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From today's featured article

The green rosella (Platycercus caledonicus) is a parrot native to the Australian state of Tasmania and some Bass Strait islands. The species was described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788. At up to 37 cm (14.5 in) long, it is the largest species in its genus. Its underparts, neck and head are yellow, with a red band above the beak and violet-blue cheeks. The back is mostly black and green, and its long tail blue and green. The female has duller yellow plumage and more prominent red markings, as well as a smaller beak. Found in a wide range of habitats with some form of tree cover, the green rosella is predominantly herbivorous, consuming seeds, berries, nuts, fruits, and flowers, but it may also eat insect larvae and insects such as psyllids. Nesting takes place in tree hollows. The green rosella is widespread across Tasmania, but the King Island subspecies has been classed as vulnerable. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

... that the site of Parliament Hill (pictured) was previously called Barrack Hill and had been intended for development as a major military base?
... that the third Wanamaker expedition, led by Joseph K. Dixon, travelled at least 20,000 miles (32,000 km) and visited 89 Native American tribes?
... that Laura Robinson invented Canada's best-selling board game before becoming a successful actress and television producer?
... that some species of bacteria in the genus Alkalihalobacillus live in hypersaline lakes while others are added to laundry detergent?
... that music theorist Philip Ewell received "anti-Black statements and personal ad hominem attacks" following his claim that Western music theory is shaped by a "white racial frame"?
... that Murray Dowey was a clerk and typist for the Toronto Transit Commission before being the goaltender for Canada's gold-medal-winning hockey team at the 1948 Winter Olympics?
... that the Walter Bean Grand River Trail was named after Walter Bean, who created the idea of a continuous trail through the Waterloo region?
... that Toman helped popularize genderless fashion in Japan?

In the news

Jacob Zuma

Former South African president Jacob Zuma (pictured) is sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court.
An extreme heat wave kills more than 130 people in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
In Saskatchewan, Canada, 751 unmarked graves are discovered at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
In the United States, a condominium tower near Miami collapses, killing at least 18 people and leaving 145 others missing.

On this day

July 2: Feast day of Saints Martinian and Processus (Catholicism)

The Raft of the Medusa

1298 – Albert I's army defeated the forces of the deposed Adolf of Nassau at the Battle of Göllheim following Albert's election to replace Adolf as King of Germany.
1816 – The French frigate Méduse ran aground off the coast of present-day Mauritania, with the survivors escaping on a makeshift raft, depicted in Théodore Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa (pictured).
1881 – U.S. president James A. Garfield was fatally shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C.
1941 – An SS unit arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, and began the systematic execution of up to 100,000 people over the next three years.
2013 – The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto to be discovered would be named Kerberos and Styx, respectively.

Thomas Harriot (d. 1621)
Charles Tupper (b. 1821)
Ernest Hemingway (d. 1961)

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From today's featured list

Hoko spears and dōtaku ritual bells excavated at the Kōjindani Site in Hikawa, Shimane

Forty-eight archaeological materials or sets of materials from ancient to feudal Japan have been classified as National Treasures of Japan. The term has been used in the country to denote cultural properties since 1897; the definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. The listed archaeological materials adhere to the current definition, and have been designated National Treasures since the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into effect on June 9, 1951. The materials, spanning a period from about 4500 BC to 1361 AD, were selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value". The actual number of items is more than forty-eight because groups of related objects have been combined into single entries. Most of the items have been excavated from tombs, kofun, sutra mounds or other archaeological sites. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

St. Peter's Basilica is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave in the city of Rome. Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and constructed between 1506 and 1626, the basilica is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture, and the largest church in the world by its interior dimensions. This photograph shows the main facade and dome of St. Peter's Basilica as seen from St. Peter's Square.

Photograph credit: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

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