrian soldiers in Raqqa

1749 – A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered.
1822 – Alexis St. Martin, a Canadian voyageur, was accidentally shot in the stomach; medical investigations of his injury led to a greater understanding of the processes of digestion.
1894 – Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered the Colorado state militia to protect and support miners engaged in a five-month strike in Cripple Creek.
1982 – Falklands War: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cardiff engaged and destroyed a British Army helicopter in a friendly-fire incident.
2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (soldiers pictured) opened the Second Battle of Raqqa, the final phase of the Raqqa campaign, capturing the de facto capital of the Islamic State four months later.

Jeremy Bentham (d. 1832)
Lillian Russell (d. 1922)
Natalie Morales (b. 1972)

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From today's featured list

Dwight D. Eisenhower

An annual opinion poll to determine the most admired man and woman in the United States has been conducted by the American analytics and advisory company Gallup at the end of most years since 1946. The result is published as a top-ten list. In most years, the most admired man has been the incumbent president of the United States, and the most admired woman has been the first lady. The incumbent president has been the most admired man in 58 of the 72 years in which the poll has been conducted. Dwight D. Eisenhower (pictured) and Barack Obama have each been the most admired man 12 times. In his lifetime, the evangelist Billy Graham had 61 appearances in the top-ten list, the most of any individual, and 8 second-place finishes. Two former first ladies have the most appearances as the most admired woman: Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton. Clinton topped the list in 22 of the 25 polls conducted during between 1993 and 2017, including 16 times in a row from 2002 to 2017, before Michelle Obama became the most admired woman in 2018. Roosevelt was named the most admired woman 13 times. The highest number of top-ten appearances belongs to Queen Elizabeth II, with 52. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Monument to Alfonso XII is located in Buen Retiro Park (El Retiro) in Madrid, Spain. Measuring 30 m (98 ft) high, 86 m (282 ft) long, and 58 m (190 ft) wide, it has at its center an equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII, cast in bronze by the Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure in 1904. The monument is situated on the eastern edge of an artificial lake near the center of the park and was inaugurated on 6 June 1922.

Architecture credit: José Grases Riera; photographed by Carlos Delgado

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