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From today's featured article

The Hearst Tower is a building at the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, U.S. It is the world headquarters of the media conglomerate Hearst Communications, housing many of the firm's publications and communications companies. The Hearst Tower consists of two sections, with a total height of 597 feet (182 m) and 46 stories. The six lowest stories form the original Hearst Magazine Building (also known as the International Magazine Building), designed by Joseph Urban and George B. Post & Sons, and completed in 1928. Above it is the Hearst Tower addition, designed by Norman Foster and finished in 2006. The original structure is clad with stone and contains six pylons with sculptural groups. The tower section has a glass-and-metal façade arranged as a diagrid, or diagonal grid, which doubles as its structural system. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

St. Dominic Church (Columbus, Ohio)

... that the jazz artist Aaron Diehl became the organist at St. Dominic Church (pictured) at the age of seven?
... that the Link light rail system in Seattle is planned to include the first railway line on a floating bridge?
... that the television host Jimmy Kimmel met his bandleader Cleto Escobedo III when they were both nine years old?
... that Bartholomäus Scultetus tried to become the court cartographer of Ivan the Terrible?
... that Nobody is the highest-grossing 2D Chinese animated film?
... that the adventure game Jenny of the Prairie was one of the first computer games developed for girls?
... that journalist Dan Stoneking was called an "honorary teammate" and subjected to pranks by Minnesota North Stars players?
... that linked fate looks at the degree to which an individual believes that what happens to their own racial group will affect their own well-being and life chances?
... that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a sandwich, but not a sandwich thrower?

In the news

Brigitte Bardot

French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot (pictured) dies at the age of 91.
Israel becomes the first country to officially recognise Somaliland as an independent state.
Nasry Asfura is elected president of Honduras, after one month of controversy surrounding the vote counting process.
A jet crash near Ankara, Turkey, kills all eight people on board, including Libyan Army chief of staff Mohammed al-Haddad.
A mass stabbing in Taipei, Taiwan, leaves four people dead, including the perpetrator.

On this day

December 29

Terminal at LaGuardia Airport after the 1975 bombing

1845 – The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States, becoming the 28th state to be admitted to the Union.
1860 – To counter the French Navy's Gloire, the world's first ironclad warship, the Royal Navy launched HMS Warrior, the world's first iron-hulled armoured warship.
1890 – Sioux Wars: The United States Army killed 250 to 300 Lakota men, women and children at the Wounded Knee Massacre, beginning the Ghost Dance War.
1915 – First World War: The French parliament passed a law granting the land occupied by British war graves as "the free gift of the French people".
1975 – Planted by unknown perpetrators, a bomb exploded (aftermath pictured) at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and seriously injuring 74 others.

Maria Margaretha Kirch (d. 1720)
Ezra Meeker (b. 1830)
Christina Rossetti (d. 1894)
Marie Menken (d. 1970)

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From today's featured list

Jimi Hendrix

American musician Jimi Hendrix recorded more than 170 songs during his career from 1966 to 1970. Often considered one of the most accomplished and influential electric guitarists, Hendrix wrote most of his own material in a variety of styles. Some show his blues and R&B roots, and others incorporate jazz and early funk influences. Some songs, such as "Purple Haze", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and "Machine Gun", feature his guitar-dominated hard rock and psychedelic rock sound, while others including "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Little Wing" take a slower, more melodic approach. Two of his best-known single releases were written by others: "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts and "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan. Hendrix supplied his own interpretations, however, which gave them a much different character than the originals. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The red-tailed laughingthrush (Trochalopteron milnei) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae, the laughingthrushes. It is found in the montane forests of Myanmar, Laos, southern China, and central Vietnam. These birds mainly inhabit the understorey of broadleaf evergreen forests, usually living at an elevation of 1,800 to 2,500 metres (5,900 to 8,200 ft) above sea level. The red-tailed laughingthrush has an overall length of about 26 to 28 centimetres (10 to 11 in) and a weight of about 66 to 93 grams (2.3 to 3.3 oz). It is dull ochrous-grey, with a bright rufous-chestnut crown and a blackish face, with whitish ear-coverts. The wings and tail are crimson, and the sexes are similar in appearance. The species feeds mainly on insects and small arthropods, but sometimes also takes berries and fruits. Its breeding season lasts from April to June, and it makes nests composed principally of grasses and bamboo leaves. This red-tailed laughingthrush was photographed in a nature reserve near Ngọc Linh, a mountain in central Vietnam.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

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