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From today's featured article

Jørgen Jensen (1891–1922) was a Danish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at that time. Jensen enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1915, serving with the 10th Battalion during the latter stages of the Gallipoli Campaign. After the Australian force withdrew to Egypt, he was transferred to the newly formed 50th Battalion, and sailed for France with the unit in June 1916. On the Western Front, he was wounded during the battalion's first serious action, the Battle of Mouquet Farm in August, and only returned to his unit in late January 1917. On 2 April, his battalion attacked the Hindenburg Outpost Line at Noreuil, where his actions led to the capture of over fifty German soldiers and resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross. Jensen survived the war, despite a severe head wound in April 1918, but died in 1922. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Queen Elizabeth 2

... that Dennis Lennon hoped his design for the interior of the Queen Elizabeth 2 (pictured) would be the "setting for the world's best party"?
... that the album Liaisons features works by dozens of composers "re-imagining" Stephen Sondheim's music?
... that John W. Beschter, a Luxembourgish Jesuit who ministered throughout rural Pennsylvania, became the President of Georgetown University in 1829?
... that the wildlife of Spain includes 8000–9000 species of vascular plants, more than any other country in Europe?
... that Sabine Hyland discovered that the Incas may have written phonetic information in knotted cords called khipus?
... that the interior of the church Mariä Heimsuchung, a tall concrete landmark of Wiesbaden, features two large, abstract triptychs?
... that Tore Johannessen was the youngest person to become president of any Norwegian sports association?
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In the news

Zuzana Čaputová

Zuzana Čaputová (pictured) is elected president of Slovakia, becoming the country's first female president and its youngest.
A Special Counsel investigation, headed by Robert Mueller, concludes and reports its findings to the United States Attorney General.
At least 160 people are killed in attacks against Fulani herdsmen in central Mali.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant loses its last territory in Syria following a defeat by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the U.S.-led coalition.

On this day

April 2: World Autism Awareness Day

Norodom Sihanouk

1513 – Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León became the first European to sight Florida, purportedly while searching for the Fountain of Youth.
1863 – About 5,000 people, mostly poor women, rioted in Richmond, Virginia, in protest at the exorbitant price of bread.
1976 – Norodom Sihanouk (pictured) abdicated from the role of leader of Cambodia and was arrested by the Khmer Rouge.
1979 – Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, causing around 100 deaths.
2015 – Four elderly men burgled items worth up to £200 million from a safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area.

Wilhelmine Reichard (b. 1788) · Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet (d. 1803) · Juanito (d. 1992)

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Today's featured picture

Eugen Sandow (2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman. Born in Königsberg, Sandow became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. He studied under strongman Louis Durlacher in the late 1880s and, on Durlacher's recommendation, competed in a series of matches against leading figures in the sport such as Charles Sampson and Henry McCann. In 1901 he organised what is believed to be the world's first major body building competition. Set in London's Royal Albert Hall, Sandow judged the event alongside author Arthur Conan Doyle and athlete/sculptor Charles Lawes-Wittewronge.

This picture shows an 1894 poster advertising the Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles, a show featuring Sandow and produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

Poster: Strobridge Lithographic Company; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

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