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From today's featured article Beyoncé 4 is the fourth studio album by American singer Beyoncé (pictured), released on June 24, 2011, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. In collaborations with songwriters and producers The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and Shea Taylor, Beyoncé aimed for a mellower rhythm and blues tone with influences from funk, hip hop, and soul. She severed professional ties with Mathew Knowles, her father and manager, to help her develop an intimate, personal album. The lyrics emphasize monogamy, female empowerment and self-reflection. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and some put it on their year-end lists. It was her fourth consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, and it also reached number one in Brazil, France, Ireland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It spawned the international singles "Run the World (Girls)", "Best Thing I Never Had", "Party", "Love On Top" and "Countdown". "Love On Top" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 55th annual ceremony. The album has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the United States. (Full article...) Recently featured: June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina Tidus Ram Narayan Did you know... Ye Olde Hob Inn ... that the Battle of Bamber Bridge began when white American military police arrested a black USAAF soldier in an English village pub (pictured), and ended with a mutiny that left one dead and seven injured? ... that the ground-dwelling redthroat bird can imitate the sound of a crested pigeon in flight? ... that since being introduced in the mid-1990s, the red turpentine beetle has destroyed six million trees in China? ... that the mandatory eight count was introduced to boxing in 1953 by the New York State Athletic Commission in order to protect fighters from unnecessary damage? ... that one question about Hughes Dynamics, an early 1960s subsidiary of Hughes Tool Company, is whether Howard Hughes ever approved its creation? ... that the photographer Fred Gildersleeve captured depictions of a lynching in progress? ... that the 2017–18 RFU Championship will feature a college team that climbed from the bottom tier of English rugby to the second tier within 13 years of its formation? ... that during the 1691 papal conclave, cardinals burned down their sleeping quarters in the Vatican while playing cards?

In the news Mohammad bin Salman The cricket teams of Ireland and Afghanistan are awarded Test status by the ICC. Mohammad bin Salman (pictured) is appointed Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, after King Salman deposes Muhammad bin Nayef. Author José Eduardo Agualusa wins the International Dublin Literary Award for his novel A General Theory of Oblivion. The Great Mosque of al-Nuri is destroyed in the Battle of Mosul. A vehicle driven into pedestrians near the Finsbury Park Mosque, London, injures at least 10 people. Ongoing: Battle of Raqqa Recent deaths: Con Sciacca Brian Cant Otto Warmbier Tim Hague On this day... June 24: Armed Forces Day in the United Kingdom (2017) Manila Cathedral 1571 – Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi established a council to govern the city of Manila (Manila Cathedral pictured), now the capital of the Philippines. 1717 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London. 1880 – "O Canada", today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet. 1937 – The United States' first two "fast battleships", the North Carolina class, were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. 2010 – John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in the longest match in tennis history (11 hours and 5 minutes, spread over three days). Edward de Vere (d. 1604) · Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (b. 1694) · Carolyn S. Shoemaker (b. 1929) More anniversaries: June 23 June 24 June 25

Today's featured picture St. John the Baptist is an oil painting on walnut wood by Leonardo da Vinci. It depicts the Biblical John the Baptist in isolation, using chiaroscuro so the figure appears to emerge from the shadowy background. Probably completed from 1513 to 1516, this High Renaissance work is believed to be the artist's final painting. It is now exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, France. Painting: Leonardo da Vinci Recently featured: Pantanal jaguar The Evening Air Alexander J. Dallas

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