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Restoration of a Rodrigues night heron eating a gecko

The Rodrigues night heron is an extinct species of heron that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues. It was first mentioned in two accounts, from around 1692 and around 1725, which were correlated with subfossil remains found and described in the latter part of the 19th century. The Rodrigues night heron was robust, its bill was large, stout, and straight, and its legs were short and strong. It is estimated to have been 60 cm (24 in) long, and its appearance in life is uncertain. Little is known about its behaviour, but the contemporary accounts indicate that it ate lizards, was adapted to running, and was able to fly but rarely did so. Examinations of the known remains have confirmed its terrestrial adaptations; one researcher thought the species flightless but this idea has not been accepted by others. The species could not be found by 1763, and it is thought to have been driven to extinction by human-related factors such as the introduction of cats. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Jimmie Rodgers

... that Jimmie Rodgers (pictured) is considered the "Father of Country Music"?
... that Sivapardus was larger than a leopard, smaller than a lion, and had a face like a cheetah?
... that the archaeologist Alan Wace worked undercover for British intelligence during both world wars?
... that Benton Harbor BASIC was written by Gordon Letwin, who Heathkit management said once showed up with long hair, high-top sneakers and a velvet coat?
... that the Battle of Daybathwe ended shortly after the Myaungmya commander Saw E Binnya was assassinated by the Hanthawaddy commander Dein Mani-Yut, whom he thought was defecting to his side?
... that in the 1932 baseball game in which pitcher Eddie Rommel won his last game, he pitched 17 innings in relief, an American League record?
... that Spanish mystic Marina de Escobar founded a convent but never joined one?
... that maritime shipping is making the ocean more acidic?

In the news

Sam Bankman-Fried

An earthquake strikes Karnali Province, Nepal, leaving more than 150 people dead.
American entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured) is convicted on charges of fraud and money laundering over his role in the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
NASA's Lucy space probe flies by the asteroid Dinkinesh, the first target of the mission.
In baseball, the Texas Rangers defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the World Series.

On this day

November 6: Gustavus Adolphus Day in Estonia, Finland and Sweden (1632)

Tammy Baldwin

1217 – King Henry III of England issued the Charter of the Forest, re-establishing the rights of access of free men to royal forests.
1863 – American Civil War: A Union brigade defeated a Confederate force at the Battle of Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
1917 – First World War: Canadian forces captured Passendale, Belgium, after three months of fighting against the Germans at the Battle of Passchendaele.
1963 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ was appointed by the junta of General Dương Văn Minh to head the South Vietnamese government, five days after Minh deposed and assassinated President Ngô Đình Diệm.
2012 – Tammy Baldwin (pictured) became the first openly gay politician to be elected to the United States Senate.

Nasta Rojc (b. 1883)
Jerry Yang (b. 1968)
Emma Stone (b. 1988)
Anthony Sawoniuk (d. 2005)

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From today's featured list

Poster for El Capitan

American composer John Philip Sousa composed fifteen operettas, which are relatively lesser-known than his military marches. Sousa's operettas show influences from Gilbert and Sullivan, including short recitatives and chorus finales. The libretti for most of the operettas were written by various prominent as well as less experienced librettists, except those for The Wolf and The Bride Elect, which were written by Sousa himself. Several famous stage personalities, including DeWolf Hopper, starred in the operettas. El Capitan (poster pictured), whch portrayed the Spanish administration in Peru and became hugely popular during the Spanish–American War, was later described by Gerald Bordman as "boding well to be the most enduring American comic opera of the nineteenth century". Sousa's other major operettas included The Charlatan, Chris and the Wonderful Lamp, The Free Lance, and The American Maid. Paul E. Bierley later speculated that, had Sousa not been the leader of the United States Marine Band, "he probably would have chosen a career in theater music". (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Georgians are an ethnic group native to Georgia and the Caucasus, with diaspora communities throughout Russia, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union. Georgians arose from Colchian and Iberian civilizations of classical antiquity. In the early 4th century, the Georgians became one of the first to embrace Christianity and now the majority of Georgians are Orthodox Christians. The Georgian nation was formed out of a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialects and, in the case of the Svans and Mingrelians, regional languages. The Georgian language, with its own unique writing system and extensive written tradition, which goes back to the 5th century, is the official language of Georgia. According to the State Ministry on Diaspora Issues of Georgia, unofficial statistics say that there are more than five million Georgians across the world. This photograph, taken around 1888 in Mestia, shows an elderly Svan peasant with a dagger and smoking a long pipe. The image is in the collection of the Library of Congress in the United States.

Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden

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