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Today's featured list: The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets less than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) across to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has sixty-two moons with confirmed orbits, fifty-three of which have names, and only thirteen of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers (31 mi). Saturn has seven moons that are large enough to become spherical, and dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.

Today's featured topic: The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and as of 2008^[update], eight awards are presented, including the Team of the Year, Overseas Personality, Lifetime Achievement Award, Helen Rollason Award, the Coach Award, and the Newcomer Award.

Listen to
Spring, from The Four Seasons

Today's featured sound: The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723,The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. Performed by John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber Players.

Did you know...

Adam Maraana

... that Adam Maraana (pictured), an Arab-Israeli, is competing in swimming for Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics?
... that future American presidential candidate George McGovern was a student pastor at a church in Diamond Lake, Illinois?
... that Stefano Manetti was co-consecrated a bishop by the same man who ordained him a priest 30 years earlier?
... that a law was signed so that the Solomon Islands delegation could return home from the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that the first lady of the Ivory Coast created an animated kids show in 1989?
... that Olympic fencer Victor Alvares de Oliveira was told at a young age by doctors that he had little chance to compete in the sport due to his severe asthma?
... that the site of the headquarters of the German colonization of Texas was converted into a museum?
... that artifacts of Papua New Guinean art were called "living spirits with fixed abodes"?

In the news
Tadej Pogačar Landslides kill at least 257 people in Geze Gofa, Ethiopia. In cycling, Tadej Pogačar (pictured) wins the Tour de France. Incumbent U.S. president Joe Biden withdraws from the 2024 presidential election. In golf, Xander Schauffele wins the Open Championship. Ongoing: Israel–Hamas war timeline Russian invasion of Ukraine timeline Sudanese civil war timeline Summer Olympics timeline Recent deaths: Jerzy Artysz John Mayall Alexander Waugh Kenneth Grange Duke Fakir Leo Burke Nominate an article
On this day...
July 29: Torch Festival in China (2024) Cape Cod Canal 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Byzantine forces defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the mountains of Belasica near present-day Klyuch. 1693 – Nine Years' War: French troops defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance led by William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium. 1818 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel submitted a memoir on the diffraction of light to the Royal Academy of Sciences, providing strong support for the wave theory of light. 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal (pictured), connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis. 1954 – The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin. Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz (b. 1859) Isidor Isaac Rabi (b. 1898) Jaojoby (b. 1955) Virginia S. Baker (d. 1998) More anniversaries: July 28 July 29 July 30 Archive By email List of days of the year

Today's featured picture

The northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a species of mockingbird, in the family Mimidae, commonly found in North America. The species is also found in some parts of the Caribbean, as well as on the Hawaiian Islands. It is typically a permanent resident across much of its range, but northern mockingbirds may move further south during inclement weather or prior to the onset of winter. The northern mockingbird has gray to brown upper feathers and a paler belly. Its tail and wings have white patches which are visible in flight. The species is known for its ability to mimic bird calls and other types of sound, including artificial and electronic noises. This northern mockingbird was photographed in Bay Ridge, a neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

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