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Sigourney Weaver, who played Ellen Ripley

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. Set in the far future, it is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. Sigourney Weaver (pictured) stars as Ellen Ripley, sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship, with Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Carrie Henn in supporting roles. Aliens was released on July 18, 1986, to critical acclaim with Weaver's performance garnering consistent praise. The film received several awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science fiction genre was generally overlooked. Aliens was one of the highest-grossing films of 1986 worldwide, earning $131.1 to 183.3 million during its theatrical run. Aliens is now considered among the greatest films of the 1980s, and among the best science fiction, action, and sequel films ever made. (Full article...)

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Tracks leading from the Franklin Street Terminal

... that the Franklin Street Terminal (tracks pictured) was constructed by gutting two floors of two buildings and running elevated tracks into the resulting void?
... that the attendance record for a women's club football game that was set on Boxing Day 1920 would not be exceeded for 99 years?
... that Benjamin F. Gue, who co-founded Iowa State University, allowed women to become students there despite much opposition?
... that Leon Schidlowsky wrote the Misa sine nomine in memory of Víctor Jara for speaker, choirs, organ and percussion, juxtaposing mass texts with contemporary poetry and Torah verses?
... that Justly Watson died suddenly in 1757 from the effects of poison administered in his coffee, it was believed, by a servant?
... that hard drive reseller CMS Enhancements nearly went bankrupt while attempting to enter the personal computer systems market amid a price war?
... that author Ann Howard interviewed more than 100 Australians about their experiences as child evacuees sent inland during World War II when a Japanese invasion seemed imminent?
... that Prince Bernhard's titi monkey is known locally as zog-zog?

In the news

Sitiveni Rabuka

A winter storm causes record-breaking low temperatures and leaves more than 70 people dead across North America.
Sitiveni Rabuka (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of Fiji after a coalition government is formed following the general election.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban institute a ban on women attending university and working in non-government organisations.
HTMS Sukhothai, a corvette of the Royal Thai Navy, capsizes and sinks, leaving 18 crew members dead and 11 others missing.

On this day

December 27

Hagia Sophia

537 – The reconstructed Hagia Sophia (pictured) in Constantinople was inaugurated; built as a church, it later became a mosque and a museum.
1831 – HMS Beagle departed Plymouth, England, on a voyage to South America that established Charles Darwin's standing as a naturalist.
1918 – A public speech by the Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Poznań sparked the Greater Poland uprising against Germany.
1932 – New York City's Radio City Music Hall opened with the world's largest auditorium at the time.
1997 – Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright was assassinated in HM Prison Maze by members of the Irish National Liberation Army.

Sviatoslav II of Kiev (d. 1076)
Agda Meyerson (d. 1924)
Chyna (b. 1969)

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Today's featured picture

Madama Butterfly is a 1904 opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian-language libretto written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The plot is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long in turn based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll and on the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. The opera features Pinkerton, a U.S. naval officer, who rents a house in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and Cio-Cio-San (nicknamed Butterfly), a 15-year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience and intends to leave once he finds an American wife. This watercolor illustration on cardboard, from the archives of the music publisher Casa Ricordi, depicts the scenic design for a 1906 production Act 1 of Madama Butterfly, set in the hills near Nagasaki.

Illustration credit: Alexandre Bailly and Marcel Jambon; restored by Adam Cuerden

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