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From today's featured article

Coin of Cleopatra Selene and Antiochus XIII

Cleopatra Selene (died 69 BC) was a queen of Seleucid Syria (83–69 BC). The daughter of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III of Egypt, she became the queen of Egypt in 115 BC when she was married to her brother, King Ptolemy IX, and later probably married King Ptolemy X. In 103 BC, Cleopatra III established an alliance with the Seleucid ruler Antiochus VIII; Cleopatra Selene was sent to be his bride, and stayed with him until his assassination in 96 BC. The widowed queen married her previous husband's brother, Antiochus IX, who died in 95 BC. She then married her stepson, Antiochus X, who probably died in 92 BC. She hid somewhere in Syria with her children until 83 BC, when the Seleucid thrones in Antioch and Damascus became vacant. Declaring her son Antiochus XIII king, she ruled alongside him, according to depictions on coins from the period. She was ousted when the people of Antioch and Damascus, exhausted by the Seleucids' civil wars, invited foreign monarchs as their new rulers. She then controlled several coastal towns until she was besieged, captured and executed in 69 BC by Tigranes in Ptolemais. (Full article...)

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Artist's concept of the Cahokia Woodhenge

... that the Cahokia Woodhenge (pictured), built by the Native American Mississippian culture between 900 and 1100 CE, was a timber circle solar calendar used to observe solstices and equinoxes?
... that the English tenor Mark Milhofer appeared as Mozart's Ferrando in Beijing and Moscow, and as Poppea's nurse in Berlin, dressed as a parody of Riff Raff?
... that the fireflies Aquatica ficta and Aquatica hydrophila both have aquatic larvae that are unable to swim?
... that in 1919, Romanian playwright and journalist A. de Herz was court-martialled for alleged collaboration with the Central Powers?
... that prior to creating Booker T. Washington State Park, West Virginia's Conservation Commission justified its segregation policy by explaining that "our Negro citizens would feel ill at ease" using parks alongside whites?
... that the footballer Stanley Kane gave up playing in order to join the Liverpool City Police?
... that after sighting an improvised distress signal made from a lady's shawl, the French frigate Cléopâtre rescued 34 people stranded at sea?
... that during the 1655 papal conclave, the younger cardinals played pranks on the older cardinals for fun?

In the news

Mudflow damage in Santa Barbara County

The British construction and services company Carillion goes into compulsory liquidation.
The oil tanker MV Sanchi sinks with the loss of all 32 crew eight days after colliding with another ship.
At least 18 people are killed after mudflows (damage pictured) strike the area of Montecito, California, in the area affected by the recent Thomas Fire.
In cricket, the Ashes series concludes with Australia beating England.
The National Unity Party wins the most seats in the parliamentary election in Northern Cyprus.

On this day...

January 18: The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

Jim Thorpe

1866 – Wesley College, one of the largest schools in Australia by enrolment, was established in Melbourne.
1884 – Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial, which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom.
1943 – World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army eased the Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city.
1958 – African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in professional ice hockey.
1983 – Thirty years after his death, the International Olympic Committee presented commemorative medals to the family of American athlete Jim Thorpe (pictured), who had had his gold medals stripped for playing semi-professional baseball before the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Tamar of Georgia (d. 1213) · Elena Arizmendi Mejia (b. 1884) · Bruce Chatwin (d. 1989)

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The Wikipedia blackout was a 24-hour period in which access to all articles on the English Wikipedia, barring those on the protested Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act, was suppressed. From January 18–19, 2012, visitors to the website saw only a protest message and the phrase "Imagine a world without free knowledge." It is estimated in excess of 160 million people viewed the banner, which was one of numerous protest actions undertaken at the time. The political environment regarding both bills shifted significantly following the protests, and both were removed from further voting.

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