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22 July

Thekla (right) with Michael III

Thekla (820s or 830s – after 870) was a princess of the Amorian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. The eldest of seven children of the emperor Theophilos and empress Theodora, she was proclaimed augusta (an imperial title) in the late 830s. After her father's death in 842, her mother became regent for her younger brother Michael III, and Thekla was associated with the regime as a co-empress alongside Theodora and Michael. Thekla was deposed by Michael, possibly alongside her mother, in 856 and consigned to a convent in Constantinople. In one narrative, accepted by some Byzantinists and rejected by others, she became the mistress of Michael's friend and co-emperor Basil I, but was neglected after Basil murdered Michael in 867 and took power as the sole emperor. In this narrative, she took another lover, was discovered, and fell out of favor, then was beaten and had her property confiscated. (Full article...)

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In the news...

Joe Biden

Incumbent U.S. president Joe Biden (pictured) withdraws from the 2024 presidential election.
General secretary and former president of Vietnam Nguyễn Phú Trọng dies at the age of 80.
The International Court of Justice finds the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories to be a violation of international law.
A faulty software update by CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity company, causes global computer outages.
President Bashar al-Assad's Ba'ath Party wins a majority of seats in the Syrian parliamentary election.

Second feature

Scybalium fungiforme flower

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... that after women at Apple Inc. found a 6-percent gender wage gap and spoke out against sexual harassment and discrimination in #AppleToo, a class-action lawsuit was filed in June 2024?
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... that Ascension Island designated its entire marine territory as a protected area with no commercial fishing permitted?
... that Jewish video essayist Jacob Geller cited Jewish traditions of study and scholarship as an inspiration behind his analysis of popular culture?
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On this day...

July 22: Feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene (Christianity)

Jules-Albert de Dion

838 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated Byzantine troops led by Emperor Theophilos at the Battle of Anzen, near present-day Dazman, Turkey.
1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces unsuccessfully attacked Union troops at the Battle of Atlanta.
1894 – Jules-Albert de Dion (pictured) finished first in the world's first motor race, but did not win as his steam-powered car was against the rules.
1944 – World War II: In opposition to the government-in-exile based in London, the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation was proclaimed to govern territory recaptured from Germany.
1954 – A limited state of martial law was declared in Russell County, Alabama, due to organized crime.

Thomas Macnamara Russell (d. 1824)
James Whale (b. 1889)
Louise Fletcher (b. 1934)
Johann Breyer (d. 2014)

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