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The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1402 to 1424. The fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the dynasty's founder, he was granted the title of Prince of Yan in 1370 and later became responsible for defending the northeastern frontier from Beijing. In 1399, he rebelled against his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, and emerged victorious and seized the throne after four years of civil war. As emperor, he elevated Beijing to the status of a second capital and supervised the reconstruction of the Grand Canal, which supplied Beijing and the northern armies. He sponsored the compilation of the vast Yongle Encyclopedia and pursued an active foreign policy, dispatching diplomatic and military missions across Asia. Maritime expeditions led by Zheng He reached Southeast Asia, India, Persia, and East Africa. He also personally led five campaigns into Mongolia. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Retrieval of a satellite during a space walk

... that artificial satellites (example pictured) make up the majority of modern space launches and missions?
... that a lawsuit against transgender politician Michelle Bruce claimed that presenting as a woman gave her an "unfair advantage" in her election?
... that the development team for Halloween: The Game worked with John Carpenter and designed the game as a 1970s period piece?
... that Selina Wadge was hanged in 1878 for dropping her child down a well?
... that the mural The Claddagh Embrace was partly made of potatoes?
... that Amanat Khan Shirazi received an elephant from the emperor for his work on the calligraphy of the Taj Mahal?
... that, during the siege of Amida in 502–503, most of the available food and drink were given to men, while leather shoes and the flesh of the dead went to the women?
... that Ko Arimatsu witnessed an asteroid impact on Jupiter using a telescope that he built out of boredom?
... that Mitchell Burns demonstrated how to extract natural shampoo from a "very phallic" plant on Christmas Day?

In the news

Demi Vollering

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes Chocó Department, Colombia, leaving at least 254 people dead.
In cycling, Demi Vollering (pictured) wins the Tour de France Femmes.
Shootings at a residence and a school in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, leave at least nine people dead.
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund purchases video game publisher Electronic Arts in a leveraged buyout.

On this day

August 12

Aircraft involved in Japan Air Lines Flight 123

1323 – Sweden and the Novgorod Republic signed the Treaty of Nöteborg resulting in a temporary hiatus in the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars.
1834 – A race riot in Philadelphia, United States, destroyed African-American businesses and killed two people.
1985 – Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (aircraft involved pictured) crashed into Mount Takamagahara in Japan, killing 520 of 524 people on board, including singer Kyu Sakamoto, in the world's deadliest 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.
2021 – Six people, including the perpetrator, were killed in a mass shooting in Plymouth, England.

Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (d. 1315)
Luigi Galleani (b. 1861)
Mohammed Deif (b. 1965)
Aino Pervik (d. 2025)

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Roma, a Littorio-class battleship

A series of modern battleships were built between 1893 and 1942 by the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). Early designs were marked by their small size, light armor, and high speed compared to contemporary foreign counterparts. Three designs of pre-dreadnought battleships were constructed: two ships of the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class, two of the Regina Margherita class, and four of the Regina Elena class, which were the fastest battleships in the world at the time of their completion. After the British battleship HMS Dreadnought was completed in 1906, its revolutionary design rendered all previous battleships obsolete. Italy built three classes of dreadnought battleships between 1913 and 1915: the Dante Alighieri, three of the Conte di Cavour class, and two of the similar Andrea Doria class. A further four-ship class was cancelled during construction. In the interwar period, the four Littorio-class battleships (ship pictured) were begun, three of which were completed prior to the end of World War II, after which the surviving ones were scrapped. (Full list...)

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The clementine (Citrus × clementina) is a sweet citrus fruit that is a hybrid of the willowleaf mandarin and the orange. It was discovered in the late 19th century in Misserghin, Algeria, in the garden of the French missionary Clément Rodier, after whom it was named. Clementines have smooth, glossy, deep-orange skin, and are typically juicy, easy to peel, and divided into seven to fourteen segments. Major varieties include clemenules, Fina, Algerian, and Italian cultivars such as Clementine del Golfo di Taranto and Clementine di Calabria. Clementines are cultivated in many countries around the world and are sometimes sold as "easy-peelers". The fruit's essential oils contain mostly limonene. This composite focus-stacked photograph shows two seedless clementines, one unpeeled (left) and one peeled (right).

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

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