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From today's featured article

The Papuan mountain pigeon (Gymnophaps albertisii) is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae. It inhabits forests and lowlands on New Guinea, the Bacan Islands, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and the Bismarck Archipelago. It is a medium-sized pigeon, 33–36 cm (13–14 in) long and weighing 259 g (9.1 oz). Adult males have slate-grey upperparts, chestnut-maroon throats and bellies, whitish breasts, and a pale grey tail band. The lores and eye rings are bright red. Females are similar, but have greyish breasts and edges to the throat feathers. This pigeon feeds on figs and drupes. In the Schrader Range it breeds from October to March, but elsewhere may breed throughout the year. It builds a nest of sticks in a tree or in short dry grass, and lays a single egg. The species is very social and is usually seen in flocks of 10–40 birds, sometimes more. It is listed as a least-concern species on the IUCN Red List due to its large range and lack of significant population decline. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

The Most Dangerous Animal in the World

... that The Most Dangerous Animal in the World (pictured) was an exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in 1963?
... that the judging committee of the Manga Taishō, an annual manga prize, is composed primarily of bookstore workers?
... that Indian women's hockey player Elvera Britto and her sisters would stitch their own team uniforms while playing in the 1960s?
... that XO, Kitty, based on the film series To All the Boys I've Loved Before, is planned to be the first Netflix series to be spun off from a Netflix original film?
... that Austrian doctor Paul Bargehr was decried for exposing healthy Indonesians to the leprosy bacillus in his experiments?
... that "Segne, Vater, diese Gaben", a round for saying grace of unknown authorship, has appeared in German collections for kindergarten, schools and events for young people?
... that during the Qarmatian invasion of Iraq, the Abbasid Caliphate raised an army of more than 40,000 men to protect Baghdad, but did not engage the few thousand Qarmatians in battle?
... that shortly before sports shooter William Riedell was to compete in the 1936 Olympics, he had his pistols confiscated by the New York police because the precinct chief had decided there were "too many guns"?

In the news

Thibaut Courtois

In association football, Real Madrid beat Liverpool to win the UEFA Champions League Final (Man of the Match Thibaut Courtois pictured).
An Indian court sentences Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik to life in prison.
In the United States, nineteen children and two teachers are killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
In association football, Manchester City win the Premier League.

On this day

May 30: Statehood Day in Croatia (1990); Lod Massacre Remembrance Day in Puerto Rico (1972); Memorial Day in the United States

Statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial

1854 – The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and allowing their settlers to determine if slavery would be permitted.
1866 – Bedřich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premiered in Prague.
1922 – The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., featuring a sculpture of the sixteenth U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (pictured) by Daniel Chester French, opened.
1972 – Members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel, on behalf of PFLP External Operations, killing over 20 people and injuring almost 80 others.
2008 – The Convention on Cluster Munitions, prohibiting the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, was adopted.

Antonina Houbraken (b. 1686)
Wyndham Halswelle (b. 1882)
Marcel Bich (d. 1994)

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From today's featured list

Pershing House

Pershing House, on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, was built in 1881 as the residence of the base commanding officer. Designed by local architect Alfred Giles, the residence was originally designated as "Quarters No. 6, Staff Post". Its first occupant was Major General Christopher C. Augur, an American Civil War veteran. The house acquired its current name after General of the Armies John J. Pershing lived there in 1917 following his participation in the Pancho Villa Expedition. The officers who resided in the home have all been top military commanders whose aggregate careers have spanned the American Indian Wars, the Mexican Revolution, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, up through current military engagements. During the 1953–1955 tenure of General Isaac D. White, his wife Julia Cotton White created a commanding officer chronology of the house on two brass-plated plaques. On July 30, 1974, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

In May 2021, water levels of Lake Oroville, a reservoir formed by the Oroville Dam in northern California, dropped significantly, exposing much of the lake's banks, as California headed into another drought year.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg

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