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The Clonmacnoise Crozier is a late-11th-century Insular crozier that would have been used as a ceremonial staff for bishops and high-status abbots. Discovered before 1821 in the monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, Ireland, it consists of a shaft and curved crook, decorated with elements of Viking art. It may have been associated with Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (died c. 549), and was perhaps commissioned by Tigernach Ua Braín (died 1088), Abbot of Clonmacnoise, but little is known of its origin or rediscovery. Largely intact, it is one of the best preserved pieces of Insular metalwork. The antiquarian and collector Henry Charles Sirr, Lord Mayor of Dublin, held it until the Royal Irish Academy acquired his collection on his death in 1844. It was transferred to the archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street on the branch's foundation in 1890. The archaeologist and art historian Griffin Murray has described it as "one of [the] finest examples of early medieval metalwork from Ireland". (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Magna Lykseth as Isolde in 1909

... that Magna Lykseth appeared as Isolde (pictured) when Wagner's Tristan und Isolde was first performed at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1909?
... that Sunday-school classes were once held in the transmitter building of New Mexico radio station KCLV?
... that Scottish inventor and music teacher Anne Gunn was granted the first British patent for a board game in 1801?
... that Concurrent Computer Corporation was consumed in a "minnow-swallows-the-whale" merger during the junk bonds era, but unusually, kept its name, CEO, and headquarters?
... that Joshua George Beard was a member of the first Toronto City Council and the first Toronto School Board of Trustees?
... that until the 1970s, most shōjo manga (Japanese girls' comics) were written by men?
... that Claudia Riner was falsely accused of distributing lesbian erotica in the Kentucky House of Representatives?
... that on the day the Conrad Bangkok hotel opened in 2003, ten people climbed up its walls dressed as Spider-Man?

In the news

Kevin De Bruyne

In the United States, 21 people are killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
In association football, Manchester City win the English Premier League (Player of the Season Kevin De Bruyne pictured).
The Australian Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, wins the most seats in the Australian federal election.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is elected as President of Somalia.

On this day

May 25: Africa Day (1963); Anniversary of the First National Government in Argentina (1810); Independence Day in Jordan (1946)

Great Wall of China

1644 – Ming–Qing transition: Ming general Wu Sangui allowed the invading Manchu to cross the Great Wall of China (pictured), allowing them to capture Beijing and establish the Qing dynasty.
1810 – The Primera Junta, the first independent government in Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking the end of the May Revolution.
1944 – The Wehrmacht and their collaborationist allies launched Operation Rösselsprung, a failed attempt to assassinate the Yugoslav Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito.
1962 – The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, went out of business.
2012 – In a test flight, SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.

Flann Sinna (d. 916)
Louise de Broglie, Countess d'Haussonville (b. 1818)
Elisabeth Geleerd (d. 1969)

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Today's featured picture

The Las Lajas Shrine is a Catholic minor basilica in Ipiales, Colombia, located within the canyon of the Guáitara River. The basilica was built between 1916 and 1949 in the Gothic architectural style to commemorate an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Measured from the base of the canyon, the basilica is 100 metres (330 ft) tall.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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