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Phoolan Devi (1963–2001) was an Indian dacoit (bandit) who later became a member of parliament (MP). She was a woman of the Mallah subcaste who grew up in poverty in the state of Uttar Pradesh. After marrying aged eleven and being sexually abused, she joined a gang of dacoits who robbed higher-caste villages and held up trains. When she became its leader, she evaded capture by the authorities, making her a heroine for the Other Backward Classes. She was charged in absentia for the 1981 Behmai massacre, in which twenty Thakur men were executed, allegedly on her command. Afterwards, calls to apprehend her were amplified. She surrendered two years later and spent eleven years in Gwalior prison awaiting trial. She was released in 1994 after the charges against her were set aside and she became an MP for the Samajwadi Party. Her global fame had grown after the release of the controversial film Bandit Queen, of which she did not approve. In 2001, she was assassinated outside her home in New Delhi. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Ol' Rip the Horned Toad in his casket

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... that Richard Beale Davis first published Chivers' Life of Poe almost 100 years after it was written?
... that taekwondo practitioner Alasan Ann was injured by a gunshot four months before an Olympic qualification tournament, but recovered in time and won the competition?
... that some abortions in Malawi are performed by traditional healers?
... that the cuisine of Jerusalem reflects a blend of Jewish culinary traditions, including Sephardic, Kurdish, Ashkenazi, as well as Palestinian Arab traditions?
... that female wrestler Kennedy Blades once won a state championship against boys?
... that Dead Pony renamed themselves after a track expressing how they felt after being told that Santa Claus was fictional?
... that Classic Tetris World Champion Alex Thach celebrates victories by dumping Parmesan cheese on his head?

In the news

The ATR 72 involved in the crash

Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283 (aircraft pictured) crashes in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board.
Sheikh Hasina resigns as the prime minister of Bangladesh following anti-government protests, and Muhammad Yunus is appointed leader of an interim government.
Following a mass stabbing in Southport, far-right protesters riot in England and Northern Ireland.
The United States, Russia, and their respective allies agree to a prisoner exchange of 26 people.

On this day

August 10: Qixi Festival in China (2024)

Painting of the insurrection of 10 August 1792

1792 – French Revolution: Insurrectionists in Paris stormed the Tuileries Palace (depicted), effectively ending the French monarchy until it was restored in 1814.
1864 – José Antônio Saraiva announced that the Brazilian military would exact reprisals after Uruguay's governing Blanco Party refused Brazil's demands, beginning the Uruguayan War.
1953 – First Indochina War: The French Union withdrew its forces from Operation Camargue against the Việt Minh in central modern-day Vietnam.
2019 – Having already caused severe flooding in the Philippines, Typhoon Lekima made landfall in Zhejiang, China, killing 45 people in the province.

William Lowndes Yancey (b. 1814)
Adah Isaacs Menken (d. 1868)
Marie-Claire Alain (b. 1926)
Jennifer Paterson (d. 1999)

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Today's featured picture

The chestnut-headed bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti) is a bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae, which is distributed in an area ranging from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka across Southeast Asia to Indonesia. It is 18–20 cm (7.1–7.9 in) in overall length and weighs 26–33 g (0.92–1.16 oz), with the sexes being similar in appearance. It is a multi-coloured bird, with parts of the bird such as the forehead and nape being chestnut, and other parts being green, yellow, black and blue. It eats predominantly insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. This chestnut-headed bee-eater was photographed in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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