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John Glenn (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was a United States Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, and politician. Before joining NASA, Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War. In 1957, he made the first supersonic transcontinental flight across the United States. He was one of the Mercury Seven, military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA as the nation's first astronauts. On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, and the fifth person and third American in space. After retiring from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio. In 1998, Glenn flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-95, making him the oldest person to enter Earth orbit and the only person to fly in both Project Mercury and the Space Shuttle program. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. (Full article...)

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Red Rock sunflower

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... that football player Julian Lewis received offers to play college football before he had attended high school?
... that carpenter Cumming Haswell erected a historic villa, later described as "modestly-scaled but ornamental"?
... that Terry Pratchett's earliest Discworld stories were posthumously found and published by two of his fans?
... that the flaming finale of Joan by Alexander McQueen has been read as an image of violence, resilience, transcendence, and resurrection?
... that the 2016 festival South by South Lawn included a panel discussion on climate change led by President Obama?
... that Melani Budianta used street gangs and Moonies in Los Angeles to reflect on the state of democracy in Indonesia?
... that Stardust's only song earned them a $3 million offer from a record label, but they refused?
... that Bill Wurtz once accepted an award with a two-word acceptance speech?

In the news

Paul Kagame

In the Rwandan general election, Paul Kagame (pictured) is re-elected as the president, and the Rwandan Patriotic Front coalition win a majority in the lower house.
KP Sharma Oli is appointed prime minister of Nepal after the incumbent Pushpa Kamal Dahal loses a no confidence motion.
In association football, Euro 2024 concludes with Spain defeating England in the final, and the Copa América concludes with Argentina defeating Colombia in the final.
In tennis, Barbora Krejčíková and Carlos Alcaraz win the women's and men's singles, respectively, at the Wimbledon Championships.

On this day

July 18

Coronation of Pedro II of Brazil

1806 – An explosion at a gunpowder magazine in Birgu, Malta, killed an estimated 200 people.
1841 – Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, was crowned (depicted) at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.
1949 – Francisco Javier Arana, the chief of the Guatemalan armed forces, was killed in a shootout with supporters of President Juan José Arévalo.
1984 – A gunman massacred 21 people and injured 15 others at a McDonald's restaurant in the district of San Ysidro of San Diego, California.
2019 – An arson attack at the studio of Kyoto Animation in Japan led to the deaths of 36 people.

Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat (d. 924)
Philip Snowden (b. 1864)
James E. Boyd (b. 1906)
Inge Sørensen (b. 1924)

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Today's featured picture

Salisbury Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. It was built between 1220 and 1258 in Early English Gothic style. This photograph, taken in 2014, shows the interior of Salisbury Cathedral, looking eastwards towards the high altar through the tall and narrow nave. It has three levels: a tall pointed arcade, an open gallery, and a small clerestory. The nave includes an unconventional modern baptismal font, installed in September 2008. Designed by the water sculptor William Pye, it is the largest working font in any British cathedral. The font is cruciform in shape, and has a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) vessel filled to its brim with water, designed so that the water overflows in filaments through each corner into bronze gratings embedded in the cathedral's stone floor.

Photograph credit: David Iliff

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