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From today's featured article

Alexander II Zabinas (c. 150 BC – 123 BC) was a Seleucid monarch of the Hellenistic period who reigned as King of Syria between 128 BC and 123 BC. Most historians, ancient and modern, maintain that he was a pretender to the throne, although his coinage suggests that he claimed descent from Antiochus IV (died 164 BC), the brother of King Seleucus IV (died 175 BC). Descendants of both brothers were contending for the throne. In 128 BC, King Demetrius II of Syria, the representative of Seleucus IV's line, invaded Egypt to support his mother-in-law Cleopatra II in a civil war. Demetrius was killed while trying to find refuge in the city of Tyre, and Alexander II became the master of the kingdom. Egypt's Ptolemy VIII did not want a strong king on the Syrian throne, and in 124 BC an alliance was established between Egypt and Cleopatra Thea, ruling jointly with Antiochus VIII, her son by Demetrius II. Alexander II was defeated and was probably executed by Antiochus VIII. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Cantata rehearsal in the Dreikönigskirche, 2020

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... that New Zealand–born musician Millie Lovelock wrote her English literature master's thesis on One Direction?
... that Bernie Sanders was the first socialist mayor in New England since Jasper McLevy?
... that Japanese business executive Minoru Makihara credited his association with activist shareholder Robert Monks, his roommate at Harvard, for some of the reforms at Mitsubishi Corporation?
... that Columbia University's small press Columbia Global Reports has been described as "somewhere between a magazine and book publisher"?
... that Fraser's Hill in Malaysia was previously a tin mining area that was converted into a hill station after the tin ore depleted in 1913?
... that when sports journalist Leo Monahan traveled overnight with the Boston Bruins by train, he feared moving while sleeping and keeping one of the team's players awake?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Museveni (pictured) is re-elected as President of Uganda.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet resign as a result of a child welfare fraud scandal.
An earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi kills at least 92 people and injures more than 900 others.
Donald Trump becomes the first U.S. president to be impeached twice after the House of Representatives charges him with incitement of insurrection.

On this day

January 19

William V, Prince of Orange

1419 – Hundred Years' War: The Siege of Rouen ended with English troops capturing the city from Norman French forces.
1795 – The Batavian Republic was established the day after William V (pictured) fled the Dutch Republic as a result of the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam.
1915 – World War I: The first major attack of the German bombing campaign against Britain took place when Zeppelins bombed several towns in Norfolk.
1996 – A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in Rhode Island, U.S., spilling an estimated 828,000 U.S. gallons (3,130,000 l) of home heating oil.
2007 – Turkish-Armenian journalist and human-rights activist Hrant Dink was assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in Istanbul.

Thomas Willing (d. 1821)
Herbert Chapman (b. 1878)
Sophie Taeuber-Arp (b. 1889)

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Today's featured picture

William de Leftwich Dodge (1867–1935) was an American artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings. He achieved early success with a mural adorning the interior of the dome of the administration building for the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. This photograph shows part of the Zodiac mosaic designed by Dodge on the ceiling of the Surrogate's Courthouse in Manhattan, New York, originally known as the Hall of Records.

Mosaic credit: William de Leftwich Dodge; photographed by Rhododendrites

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