From yesterday's featured article
Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Beginning as a cellist and conductor, Offenbach first wrote small-scale one-act pieces, limited by theatrical licensing laws. These eased by 1858 when he premiered his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld). La belle Hélène (1864) and other successes followed. The risqué humour (often about sexual intrigue) and gentle satire in these pieces, together with Offenbach's facility for melody, made them internationally known, and he was a powerful influence on later operetta and musical theatre composers. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st century. The Tales of Hoffmann remains part of the standard opera repertory. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that in Ludwig Krug's rendition of Adam and Eve (pictured), an ape mimics Adam eating the apple?
- ... that Australia's most threatened butterfly is confined to a native range of less than 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi)?
- ... that football player Gordon Cooper performed so well that "the adjective supply [was] exhausted" in trying to describe him?
- ... that the live-action drama adaptation of the Japanese manga Setsuyaku Rock was reimagined as a buddy comedy?
- ... that Emily Spreeman, the all-time top scorer for the United States women's national deaf soccer team, debuted for the team at the age of 15?
- ... that the San Diego YMCA estimates that it has served more than 125 million military personnel?
- ... that the real-time strategy, tower defense and factory management game Mindustry is freely licensed under the GPLv3?
- ... that Oen Boen Ing, a doctor who often worked for free, was so popular that the Indonesian government was petitioned not to evacuate him during a period of violence against Chinese Indonesians?
- ... that 200 spiders were on the set of Infested?
In the news (For today)
- KP Sharma Oli (pictured) is appointed prime minister of Nepal following the incumbent Pushpa Kamal Dahal losing a no confidence motion.
- In association football, Euro 2024 concludes with Spain defeating England in the final, and the Copa América concludes with Argentina defeating Colombia in the final.
- In tennis, Barbora Krejčíková and Carlos Alcaraz win the women's and men's singles, respectively, at the Wimbledon Championships.
- Former United States president Donald Trump survives an assassination attempt during a political rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
On the previous day
July 15: Marine Day in Japan (2024)
- 1799 – French soldiers at Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid, uncovered the Rosetta Stone, which was essential in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts.
- 1870 – Following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Manitoba was established as a province of Canada.
- 1943 – The all-female Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was formed in the Soviet Union's First Polish Army.
- 2009 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard.
- 2012 – South Korean rapper Psy (pictured) released his hit single "Gangnam Style".
- Almira Lincoln Phelps (b. 1793; d. 1884)
- Anton Chekhov (d. 1904)
- Livia Gouverneur (b. 1941)
- Christine Chubbuck (d. 1974)
From yesterday's featured list
Thirty-seven awards from 101 nominations were won by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, a 2011 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film received particular recognition for its acting – mainly that of Daniel Radcliffe (pictured) – its musical score, its production design, and its visual effects. It received three nominations at the 84th Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects. At the 65th British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Makeup and Hair, and won Best Special Visual Effects. It received four nominations at the 17th Critics' Choice Awards and won two awards. The National Board of Review selected The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 as one of its top ten films of 2011. (Full list...)
Yesterday's featured picture
The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is found across South and Southeast Asia. Like other jacanas, it forages on lilies and other floating aquatic vegetation, using its long feet and legs for balance. The sexes are alike but females are slightly larger and are polyandrous, maintaining a harem of males during the breeding season in the monsoon rains. Males maintain territories, with one male in the harem chosen to incubate the eggs and take care of the young. When threatened, young chicks may be carried to safety by the male under his wings. This bronze-winged jacana was photographed in Kumarakom on the shore of Vembanad, the largest lake in the Indian state of Kerala. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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