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The Tower House, in the district of Holland Park in Kensington and Chelsea, London, is a late Victorian townhouse built between 1875 and 1881 by the architect and designer William Burges as his personal residence. Designed in the French Gothic Revival style, it echoes elements of Burges's earlier work. The house was built of red brick by the Ashby Brothers, with a distinctive cylindrical tower and conical roof. The interior was decorated by members of Burges's long-standing team of craftsmen including Thomas Nicholls and Henry Stacy Marks. The house retains most of its internal structural decoration, but much of the furniture, fittings and contents that Burges designed have been dispersed. Many items, including the Great Bookcase, the Zodiac settle, the Golden Bed and the Red Bed, are now in institutions such as The Higgins Bedford and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The house was designated a Grade I listed building in 1949. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Madhulika Ramteke receives the Nari Shakti Puraskar.

... that Madhulika Ramteke's (pictured) microfinance bank for Indian women grew to have over 5,000 "branches"?
... that the recently-announced Google Wallet app revives the brand name previously used by a similar service of the same name from 2011 to 2018?
... that Paula Lizell, a former star of the Royal Swedish Opera, advanced from coloratura to dramatic Wagnerian roles?
... that until the outbreak at Rotterdam Zoo in 1964, monkeypox was thought to occur only in primates?
... that Yumi Nu is a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Vogue cover model and musician signed to Steve Aoki's record label?
... that the arches of the 1849 Belvidere Bridge consist of six pre-cast ribs bolted together?
... that after becoming paralyzed from the neck down, Rocky "RockyNoHands" Stoutenburgh broke two Guinness World Records in the video game Fortnite?
... that the largest white diamond ever auctioned is simply called The Rock?

In the news

Elizabeth II

In Nigeria, at least 40 people are killed in an attack at a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State.
A fire and explosions at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 41 people and injure more than 450 others.
The Commonwealth of Nations celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II (pictured).
Denmark votes to eliminate its opt-out of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy.

On this day

June 12: Dia dos Namorados in Brazil; Independence Day in the Philippines (1898); Loving Day in the United States (1967)

Anne Frank

1798 – Following the successful French invasion of Malta, the Knights Hospitaller surrendered Malta to Napoleon, initiating two years of occupation.
1899 – The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125 others in the northern Great Plains in the United States.
1942 – On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank (pictured) began keeping a diary during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
1991 – More than 150 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were massacred by members of the military in the village of Kokkadichcholai.
2016 – An Islamic terrorist killed 49 people in a mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida.

Thomas Farnaby (d. 1647)
Egwale Seyon (d. 1818)
Javed Miandad (b. 1957)

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Today's featured picture

The Notre-Dame fire broke out in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 15 April 2019, causing severe damage to the building's spire, roof, and upper walls. The fire resulted in the contamination of the site and nearby areas of the city with toxic dust and lead. Investigators believed that the fire was caused by a cigarette or an electrical short circuit; the prosecutor of Paris found no evidence showing the fire was started deliberately. The cathedral's wooden spire, or flèche, was built by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the Gothic Revival style and installed in 1859, weighing around 250 tons. This photograph, taken during the 2019 fire, depicts the spire of Notre-Dame aflame; it collapsed shortly afterwards.

Photograph credit: Guillaume Levrier

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