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From today's featured article

Supermassive black hole at the core of M87

A black hole is an astronomical body so compact that its gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. Black holes typically form when massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycle. In general relativity, crossing a black hole's event horizon traps an object inside but produces no locally detectable change. Objects whose gravitational fields are too strong for light to escape were first considered in the 18th century. In 1916, the first solution of general relativity that would characterise a black hole was found. The presence of a black hole can be inferred through its interaction with matter and electromagnetic radiation. The first widely accepted black hole was Cygnus X-1, identified in 1971. Astronomers have since identified numerous stellar black hole candidates in binary systems and established that Sagittarius A*, a compact radio source at the core of the Milky Way, is a supermassive black hole of about 4.3 million solar masses. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Unofficial flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

... that the emoji of the unofficial flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (pictured) is often used online by Basques because it features the flag of the Basque Country, which does not have its own emoji?
... that the Ming prince Zhu Su authored a botanical monograph describing 414 edible wild plants to help people survive crop failures and famines?
... that in his translation of Gerald of Wales's De principis instructione, Robert Bartlett described Gerald as "one of the great auto-plagiarists of the Middle Ages"?
... that BokHee An's character Nurse BokHee, the longest-running recurring character on Grey's Anatomy, only spoke once during the TV show's first 14 seasons?
... that during the Battle of Taginae, the Gothic king Totila broke off his battle formation and led his men to lunch in an attempt to trick the Byzantines into lowering their guard?
... that the Kensington Treaty was the first bilateral Germany–United Kingdom treaty since World War II?
... that an art colony in New York City was developed because a set of nearby houses couldn't be torn down for 25 years?
... that a New Zealand gallery crowdfunded the purchase of an Elizabeth Stevens painting for the sake of a message on its back?
... that a Pennsylvania TV station canceled Harambe?

In the news

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Former emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (pictured) dies at the age of seventy-four.
Thirteen people are killed in a wildfire in Almería, Spain.
A series of coordinated attacks across Pakistan's Balochistan province leaves at least forty-two people dead.
The IOC provisionally lifts its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee.
In cricket, the Women's T20 World Cup concludes with Australia defeating England in the final.

On this day

July 17: Constitution Day in South Korea (1948); World Emoji Day

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr

1771 – Dene men who were acting as guides to Samuel Hearne on his exploration of the Coppermine River in present-day Nunavut, Canada, massacred a group of about twenty Copper Inuit.
1863 – The New Zealand Wars resumed as British forces led by General Duncan Cameron began the invasion of the Waikato.
1968 – Led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (pictured), the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party overthrew Iraqi president Abdul Rahman Arif in a bloodless coup.
1994 – Brazil won the FIFA World Cup final against Italy 3–2 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time.
2007 – TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overran the runway at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, killing 199 people.

Eunice Newton Foote (b. 1819)
Wong Kar-wai (b. 1958)
Jules Bianchi (d. 2015)
Felix Baumgartner (d. 2025)

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From today's featured list

Leila Cobo

The Leading Ladies of Entertainment is an annual event organized by the Latin Recording Academy, the body that also distributes the Latin Grammy Awards, at which awards are presented to women "excelling in the arts and sciences, and who have made indelible impressions and contributions to the Latin entertainment industry". Award recipients are honored during Latin Grammy Week, a string of events held prior to the annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony. The accolade was established in 2017 by the organization to acknowledge the gender gap in the Latin entertainment industry. The awards were first presented to Marcella Araica, Leila Cobo (pictured), Erika Ender, Rebeca León, Gabriela Martinez, and Jessica Rodriguez. The event was held twice in 2019, the first as a Mexican edition in June and again during the Latin Grammy Week in November. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Phyllis Diller (July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, and author, known for her rapid-fire jokes and self-deprecating humour. Born in Lima, Ohio, she began working in journalism, radio and advertising before making her professional stand-up debut at The Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1955. She then went on to appear on national television, including You Bet Your Life, The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. Diller later worked with Bob Hope, starred in various television series and films, and became a prolific voice actor. She is regarded as a pioneer of female stand-up comedy and inspired many later female comedians. This photograph of Diller was taken in Reno, Nevada, by the English photographer Allan Warren in 1973.

Photograph credit: Allan Warren; retouched by Yann Forget

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