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Tessera bearing a possible depiction of Odaenathus

Portraits of Odaenathus, the king of Palmyra from 260 to 267 CE, include sculptures, seal impressions, and mosaic pieces. As a client king for Rome, Odaenathus came to dominate the Roman East after defeating Shapur I of Persia in 260 and assuming the title King of Kings. Several limestone head portraits from Palmyra were identified by twentieth-century scholars as depicting Odaenathus, based on criteria such as the size and the presence of a wreath, but more recent research indicates that these pieces were probably funerary objects depicting private citizens. Two marble heads, both reflecting a high level of individuality, depicting Eastern royal attributes such as the tiara and diadem, are more likely to be portraits of the king. Also, two Palmyrene tesserae (example pictured) bear a probable depiction of the king, bearded and wearing a diadem and an earring. In addition, Odaenathus is likely the subject of two mosaic panels glorifying his victories. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Male (top) and female Whitehead's trogons

... that stones have been found in the stomachs of some Whitehead's trogons (pictured)?
... that in 1972, "Prime Minister" David Sanchez led an occupation of Catalina Island by the Brown Berets meant to draw attention on the continuing struggles of Mexican-Americans in the United States?
... that four religious denominations meet in one district of Wrocław?
... that Theresa M. Korn turned down a scholarship to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in order to become the institute's first female engineer?
... that in 2001, Turkey set up an official government agency co-chaired by the foreign minister to combat "baseless genocide claims"?
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... that some English mediaeval commissions of sewers had powers to imprison labourers who refused to work on flood defences?
... that after Musical Youth reworked the song "Pass the Kouchie" into "Pass the Dutchie" by replacing cannabis references with food references, the word "dutchie" later became a cannabis reference as well?

In the news

Miguel Díaz-Canel

Miguel Díaz-Canel (pictured) is elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, succeeding Raúl Castro.
On Mars, NASA's helicopter Ingenuity makes the first powered flight on another planet.
In South Africa, a fire on Table Mountain, Cape Town, destroys historic monuments including Mostert's Mill and the University of Cape Town's special collections library.
Guillermo Lasso is elected President of Ecuador.
At the British Academy Film Awards, Nomadland wins four awards, including Best Film.

On this day

April 20: First day of Ridván (Baháʼí Faith, 2021); 420 (cannabis culture)

Fernando Lugo

1537 – Bacatá, the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation in present-day Colombia, was conquered by Spanish conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
1818 – Four days after the Court of King's Bench upheld an English murder suspect's right to a trial by battle in Ashford v Thornton, the plaintiff declined to fight, allowing the defendant to go free.
1914 – A fire and a gun battle between the Colorado National Guard and striking coal miners led to 17 deaths in the Ludlow Massacre.
1978 – Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was shot down after violating Soviet airspace, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
2008 – Fernando Lugo (pictured) became the first non–Colorado Party candidate to be elected President of Paraguay in 61 years.

William Bedloe (b. 1650)
David Brainerd (b. 1718)
Vjekoslav Luburić (d. 1969)

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Today's featured picture

Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) was a French Catholic priest and scientist. His celestial atlas, entitled Globi coelestis in tabulas planas redacti descriptio, comprising six charts of the sky, was first published in 1674. The atlas uses a gnomonic projection so that the plates make up a cube of the celestial sphere, and served as a model for William Rutter Dawes's 1844 star charts. This is the first plate from a 1693 edition of Pardies's atlas, centred on the north celestial pole and depicting part of the northern sky.

Map credit: Ignace-Gaston Pardies

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