From today's featured articleKhalid al-Mihdhar (1975–2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks. He was born in Saudi Arabia and fought in the Bosnian War during the 1990s. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced al-Qaeda member, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Mihdhar attended the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit in Malaysia and then went to California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000. Arriving in San Diego, they were to train as pilots, but spoke English poorly and did not do well with flight lessons. In June 2000, Mihdhar left the United States for Yemen; after spending time in Afghanistan, he returned to the U.S. in early July 2001. On the morning of September 11, he boarded Flight 77. The attack killed all 64 people aboard, along with 125 on the ground. (Full article...)
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Guercino (b. 1591) · John Ruskin (b. 1819) · A. Chandranehru (d. 2005)
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Astronomical symbols are abstract pictorial symbols used to represent astronomical objects, theoretical constructs and observational events in European astronomy. The earliest forms of these symbols appear in Greek papyrus texts of late antiquity. The Byzantine codices in which many Greek papyrus texts were preserved continued and extended the inventory of astronomical symbols. Further new symbols were invented to represent many newly discovered planets and minor planets discovered in the 18th to 20th centuries. These symbols were once commonly used by professional astronomers, amateur astronomers, alchemists, and astrologers. While they are still commonly used in almanacs and astrological publications, their occurrence in published research and texts on astronomy is relatively infrequent, with some exceptions such as the Sun and Earth symbols appearing in astronomical constants, and certain zodiacal signs used to represent the solstices and equinoxes. (Full list...)
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Panoramic view of the Amphitheatre of El Jem, an archeological site in the city of El Djem, Tunisia. The amphitheatre, one of the best-preserved Roman ruins and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, was built around 238 AD, when modern Tunisia belonged to the Roman province of Africa. It is the third-biggest amphitheatre in the world, with axes of 148 m (486 ft) and 122 m (400 ft) and a seating capacity of 35,000, unique in Africa. Photograph: Poco a poco
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