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Yuzuru Hanyu at the 2014 Olympics

During his three Olympic seasons, Yuzuru Hanyu (pictured), a Japanese figure skater, won two gold medals in the men's singles event, one each in 2014 and 2018. He also placed fourth in 2022. In 2014, at the age of 19, he became the first Asian men's singles skater to win an Olympic gold medal, and the youngest male skater to win the title since American Dick Button did in 1948. In 2018, Hanyu became the first male singles skater in 66 years to win gold medals in consecutive Winter Olympics since Button, who also won in 1952. Hanyu received the People's Honour Award from the Prime Minister of Japan as well as two Medals of Honor with Purple Ribbon. He also received the Kikuchi Kan Prize for his accomplishments, including his back-to-back Olympic titles. Two monuments in memory of his Olympic wins were erected at the International Center Station in Sendai, his hometown. He was also listed in ESPN's World Fame 100 and The Dominant 20, as well as Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia for his success in 2018. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Raorchestes chalazodes

... that Raorchestes chalazodes (example pictured) lays its eggs inside bamboo, and is the only species in its genus to exhibit parental care?
... that Josephine Gates Kelly of the Standing Rock Reservation once hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., to protest portions of the Indian Reorganization Act?
... that George Vernon's loss against the Parsis cricket team was seen as "a blow to the prestige of the Empire"?
... that Enoch Marvin Banks resigned from the University of Florida because of public outrage over his belief that the American Civil War was caused by slavery?
... that the Durham police mast was designed to be slender to minimise the impact on views of Durham Cathedral?
... that Arthur O. Austin built the most powerful outdoor high-voltage laboratory in the world?
... that bookseller John Harrison Stonehouse commissioned the "cursed" edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that was lost when the Titanic sank in 1912?
... that when Maha Thamun, the head of the Hanthawaddy delegation, presented his king's demands, King Thado of Ava reflexively ordered his execution?

In the news

Jiang Zemin

Jiang Zemin (pictured), former general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, dies at the age of 96.
A deadly fire in Ürümqi escalates ongoing protests across China in response to the government's zero-COVID policy.
Anwar Ibrahim of the Pakatan Harapan coalition becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia after the general election produces the nation's first hung parliament.
An earthquake centred near Cianjur in Indonesia's West Java kills at least 323 people and injures more than 7,000 others.

On this day

December 7: Feast day of Saint Ambrose (Christianity); National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in the United States (1941)

Artist's impression of the Galileo spacecraft

574 – Suffering from mental illness, Eastern Roman emperor Justin II had his general Tiberius proclaimed Caesar, adopting him as his own son.
1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas.
1936 – Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
1975 – The Indonesian military invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism, beginning an occupation.
1995 – The Galileo spacecraft (illustration shown) arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.

Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (b. 903)
Willa Cather (b. 1873)
Nicholas Hoult (b. 1989)

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Today's featured picture

Let Kunovice, operating as Let, n.p., is a Czech (before December 1993 Czechoslovak) civil aircraft manufacturer. Its most successful design has been the L-410 Turbolet, of which more than 1,300 units have been built (an upgraded version, the L-410 NG, is pictured here). Its head office is in Kunovice, Uherské Hradiště District. Let was owned by the Russian company UGMK from 2008 to 2022, when it was acquired by Czech-based Omnipol Group.

Photograph credit: Julian Herzog

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