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From today's featured article

Satellite image of Typhoon Omar at peak intensity on August 29, 1992

Typhoon Omar of 1992 was the strongest and most destructive typhoon to strike Guam since Typhoon Pamela in 1976. It formed on August 23 from the monsoon trough across the western Pacific Ocean, and made landfall on Guam five days later with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph). The storm caused damage there costing US$457 million, and one death. Strong gusts up to 248 km/h (154 mph) left nearly the entire island without power, disrupting the water system for several days and preventing the island-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center from issuing advisories for 11 days. The storm damaged or destroyed 2,158 houses, leaving 3,000 people homeless. The next day Omar became a super typhoon with sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). Passing well north of the Philippines, it killed 11 people. It weakened significantly before striking eastern Taiwan on September 4; scattered flooding caused three deaths, along with damage worth $65 million, mostly to agriculture. The storm proceeded into eastern China the next day and dissipated on September 9. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Fluffy sculpin

... that under adverse conditions, the fluffy sculpin (pictured) can leave its rock pool and breathe air?
... that Diana Beck performed brain surgery on Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne?
... that in the annual Balotsav of India, children compete in many categories including elocution?
... that Mary Munson Runge was the first female and first African-American president of the American Pharmacists Association?
... that Parks Canada blocked the entrance of the Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse with rubble masonry after vandals destroyed the restored door?
... that Nelly Mbangu co-founded an organisation for survivors of sexual and domestic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
... that Up from the Cradle of Jazz chronicles the evolution of rhythm and blues in New Orleans?
... that marine biologist Marie Darby, the first New Zealand woman to visit the Antarctic mainland, sailed to the Ross Sea on a tourist boat that ran aground on its first trip?

In the news

Slobodan Praljak

Former Bosnian Croat army general Slobodan Praljak (pictured) dies from intentionally drinking poison after the ICTY upholds his conviction for war crimes.
In sumo, yokozuna Harumafuji Kōhei retires amidst investigations into an assault on fellow wrestler Takanoiwa Yoshimori.
Indonesian officials order the evacuation of 100,000 people in Bali due to the eruption of Mount Agung.
In Canadian football, the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Calgary Stampeders to win the Grey Cup.
At least 305 people are killed in a terrorist attack on a mosque in Bir al-Abed, Egypt.

On this day...

December 4

Jeremiah Horrocks observing the transit of Venus

1639 – English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks (pictured) made the first successful prediction and observation of a transit of Venus.
1893 – First Matabele War: A patrol of British South Africa Company soldiers was ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors.
1909 – The first Grey Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Football League, was held.
1971 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, exploded a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing 15 people.
1992 – U.S. President George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order during the ongoing Somali Civil War.

John Cotton (b. 1585) · I. K. Gujral (b. 1919) · Pearl Corkhill (d. 1985)

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From today's featured list

Annika Sörenstam

There have been 35 champions at the ANA Inspiration, an annual women's golf competition staged at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. It was established in 1972, and is the first of the five women's major championships played each year. The event is conducted in stroke play. The champions are presented with the "Dinah Shore Trophy", in honor of Shore, who promoted the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and helped found the ANA Inspiration. Past champions are honored with a plaque on the walk-up to the 18th green that is called the "Dinah's Walk of Champions." Since 1994, champions have taken the plunge into "Poppie's Pond". This first occurred in 1988, when Amy Alcott took the plunge, as a spontaneous act of celebration. Alcott, Betsy King, and Annika Sörenstam (pictured) hold the record for the most victories with three each. Sörenstam is the only player to win back-to-back titles as a major, winning in both 2001 and 2002. As a non-major, Sandra Post won back-to-back titles in 1978 and 1979. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Girl in White is an oil painting on canvas by Vincent van Gogh. Completed in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, in 1890, it depicts a peasant woman dressed in white. The work is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Painting: Vincent van Gogh

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