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Charles Edward (1884–1954) was at various times a British prince, the last ruling duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany, and a Nazi politician. Brought up in the United Kingdom, he was selected to succeed to the throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1899 because he was deemed young enough to be re-educated as a German. He married Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein and the couple had five children. Charles Edward was a conservative ruler with an interest in art and technology. During the First World War, he supported the German Empire but was deposed during the German Revolution. During the 1920s, Charles Edward became a moral and financial supporter of violent far-right paramilitary groups, joining the Nazi Party in 1933. He was given multiple positions, including leader of the German Red Cross, and acted as an unofficial diplomat. After the war, he was interned for a period and given a minor conviction by a denazification court, dying of cancer in 1954. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Leaves of S. tonkinensis seedlings

... that the dried leaves of Strobilanthes tonkinensis (examples pictured) give black tea a sticky rice flavor?
... that at age 12, Emily Ausmus participated in an international water polo tournament against players as old as 19?
... that a crab species was named after both an ancient board game and a League of Legends character?
... that Cho Myung-chul was the first North Korean defector to be elected to the South Korean National Assembly?
... that the flagbearer for the Philippines at the 1924 Summer Olympics also carried a flag of the United States?
... that a geographer determined the surface area of Carl Friedrich Gauss's brain?
... that a Kentucky TV station gained industry attention after it criticized the overuse of the term "breaking news"?
... that citizens of New Westminster burnt effigies of Attorney General George Hunter Cary and drowned the ashes?
... that many enthusiasts say that a good tomato sandwich is so messy, it should be eaten over the kitchen sink?

In the news

Ismail Haniyeh

The United States and allies agree to a prisoner exchange with Russia, releasing twenty-six individuals.
Ismail Haniyeh (pictured), the political leader of Hamas, is assassinated in Tehran, Iran.
Landslides in Wayanad, India, kill more than 180 people.
In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Armagh defeating Galway in the final.

On this day

August 2: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

Krishna Lal Adhikari

461 – Unpopular among the Senate aristocracy for his reforming efforts, Roman emperor Majorian was deposed by Ricimer and executed five days later.
1100 – While on a hunting trip in the New Forest, King William II of England was killed by an arrow through the lung loosed by one of his own men.
1790 – The first United States census was officially completed, with the nation's residential population enumerated to be 3,929,214.
1920 – Nepalese author Krishna Lal Adhikari (pictured) was sentenced to nine years in prison for publishing a book about the cultivation of corn alleged to contain attacks on the ruling dynasty.
1973 – A flash fire killed 50 people at a leisure centre in Douglas, Isle of Man.

Pope Severinus (d. 640)
Harriet Arbuthnot (d. 1834)
Bertha Lutz (b. 1894)
Simone Manuel (b. 1996)

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From today's featured list

Marijuana greenhouse in Colorado

Ballot measures have been used in the U.S. state of Colorado to place new legislation, those recently passed by the Colorado General Assembly, and constitutional amendments on the ballot for a popular vote. Colorado has had a system of direct voting since gaining statehood in 1876. The state has three types of ballot measures that can be voted on in a statewide election: initiatives, referendums, and legislatively referred measures. The first successful citizen-initiated measures were passed in 1912. Since that time, ballot measures have played a major role in Colorado politics. After Denver was awarded the hosting rights to the 1976 Winter Olympics, citizens moved to block funding the games with a referendum in 1972. A 1990 ballot measure instituting term limits for many elected officials helped galvanize a nationwide movement for term limits, and 2000 Colorado Amendment 20 legalized the medical use of marijuana (greenhouse pictured). That measure was followed by full decriminalization with 2012 Colorado Amendment 64, and the decriminalization of psilocybin mushrooms in 2022. (Full list...)

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Sedum acre, commonly known as the biting stonecrop, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It is native to Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia, and is naturalised in other places such as North America and New Zealand. It is a low-growing plant which is adapted for growth on thin dry soils, being found on terrain including dry grassland, beaches, drystone walls and roadside verges. The plant forms mat-like stands up to 12 centimetres (5 inches) tall. For most of the year the stems are short with dense leaf coverage, but during the flowering season in June and July, the stems lengthen and become erect. This S. acre plant with a length of 3.5 centimetres (1.4 inches) was photographed in Niitvälja, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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