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Today's featured article

Markham's storm petrel (Hydrobates markhami) is a seabird native to the Pacific Ocean around Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. It is a large and slender storm petrel; its plumage is black to sooty brown with a grayish bar that runs diagonally across the upper side of the wings. A colonial breeder, the species nests in natural cavities in salt crusts in northern Chile and Peru; 95 percent of the known colonies are found in the Atacama Desert. Pairs produce one egg per season, which is laid on bare ground without any nesting material. Parents will attend their brood only at night, returning to the sea before dawn. The diet of Markham's storm petrel consists mainly of fish, cephalopods and crustaceans. Despite its relatively large population, the species is in decline and listed as near threatened. Primary threats are habitat destruction and light pollution, which attracts or disorients fledglings on their first flight to the sea. (Full article...)

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Selected anniversaries

October 6: German-American Day in the United States

Lluís Companys

618 – Transition from Sui to Tang: Wang Shichong's army defeated Li Mi's forces at the Battle of Yanshi, allowing Wang to consolidate power and soon depose China's Sui dynasty.
1934 – Catalonia's autonomous government, led by Lluís Companys (pictured), declared a general strike, an armed insurgency, and the establishment of the Catalan State in reaction to the inclusion of conservatives in the Spanish republican regime.
1976 – Two bombs placed by the CIA-linked Cuban dissident group Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations exploded on Cubana Flight 455, killing all 73 aboard.
1989 – About 200 members of the San Francisco Police Department instigated a police riot in the Castro following a peaceful protest held by the political group ACT UP.

Samuel of Bulgaria (d. 1014)
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289)
Guru Har Rai (d. 1661)
Sadiq al-Ahmar (b. 1956)

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In the news

Shigeru Ishiba

More than 25 people die in flooding and landslides in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Shigeru Ishiba (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of Japan after winning the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Israel invades Lebanon, and Iran launches missiles against Israel.
Flooding in Nepal leaves more than 250 people dead, including 37 in the nation's capital, Kathmandu.
In Australian rules football, the Brisbane Lions defeat the Sydney Swans to win the AFL Grand Final.

Did you know...

Blue Mountain Pottery bowl

... that Blue Mountain Pottery wares (example pictured) had a distinctive drip glaze, particularly blue-green and black, so that each piece was unique?
... that Australian train driver Bill Morrow received the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize alongside Fidel Castro?
... that among the Orang Asli of Negeri Sembilan, chica is only collected during kenduri rituals?
... that Sailor Moon co-stars Emi Shinohara and Rika Fukami were born on the same date?
... that almost 45 percent of Taiwan's beer purchases come from rechao restaurants?
... that Janet Panetta started dancing as physical therapy for childhood polio?
... that the flag of La Guaira is based on the design of a banner from a 1797 conspiracy against Spanish rule in Venezuela?
... that chef Victor Albisu created a bulgogi taco that honors the Koreatown neighborhood of his hometown of Annandale, Virginia?
... that the first dogs in space returned to Earth with a parachute?

Today's featured picture

Picture of the day

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by various species of junipers. It is used as a flavoring agent in northern European and Scandinavian cuisine for meat dishes. Juniper is used to flavor gin, a liquor developed in the 17th century in the Netherlands. Juniper berries are among the only spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds. This photograph shows foliage and cones of Juniperus communis, the common juniper, in Keila, Estonia. This picture was focus-stacked from 55 separate images.Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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