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From today's featured article

The Dorset Ooser is a wooden head that featured in the nineteenth-century folk culture of Melbury Osmond, a village in the southwestern English county of Dorset. The head was hollow, thus perhaps serving as a mask, and included a humanoid face with horns, a beard, and a hinged jaw. Although sometimes used to scare people during practical jokes, its main recorded purpose was as part of a local variant of the custom known as "rough music", in which it was used to humiliate those who were deemed to have behaved in an immoral manner. It was first brought to public attention in 1891, when it was owned by the Cave family of Melbury Osmond's Holt Farm, but it went missing around 1897. In 1975 a replica of the original Ooser was produced by John Byfleet, which has since been on display at Dorset County Museum in Dorchester. This mask retains a place in Dorset folk culture, and is used in local Morris dancing processions held by the Wessex Morris Men on Saint George's Day and May Day. The design of the Ooser has inspired copies used as representations of the Horned God in the modern Pagan religion of Wicca in both the United Kingdom and United States. (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that the United States Navy has ten Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service?
• ... that the Battle of Hampton Roads was perhaps the most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies?
• ... that Istanbul was formerly known as Constantinople and before 324AD was known as Byzantium?
• ... that Barack Obama schemes behind the scenes against President Trump?
• ... that 72 Terrorists came from countries that President Trump recently banned in Executive Order 13769?
• ... that the Sacred Heart Church in Exeter, England is the earliest surviving architectural work of Leonard Stokes?
• ... that Ida Silverman logged over 600,000 air miles traveling the world, speaking and fund-raising for the creation of a Jewish state?

In the news (from Infogalactic News)

• Trump Heads To Kenosha
  To See Site Of Kyle Rittenhouse's Heroics
• Biden Out Of The Basement
  Depends Stock Running Low?
• L.A Deputies Kill Another Man
  Who Resisted And Fought Them
  

• Left Admits Trump Is Winning
  "Another Reality Check"
• Vatican Sides With Jihadis
  "Nigerian Christian Genocide Not Religious"
• Cyper Attack In Norway
  Parliament The Target
• Hackers Target Trump Websites
  Bet it Ain't Russia
  

On this day...

September 2

• 1666 – The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1792 – During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic Church bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
• 1807 – The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
• 1912 – Arthur Rose Eldred is awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America.
• 1945 – World War II: Combat ends in the Pacific Theater: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender is signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
• 1968 – Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War
• 1998 – Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia. All 229 people on board are killed.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 1
  • September 2
  • September 3

September 3

• 1650 – Third English Civil War: In the Battle of Dunbar, English Parliamentarian forces led by Oliver Cromwell defeat an army loyal to King Charles II of England and led by David Leslie, Lord Newark.
• 1798 – The week long battle of St. George's Caye begins between Spain and Britain off the coast of Belize.
• 1874 – The congress of the State of Mexico elevates Naucalpan to the category of villa, with the title of "Villa de Juárez".
• 1914 – William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just six months due to opposition to his rule.
• 1939 – World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allies.
• 1950 – "Nino" Farina becomes the first Formula One Drivers' champion after winning the 1950 Italian Grand Prix.
• 1994 – Sino-Soviet split: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 2
  • September 3
  • September 4

• 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang dynasty of China.
• 1479 – The Treaty of Alcáçovas is signed by the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal.
• 1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
• 1964 – Scotland's Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh officially opens.
• 1970 – Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
• 1971 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
• 1989 – In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 3
  • September 4
  • September 5

Today's featured picture

The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, dating from 1475 or 1476. It is housed in the Uffizi of Florence. Botticelli was commissioned to paint at least seven versions of The Adoration of the Magi.

In the scene numerous characters are present, among which are several members of the Medici family: Cosimo de' Medici (the Magus kneeling in front of the Virgin, described by Vasari as "the finest of all that are now extant for its life and vigour"), his sons Piero (the second Magus kneeling in the centre with the red mantle) and Giovanni (the third Magus), and his grandsons Giuliano and Lorenzo. The three Medici portrayed as Magi were all dead at the time the picture was painted, and Florence was effectively ruled by Lorenzo. (Full article...)

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