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From today's featured article

Helicopter 66 (US Navy bureau no. 152711) was a Sikorsky Sea King used for the water recovery of many of NASA's Apollo astronauts, including those returning from the first manned moon landing in 1969. Space historian Dwayne A. Day has called it "one of the most famous, or at least most iconic, helicopters in history". Delivered to the navy in 1967, Helicopter 66 was in the inventory of U.S. Navy Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four for the duration of its active life. One of its pilots, Donald S. Jones, went on to command the United States Third Fleet. It transported the Shah of Iran during his 1973 visit to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Later re-numbered Helicopter 740, it crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1975 during a training exercise, having logged more than 3,200 hours of service. It was the subject of a 1969 song by Manuela and was made into a die-cast model by Dinky Toys. Replicas of "Old 66" are on display at the USS Hornet Museum and the USS Midway Museum. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Teuira Henry

... that Teuira Henry (pictured) reconstructed her English missionary grandfather's lost manuscript describing Tahitian history by using his notes?
... that Mexico was represented by a single athlete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics?
... that the Argentinian mezzo-soprano Alicia Nafé appeared in her signature role as Bizet's Carmen alongside Plácido Domingo in San Francisco, and at the Metropolitan Opera with Domingo as conductor?
... that the antependium of Lyngsjö Church has been said to be "better suited for the high altar of a cathedral than a countryside church"?
... that the Samec'niero, written by Iase Tushi, contains one of the earliest examples of a Georgian–Persian dictionary, and is the earliest Georgian manuscript so far discovered in Iran?
... that brass bands have been a feature of Vale Park since its opening in 1899, when one played the crowd in through the gates?
... that Neocalanus plumchrus is able to uptake dissolved glucose directly from seawater despite its exoskeleton?
... that the footballer Mark Aizlewood once celebrated scoring a goal by flicking the V at fans of his own team?

In the news

Student protests in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Lombok, Indonesia, killing more than 100 people after its 6.4 magnitude foreshock killed at least 20 others a week prior.
More than 140 people are injured in road-safety protests (pictured) in Bangladesh.
A 79-year-old Junkers Ju 52 aircraft crashes in Switzerland, killing all 20 people on board.
In mathematics, the Fields Medal is awarded to Caucher Birkar, Alessio Figalli, Peter Scholze and Akshay Venkatesh.

On this day

August 9: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples; National Women's Day in South Africa

Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki

1902 – Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark were crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1945 – World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped a "Fat Man" atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan (pictured).
1956 – An estimated 20,000 women marched on Pretoria, South Africa, to protest the introduction of the Apartheid pass laws for black women in 1952.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in ice hockey history.
2001 – A suicide bomber attacked a Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people and wounding 130 others.

Michael the Brave (d. 1601) · Eileen Gray (b. 1878) · Philip Larkin (b. 1922)

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Today's featured picture

Chrysopa perla is a species of insect in the family Chrysopidae. Present in most of Europe and in temperate zones of Asia, these insects prefer cool and shady areas. They may reach 10–12 millimetres (0.39–0.47 in) in length, with a wingspan of 25–30 millimetres (0.98–1.18 in).

Photograph: Mathias Krumbholz

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