June 12, 2024
In the News
- A plane crash in Mzimba, Malawi, kills ten people, including Vice President Saulos Chilima (pictured).
- In the Indian general election, the National Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is re-elected with a reduced majority.
- The Boeing Starliner spacecraft conducts its first crewed flight, carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station.
- The CNSA Chang'e 6 completes sampling and takeoff from the far side of the Moon.
Featured Picture
The green kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) is a species of bird in the kingfisher family, Alcedinidae. It is found from the southern United States, south through Central America, and in every mainland South American country except Chile. The green kingfisher is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighs about 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz), with females being larger and heavier than males. It has various vocalisations, including one described as resembling "the striking of two pebbles together" and another as "a harsh, buzzy scold". This male green kingfisher, a member of the subspecies C. a. americana, was spotted close to the Cristalino River in the Pantanal, Brazil. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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Featured Article
Incapillo is a Pleistocene-age caldera – a depression formed by the collapse of a volcano – in La Rioja Province, Argentina. It is part of the southernmost volcanic centre in the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate is responsible for most of the volcanism in the CVZ. Volcanism commenced in the Incapillo region 6.5 million years ago, forming the high volcanic edifices of Monte Pissis, Cerro Bonete Chico and Sierra de Veladero. Incapillo is known to have erupted the Incapillo ignimbrite 0.52 ± 0.03 and 0.51 ± 0.04 million years ago; this has a total volume of about 20.4 cubic kilometres (4.9 cu mi). A caldera with dimensions of 5 by 6 kilometres (3.1 mi × 3.7 mi) formed during the eruptions. Later volcanism generated more lava domes within the caldera and a debris flow in the Sierra de Veladero. The lake within the caldera may overlie an area of ongoing hydrothermal activity. (Full article...)
Today
June 12: First day of Shavuot (Judaism, 2024); Dia dos Namorados in Brazil; Loving Day in the United States (1967)
- 1798 – Following the successful French invasion of Malta, the Knights Hospitaller surrendered Malta to Napoleon, initiating two years of occupation.
- 1864 – Union general Ulysses S. Grant pulled his troops out of the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia, ending one of the bloodiest, most lopsided battles in the American Civil War.
- 1914 – As part of the Ottoman Empire's policies of ethnic cleansing, Turkish irregulars began a six-day massacre in the predominantly Greek town of Phocaea.
- 1954 – Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at his death in 1857, was canonized by Pope Pius XII, making him one of the youngest non-martyred saints in the Catholic Church.
- 1994 – The Boeing 777 (pictured), the world's largest twinjet, made its maiden flight.
- Æthelflæd (d. 918)
- Samuel Cooper (b. 1798)
- Eugénie Brazier (b. 1895)
- Milorad Petrović (d. 1981)
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