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From today's featured article

British Army Gazelle helicopter

A British Army helicopter was destroyed in a friendly fire incident during the Falklands War, killing its four occupants. In the early hours of 6 June 1982, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cardiff was looking for aircraft supplying the Argentine forces on the Falkland Islands. A Gazelle helicopter (example pictured) of the Army Air Corps was making a delivery to British troops on East Falkland. Cardiff's crew assumed that it was hostile and fired two missiles, destroying it. Although Cardiff was suspected, scientific tests on the wreckage were inconclusive. No formal inquiry was held until four years later. Defending their claim that the helicopter had been lost in action, the Ministry of Defence stated that they did not want to upset relatives until they had ascertained how it had been shot down. A board of inquiry identified factors including a lack of communication between the army and the navy, and the army's decision to turn off helicopters' identification friend or foe transmitters. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Eurasian beaver with her kit

... that beavers (examples pictured) in the Czech Republic built dams that saved the government US$1.2 million?
... that Terraria was released earlier than planned because a beta version of the game was leaked to the public?
... that although Nora Helmer was subject to extensive controversy upon her 1879 debut, she is now considered a focal point in analysis of gender roles?
... that US general Tommy Franks reportedly did not have time to become an expert on the Danish Air Force?
... that Tribuna da Imprensa was shut down in 2001 after losing a lawsuit over an article that referred to a judge as "PC Salomão"?
... that Javanese rebel leader Diponegoro partly blamed his sexual infidelity for his defeat at the Battle of Gawok?
... that basketball player Barry Leibowitz, despite being drafted by the New York Knicks and playing in the ABA, chose to play in Israel instead because of its sea, hummus, and tahini?
... that the filmmakers of 100 Litres of Gold brewed 20 litres of sahti at the Finnish embassy in Rome for its premiere?
... that after being ousted by the Southern Transitional Council, the governor of the Socotra Archipelago fled to Oman and continued to govern through WhatsApp?

In the news

Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea's Constitutional Court removes Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured) as the president of South Korea, following his declaration of martial law.
US president Donald Trumpov announces trade tariffs on most countries.
Marine Le Pen, the runner-up in the 2017 and 2022 French presidential elections, is convicted of embezzlement and banned from standing in elections for five years.
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake leaves more than 4,300 people dead in Myanmar and Thailand.

On this day

April 4: Hansik in Korea (2024); Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese, 2025)

Alexios I Komnenos

503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrated a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
1081 – The Komnenos dynasty came to full power with the coronation of Alexios I Komnenos (pictured) as Byzantine emperor.
1859 – Bryant's Minstrels premiered the minstrel song "Dixie" in New York City as part of their blackface show.
1905 – An earthquake hit the Kangra Valley in India, killing at least 20,000 people and destroying 100,000 buildings.
1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO, an international military alliance whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

A. Thomas Bradbury (b. 1902)
Martin Rundkvist (b. 1972)
Xu Lai (d. 1973)
Inez Robb (d. 1979)

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Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

In 1920, the University of Oxford admitted women to degrees for the first time during the Michaelmas term. The conferrals took place at the Sheldonian Theatre on 14 October, 26 October, 29 October, 30 October and 13 November. That same year, on 7 October, women also became eligible for admission as full members of the university. Before 1920, it is estimated that around 4,000 women studied at Oxford since the opening of the university's first women's colleges in 1879. One graduate was Annie Rogers, who took undergraduate exams in 1875 and 1877 and was finally given a degree in 1920, when she was 64 years old. The last survivor of the first conferral ceremony was Constance Savery, who died at the age of 101 in 1999. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The red panda is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, and a ringed tail. It has a head-to-body length of 51–63.5 cm (20–25 in) and a 28–48.5 cm (11–19 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg (7 and 33 lb). It is genetically close to raccoons, weasels and skunks. Solitary, largely arboreal and well adapted to climbing, it inhabits coniferous, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, favouring steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It uses elongated wrist bones ("false thumbs") to grasp bamboo. It feeds mainly on bamboo shoots and leaves. Red pandas mate in early spring, giving birth to litters of up to four cubs in summer. On the IUCN Red List as endangered since 2015, the species is threatened by poaching and deforestation-based habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Photograph credit: Mathias Appel

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