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Kalākaua, King of Hawaii

The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua (pictured) made him the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. His agenda was to negotiate contract labor for the Kingdom of Hawaii's sugar plantations, with hopes of saving the dwindling Native Hawaiian population by drawing immigration from Asia-Pacific nations. Rumors circulated that the King secretly intended to use the trip to sell the Hawaiian Islands. He visited American legislators, had an audience with Pope Leo XIII in Rome, and met with European and Asian heads of state. In between negotiations, Kalākaua and his companions visited tourist sites and attended local Masonic lodge meetings. As a result of his visit with Thomas Edison, Iolani Palace became the first building in Hawaii with electric lighting. The King's amiable personality generated worldwide goodwill, and he succeeded in increasing Hawaii's labor force with Japanese workers. Their arrival was commemorated a century later with a new statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Amangiri spa pool

... that the acquisition of land for the Utah resort hotel Amangiri (pictured) required an act of Congress?
... that William Buchanan designed the first vehicle to exceed 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)?
... that "Monggeumpo Taryeong", a Korean folk song, is about lovers that wait and sing in a harbor for their loved ones (sailors) to return?
... that Benjamin Wallace wrote a book about wine bottles allegedly owned by Thomas Jefferson?
... that Ijima's leaf warbler is named after Japanese zoologist Ijima Isao?
... that The West Wing's "Hartsfield's Landing" is a homage to three tiny towns in New Hampshire?
... that on his third expedition to Hudson Bay, Pierre Allemand piloted a captured English ship?
... that campaign literature in the 1894 Montana capital referendum accused Helena residents of copious Manhattan consumption?

In the news

Jeanine Áñez

Former Bolivian president Jeanine Áñez (pictured) is sentenced to ten years in prison on charges related to her succession to office during the 2019 political crisis.
Voters in Kazakhstan pass 56 constitutional amendments in a referendum, following the January 2022 unrest.
In Nigeria, at least 40 people are killed in an attack at a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State.
A fire and explosions at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 41 people and injure more than 450 others.

On this day

June 13

USS Jeannette

1525 – Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, beginning the practice of clerical marriage in Protestantism.
1881 – The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the USS Jeannette (pictured) was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in ice for almost two years.
1935 – In one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, the underdog James J. Braddock defeated Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
1952 – Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one.
1983 – Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first man-made object to leave the proximity of the major planets of the Solar System.

Mansur I (d. 976)
Charles Algernon Parsons (b. 1854)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude (b. 1935)

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Bruce Springsteen

The Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality vocal performances in the genre of rock music. The honor was first presented to Bruce Springsteen (pictured) at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards (1988) for the album Tunnel of Love. Paul McCartney was the final recipient of the award, for the song "Helter Skelter", before its discontinuation from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; all solo or duo/group performances in the rock category are now honored in the category of Best Rock Performance. Springsteen holds the record for the most wins in this category, with five, while Neil Young holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Danube Delta is the second-largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and the best preserved on the continent. While a small part of the delta lies in Ukraine (Odessa Oblast), a majority of its area of 3,446 km² (1,331 sq mi) lies in Romania (Tulcea County). With the lagoons of Razim–Sinoe, located south of the main delta, the combined territory of 5,165 km² (1,994 sq mi) is designated a World Heritage Site.

Photograph credit: European Space Agency

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