MV Sirius Star

The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to reinforce MONUC, the largest peacekeeping force in the world, stationed in Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The first successful tracheal transplantation using a tissue-engineered organ created from the patient's own stem cells is performed in Spain.
New Zealand and Australian researchers identify a new species of penguin, the Waitaha penguin, which lived in New Zealand until its extinction 500 years ago.
Somali pirates capture the oil tanker MV Sirius Star (pictured), the largest vessel to date to be hijacked, off the coast of the Horn of Africa.
G-20 leaders meet at a summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current financial crisis.
Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully lands the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar south pole

lunar rover

Astronaut Eugene Cernan makes a short test drive of the lunar rover (officially, Lunar Roving Vehicle or LRV) during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity. The LRV was only used in the last three Apollo missions, but it performed without any problems and allowed the astronauts to cover far more ground than in previous missions. All three LRVs were abandoned on the Moon

The Rokeby Venus

The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the National Gallery, London. Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in an erotic pose, lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by the god of sensual love, her son Cupid. Numerous works, from the ancient to the baroque, have been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez. The nude Venuses of the Italian painters, such as Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (c. 1510) and Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538), were the main precedents. In this work, Velázquez combined two established poses for Venus: recumbent on a couch or a bed, and gazing at her reflection in a mirror. In a number of ways the painting represents a pictorial departure; through its central use of a mirror, and because it shows the body of Venus turned away from the picture's viewer. The Rokeby Venus is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. The painting adorned the houses of Spanish courtiers until 1813 when it was brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. In 1906, the painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund for the National Gallery, London. Although it was attacked and badly damaged in 1914 by the suffragette Mary Richardson, it was soon fully restored and returned to display. (more...)

Horn of Africa region

War crimes are reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a ceasefire in the Kivu conflict is broken and fighting resumes, with at least 100 civilians dead.
Somali pirates capture the oil tanker MV Sirius Star, the largest vessel to date to be hijacked, near the Horn of Africa region (pictured).
G-20 leaders meet at a summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current financial crisis.
Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully lands the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar south pole.
Three planets orbiting the star HR 8799 and one planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut are optically verified, making them the first extrasolar planets whose existences have been confirmed via direct imaging.
Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, announces the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti.

earthfill dam in India

... that Maharana Pratap Sagar or Pong Dam Lake, created by the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River (pictured), intercepts migratory birds on their trans-Himalayan fly path during each migration season?
... that ancient Greek klismos chairs became fashionable again in the late 18th century?
... that other than visits to other institutions as a guest lecturer, James Feast lectured at the University of Durham for over 35 years?
... that Greenville Presbyterian Church was the first non-Dutch church established in New York's Catskill region?
... that species from the underground-dwelling mushroom genus Gautieria are the preferred food source of the Northern flying squirrel?
... that after testing the biological Brucella cluster bomb on 11,000 guinea pigs, a U.S. general remarked "Now we know what to do if we ever go to war against guinea pigs"?
... that the Flekkefjord Line was built to be part of the main line from Stavanger to Oslo, but a change of plans made it only a branch line?
... that the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey has on display the Intelligent Whale, an experimental Civil War-era submarine propelled by a hand crank operated by its four-man crew?

Templo Mayor

... that at the inauguration of the sixth Aztec Templo Mayor in 1487 (scale model pictured), thousands of prisoners of war were ritually sacrificed, bathing the steps of the pyramid in blood?
... that Operation Steel Box moved 100,000 American chemical weapons from Clausen, West Germany, to Johnston Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean?
... that Hedley Howarth helped lead New Zealand to its first ever test cricket win on the Indian subcontinent with a five-wicket bag against India in 1969?
... that in a baseball match held at the Capitoline Grounds on June 14, 1870, the Brooklyn Atlantics defeated the Cincinnati Red Stockings, ending their 84 game winning streak?
... that the acquisition of the Corus Group in October 2006 has made Tata Steel India's second largest company in the private sector?
... that the Confederate Memorial in Nicholasville, Kentucky, took sixteen years to fund, and was originally a statue of a Union soldier?
... that German entrepreneur, race driver and yacht skipper Udo Schütz won the 1000 km Nürburgring in 1967, the Targa Florio in 1969, and the Admiral's Cup in 1993?
... that Louis Dicken Wilson left Edgecombe County US$40,000 upon his death in 1847, but US$28,000 of it was wasted?

Fomalhaut with Disk Ring and extrasolar planet b cropped

Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully lands the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar south pole.
Three planets orbiting star HR 8799 and one planet (pictured) orbiting star Fomalhaut are visually verified by telescopes, the first extrasolar planets whose existence have been confirmed via direct imaging.
Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, announces the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti.
China announces a stimulus package involving 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) to finance programs in 10 major domestic areas in the next two years.
An accident aboard Russian submarine K-152 Nerpa kills 20, the worst Russian submarine disaster since Kursk.
A shipment of cocaine, worth €750 million, is seized off the coast of Ireland in the largest such seizure in the country's history.