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Peter Weller in 2016

RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit in the near future, it centers on police officer Alex Murphy, played by Peter Weller (pictured), who is murdered by a gang of criminals and revived by the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products as a cyborg. The director emphasized violence throughout the film, making it so outlandish that it became comical. RoboCop was a financial success upon its release in July 1987, earning $53.4 million. Reviewers praised it as a clever action film with deeper philosophical messages and satire, but were conflicted about the violence. The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing. RoboCop has been critically reevaluated since its release and hailed as one of the best films of the 1980s for its depiction of a cyborg coming to terms with the lingering fragments of its humanity. (Full article...)

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Isle of Dogs Pumping Station

... that the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station (pictured) was nicknamed the Temple of Storms?
... that 16th-century chroniclers thought María Pacheco, a leader of the Revolt of the Comuneros, was a witch?
... that some critics described the fourth season of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as comic relief from the activities of the Trump administration?
... that in order to re-marry, Zhou Wennan had to request Mao Zedong's permission?
... that schoolchildren in the town of Kirkby were paid 25 pence an hour to help build Kirkby Ski Slope, even though the slope never opened?
... that Lois E. Trott ran the first lodging house for homeless girls in America, providing shelter and support for over 1,000 girls annually, all without receiving any payment?
... that Jerzy Kosinski: A Biography described its subject as a "liar", and yet, one reviewer felt that the author's "studiously neutral position ends up sounding like an apologia for Kosinski"?
... that "Chihiro" by Billie Eilish was titled in reference to the main character of Spirited Away?
... that the DJ NewJeansNim has been credited with reviving interest in Buddhism among South Korean youths?

In the news

Keir Starmer

The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election and Keir Starmer (pictured) becomes prime minister.
Hurricane Beryl, the earliest-recorded Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, leaves at least 12 people dead in the Caribbean and Venezuela.
In the Netherlands, a new cabinet is sworn in, with Dick Schoof serving as the prime minister.
A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 120 people dead.

On this day

July 8: Islamic New Year (2024, 1446 AH)

John Clarke

1663 – Baptist minister John Clarke (pictured) was granted the Rhode Island Royal Charter, described as the "grandest instrument of human liberty ever constructed".
1874 – Members of the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Dufferin began their March West, their first journey to the Canadian Prairies.
1947 – Following reports of the capture of a "flying disc" by U.S. Army Air Forces personnel near Roswell, New Mexico, the military stated that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon.
1966 – King Mwambutsa IV of Burundi was deposed in a coup d'état by his son, Prince Charles Ndizi.
2014 – German citizen Lars Mittank disappeared from Varna Airport, Bulgaria; his last known movements were widely watched on YouTube.

Ælfwynn (d. 983)
Giorgio Pullicino (b. 1779)
Yarden Gerbi (b. 1989)
Tom Veryzer (d. 2014)

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Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud

There have been 50 chief justices of India since the Supreme Court of India superseded the Federal Court of India in 1950. The chief justice of India is the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary and the chief judge of the Supreme Court, in which role the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, the 16th chief justice, is the longest-serving holder of the post, serving for more than seven years from 1978 to 1985, while Kamal Narain Singh, the 22nd chief justice, is the shortest-serving, in office for 17 days in 1991. As of 2024, no woman has served as chief justice. The incumbent and 50th chief justice is Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud (pictured), who assumed office on 9 November 2022. (Full list...)

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Celestine is a mineral consisting of strontium sulfate (Sr S O₄). It is named for its occasional delicate blue color. Celestine and the carbonate mineral strontianite are the principal sources of the element strontium, commonly used in fireworks and in various metal alloys. The mineral occurs as crystals, and also in compact massive, and fibrous forms. It is found worldwide, mostly found in sedimentary rocks, usually in small quantities. Pale blue crystal specimens, as shown in this photograph, are found in Madagascar.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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