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Coat of arms of Sir John Mowbray

John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1415–1461), was a fifteenth-century English magnate who was the only son and heir of John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and Katherine Neville. As a minor he became a ward of King Henry VI and was placed under the protection of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, alongside whom Mowbray would later campaign in France. He led the defence of England's possessions in Normandy during the Hundred Years' War. He fought in Calais in 1436, and in 1437 and 1438 served as warden of the Eastern March on the Anglo-Scottish border. In the early 1430s he became the bitter rival of William de la Pole, Earl (later Duke) of Suffolk. In the early years of the Wars of the Roses in the 1450s he defended King Henry against two rebellions by Richard, Duke of York. Eventually Mowbray drifted towards York, with whom he shared an enmity towards de la Pole. In March 1461, Mowbray was instrumental in King Edward IV's victory at the Battle of Towton, bringing reinforcements late in the combat. (Full article...)

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... that former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said that she would swim in Loch Ness naked if the SNP won more than 50 seats at the 2019 United Kingdom general election?

In the news

Jair Bolsonaro

In Brazil, the Superior Electoral Court bars former president Jair Bolsonaro (pictured) from running for political office until 2030 for abuse of power before the 2022 general election.
Riots break out across France after a 17-year-old is fatally shot by police in Paris.
In Russia, the Wagner mercenary group stands down after rebelling against the government.
In China, an explosion at a restaurant in Yinchuan kills 31 people.

On this day

July 7

Samantha Smith

1575 – A dispute between Sir John Forster and Sir John Carmichael led to a Scottish raid on Northumberland, England, in which 27 men were killed.
1911 – Four countries signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention, which banned the hunting of seals in the pelagic zone.
1963 – The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the Buddhist crisis.
1983 – After writing a letter to Soviet premier Yuri Andropov, American schoolgirl Samantha Smith (pictured) visited the Soviet Union as Andropov's personal guest, becoming known as "America's Youngest Ambassador".
1991 – Yugoslav Wars: The signing of the Brioni Agreement ended the Ten-Day War between SFR Yugoslavia and Slovenia.

Guru Har Krishan (b. 1656)
Keanolani (b. 1847)
Fernande Sadler (b. 1869)
Whitney North Seymour Jr. (b. 1923)

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Judit Polgár

There are 40 female chess players who hold the title of Grandmaster (GM), the highest title awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). To be awarded the GM title, modern regulations typically require players to achieve a FIDE rating of 2500 and have a GM-level performance at three tournaments. Such a performance is called a norm, and a GM norm corresponds to a performance rating of at least 2600. Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to become a GM in 1978, largely by virtue of being the first woman to achieve a GM norm a year earlier. Susan Polgar and her younger sister Judit Polgár (pictured) both became GMs in 1991. Susan was the first to achieve the title through a complete set of standard norms, while Judit became the youngest GM in history overall, breaking Bobby Fischer's record. China has the most female GMs, and seven countries have had multiple female GMs. Every female GM is from Europe or Asia except Irina Krush of the United States. (Full list...)

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Raikoke is an uninhabited volcanic island belonging to Russia, one of the Kuril Islands located in the Sea of Okhotsk (part of the northwest Pacific Ocean), 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from the island of Matua. This image of the island's volcano erupting in June 2019 was taken by a crew member of the Expedition 59 mission.

Photograph credit: NASA Expedition 59

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