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Complete set of snooker balls
Complete set of snooker balls

Snooker is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets. First played by British Army officers stationed in India circa 1875, the game uses twenty-two balls (pictured) – a white cue ball, fifteen red balls, and six other balls collectively called "the colours". Using a snooker cue, individual players (or teams) take turns to strike the cue ball to pot the other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each foul committed by the opposing player/team. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player or team that has scored the most points. A snooker match ends when a player/team has won a predetermined number of frames. The standard rules of snooker were first established in 1919. As a professional sport, snooker is governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Top players of many nationalities compete in regular tournaments around the world, earning millions of pounds on the World Snooker Tour. (Full article...)

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Pavonia praemorsa flower
Pavonia praemorsa flower
  • ... that the flowers of Pavonia praemorsa (pictured) bloom and die within the same day?
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Srettha Thavisin in 2023
Srettha Thavisin

On this day

August 16

San Sebastian Church in Manila
San Sebastian Church in Manila
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Ulrich Salchow
Ulrich Salchow

World Figure Skating Championships medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Generally held in March, the World Championships are considered the most prestigious of the ISU Figure Skating Championships. With the exception of the Olympic title, a world title is considered to be the highest competitive achievement in figure skating. Ulrich Salchow of Sweden (pictured) currently holds the record for the most gold medals won in men's singles (at ten), while Sonja Henie of Norway holds the record for the most gold medals won in women's singles (also at ten). Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev of the Soviet Union hold the record for the most gold medals won by a pairs team (at six). (Full list...)

Ceramica pisi

Ceramica pisi, the broom moth, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in a range covering the whole of Europe from the Arctic Circle to northern Spain, and across to the Russian Far East. It lives at heights of up to 2,000 metres. This photograph shows a broom moth caterpillar in Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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