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Latest News

Opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics

The 2020 Summer Olympics open (ceremony pictured) in Tokyo, Japan.
The Australian city of Brisbane is announced as the host city of the 2032 Summer Olympics.
In sumo, Terunofuji Haruo becomes the 73rd yokozuna.
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in England is stripped of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to modern development in the area.
Floods and landslides result in at least 56 deaths in Henan, China.

Today in History

July 26: Independence Day in Liberia (1847)

1759 – French and Indian War: Rather than defend Fort Carillon near present-day Ticonderoga, New York, from an approaching 11,000-man British force, French Brigadier General François-Charles de Bourlamaque withdrew his troops and attempted to blow up the fort.
1887 – L. L. Zamenhof (pictured) published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
1936 – The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to the Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was unveiled near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France.
2007 – After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.

Carl Jung (b. 1875)
Howard Vernon (d. 1921)
Mick Jagger (b. 1943)

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Did You Know?

Larisa Iordache

... that Larisa Iordache (pictured) is the second-most decorated gymnast in the history of the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships with sixteen medals?
... that the name of Serbian Roma female rap group Pretty Loud was inspired by the popular notion that Roma women are not typically very loud?
... that Brigadier Archie Miller-Bakewell registered the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh?
... that Living in the Age of Airplanes was the first IMAX film to be shot on all seven continents?
... that the fire urchin plays host to two species of shrimp as well as the zebra crab, Zebrida adamsii?
... that the Sanford station was often confused with the Stamford station?
... that Michael McIntyre, who was an Olympic sailing champion in 1988, was awarded an MBE for services to yachting the following year?
... that the manga Cheat Slayer ran for one chapter before it was cancelled?

Today's Featured Article

The Battle of Caen on 26 July 1346 was an assault on the French-held town by a force of archers and men-at-arms, part of an invading English army under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. This force, nominally commanded by the Earls of Warwick and Northampton, was eager for plunder, and attacked against orders, before the rest of their army was in position. Caen was garrisoned by 1,000–1,500 soldiers and a large number of armed townsmen, commanded by Grand Constable of France Raoul, the Count of Eu. The town was captured in the first assault; over 5,000 of the ordinary soldiers and townspeople were killed and a small number of nobles were taken prisoner. After sacking the town for five days, the army marched to the River Seine, and by 12 August they were 20 miles (32 kilometres) from Paris. After turning north they heavily defeated the French at the Battle of Crécy two weeks later, and commenced the successful siege of Calais the following week. (This article is part of a featured topic: Crécy campaign.)

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Today's Featured Picture

The Japanese government-issued dollar was a form of currency issued between 1942 and 1945 for use within the territories of Singapore, Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei, under occupation by Imperial Japan during World War II. The currency, informally referred to as "banana money", was released solely in the form of banknotes, as metals were considered essential to the war effort. The languages used on the notes were reduced to English and Japanese. Each note bears a different obverse and reverse design, but all have a similar layout, and were marked with stamped block letters that begin with "M" for "Malaya". This 1942 one-dollar Japanese-issued banknote, depicting breadfruit and coconut trees on the obverse, is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Other denominations:

Banknote design credit: Empire of Japan; photographed by Andrew Shiva