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From today's featured article

Tiananmen Square

A self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square (pictured) in central Beijing on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001. The official Chinese press agency, Xinhua News Agency, stated that five members of Falun Gong, a banned spiritual movement, had set themselves on fire to protest the unfair treatment of Falun Gong by the Chinese government. The Falun Dafa Information Center stated that the incident was a hoax staged by the Chinese government to turn public opinion against the group and to justify the torture and imprisonment of its practitioners. The incident received international news coverage, and video footage was broadcast later in the People's Republic of China by China Central Television. The campaign of state propaganda that followed the event eroded public sympathy for Falun Gong, and the government began sanctioning the "systematic use of violence" against the group. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Bernice Tongate depicted in a 1917 poster

... that Bernice Tongate was the model for one of the most well-known recruiting posters (pictured) for the American military during World War I?
... that Jan Ziff once wore a "World Tour" shirt showing every country United States Secretary of State James Baker had visited?
... that the museum Lawh Wa Qalam is dedicated to an Indian artist who fled the country fearing for his safety?
... that Caden Pinnick's first two career touchdowns in college football were retroactively voided?
... that the board game Dorfromantik was inspired by a video game that was inspired by board games?
... that Abdudzhabar Abdurakhmanov rose from being an apprentice at a textile factory to his country's head of government?
... that a San Diego TV station was described as "a laughingstock—bankrupt and virtually bereft of watchable programming"?
... that Camp of the Woods owns a camp for girls on the only island in Lake Pleasant, New York?
... that actor Jimmy Essex sometimes had to walk off set for giggling too much?

In the news

Valentino in 2007

Italian fashion designer Valentino (pictured), founder of his eponymous fashion house, dies at the age of 93.
In association football, the Africa Cup of Nations concludes with Senegal defeating Morocco in the final.
A diplomatic crisis over Greenland leads to European troop deployments and tariff threats from the United States.
At least 45 people are killed after two trains collide in Adamuz, Spain.

On this day

January 23

Hongwu Emperor

1368 – The Hongwu Emperor (pictured) ascended the throne, initiating the Ming dynasty, which would rule China for three centuries.
1556 – One of the deadliest earthquakes in history struck Shaanxi, China, resulting in at least 100,000 direct deaths.
1793 – The Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia partitioned the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for the second time.
1968 – USS Pueblo was seized by North Korean forces, who claimed that it had violated their territorial waters while spying.
1993 – The first version of Mosaic, created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina, was released, becoming the first popular web browser.

Mary Ward (b. 1585)
William Pitt the Younger (d. 1806)
Potter Stewart (b. 1915)
Salvador Dalí (d. 1989)

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From today's featured list

Medina of Fez

There are nine World Heritage Sites in Morocco, all selected for their cultural significance by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). The Kingdom of Morocco accepted the convention on 28 October 1975, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. Morocco's first site, the Medina of Fez (pictured), was inscribed on the list at the 5th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Paris in 1981. The most recent inscription, Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage, was added to the list in 2012. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Amanda Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was an American Methodist preacher and former slave who funded the former Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children in Harvey, Illinois. She was a leader in the Holiness movement, preaching the doctrine of entire sanctification throughout Methodist camp meetings across the world. This photograph of Smith was taken around 1885 and is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Photograph credit: T. B. Latchmore; restored by Adam Cuerden

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