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Royal Maundy ceremony in 1867

Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday. At the service, the British monarch or a royal official distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money". The name "Maundy" and the ceremony derive from the instruction of Jesus at the Last Supper that his followers should love one another. English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and gave to the poor; the latter custom survives through the Maundy gifts. Recipients were once chosen for their poverty, but are now chosen for service to their churches or communities. At the 2024 service at Worcester Cathedral, the distribution was made by Queen Camilla in place of her husband, Charles III, following his diagnosis of cancer. The coins' obverse design features the reigning monarch, while the reverse design features a crowned numeral enclosed by a wreath. In most years there are fewer than 2,000 complete sets of Maundy money; they are highly sought after by collectors. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Three bowls of sobá

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... that Keivonn Woodard's nomination for The Last of Us made him the second-youngest actor and first black deaf actor to be nominated at the Emmys?
... that an unnamed abuse survivor risks her life to become a spy in "one of the bravest actions in all of the Book of Mormon"?
... that Scytalopus krabbei is named after Niels Krabbe, who discovered seven other species in its genus?
... that Canadian surgeon Robin McLeod advocated for post-operative patients to get back on their feet and move around immediately, against the prevailing guidance that they should stay in bed?
... that the Sydney asbestos crisis started when a child brought home handfuls of mulch from a playground?
... that Velma Whitman had "one of the largest and most elaborate wardrobes" for a vaudeville performer thanks to her collection of designer-made English and French gowns?
... that Institutiones rei herbariae, published in 1700, sought to give a unique name to every plant based on their "essence"?

In the news

Wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in the U.S. city of Baltimore collapses (wreckage pictured) after being hit by a container ship.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye is elected President of Senegal.
A mass shooting and explosions kill 143 people at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia.
Following the Indonesian general election, Prabowo Subianto wins the presidential election, and the Democratic Party of Struggle wins the most votes in the legislative election.

On this day

March 28

HMS Campbeltown during the St Nazaire Raid

1802 – German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers discovered Pallas, the second asteroid to be identified, but at the time considered to be a planet.
1935 – The Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will, directed by Leni Riefenstahl, premiered in Berlin.
1942 – Second World War: The port of Saint-Nazaire in German-occupied France was disabled by British naval forces (ship pictured).
1946 – The US Department of State released the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, a proposal for the international control of nuclear weapons.
1979 – British prime minister James Callaghan was defeated by one vote in a vote of no confidence after his government struggled to cope with widespread strikes during the Winter of Discontent.
1999 – Kosovo War: Serbian police and special forces killed around 93 Kosovo Albanians in the village of Izbica.

Ernst Lindemann (b. 1894)
Nasser Hussain (b. 1968)
Lady Gaga (b. 1986)
Charles Schepens (d. 2006)

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Today's featured picture

Crepidotus is a genus of fungus in the family Crepidotaceae. Species of Crepidotus all have small, convex to fan-shaped sessile caps and grow on wood or plant debris. The species are cosmopolitan in distribution, and are well-documented from the northern temperate to the South American regions. This Crepidotus variabilis cap growing on a branch was photographed in De Famberhorst, a nature reserve near Joure in Friesland, Netherlands. The photograph was focus-stacked from 42 separate images.

Photograph credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma

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