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From today's featured article

Belarusian stamp commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics

The pairs' figure skating competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held on February 9 and 11 at the Salt Lake Ice Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. Originally, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia won the gold, while Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada won the silver, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the bronze. However, allegations of misconduct led to one judge's scores being discarded; Salé and Pelletier were also awarded gold medals, while the Russians were allowed to keep theirs. In a joint press conference, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee announced that Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge implicated in collusion, was guilty of misconduct and immediately suspended. In 2004, the ISU voted to retire the 6.0 judging system. As a result, the ISU Judging System was created, in which skaters are scored based on a technical evaluation of the required elements. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Path of Waimāpihi Stream marked on the forecourt

... that a once-sacred stream, buried in the 1880s, was rediscovered during the construction of a petrol station forecourt (pictured)?
... that eunuch Jin Ying defended the existing heir apparent against the Jingtai Emperor's attempt to replace him with his own son?
... that Boards of Canada's Inferno samples an Islamic scholar, a Hindu mantra, The Jesus Trip, and an occultist magician?
... that homebuilding company CEO Sheryl Palmer resigned from her role for just one day before returning?
... that the book Before Lawrence v. Texas discusses the history of Texas's homosexual-conduct law, and how it enlarged anti-sodomy law to include being homosexual as a criminal act?
... that Isabella Feltria della Rovere had her cousin search Roman catacombs for religious relics?
... that the undefeated 1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team returned in tears to the field to play after a priest administered last rites to their semi-conscious coach at halftime?
... that Annette Lee offered refunds to viewers who felt that they "wasted their time" with her debut movie, Dream Stall, which she wrote, directed and acted in?
... that the same doctor performed the autopsies of Martin Luther King Jr. and the judge who sentenced his assassin?

In the news

Hakainde Hichilema

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria ends its autonomous rule following its full integration into Syria.
President Hakainde Hichilema (pictured) wins the Zambian general election for a second consecutive term.
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake strikes off the coast of Flores, Indonesia, causing at least 87 deaths.
Former premier of China Zhu Rongji dies at the age of 97.
A solar eclipse causes totality from Siberia to Iberia.

On this day

August 23: Black Ribbon Day

Natascha Kampusch

1305 – William Wallace, a leader of Scottish resistance against England during the Wars of Scottish Independence, was hanged, drawn and quartered.
1775 – King George III issued a proclamation that declared elements of the American colonies of Great Britain to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion".
1960 – Congo Crisis: In order to stop the secession of South Kasai from the Republic of Congo, Armée Nationale Congolaise forces launched an invasion of South Kasai.
2006 – Natascha Kampusch (pictured), who had been abducted at the age of ten in Vienna, escaped from her captor's house in Strasshof an der Nordbahn after more than eight years in captivity.
2011 – A 5.8 M_W earthquake struck the Piedmont region of Virginia, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history.

Volin (b. 1882)
Sarah Yorke Jackson (d. 1887)
Bah Ndaw (b. 1950)
Alejo Igoa (b. 1996)

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Today's featured picture

The brown parrotbill (Paradoxornis unicolor), also known as the brown suthora, is a species of bird in the parrotbill family, Paradoxornithidae. It is found in the central and eastern Himalayas. Measuring 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) in length, it is grey-brown with a long tail, a small yellowish parrot-like bill, and a dark stripe above the eyes and along the sides of the crown. It occurs in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal, moving in small groups and sometimes joining mixed-species foraging flocks. Originally described by Brian Houghton Hodgson, its closest relative is the three-toed parrotbill. This brown parrotbill was photographed in Darjeeling, in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Photograph credit: Tisha Mukherjee

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