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The Duke of Windsor inspecting German troops

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany was opposed by the British government, which feared that Nazi Germany would use the visit for propaganda. After Edward had abdicated the British throne in December 1936, his brother George VI became king. Given the title Duke of Windsor, Edward married Wallis Simpson in June 1937. He appeared to have been sympathetic to Germany in this period and announced his intention to travel there privately to tour factories. He promised the British government that he would keep a low profile, and the tour went ahead between 12 and 23 October. The Duke and Duchess visited factories, many of which were producing materiel for the war effort, and the Duke inspected German troops (pictured). The Windsors dined with prominent Nazis including Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Albert Speer; they also had tea with Adolf Hitler at his house at Berchtesgaden. (Full article...)

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Ebenezer Teichelmann after the first crossing of Harper Pass in 1905

... that when Ebenezer Teichelmann (pictured), Henry Newton and Alec Graham made the first ascent of Douglas Peak in New Zealand in 1907, they took more than 25 kg (55 lb) of camera equipment?
... that Allen Mawer was the driving force behind the establishment of the English Place-Name Society, which conducted a systematic survey of English place names?
... that Claude McKay's poem "If We Must Die" has been cited as marking the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance?
... that John Morkel captained the Rhodesia national rugby team to a victory over the All Blacks?
... that the song "August" was written by Taylor Swift from the perspective of a girl who falls in love with somebody already in a relationship?
... that Boris Johnson and Tony Fernandes were present at the opening ceremony of Epsom College in Malaysia in 2014?
... that Dorothy Henriques-Wells made 360 paintings for display on three Norwegian Cruise Line ships?
... that live huhu grubs have been served at the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival?

In the news

Samia Suluhu

Samia Suluhu (pictured) becomes the first female president of Tanzania, following the death of John Magufuli at the age of 61.
Mathematicians Avi Wigderson and László Lovász share the Abel Prize for their work in complexity theory and graph theory.
In sailing, the America's Cup concludes with Team New Zealand beating Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge.
In the United States, a series of mass shootings at three massage parlors in Atlanta leaves eight dead, including six women of Asian descent.

On this day

March 20: Nowruz in Iran and other parts of Central Asia (Baháʼí Faith and Zoroastrianism, 2021)

Chemical structure of zidovudine

1854 – The Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, by politicians opposing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery in the United States.
1883 – Eleven countries signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, one of the first intellectual-property treaties.
1939 – Germany issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding the return of the Klaipėda Region under threat of invasion.
1987 – The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (chemical structure depicted) became the first treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for HIV/AIDS.
2014 – Taliban militants carried out a mass shooting at the Kabul Serena Hotel in Afghanistan, killing nine civilians.

Muhammad bin Tughluq (d. 1351)
Isaac Newton (d. 1726/27)
Eva Burrows (d. 2015)

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Today's featured picture

Emily Carr (1871–1945) was a Canadian artist and writer, and one of the first painters in Canada to adopt a Modernist and Post-Impressionist style. She received widespread recognition for her work when she changed from Aboriginal themes to landscapes. This 1939 painting by Carr, entitled Odds and Ends, depicts cleared land and tree stumps, revealing the impact of deforestation on British Columbia, and is now held by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Painting credit: Emily Carr

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