Main Page

Titchwell Marsh is an English nature reserve owned and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Its 171 hectares (420 acres) on the north coast of Norfolk, about 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the seaside resort of Hunstanton, include reed beds, saltmarshes, a freshwater lagoon, a sandy beach, and woodland. The reserve is important for some scarce breeding birds, such as pied avocets on the islands, and western marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings in the reeds. It has regularly attracted rarities, as its location is important for migrating birds, and shelters the endangered European water vole. Facilities include three bird hides, a seawatching platform, two nature trails, and a visitor centre. In 2010 and 2011 the banks around the freshwater lagoon were improved and the brackish lagoon was converted to tidal saltmarsh (pictured), a more effective barrier to encroachment by the sea. Titchwell Marsh is archaeologically significant, with artefacts dating to the Upper Paleolithic, and has remains of military constructions from both world wars. (Full article...)

Pioneer Cabin Tree

• ... that cars once drove through the Pioneer Cabin Tree (pictured), which drew thousands of visitors annually?
• ... that as CEO of Intel Israel, Maxine Fassberg encouraged women, Arabs, Druze, and Haredi Jews to enter the high-tech sector?
• ... that the Nanjing Metro system in Nanjing, China, has a total of 139 stations, with transfer stations counted once for every line they serve?
• ... that during the 1952 steel strike, Clarence B. Randall criticized President Harry S. Truman for what he considered "shocking distortions of fact"?
• ... that Chloë Sevigny portrays the accused ax-murderer Lizzie Borden in the upcoming film Lizzie?
• ... that Mount Berlin, a volcano in Antarctica, has had large Plinian eruptions in the past and is still fumarolically active through towers of ice?
• ... that King Razadarit's decision to keep the one-time flower seller Piya Yaza Dewi as his chief queen consort led to the suicide of his first wife, Queen Talamidaw?

U.S. President Donald Trump

• U.S. President Donald Trump signs (pictured) an executive order restricting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, provoking protests and court rulings ordering its partial suspension.
• Scientists at Harvard University report the first creation of metallic hydrogen in a laboratory, using a diamond anvil cell.
• In sumo, Kisenosato Yutaka is promoted as the 72nd yokozuna, becoming the first Japanese wrestler to earn the title in 19 years.
• The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom issues a ruling that an Act of Parliament is needed before the government can trigger Article 50 to leave the European Union.
• Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms kill at least twenty people across the Southeastern United States.

January 29

The Mantra-Rock Dance poster

• 1856 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that established the Victoria Cross, originally to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
• 1891 – Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ascended to the throne.
• 1944 – World War II: At least 38 people were killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) was attacked by Soviet partisan units.
• 1967 – The Mantra-Rock Dance (poster pictured), called the "ultimate high" of the hippie era, took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami Bhaktivedanta, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
• 2006 – India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.