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Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti I

Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the Egyptian language from Ancient Egypt's pharaonic period until the end of Roman domination. Along with Sumerian literature, it is considered the world's earliest literature. Writing in Ancient Egypt (sample pictured) first appeared in the late 4th millennium BC. By the Old Kingdom, literary works included funerary texts, epistles and letters, religious hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts. Middle Egyptian, the spoken language of the Middle Kingdom, became a classical language preserving a narrative Egyptian literature during the New Kingdom, when Late Egyptian first appeared in writing. Scribes of the New Kingdom canonized and copied many literary texts written in Middle Egyptian, which remained the language used for oral readings of sacred hieroglyphic texts. Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on papyrus scrolls and packets, limestone and ceramic ostraca, wooden writing boards, monumental stone edifices, and coffins. (Full article...)

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The Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Gravimeter on the surface of the Moon

... that the Lunar Surface Gravimeter (pictured) failed to turn the Moon into a gravitational wave antenna?
... that McKinney Roughs Nature Park has an unusual convergence of four distinct ecosystems?
... that a hammer and sickle motif was proposed for the New Zealand sixpence?
... that the Voice of Freedom had to counter venomous snakes, leeches, and other wildlife?
... that the seven leaders of the East Turkestan Revolutionary Party had Uyghur-language code names, the initials of which spelled out the word Lëninchi, meaning "Leninist"?
... that Whitley Furniture Galleries would increase the population of Zebulon more than eightfold when hosting an automobile giveaway in 1936?
... that the Gale–Shapley algorithm was used to assign medical students to residencies long before its publication by Gale and Shapley?
... that Skibidi Toilet inspired the Generation Alpha slang "skibidi"?

In the news

Ingenuity on Mars

Following damage to the helicopter's rotors, NASA ends the Ingenuity (pictured) mission on Mars after seventy-two flights in almost three years.
The Ram Mandir, a temple to Rama, is consecrated at a disputed site in Ayodhya, India.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's lunar module SLIM lands on the Moon.
Protests break out in Bashkortostan, Russia, following the imprisonment of activist Fail Alsynov.
Iran launches missile strikes in Pakistan and aerial strikes in Iraq and Syria, and Pakistan responds with retaliatory airstrikes.

On this day

January 30: Martyrs' Day in India (1948)

Former Cabanatuan POWs in celebration

1287 – Wareru created the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in today's Lower Burma and declared himself king following the collapse of the Pagan Empire.
1661 – Two years after his death, Oliver Cromwell's remains were exhumed for a posthumous execution and his head was placed on a spike above Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685.
1945 – World War II: Allied forces liberated more than 500 prisoners of war (pictured) from a Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan in the Philippines.
2020 – The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a public health emergency of international concern.

Livia (b. 59 BC)
Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis (d. 1770)
Christian Bale (b. 1974)
Arthur Chu (b. 1984)

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Today's featured picture

The redcurrant (Ribes rubrum) is a deciduous shrub in the gooseberry family, Grossulariaceae, which is native to western Europe. The plant normally grows to a height of up to one metre (3 ft), with its leaves arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green, maturing into bright red translucent edible berries. An established redcurrant bush can produce 3 to 4 kilograms (7 to 9 lb) of berries from mid- to late summer. The species is widely cultivated, with the berries known for their tart flavor, a characteristic provided by a relatively high content of organic acids and mixed polyphenols. This photograph of a bunch of redcurrant berries was focus-stacked from 15 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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