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The Kinks

The English rock band the Kinks staged their first concert tour of the United States in June and July 1965, following concerts in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore and a tour of the United Kingdom. Initially one of the most popular British Invasion groups, the Kinks (pictured) saw major commercial opportunity in the US, but the resultant tour was plagued with issues between the band, their management, local promoters and the American music unions. Promoters and union officials filed complaints over the Kinks' conduct, prompting the US musicians' union to withhold work permits from the band for the next four years, effectively banning them from performing in the US. Their American record sales declined, and bandleader Ray Davies shifted his songwriting approach towards more overt English influences. Davies resolved the ban in early 1969, and the Kinks staged a comeback tour later that year, but they did not achieve regular commercial success in the US again until the late 1970s. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni National Monument

... that local tribal nations will be involved in the management of Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument (pictured), which includes hundreds of cultural sites?
... that a fungus called white rot can strip out certain dyes in textiles?
... that James B. Tapp was the first United States Army Air Forces pilot to be recognized as a flying ace for flying very-long-range missions over Japan in P-51s during World War II?
... that the book series The Serrano Legacy by Elizabeth Moon features protagonists who are daughters or aunts?
... that Minuscule 1582, a Greek manuscript of the New Testament Gospels, has an ancient note before Mark 16:9–20 which casts doubt on the authenticity of these verses?
... that despite being a keyboard player himself, Ray Charles hired Bobby Floyd to play organ and piano in his band?
... that according to Cory Doctorow, enshittification is how platforms die?
... that Jennifer Mills has written Jennifer Mills News, a weekly newspaper about herself, for 21 years?

In the news

Daniel Noboa

Daniel Noboa (pictured) is elected President of Ecuador.
Parties opposing the ruling United Right win a combined majority of seats in the Polish general election.
The National Party, led by Christopher Luxon, wins the most seats in the New Zealand general election.
Australian voters reject altering the Constitution to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

On this day

October 23: Double Ninth Festival in China (2023); Mole Day

Paulina Wright Davis

1798 – War of the Second Coalition: The Ottoman–Albanian forces of Ali Pasha of Janina defeated French troops and captured the town of Preveza at the Battle of Nicopolis.
1850 – The inaugural National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by American activist Paulina Wright Davis (pictured), began in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flew his biplane 14-bis for 50 metres (160 ft) at an altitude of about four metres (13 ft).
2001 – Grand Theft Auto III was released, helping to popularize open-world and mature-content video games.
2022 – Myanmar civil war: Burmese military forces launched airstrikes that killed at least 80 concertgoers in Kachin State.

Sweyn III of Denmark (d. 1157)
Ludwig Leichhardt (b. 1813)
Johan Gabriel Ståhlberg (b. 1832)
Josh Kirby (d. 2001)

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Denis Villeneuve

Dune, a 2021 American epic science fiction film, won 88 awards from 219 nominations. It received particular praise for the direction of Denis Villeneuve (pictured), as well as its musical score, visual effects, cinematography, production design, sound effects, and film editing. The film garnered ten nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and went on to win six awards: Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. At the 75th British Academy Film Awards, the film received eleven nominations and received five awards: Best Cinematography, Best Original Music, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Blue Horse I is an oil-on-canvas by Franz Marc executed in 1911. The first draft, produced earlier that year, was a pencil drawing which Marc drew in his sketchbook; this was about the size of a postcard and entitled Young Horse in Mountain Landscape, which already shows the composition of the later painting. The painting was part of several exhibitions that Marc and Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky presented to the public under the name Der Blaue Reiter from late 1911 until 1914. Blue Horse I is regarded as one of the painter's most famous paintings and is now part of the collection of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, Germany.

Painting credit: Franz Marc

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