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Today's featured article

St George and the Dragon atop Mells War Memorial

Mells War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the village of Mells, Somerset, in south-western England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial takes the form of a marble column topped by a sculpture of Saint George slaying a dragon (pictured). At the base of the column, the names of the village's war dead are inscribed on stone panels. The memorial is flanked by rubble walls in local stone, on top of which grows a yew hedge. Low stone benches protrude from the walls to allow wreaths to be laid. The memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures in Mells designed by Lutyens. The memorial was unveiled on 26 June 1921 by Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, whose brother is commemorated on it and whose father was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for much of the war. Additional panels were fixed to the wall to commemorate the Second World War. It is a grade II* listed building and since 2015 has been part of a national collection of Lutyens's war memorials. (Full article...)

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On this day...

November 11: Armistice Day (known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations and Veterans Day in the United States); Singles' Day in China and Southeast Asia

Shrine of Remembrance

1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Iroquois allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.
1813 – War of 1812: British–Canadian forces repelled an American attack at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, forcing the United States to give up their attempt to capture Montreal.
1934 – The Shrine of Remembrance (pictured), a memorial to all Australians who have served in war, opened in Melbourne.
1999 – The House of Lords Act was given royal assent, removing most hereditary peers from the British House of Lords.
2008 – After 30 years in power, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was succeeded by Mohamed Nasheed as president of the Maldives.

Martha Annie Whiteley (b. 1866)
Édouard Vuillard (b. 1868)
Maria Teresa de Filippis (b. 1926)
Leonardo DiCaprio (b. 1974)

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In the News

Olaf Scholz

A suicide bombing by the Balochistan Liberation Army at the Quetta railway station, Pakistan, kills 27 people.
The German ruling coalition (Chancellor Olaf Scholz pictured) collapses over disagreements on economic policies.
Donald Trump wins the United States presidential election.
Maia Sandu is re-elected President of Moldova.
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Did you know?

Rock-cut niches of Teniky in southern Madagascar

... that an enigmatic ancient site deep in Madagascar (pictured) may have been built by Zoroastrians?
... that Jacques Lewis, a 105-year-old French veteran of D-Day, insisted that he participate in a ceremony commemorating the invasion's 80th anniversary?
... that a memorial in Suffolk, England, marks the deaths of six members of a scout troop in a 1914 boating accident and that of the sole survivor two years later in the Battle of the Somme?
... that, according to his family, Ye Yanlan was compelled to leave government service after speaking Cantonese in front of the emperor of China?
... that the suppression of the Diaspora Revolt of 115–117 CE led to the near-total annihilation and displacement of Jewish communities in Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and much of Egypt?
... that 50 Lan occupied the number-one spot in Taiwan's bubble tea market for most of 2023?
... that the world's oldest timepiece with an anchor escapement is in the collection of the Irish Museum of Time?
... that editors often line up in rival camps during contentious disputes on Wikipedia and the winning side typically cites encyclopedic policies to favor their viewpoint?
... that although Hugh O'Neill publicly assisted the English Crown in thwarting Irish rebels during the Nine Years' War, he was secretly the leader of the Irish confederacy?

{{{Image text}}} Today's featured picture

Picture of the day

Shirley Graham Du Bois

Photograph credit: Carl Van Vechten; restored by Adam Cuerden

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