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Herma of Aeschylus

Eduard Fraenkel (1888–1970) was a German classical scholar who served as Corpus Christi Professor of Latin at the University of Oxford from 1935 until 1953. Born to a family of assimilated Jews in the German Empire, he studied classics at the Universities of Berlin and Göttingen. He established his academic reputation in 1922 with the publication of a monograph on Plautus, a Roman comedian. In 1934, antisemitic legislation introduced by the Nazi Party forced him to seek refuge in England. He published a three-volume commentary in 1950 on Agamemnon by the Greek playwright Aeschylus (pictured), and a monograph in 1957 on the Roman poet Horace. Biographers place particular emphasis on the impact of his teaching at Oxford, where he led a weekly classical seminar that influenced the intellectual development of many undergraduates. The Hellenist Hugh Lloyd-Jones described Fraenkel as "one of the most learned classical scholars of his time". (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Rōki Sasaki

... that Rōki Sasaki (pictured) recorded 13 consecutive strikeouts during his April 10 perfect game?
... that A. N. Wilson justified fictionalising the life of George Forster for his novel Resolution by saying that Forster "inhabit[ed] a borderline between fact and fiction"?
... that bucking bull Spotted Demon won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bucking Bull of the Year award at the old age of 10 years?
... that Melody, originally composed by Myroslav Skoryk for a 1982 Soviet film, was used in Volodymyr Zelenskyy's broadcast to the U.S. Congress in March 2022?
... that Manai Sophiaan asserted in his 1994 memoir that the CIA was involved in the 1965 Indonesian coup attempt?
... that half the students of Northern Arizona University left for Christmas early after campus radio station KNAU was pranked?
... that Rafflesia meijeri was named after Dutch botanist Willem Meijer for his work on the conservation and study of Rafflesia plants?
... that ornithologist Elaina Marie Tuttle discovered that the white-throated sparrow has four sexes?

In the news

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (pictured) is elected as President of Somalia.
In the United States, ten people are killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Ukraine, represented by Kalush Orchestra with the song "Stefania", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan inherits the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and becomes President of the United Arab Emirates after the death of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

On this day

May 19: Global Accessibility Awareness Day (2022); Lag BaOmer (Judaism, 2022); Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919); Ho Chi Minh's Birthday in Vietnam

Thai soldiers during the crackdown on political protests

1655 – Anglo-Spanish War: England invaded Spanish Jamaica, capturing it a week later.
1743 – French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer using the centigrade scale, with 0 representing the melting point of water and 100 its boiling point.
1828 – The United States Congress passed the largest tariff in the nation's history, which resulted in severe economic hardship in the American South.
1997 – The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, which encompasses the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, was established as a result of grassroots efforts.
2010 – In Bangkok, the Thai military (pictured) concluded a week-long crackdown on widespread protests by forcing the surrender of opposition leaders.

Helena of Moscow (b. 1476)
Ruth Ella Moore (b. 1903)
John Gorton (d. 2002)

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Today's featured picture

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, and trainer, and it continued to be used in these roles until the 1950s. This poster was produced between 1942 and 1945 by the Office of War Information.

Poster credit: Office of War Information

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