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Shefali Shah (born 22 May 1973) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. Respected for her acting prowess, she has received multiple accolades, including a National Film Award and two Filmfare Awards. Shah's acting career started on the Gujarati stage before she debuted on television in 1993. She gained wider recognition in 1997 for her role in the popular series Hasratein. A supporting role in Satya (1998) started her focus on film work, mostly in character parts and often to appreciation from critics, including in the drama The Last Lear (2007). Shah's career surged in the late 2010s as she transitioned to leading roles, including in two Netflix projects: the romantic drama Once Again (2018) and the International Emmy Award–winning miniseries Delhi Crime (2019). Shah wrote and directed two short films in 2020: Someday and Happy Birthday Mummyji. She gained further recognition with five projects in 2022. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Tobit and Anna with the Kid

... that Rembrandt drew heavily on two copperplate engravings of earlier works by other artists for the composition of Tobit and Anna with the Kid (pictured)?
... that Polish-Jewish Post-Impressionist painter and Dadaist Marcel Słodki was arrested by the Germans in France and died in Auschwitz concentration camp?
... that Valley Public Television once raffled off a 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, according to the wishes of the man who bequeathed it to the station?
... that Sheila P. Burke was once known as the 101st U.S. senator?
... that after a guest smuggled a lion into the Hotel Belleclaire using a piano crate, the lion was thrown out of the hotel?
... that Vanessa Feltz's ex-fiancé Ben Ofoedu sang on hits by Benz, Phats & Small, and Intenso Project?
... that the Chicano Liberation Front claimed responsibility for 28 bombings in Los Angeles in 1970 and 1971?
... that it once took two days to determine whether a slam dunk by Lester Rowe at the buzzer counted?

In the news

Jim Brown

American football Hall of Fame fullback Jim Brown (pictured) dies at the age of 87.
Amid a political crisis in Ecuador, President Guillermo Lasso dissolves the National Assembly and triggers an early general election.
Flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy causes 16 deaths and widespread disruption, including the cancellation of its Formula One Grand Prix.
Cyclone Mocha strikes Myanmar and Bangladesh, killing more than 150 people.

On this day

May 22: Victoria Day in Canada (2023)

Preston Brooks caning Charles Sumner

1629 – Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
1816 – A riot broke out in Littleport, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day before being quelled by troops.
1856 – Senator Charles Sumner (pictured) was assaulted by Representative Preston Brooks in the United States Senate chamber in retaliation for a speech in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders.
1939 – Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel, a military and political alliance.
2010 – Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the 166 people on board.

T. Boone Pickens (b. 1928)
Lady Gregory (d. 1932)
Myrtle Bachelder (d. 1997)

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From today's featured list

MV Galaxy, from which Radio London was transmitted

The Fab 40 number-one singles topped the playlist for the station Wonderful Radio London. Also known as Big L, Wonderful Radio London was a British pirate radio station that operated from MV Galaxy (pictured), about three and a half miles (5.6 km) out from the coast of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. It was founded by American Don Pierson with a backing of around £500,000, and first aired shortly before Christmas 1964. The station closed on 14 August 1967 when the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into effect, with the last Fab 40 chart show presented the previous week by Tommy Vance. The Fab 40 had a significantly higher turnover of singles than the Record Retailer chart; it had 118 different singles top the chart between 23 January 1965 and 12 August 1967. On the Fab 40, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones each had eight number-ones, and the Hollies had seven. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Ålesund is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The centre of the town lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, and Nørvøya with newer developments located on the island of Oksenøya. According to local legend, Ålesund was founded by Gangerolf (Rollo) in the 9th century. In 1848, it was given the status of a town. In 1904, the town was largely destroyed in a fire and subsequently rebuilt, with most of the buildings constructed of stone in Art Nouveau style. This photograph depicts a view of Ålesund in September 2019 as seen from Aksla, a viewpoint over the town.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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