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From today's featured article

Traffic control on the Red Ball Express

American logistics in the Northern France campaign played a key role in the breakout of the Allies from the lodgment in Normandy that began on 25 July 1944 and the subsequent pursuit of the defeated German forces. The advance was much faster than expected; the rapid increase in the length of the line of communications threw up unanticipated logistical challenges. The logistical plan lacked flexibility, the rehabilitation of railways and construction of pipelines could not keep up with the pace of the advance, and resupply by air had limited capacity. Critical shortages developed, particularly of petrol, oil and lubricants. Motor transport was used as a stopgap, with the Red Ball Express (pictured) organized to deliver supplies from Normandy, but there was a shortage of suitable vehicles and trained drivers, and racial segregation complicated personnel assignment. Logistical problems and increased German resistance eventually stalled the American advance. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

... that 170 trips on Sounder commuter rail (pictured) were cancelled in a single winter due to mudslides?
... that John C. Raaen Jr., at age 103, is the last surviving US Army Ranger from the first D-Day assault wave on Omaha Beach?
... that the Donnie Creek fire in 2023 was the largest wildfire in British Columbia's history?
... that Teuku Karimoeddin was arrested by the Imperial Japanese military police for resisting mandatory head shaving and other regulations?
... that a dinner between Bill Maher and Donald Trump was satirized in "My Dinner with Adolf"?
... that Guyanese trade unionist Philomena Sahoye-Shury was nicknamed "Fireball" due to her "outspoken and forthright stance on the workers' behalf"?
... that some Byzantine churches in Philadelphia, modern-day Amman, were repurposed from earlier Roman temples?
... that upon being drafted by the NFL's Chicago Bears, Ralph Jarvis wanted to thank the judge who sent him to the reform school where he first played American football?
... that some bodies at Chalandriani were buried with "frying pans"?

In the news

Lee Jae-myung

Lee Jae-myung (pictured) is elected as president of South Korea.
In cricket, the Indian Premier League concludes with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeating Punjab Kings.
Karol Nawrocki is elected as president of Poland.
Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as episcopal co-prince of Andorra.
Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies at the age of 87.
Flooding submerges the town of Mokwa, Nigeria, leaving more than 200 people dead.

On this day

June 6: National Day of Sweden, Eid al-Adha (Islam)

Shivaji

1674 – Shivaji (pictured), who led a resistance to free the Maratha from the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, was crowned the first chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.
1749 – A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered.
1813 – War of 1812: The British ambushed an American encampment near present-day Stoney Creek, Ontario, capturing two senior officers.
1912 – The largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century began, forming the volcano Novarupta in the Alaska Peninsula.
1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy in France.

Norbert of Xanten (d. 1134)
Patrick Henry (d. 1799)
Frank Chee Willeto (b. 1925)
Louis Andriessen (b. 1939)

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From today's featured list

Bill Walton

Since 1970, 397 basketball players have played at least one game for the Portland Trail Blazers throughout their 55 seasons as a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise. Ten players have had their number retired by the team following their playing careers. Seven players have been enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Carmelo Anthony is expected to become the eighth Hall of Famer when he is enshrined in September 2025. Four Blazer rookies have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, including Damian Lillard. On December 19, 2022, Lillard became the team's all-time scoring leader. Bill Walton (pictured) is the franchise's most decorated player; he was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 1977 NBA Finals, and the regular-season MVP the following year. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a very large bird of prey in the monotypic genus Gypaetus. It is vernacularly known as the Homa, a bird in Iranian mythology. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of 70 to 90 per cent bone. It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in Iran, southern Europe, East Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, and the Caucasus. The bearded vulture population is thought to be in decline; since 2014, it has been classified as near threatened on the IUCN Red List. Bearded vultures are 94 to 125 centimetres (37 to 49 inches) long, with a wingspan of 2.31 to 2.83 metres (7.6 to 9.3 feet). This bearded vulture was photographed carrying a piece of carrion in the Alps in Switzerland, where the species was reintroduced in the late 20th century after having become locally extinct in the early 20th century.

Photograph credit: Giles Laurent

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