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From today's featured article

Fresco from Mycenae possibly depicting a priestess or goddess

Eritha (fl. c. 1180 BCE) was a Mycenaean priestess, based at the cult site of Sphagianes in the southwest Peloponnese. Sphagianes is believed to have been near the palatial centre of the Mycenaean state of Pylos, possibly at modern Volimidia. Eritha held authority over several other people, including at least fourteen women probably assigned to her as servants by the palatial state. Around 1180 BCE, she was involved in a legal dispute over the status of her lands against the damos, an organisation representing the other landholders of Sphagianes. While the exact nature of the dispute is unclear, Eritha seems to have claimed that part of her land was held on behalf of her deity, and therefore subject to reduced taxes or obligations. The record of the matter constitutes the longest preserved sentence of Mycenaean Greek and the oldest evidence of a legal dispute from Europe. The outcome of the dispute is unknown. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Leaf of Drosera capensis bending around a captured insect

... that despite a reputation as a weed and its invasive species status in New Zealand, Drosera capensis (pictured) is uncommon in its native habitat?
... that ChatGPT developer John Schulman said that his first period of serious self-directed study was inspired by the television show BattleBots?
... that the Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty held elections in El Salvador that "the entire country" knew were fraudulent?
... that George Zurcher was suspended as a Catholic priest for six years because he gave a critical homily on All Saints' Day 1899?
... that the fossil osoberry Oemleria janhartfordae was described from a single flower just starting towards fruiting?
... that Arthur J. Ruhlig was the first person to record observations of deuterium–tritium fusion?
... that there was once a proposal to demolish the Paul Schweikher House and Studio to make way for a sewage plant?
... that the design of Death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was inspired by Christian imagery?
... that Marmaduke Tudsbery Tudsbery formed part of "The Sofa" at the Athenaeum Club?

In the news

Jim Lovell in 1969

American astronaut Jim Lovell (pictured), the commander of Apollo 13, dies at the age of 97.
A helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, kills eight people on board including two ministers, Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.
In cycling, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins the Tour de France Femmes.
In association football, the Copa América Femenina concludes with Brazil defeating Colombia in the final.

On this day

August 12

Aircraft involved in Japan Air Lines Flight 123

1881 – Franco-American children as young as seven years old began striking against Cabot Mill in Brunswick, Maine, shutting down operations for three days.
1952 – Thirteen Jewish poets were executed in Moscow for espionage based on false confessions.
1985 – Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (aircraft involved pictured) crashed into Mount Takamagahara in Gunma Prefecture, killing 520 of 524 people on board, including singer Kyu Sakamoto, in the world's worst single-aircraft aviation disaster.
2000 – Kursk, an Oscar-class submarine of the Russian Navy, suffered an on-board explosion and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing 118 people.
2016 – The state-owned Taedonggang Brewing Company inaugurated the first beer festival in North Korea.

George McGinnis (b. 1950)
Mario Balotelli (b. 1990)
Les Paul (d. 2009)
Una Stubbs (d. 2021)

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Today's featured picture

Hypericum androsaemum, commonly known as the shrubby St. John's wort, tutsan or sweet-amber, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is native to Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, but has been introduced elsewhere, including Australia and New Zealand. In these countries, it is often considered a noxious weed. Hypericum androsaemum is found in damp and shady areas at a great range of elevations, from low-lying regions up to 1,800 metres (5,900 feet) in elevation. It requires heavy rainfall, typically greater than 750 millimetres (30 inches) of annual precipitation. Hypericum androsaemum is a small bushy shrub, reaching 30 to 70 centimetres (0.98 to 2.30 feet) tall, with many stems which remain upright and erect, and oval-shaped leaves along its stems. It has yellow flowers, five petals and, uniquely among Hypericum, its berries, which ripen by late summer, turn from red to black and remain soft and fleshy even after ripening. Its seeds germinate in the fall and it flowers when it is between 18 and 24 months old, typically from late spring to early summer. This photograph, showing two ripe H. androsaemum berries, was focus-stacked from 23 separate images.

Photograph credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma

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