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Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Beginning as a cellist and conductor, Offenbach first wrote small-scale one-act pieces, limited by theatrical licensing laws. These eased by 1858 when he premiered his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld). La belle Hélène (1864) and other successes followed. The risqué humour (often about sexual intrigue) and gentle satire in these pieces, together with Offenbach's facility for melody, made them internationally known, and he was a powerful influence on later operetta and musical theatre composers. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st century. The Tales of Hoffmann remains part of the standard opera repertory. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Giado concentration camp

... that Libyan Jews and Arabs traded and bartered with each other at the fence of the Giado concentration camp (pictured)?
... that environmental journalist Gloria Dickie wrote her thesis on how cities in Colorado changed garbage laws to prevent bear incursions?
... that Brunel University's lecture centre has been described as "imposing" and "frightening", but also as "an expressive centrepiece" and "a brutalist classic"?
... that Benjamin Jackson was likely paid at least $300 to fight in the American Civil War as Lewis Saunders?
... that, of the three presidents of the Chamber of Dutch Culture, two were arrested and one was assassinated?
... that the inclusion of two preteen competing performers at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 led to the introduction of an age rule for participants at future contests?
... that a gunman who, in 1960, shot three people dead in Sheffield, England, was deported to Somalia, where he was killed in a shoot-out while "running amok"?
... that Iowa government social worker Catherine G. Williams started out as a tap dancer?
... that Banner in the Sky inspired a Canadian dentist to climb the Matterhorn?

In the news

Krejčíková (left) and Alcaraz

In tennis, Barbora Krejčíková and Carlos Alcaraz (both pictured) win the women's and men's singles, respectively, at the Wimbledon Championships.
Former United States president Donald Trump survives an assassination attempt during a political rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The New Popular Front wins the most seats in the National Assembly in the French legislative election but does not achieve a majority.
In Iran, the reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian is elected president in the second round of the presidential election.

On this day

July 15: Marine Day in Japan (2024)

Psy

1799 – French soldiers at Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid, uncovered the Rosetta Stone, which was essential in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts.
1870 – Following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Manitoba was established as a province of Canada.
1943 – The all-female Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was formed in the Soviet Union's First Polish Army.
2009 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard.
2012 – South Korean rapper Psy (pictured) released his hit single "Gangnam Style".

Almira Lincoln Phelps (b. 1793; d. 1884)
Anton Chekhov (d. 1904)
Nigel Williams (b. 1944)
Christine Chubbuck (d. 1974)

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Daniel Radcliffe

Thirty-seven awards from 101 nominations were won by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, a 2011 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film received particular recognition for its acting – mainly that of Daniel Radcliffe (pictured) – its musical score, its production design, and its visual effects. It received three nominations at the 84th Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects. At the 65th British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Makeup and Hair, and won Best Special Visual Effects. It received four nominations at the 17th Critics' Choice Awards and won two awards. The National Board of Review selected The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 as one of its top ten films of 2011. (Full list...)

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The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is found across South and Southeast Asia. Like other jacanas, it forages on lilies and other floating aquatic vegetation, using its long feet and legs for balance. The sexes are alike but females are slightly larger and are polyandrous, maintaining a harem of males during the breeding season in the monsoon rains. Males maintain territories, with one male in the harem chosen to incubate the eggs and take care of the young. When threatened, young chicks may be carried to safety by the male under his wings. This bronze-winged jacana was photographed in Kumarakom on the shore of Vembanad, the largest lake in the Indian state of Kerala.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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