From today's featured article
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 The exhumation of Richard III of England in September 2012 and his reburial in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015 took place over 500 years after his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard was originally buried in Leicester's Greyfriars Friary, but the site of his grave was forgotten after the friary was demolished and it was generally believed that his bones had been thrown into the nearby River Soar. In September 2012, an archaeological excavation took place at the site of the friary and a skeleton was discovered of a man with a spinal deformity and severe head injuries. He appeared to have been hastily buried without a coffin in a crudely cut grave. Analysis of the bones showed that he had been killed by edged weapons cutting open his skull and piercing his brain. DNA tests and radiocarbon dating confirmed that the skeleton was that of Richard III. Leicester Cathedral was chosen as the site of Richard's reburial, though some argued that York Minster or Westminster Abbey would be more suitable locations. The reinterment in an ecumenical Christian service at the cathedral, and the unveiling of his tomb, were scheduled for the end of a week's commemorations. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:
- ... that on July 15, 2011, Sucheta Kadethankar became the first Indian woman to walk across the Gobi desert (pictured), a distance of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)?
- ... that the premiere of Erik Bergman's only full-length opera, Det sjungande trädet (The Singing Tree), was delayed for over a year because of its complex staging requirements?
- ... that Julieta Montaño, who was arrested during the 1980 Bolivian Coup, later served in the House of Deputies?
- ... that the 1986 Giro d'Italia was won by Roberto Visentini?
- ... that ‘Ofa Likiliki, a Tongan attorney and women's rights activist, won a Best Project award for her film Dear Tita from the Pan-Pacific Media Project in 2014?
- ... that the Autonomous Turkish Cypriot Administration set up its own airline within months of its establishment?
- ... that Jimi Hendrix Jnr appears in the music video for Beautiful People's "If 60's Was 90's", miming to Jimi Hendrix's guitar solo?
- ... that feminist writer Anne O'Hagan is thought to have written anonymously about the difficulties of living with an old-fashioned mother?
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In the news
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- Germanwings Flight 9525 (aircraft pictured) crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
- Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, dies at the age of 91.
- President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi declares Aden to be the temporary capital of Yemen, amid the aftermath of a coup d'état.
- A solar eclipse is visible across much of Europe, with totality over the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.
- Suicide bombings at two mosques in Sana'a, Yemen, kill 142 people, including 13 children.
- The ruling party Likud, led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a plurality in the Israeli Knesset.
Ongoing:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths:
Malcolm Fraser
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On this day...
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