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From today's featured article

Constantine (right) and his grandfather Michael II on the reverse of a solidus

Constantine (820s or 830s – before 836) was an infant prince of the Amorian dynasty who briefly ruled as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire sometime in the 830s, alongside his father Theophilos. He was born to Theophilos and his wife, Empress Theodora. When naming Constantine, his father defied standard naming conventions, as his son was not named after his father Michael II. Most information about Constantine's short life and titular reign is unclear, although it is known that he was born sometime in the 820s or 830s and was installed as co-emperor soon after his birth. He appears on the coinage issued under his father, albeit addressed as despot (not a formal title, but an honorific interchangeable with basileus, i.e. emperor) on gold coins, but with no title at all on bronze ones. He died sometime before 836, possibly after falling into a palace cistern. His parents buried him in a sarcophagus made of Thessalian marble in the Church of the Holy Apostles. (Full article...)

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Krause performing in The Magic Flute in 2024

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In the news

Lauren Betts

In NCAA Division I basketball, the UCLA Bruins win the women's championship (Most Outstanding Player Lauren Betts pictured).
NASA's Artemis II performs its lunar flyby maneuver, becoming the farthest crewed mission from Earth.
In Mongolia, Nyam-Osoryn Uchral is sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of Gombojavyn Zandanshatar.
The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, remain the largest party after the Danish general election, with no political bloc winning a majority of seats.

On this day

"Au clair de la lune" by Édouard-Léon
Scott de Martinville

April 9: Day of Valor in the Philippines (1942); Vimy Ridge Day in Canada (1917)

193 – Year of the Five Emperors: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in modern-day Austria.
1388 – Despite being vastly outnumbered, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Näfels.
1860 – Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune" on his phonautograph, producing the oldest known recording of an audible human voice (audio featured).
1976 – The first EMD F40PH, Amtrak's most widespread diesel locomotive for many years, entered into service.
2021 – Prince Philip, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, died at Windsor Castle aged 99.

Francis Bacon (d. 1626)
Mary Jackson (b. 1921)
Hugh Hefner (b. 1926)
Nika Mühl (b. 2001)

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Today's featured picture

The Cathedral is an abstract painting by František Kupka, created in 1912–13 in oil on canvas. Measuring 180 × 150 cm (71 × 59 in), the work features vertical lines running the entire length of the canvas, intersected by diagonal lines to form rectilinear shapes of various sizes and colors. These evoke the effect of stained glass illuminated within a dark cathedral, inspired particularly by that of Chartres. The painting is now in the collection of the Museum Kampa in Prague, Czech Republic.

Painting credit: František Kupka

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