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The Mercury Seven were a group of American astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. Announced by NASA on April 9, 1959, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton created a new profession. The group piloted all the spaceflights of the Mercury program that had an astronaut on board from May 1961 to May 1963, and some flew in the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. Shepard became the first American to enter space in 1961, and walked on the Moon in 1971. Grissom, after flying Mercury and Gemini missions, died in 1967 in the Apollo 1 fire; the others survived past retirement from service. Schirra commanded Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo flight. Slayton, grounded with atrial fibrillation, ultimately flew on the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Glenn became the first American in orbit in 1962, and flew on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998 to become, at age 77, the oldest person to fly in space at the time. (Full article...)

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Ramadan prayers

... that Muslims believe that giving to the poor on the last Friday of Ramadan (prayers pictured) will bring them wealth and blessings during the year and in the future?
... that the only functioning secondary school in Mississippi during the American Civil War was founded by Thomas S. Gathright?
... that a story titled "The Adventures of Mr. Stupidhead in Russia" may have influenced the Soviet silent comedy film The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks?
... that Herwig Gössl rejected a reform document on the Catholic theology of sexuality prepared by the Synodal Way, but later welcomed the church's decision to bless homosexual couples?
... that Waste Siege: The Life of Infrastructure in Palestine is based on ten years of field research in the Israeli-occupied West Bank?
... that Golden Horse Awards–winning film composer Luming Lu worked as a cram-school tutor before pursuing a career in music?
... that a Ramadan television show featured riddles, music, choreographed dance routines and "fantastical narratives"?
... that football executive Ray Walsh also had a "murderous" forehand?
... that Androsaemum androsaemum is botanically unacceptable, but Aniculus aniculus is perfectly valid?

In the news

The solar eclipse during totality, seen from Indianapolis, Indiana

The eclipse during totality

A total solar eclipse (totality pictured) is visible across North America.
In NCAA Division I basketball, the South Carolina Gamecocks win the women's championship and the UConn Huskies win the men's championship.
Mexico breaks its diplomatic relationship with Ecuador in response to Ecuadorian police forcibly entering the Mexican embassy in Quito.
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes near Hualien City, Taiwan.
In Syria, an Israeli airstrike kills 16 people at the Iranian consulate in Damascus, including brigadier general Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

On this day

April 9: Vimy Ridge Day in Canada (1917)

National Gallery

193 – Year of the Five Emperors: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in modern-day Austria.
1388 – Despite being vastly outnumbered, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Näfels.
1838 – The National Gallery (pictured) opened in its current building in Trafalgar Square, London.
1939 – After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African-American singer Marian Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

al-Muqtafi (b. 1096)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (b. 1806)
Mary Jackson (b. 1921)

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The Andasol solar power station is a 150-megawatt concentrated solar power station and Europe's first commercial plant to use parabolic troughs. Located near Guadix in Andalusia, Spain, the Andasol plant uses tanks of molten salt as thermal energy storage to continue generating electricity, irrespective of whether the sun is shining or not. It consists of three projects, completed in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and occupying a total area of about 200 hectares (490 acres). Because of its high altitude (1,100 m; 3,600 ft) and the semi-arid climate, the site has exceptionally high annual direct insolation. This aerial view of the Andasol plant was taken in 2021, with the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the background.

Photograph credit: kallerna

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