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Today's featured article

Tourists photographing the painting

The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their success with art. Dong was chosen to reproduce the October 1 ceremony in a painting, and completed it in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. When Mao viewed it and liked it, it was assured of success, and was widely reproduced. After government purges, Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967. In 1972 a copy was made by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing. (Full article...)

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Selected anniversaries

October 1: Unification Day in Cameroon (1961); National Day in China (1949); Independence Day in Tuvalu (1978); Defenders Day in Ukraine (2015)

Yosemite Valley

959 – Edgar acceded to the English throne upon the death of his brother Eadwig.
1386 – The Wonderful Parliament met at Westminster Abbey to address King Richard II's need for money, but soon changed focus to the reform of his administration.
1890 – At the encouragement of preservationist John Muir and writer Robert Underwood Johnson, the U.S. Congress established Yosemite National Park (pictured) in California.
1918 – First World War: British and Arab troops captured Damascus from the Ottoman Empire.
2003 – A levy was imposed on the hiring of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands at the time.

Kong Wei (d. 895)
Helen Mayo (b. 1878)
Jimmy Carter (b. 1924)
Nani Alapai (d. 1928)

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In the news

Will Ashcroft

Flooding in Nepal leaves more than 200 people dead, including 37 in the nation's capital, Kathmandu.
In Australian rules football, the Brisbane Lions defeat the Sydney Swans to win the AFL Grand Final (Norm Smith Medal winner Will Ashcroft pictured).
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Lebanon.
Hurricane Helene leaves more than 100 people dead across the southeastern United States.
British actress Maggie Smith dies at the age of 89.

Did you know...

Healed tuberculous lung cavity

... that many people who recover from tuberculosis lose more than half of their lung capacity (example pictured)?
... that Henry Kailimai and his Hawaiian Quintet were hired by Henry Ford to serve as official musicians for the Ford Motor Company?
... that when the Edward S. Harkness House was built, its owner took the address from his neighbor?
... that a New Testament manuscript was "barbarously scored with red chalk" by a book publisher?
... that Thomas Bertrand-Hudon is the first professional football player to wear a Guardian Cap during a regular season game?
... that the 1998 cyberpunk short story "CyberJoly Drim" caused a controversy in the Polish science fiction and fantasy community?
... that Ajah Pritchard-Lolo is Vanuatu's first Olympic weightlifter?
... that many hapa haole songs were written by non-Hawaiians and featured nonsensical, faux-Hawaiian lyrics?
... that Shoko Ikeda once admitted that Haruhi Suzumiya, a character she designed, was "just like me"?

Today's featured picture

Picture of the day

The passion fruit is the fruit of a number of plants in the genus Passiflora. They are round or oval, and range from a width of 1.5 to 3 inches (3.8 to 7.6 centimetres). The fruits have a juicy edible center composed of a large number of seeds. This photograph shows two passion fruits of the species Passiflora ligularis (also known as the sweet granadilla), one whole and one halved. This picture was focus-stacked from 14 separate images.Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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