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From today's featured article

Planet of the Apes is an American science-fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. Based on French author Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes, its 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit. From 1970 to 1973 four sequels followed the original film: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. They did not approach the critical acclaim of the original, but were commercially successful, spawning two television series in 1974 and 1975. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes film was released in 2001. A reboot film series began in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017. The films have grossed over $2 billion worldwide. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Arik Brauer in front of his painting, 2009

... that Universalkünstler Arik Brauer (pictured) created paintings in Fantastic Realism, songs in Austropop, stage sets for the Paris Opera, and house facades in Austria and Israel?
... that the 1888 eruption of Ritter Island reduced the 780-metre tall (2,560 ft) volcano to a height of just 140 metres (460 ft)?
... that sisters Amal, Hadia, and Hayat Talsam, known as Al Balabil, were referred to as "The Sudanese Supremes"?
... that academic analysis of The Diving Pool has interpreted the use of food as a way to poison others as a critique on Japanese femininity?
... that the world's richest self-made woman, Zhong Huijuan, started out as a middle-school chemistry teacher?
... that 23 Wall Street has been called one of the "big little buildings of Wall Street"?
... that the 2018 comedy film A Bread Factory, about the difficulty of producing meaningful artistic work in a market economy, received acclaim from critics but earned less than $18,000 at the box office?
... that Gauthier Mvumbi has been called the "Shaq of handball", the "Congo Colossus", and "the most popular handball player on the Earth"?

In the news

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (pictured) becomes the first woman and the first African appointed Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
Former President of Argentina Carlos Menem dies at the age of 90.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump is acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial.
Mario Draghi becomes Prime Minister of Italy, leading a national unity government after the resignation of Giuseppe Conte.

On this day

February 17: Ash Wednesday (Western Christianity, 2021)

Ruins of the Citadel of Saigon

1621 – Myles Standish was elected the first commander of the Plymouth Colony militia.
1859 – Cochinchina campaign: French Navy forces captured the Citadel of Saigon (ruins pictured), defended by 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers of the Nguyễn dynasty.
1913 – The Armory Show, the first large modern-art exhibition in the United States, opened at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City.
1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the La Mon restaurant near Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing twelve people and injuring thirty others.
2011 – Arab Spring: Bahraini security forces killed four protesters in a pre-dawn raid at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, while a "Day of Rage" took place in Libya with nationwide protests against Muammar Gaddafi's government.

Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (d. 1371)
Mary Carson Breckinridge (b. 1881)
Ed Sheeran (b. 1991)

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Today's featured picture

Helleborus orientalis, the Lenten rose, is a species of hellebore in the buttercup family, native to Greece and Turkey. German planters began breeding the species in the mid-19th century, but it fell out of favour as a garden plant in the 1920s. Interest was revived in the 1960s by Helen Ballard, who bred many new varieties. Cultivars have plain or spotted flowers, which can be white, green, pink, maroon or purple.

Photograph credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma

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