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Sydney Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer who played a pioneering role in British television and Canadian cinema. During the 1950s and 60s, he held the role of Head of Drama at ABC Weekend TV and later at the BBC. During this time, he created the spy-fi series The Avengers and co-created the science-fiction series Doctor Who. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman was appointed acting director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and then head of the National Film Board of Canada. He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as acting as an advisor to the Secretary of State. His obituary in The Guardian declared that "for ten brief but glorious years, [he] ... was the most important impresario in Britain", and that his death marked the "laying to rest of a whole philosophy of popular art". (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Charles J. M. Gwinn

... that Charles J. M. Gwinn (pictured) was the first state's attorney of Baltimore elected under the Maryland Constitution of 1851, which he had helped to draft?
... that "Every Night", released ten years ago today, was called "the smartest dumb music out there"?
... that Bishop John Dunn continued to celebrate Mass after a fire broke out in the choir loft of St. Cecilia Cathedral during the Sixth National Eucharistic Congress?
... that over the opening weekend of Florentina Holzinger's first opera, eighteen audience members required medical treatment for severe nausea?
... that the apricot dress of Jacqueline Kennedy kept its shape in India's hot weather?
... that weightlifter Oun Yao-ling was asked to compete in the South African Games, but the invitation was swiftly rescinded once the organisers learned that he was Chinese, not white?
... that the opening of Salmon n' Bannock led to the owner reconnecting with her long-lost family?
... that Władysław Umiński's 1914 novel Czarodziejski okręt was described as being a "grotesque" treatment of the robinsonade?
... that Ross Mihara "didn't know a yorikiri from hara-kiri" when he was hired as a sumo commentator by NHK?

In the news

Yoav Gallant

The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant (pictured), and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif in its investigation of war crimes in Palestine.
Forty-five pro-democracy activists are sentenced under the Hong Kong national security law for their participation in the 2020 pro-democracy primaries.
In motorcycle racing, Jorge Martín wins the MotoGP World Championship.

On this day

November 23

Edwin Hubble

1644 – In opposition to licensing and censorship during the English Civil War, John Milton's Areopagitica was published, arguing for the right to free expression.
1924 – The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble (pictured) stating that the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky Way, is in fact another galaxy.
2003 – Rose Revolution: Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as President of Georgia following weeks of mass protests over disputed election results.
2009 – A crowd of people on their way to register Esmael Mangudadatu's candidacy for governor of Maguindanao, Philippines, were kidnapped and killed by supporters of his rival, resulting in 58 deaths.
2011 – Arab Spring: After months of protests in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to transfer power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Colin Turnbull (b. 1924)
Cornelius Ryan (d. 1974)
Aklilu Habte-Wold (d. 1974)
Miley Cyrus (b. 1992)

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Today's featured picture

The Finding in the Temple, also called Christ among the Doctors, the Disputation in the Temple and variations of those names, is an episode in the early life of Jesus depicted in chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke. It is the only event of the later childhood of Jesus mentioned in a canonical gospel. In the episode, Jesus – at the age of twelve – accompanies Mary, Joseph, and a large group of their relatives and friends to Jerusalem on many pilgrimages. On the day of their return, Jesus remained in the Temple. Mary and Joseph returned home believing he was among their group when he was not. After a day of travel they realised Jesus was missing and returned to Jerusalem, finding him three days later. He was found in the Temple in discussion with the elders, "listening to them and asking them questions". When admonished by Mary, Jesus replied: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" The Finding in the Temple is frequently shown in art. This representation, titled The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, is an oil-on-canvas painting produced by William Holman Hunt in 1860. It now hangs in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in Birmingham, England.

Photograph credit: William Holman Hunt

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