... that Muhammad Al-Saqr won an International Press Freedom Award for his work as a journalist before becoming chairman of the Arab Parliament?
... that Hamill, an upcoming biographical film about deaf mixed martial artist Matt Hamill, will use sporadic sound and incomplete subtitles?
... that during his tenure as mayor of Minden, Louisiana, Connell Fort worked to rid his city of mosquitoes, laid natural gas lines, and built the municipal sewerage system?
... that the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 1 Long Range Flight was formed to compete in the 1953 London to Christchurch air race?
... that Joseph Wright of Derby's painting of Miravan's revulsion as he breaks open a tomb is based on a story retold by John Gilbert Cooper?
[[File:{{{logo}}}|38px|link=|alt=Today's featured article]]
Today's featured article
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) section of northwestern Grant Park. The park features a variety of public art. As of 2009, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction.
Construction began in October 1998, and the park was opened in a ceremony on July 16, 2004, four years behind schedule; the three-day celebrations were attended by some 300,000 people and included an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. The park has received awards for its accessibility and green design. Millennium Park has free admission, and features the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the Lurie Garden, and other attractions. Millennium Park is considered to be the city's most important project since the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and far exceeded its original budget of $150 million. (more...)
1345 – Inspecting a new prison without being escorted by his bodyguard, Alexios Apokaukos, megas doux of the Byzantine Navy, was lynched and killed by the prisoners.
1594 – In the Philippines, Philip II of Spain recognized the right to govern of the Principalía, the local nobles and chieftains who had converted to Roman Catholicism.
1847 – Afonso died at age two, leaving his father Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, without a male heir.
1937 – Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky (pictured) and several senior officers of the Soviet Red Army were convicted for belonging to a Trotskyist organization in a secret trial during the Great Purge.
1963 – The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor of Alabama George Wallace stepped aside after defiantly blocking the entrance to an auditorium.
Queen Elizabeth II (pictured) of the United Kingdom makes the first-ever state visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission, delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for installation on the International Space Station.
At least 12 Arab protesters are killed during Nakba Day protests and marches on Israel's borders.
Kenyan long-distance runner Samuel Wanjiru, who won the Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – men's marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics, dies at the age of 24.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, is held without bail in New York City on charges of sexual assault.
