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On this day

August 2: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

 
Krishna Lal Adhikari
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Today's featured article

Charles Edward (1884–1954) was at various times a British prince, the last ruling duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany, and a Nazi politician. Brought up in the United Kingdom, he was selected to succeed to the throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1899 because he was deemed young enough to be re-educated as a German. He married Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein and the couple had five children. Charles Edward was a conservative ruler with an interest in art and technology. During the First World War, he supported the German Empire but was deposed during the German Revolution. During the 1920s, Charles Edward became a moral and financial supporter of violent far-right paramilitary groups, joining the Nazi Party in 1933. He was given multiple positions, including leader of the German Red Cross, and acted as an unofficial diplomat. After the war, he was interned for a period and given a minor conviction by a denazification court, dying of cancer in 1954. (Full article...)

 

Sedum acre, commonly known as the biting stonecrop, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It is native to Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia, and is naturalised in other places such as North America and New Zealand. It is a low-growing plant which is adapted for growth on thin dry soils, being found on terrain including dry grassland, beaches, drystone walls and roadside verges. The plant forms mat-like stands up to 12 centimetres (5 inches) tall. For most of the year the stems are short with dense leaf coverage, but during the flowering season in June and July, the stems lengthen and become erect. This S. acre plant with a length of 3.5 centimetres (1.4 inches) was photographed in Niitvälja, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

Did you know ...

 
Leaves of S. tonkinensis seedlings
  • ... that the dried leaves of Strobilanthes tonkinensis (examples pictured) give black tea a sticky rice flavor?
  • ... that at age 12, Emily Ausmus participated in an international water polo tournament against players as old as 19?
  • ... that a crab species was named after both an ancient board game and a League of Legends character?
  • ... that Cho Myung-chul was the first North Korean defector to be elected to the South Korean National Assembly?
  • ... that the flagbearer for the Philippines at the 1924 Summer Olympics also carried a flag of the United States?
  • ... that a geographer determined the surface area of Carl Friedrich Gauss's brain?
  • ... that a Kentucky TV station gained industry attention after it criticized the overuse of the term "breaking news"?
  • ... that citizens of New Westminster burnt effigies of Attorney General George Hunter Cary and drowned the ashes?
  • ... that many enthusiasts say that a good tomato sandwich is so messy, it should be eaten over the kitchen sink?

In the news

 
Ismail Haniyeh

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