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Today's featured article

The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is known for its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, but more recent evidence has proposed dividing them into multiple species. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Females bear sole responsibility for rearing the young. Giraffes have been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. Giraffes are assessed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are found in numerous national parks and game reserves. (Full article...)

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In the news

Willie Mays in 1961

American baseball player Willie Mays (pictured) dies at the age of 93.
In basketball, the Boston Celtics defeat the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA Finals.
A fire in a residential building in Mangaf, south of Kuwait City, kills fifty people.
A plane crash near Chikangawa, Malawi, kills nine people, including Vice President Saulos Chilima.

Did you know...

Ryu Sung-hyun

... that Olympian Ryu Sung-hyun (pictured) taught himself gymnastics for four years because his father did not want him to become an athlete?
... that a nihilist school of metaphysics contends that tables and chairs do not exist?
... that the efforts of Cora Babbitt Johnson helped delay the construction of Mount Rushmore until 1927?
... that "Sea of Voices" was well-received by Porter Robinson's fans even though it was a fundamental change from his prior musical style?
... that Morris Villarroel wore a camera on his chest that took around 1,200 photographs per day for several years?
... that Seattle Reign FC have had three name changes during their 11-year history?
... that Eric Bloodaxe's death at the Battle of Stainmore ended the independence of Scandinavian York?
... that the legacy of American pianist Ella Scoble Opperman has been said to continue "to entertain and draw attention to Tallahassee" decades after her death?
... that the sheep-farming founder of Kekerengu in New Zealand became an international fugitive?

On this day...

June 21: Fête de la Musique; International Day of Yoga; National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada; Xiazhi in China (2024)

Replica of the Manchester Baby

217 BC – Second Punic War: The Carthaginians under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, capturing or killing 25,000 men.
1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government in present-day Romania.
1898 – In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam from Spain.
1919 – During a general strike in Winnipeg, Canada, members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police attacked a crowd of strikers, armed with clubs and revolvers.
1948 – The Manchester Baby (replica pictured), the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first program.

Claude Auchinleck (b. 1884)
Maureen Connolly (d. 1969)
William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982)
Wong Ho Leng (d. 2014)

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Today's featured picture

A Bell 206 Jetranger helicopter of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) showing clearly the searchlight, loudspeakers, antennas and other law enforcement modifications.

Photo credit: Matthew Field

Recently featured: Scene composed using Blender – American Robin – Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

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