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From today's featured article

Relatives of missing detainees join U2 onstage

"Mothers of the Disappeared" is a song by the rock band U2, the closing track on their album The Joshua Tree, released on 9 March 1987. The song was inspired by lead singer Bono's experiences in Nicaragua and El Salvador in July 1986, following U2's involvement on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour. He learned of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a group of women whose children had been abducted with the consent of Argentine and Chilean dictatorships. Thematically the song has been interpreted as an examination of failures and contradictions in US foreign policy and as a criticism of the Reagan Administration, which backed two South American regimes that seized power during coups and which provided financial support for the military regime in El Salvador. The song was favourably received by critics, and has been performed live on several tours, starting with the 1987 Joshua Tree Tour. It was played at four concerts on the 1998 PopMart Tour in South America; during two of these, the Madres joined the band onstage (pictured). (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Tsukemen

... that tsukemen (pictured) became a popular dish at Taishoken restaurant in Tokyo soon after its 1961 invention there, and has since become popular throughout Japan?
... that the Montreal Alouettes won the 37th Grey Cup in 1949 but did not make the playoffs the following season?
... that the Renault Trezor features a single-piece canopy roof that opens by hinging forward?
... that Mary Boggs and her first husband won the competition to create the United States post office mural in Newton, Mississippi?
... that tree debris from Cyclone Tessi in Townsville, Queensland, was processed into 25,000 m³ (880,000 cu ft) of mulch and used in local botanical gardens?
... that the first recorded owner of Greifenstein Castle joined a crusade as penance for assassinating a bishop?
... that in 1837, nativist rioters in Boston attacked the Montgomery Guards, an Irish-American militia company?
... that Kokichi Sugihara's illusions make marbles appear to roll uphill and circular pipes look rectangular?

In the news

The Azure Window in 2009

The Azure Window (pictured), a limestone natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses during a storm.
WikiLeaks begins releasing Vault 7, a series of documents detailing activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to perform electronic surveillance and cyberwarfare.
The United States begins deployment of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea.
Following escalating diplomatic tension after the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, North Korea and Malaysia enact bilateral travel restrictions on each other's citizens.

On this day...

March 9

Battle of Hampton Roads

1009 – The first known record of the name of Lithuania appeared in an entry in the annals of the Quedlinburg Abbey in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
1862 – American Civil War: In the world's first battle between two ironclad warships (painting pictured), USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought to a draw near the mouth of Hampton Roads in Virginia.
1932 – Éamon de Valera, one of the dominant political figures in twentieth-century Ireland, became President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.
1945 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army officers ousted the government of French Indochina.
1977 – Twelve gunmen seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., and took 149 hostages in a 39-hour standoff that ended in two deaths.

Mary Anning (d. 1847) · Vyacheslav Molotov (b. 1890)

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Today's featured picture

Marie-Suzanne Giroust (1734–1772) was a French painter, miniaturist and pastellist. The orphaned daughter of a royal jeweler, Giroust's wealth enabled her to study painting from a young age. She was active as an artist from the 1750s, and in 1770 she became a member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture. This portrait was completed by her husband, the Swedish painter Alexander Roslin.

Painting: Alexander Roslin

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