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From today's featured article

Banksia serrata, the old man banksia, is a species of woody shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae. It is found from Queensland to Victoria, commonly growing as a gnarled tree up to 16 m (50 ft) in height, though it can be much smaller in more exposed areas. It has wrinkled grey bark and shiny dark green serrated leaves. The large yellow or greyish-yellow flower spikes turn grey as they age, and pollinated flowers develop into large, grey, woody seed pods. This Banksia species is one of four collected by Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four published in 1782 as part of Carl Linnaeus the Younger's original description of the genus. Throughout its range, it grows exclusively in sandy soils, and is usually the dominant plant where it grows in scrubland or low woodland. B. serrata is pollinated by and provides food for a wide array of vertebrate and invertebrate animals in the autumn and winter months. It is a common plant of parks and gardens. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Bust of Beethoven by Franz Klein

... that the first of many monuments to Ludwig van Beethoven is a bust (pictured) created in 1812 by Franz Klein during the composer's lifetime?
... that Gustav Classens, music director in Bonn from 1933, performed Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Missa solemnis, and Ninth Symphony during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both?
... that Finland became a member state of the International Labour Organization 100 years ago today?
... that Christian Schreiber, a church administrator, philosopher and poet, wrote a German version of the Latin Mass for the publication, alongside the original, of Beethoven's Mass in C major?
... that Ruth Williams Cupp, the first woman admitted to the Charleston County Bar Association in 1954, was still barred by law from serving on juries, like all women in South Carolina until 1967?
... that the Crushed Rock quarry near Abuja, Nigeria, is now a popular tourist destination?
... that when Johannes Chum, a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin, performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
... that Beethoven's Third Cello Sonata, first performed in 1809, has been described as the first sonata for piano and cello to treat the instruments as equal partners?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo-Addo (pictured) is re-elected for a second term as President of Ghana.
In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia win the World Rally Championship, while Hyundai win the manufacturers' title.
Hayabusa2 successfully returns samples collected from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth.
Zdravko Krivokapić takes office as Prime Minister of Montenegro, becoming the first independent to hold the post.

On this day

December 16: Day of Reconciliation in South Africa

Recruitment poster for the Canterbury Association

1761 – Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, Russian forces captured Kolberg, the last major Prussian port on the Baltic Sea.
1850 – Settlers of the Canterbury Association (poster pictured) aboard Randolph and Charlotte Jane arrived to establish a colony at Christchurch, New Zealand.
1914 – First World War: The Imperial German Navy attacked ports in northern England, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties.
1930 – German-American gangster Herman Lamm killed himself during a botched robbery attempt in Clinton, Indiana, to avoid being captured by police.

Manuel III of Trebizond (b. 1364)
Mary Hartwell Catherwood (b. 1847)
Taliep Petersen (d. 2006)

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Today's featured picture

Camille Saint-Saëns (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. He was a musical prodigy, making his concert debut at the age of ten, and was still performing nearly seven decades later, giving what he intended to be his farewell concert as a pianist in Paris in 1913. Saint-Saëns's retirement was soon in abeyance as a result of World War I, during which he gave many performances in France and elsewhere, raising money for war charities. In November 1921, he gave a recital before a large invited audience, where it was remarked that his playing was as vivid and precise as ever; but he died unexpectedly of a heart attack the following month while in Algiers. This photograph of Saint-Saëns by Pierre Petit was taken in 1900.

Photograph credit: Pierre Petit; restored by Adam Cuerden

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