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James and Margret Reed of the Donner Party
James and Margret Reed of the Donner Party

The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train, but became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains in November 1846. Running out of food, some resorted to cannibalism to survive. The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the Donner Party had been slowed by following a new route called the Hastings Cutoff, which crossed the Rocky Mountains' Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake Desert in present-day Utah. They lost many cattle and wagons in the rugged terrain, and divisions formed within the group. Their food supplies ran low after they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall high in the mountains. In mid-December some of the group set out on foot and were able to obtain help. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived to reach California. Historians have described the episode as one of the most spectacular tragedies in California history. (Full article...)

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Royal Game of Ur board, c. 2500 BCE
Royal Game of Ur board, c. 2500 BCE

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June 3: Martyrs Day in Uganda; King's Official Birthday in New Zealand (2024); Western Australia Day (2024)

Silhouette of Jack Jouett
Silhouette of Jack Jouett
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Alan Turing
Alan Turing

The Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the field of computer science and is often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing". The award is named after Alan Turing (pictured), who was a British mathematician and reader in mathematics at the University of Manchester. Turing is often credited as being the founder of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, and a key contributor to the Allied cryptanalysis of the Enigma cipher during World War II. The first recipient, in 1966, was Alan Perlis of Carnegie Mellon University. The youngest recipient was Donald Knuth, who won in 1974 at the age of 36, while the oldest recipient was Alfred Aho, who won in 2020 at the age of 79. As of 2024, 77 people have been awarded the Turing Prize. (Full list...)

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Laothoe populi

Laothoe populi, the poplar hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species is found throughout the Palearctic realm and the Near East, and is one of the most common members of the family in the region. The larvae are pale green on first hatching, at which point they are known as hornworms, later developing yellow diagonal stripes on the sides, and pink spiracles. This photograph, taken in Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, France, shows a late instar of L. populi.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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