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From the day before yesterday's featured article

Lady Gaga (left) and Beyoncé (right)

"Telephone" is a song by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé (both pictured) and released on January 26, 2010. "Telephone" conveys Gaga's fear of not finding time for fun given the increasing pressure for her to work harder. The song consists of an expanded bridge and verse-rap; Beyoncé appears in the middle of the song, singing the verses in a "rapid-fire" way, accompanied by double beats. "Telephone" received positive reviews from critics who praised Gaga's chemistry with Beyoncé. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The song charted in many countries and sold 7.4 million digital copies worldwide in 2010, making it the year's fourth best-selling single. The music video follows Beyoncé as she bails Gaga out of prison for killing her boyfriend and ends with the two trying to escape a high-speed police chase. The video received generally positive reviews and was nominated for three awards at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Sam Kee Building

... that the Sam Kee Building (pictured), recognized by Guinness World Records as the narrowest commercial building in the world, was built on a bet between two businessmen?
... that a group of 25 women disfigured by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima traveled to the United States in the 1950s to receive reconstructive surgery?
... that Mary Sheffield is the youngest elected member and the youngest president in the Detroit City Council's history?
... that fans speculated that Charli XCX wrote "Sympathy Is a Knife" about Taylor Swift and her relationship with Matty Healy?
... that the capture of the crusader Bertrand of Toulouse by Muslims was blamed by an anonymous monk on the "treachery" of Queen Melisende and Countess Hodierna?
... that the Chinook Indian Nation became a federally recognized tribe in 2001, but had its status revoked the following year?
... that Liang Sishun published an anthology of Chinese poetry in 1908, when she was about fifteen years old?
... that Eoscorpius, despite living hundreds of millions of years ago, has been noted for its similarity to modern scorpions?
... that a Greek academic compared the Frankish Tower in Athens with the droppings of birds of prey?

In the news (For today)

Micheál Martin

In an ongoing offensive, the Rwandan-supported March 23 Movement captures Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Alexander Lukashenko is re-elected as the president of Belarus, after banning opposition candidates.
Micheál Martin (pictured) becomes Taoiseach of Ireland as the leader of a coalition government.
A fire at a ski resort hotel in Kartalkaya, Turkey, leaves at least 78 people dead and 51 others injured.
A series of attacks by the National Liberation Army in the Catatumbo region of Colombia leaves more than 80 people dead.

Two days ago

January 26: Australia Day (1788); Republic Day in India (1950)

Photograph of the television broadcast of Hutchinson

1926 – Oliver Hutchinson appeared on television (pictured) in inventor John Logie Baird's first successful demonstration of using the technology to show humans.
1972 – JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.
1974 – Turkish Airlines Flight 301 crashed while taking off from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport, killing 67 people.
2015 – A jet fighter crashed at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, killing all nine people on board, including former basketball player Kobe Bryant .

Lady Katherine Grey (d. 1568)
Bessie Coleman (b. 1892)
Olga Tufnell (b. 1905)
Jeanne Hébuterne (d. 1920)

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The day before yesterday's featured picture

Shinku La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas of northern India. The pass is traversed by the Darcha–Padum road, connecting the high-altitude region of Zanskar in Ladakh with the rest of India. The pass becomes snowbound in the winter, leading to the closure of the road. The construction of a tunnel under the pass, to ensure all-weather connectivity, began in 2024. This photograph shows Shinku La covered in snow, with a frozen lake in the foreground.

Photograph credit: Timothy Gonsalves

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