Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 August 29b
From today's featured article
Lost in Translation is a 2003 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola (pictured). Bill Murray stars as Bob Harris, a fading American movie star who travels to Tokyo and befriends Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson. The film explores themes of alienation and disconnection against a backdrop of cultural displacement in Japan. Coppola started writing the film after spending time in Tokyo and becoming fond of the city. She kept a flexible schedule during filming and allowed a significant amount of improvisation. Lost in Translation premiered on August 29, 2003, at the Telluride Film Festival and had a theatrical release on September 12, 2003. Critics praised the performances of Murray and Johansson, as well as the writing and direction of Coppola; minor criticism was given to the film's depiction of Japan. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as three Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that before the Fulton Street station (entrance pictured) was renovated in the 2010s, a New York Times reporter said the station "might be a good spot for M. C. Escher to set up an easel"?
- ... that a stamp depicting an elephant compelled Plácido Ramón de Torres to flee Italy for his native Spain?
- ... that an Iowa TV station operates from a former McDonald's restaurant?
- ... that after breaking up, Piri and Tommy Villiers released a song about wanting to be treated nicely in a relationship?
- ... that National Football League player Jacob Sykes took college courses in sixth grade and assisted in teaching college courses in seventh grade?
- ... that although Kississing Lake is threatened by water contaminated with tailings, it is the main resource for nearby residents?
- ... that about 30 cases of Hanhart syndrome were reported between 1932 and 1991?
- ... that Diamandi Djuvara's last stand against the Ottoman army in Wallachia resulted in the Ottomans collecting 138 human tongues as war trophies?
In the news
- Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole, carrying the Pragyan rover (pictured).
- A business jet crashes in Tver Oblast, Russia, killing Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others.
- Thailand's parliament elects Srettha Thavisin as prime minister following general elections in May.
- Hun Manet is sworn in as Prime Minister of Cambodia, succeeding his father Hun Sen's 38-year term.
On this day
August 29: Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist (Catholicism, Anglicanism)
- 1350 – Hundred Years' War: Led by King Edward III, a fleet of 50 English ships captured at least 14 Castilian vessels and sank several more at the Battle of Winchelsea.
- 1786 – Farmers in western Massachusetts angered by high tax burdens and disfranchisement began an armed uprising led by Daniel Shays against the U.S. federal government.
- 1831 – Michael Faraday (pictured) first experimentally demonstrated electromagnetic induction, leading to the formulation of the law of induction named after him.
- 1960 – Air France Flight 343 crashed while attempting to land at Yoff Airport, Dakar, killing all 63 occupants.
- 2016 – Chen Quanguo became the Chinese Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang, later overseeing the creation of the Xinjiang internment camps.
- Abu Taghlib (d. 979)
- Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville (b. 1785)
- Orval Grove (b. 1919)
- Kazi Nazrul Islam (d. 1976)
Today's featured picture
The barred owl (Strix varia), also known as the northern barred owl, the striped owl or the hoot owl, is a bird in the family Strigidae, the true owls. It is largely native to eastern North America, but has also expanded its range to the continent's west coast, where it is considered an invasive species. Its preferred habitat is mature forest, but it can also acclimate to various gradients of open woodlands. The barred owl's diet consists mainly of small mammals, but this species is an opportunistic predator and is known to prey upon other small vertebrates such as birds, reptiles and amphibians, as well as a variety of invertebrates. Barred owls are brown to gray overall, with dark striping on the underside. This barred owl was photographed in Whitby in Ontario, Canada. Photograph credit: Mdf
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