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From today's featured article

Laika depicted on a postage stamp

Laika (c. 1954 – 1957) was one of the first animals in space and the first animal to orbit Earth. A stray mongrel from Moscow, she was selected as the occupant of Sputnik 2 which launched into low orbit on 3 November 1957. The mission aimed to prove that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure a micro-g environment, leading to human spaceflight and providing data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments. Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of her death were not made public until 2002; instead, it was reported that she died when her oxygen ran out on day six or, as the Soviet government initially claimed, she was euthanised prior to oxygen depletion. On 11 April 2008, a monument to Laika was unveiled near the military research facility that prepared her flight to space. She also appears on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Rosalía Abreu

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... that the cover art for "True Love" features handwritten notes by XXXTentacion?
... that the Paradise of Wisdom, an early Islamic medical encyclopedia, describes an abortion-causing stone?
... that Jon Brittenum managed an investment banking firm after his fourteen-game-long NFL career?
... that accessible yoga was formed as a way for people with disabilities to be able to perform yoga?
... that the screenwriter for Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love went to jail for telling a judge to "shut up"?
... that Elcho Castle never saw combat, but was nearly burned down by a mob in 1773?
... that Jordan Gray added the technical name for spider silk to her name due to the UK not having a process to change honorific from Mr to Miss?

In the news

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

In the Brazilian general election, two-term former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (pictured) defeats incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
In India, a footbridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, results in the deaths of at least 135 people.
In baseball, the Orix Buffaloes defeat the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to win the Japan Series.
More than 100 people are killed and 300 others are injured by two car bombs in Mogadishu, Somalia.
At least 156 people are killed and more than 150 others are injured in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities in Seoul, South Korea.

On this day

November 3: Culture Day in Japan

Remains of the trenches at Majdanek where Jews were shot

1880 – The current melody of Kimigayo, the national anthem of Japan, was adopted.
1881 – Indigenous Mapuche began an uprising against the occupation of Araucanía by Chile.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces began an attempt to encircle and destroy a regiment of Imperial Japanese Army troops on Guadalcanal.
1943 – The Holocaust: The largest massacre of Jews by German forces began at Majdanek concentration camp (execution trenches pictured).
1954 – The first film featuring the giant monster known as Godzilla was released nationwide in Japan.

Andrew Báthory (d. 1599)
Bert Jansch (b. 1943)
Anna Wintour (b. 1949)

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Today's featured picture

Skyline of the Pudong district of Shanghai, seen from the water at dusk.

Shanghai is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China. The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. With a population of 24.89 million as of 2021, Shanghai is the most populous urban area in China and among the most populous cities proper in the world. It is the only city in East Asia with a GDP greater than its corresponding capital. As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area, which includes Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Zhoushan, and Huzhou, was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (nominal) of nearly 9.1 trillion RMB ($1.33 trillion). Shanghai is divided into 16 county-level districts, including the Pudong district pictured here.

photograph by Tony Jin

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