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The Duffield Memorial is a gravesite monument located in the churchyard of the Church of St Mary in Great Baddow, England. Designed by Herbert Maryon and installed in 1912, it commemorates Marianne and W. W. Duffield, who died in 1910 and 1912, respectively. A second plaque commemorates their son, W. B. Duffield, who died in 1918. The memorial is made of riveted sections of bronze sheet metal and comprises edging and a vertical cross. The edging follows the rectangular perimeter of the grave plot, with short pillars at each corner. Within the plot sits a Celtic wheel cross, decorated in relief with leaflike motifs. A curved shaft connects it to the foot; both the shaft and the four-sided base upon which it is mounted have curved and splayed sides. The plaques commemorating the Duffields are riveted to the base; a medallion, now lost, was once riveted to the centre of the cross. In 2022, Historic England designated the work a Grade II listed building, noting its unusual Art Nouveau metalwork. (Full article...)

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Miloš Vučević

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... that Setkya Dewi, chief queen of Burma, studied Western astronomy and English and was once gifted a telescope by a British envoy because of her interest in science?
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... that the Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office has been inventorying unincorporated communities in Wisconsin to find "cartographic phantoms"?
... that the story of the philosopher Heraclitus dying while covered in dung may have been a parody of his beliefs?

In the news

Artemis II in flight

NASA launches the lunar flyby mission Artemis II (pictured), the first crewed mission past low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
In Mongolia, Nyam-Osoryn Uchral is sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of Gombojavyn Zandanshatar.
The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, remain the largest party after the Danish general election, with no political bloc winning a majority of seats.
In Italy, voters reject a reform of the judicial system in a constitutional referendum.

On this day

April 6: Śmigus-dyngus in Poland (2026); Tartan Day

Varney Air Lines first flight covers

1652 – Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck landed at Table Bay in southern Africa, establishing a settlement that later became known as Cape Town.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy unsuccessfully attempted to capture HMS Glasgow near Block Island.
1926 – Varney Air Lines made its first commercial flight (flight covers pictured), later forming the basis of United Airlines.
2005 – Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was elected by the National Assembly as the first non-Arab president of Iraq.
2011 – Mexican drug war: Authorities discovered 59 bodies in clandestine mass graves linked to earlier bus hijackings in San Fernando, Tamaulipas.

Leonora Baroni (d. 1670)
Gustave Moreau (b. 1826)
Bert Blyleven (b. 1951)
Teigan Van Roosmalen (b. 1991)

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Sculptures of four Greek deities: Hermes, Dionysus (probably), Demeter and Ares

Deities in ancient Greece were regarded as anthropomorphic, immortal, and powerful. They were conceived of as persons rather than abstract concepts, and were described as similar to humans in appearance, albeit larger and more beautiful. The emotions and actions of deities were largely the same as those of humans; they frequently engaged in sexual activity, and were jealous and amoral. Deities were considered far more knowledgeable than humans, and it was believed that they conversed in a language of their own. Their immortality, the defining marker of their godhood, meant that they ceased aging after growing to a certain point. The principal figures of the pantheon were the twelve Olympians, thought to live on Mount Olympus and to be connected as part of a family. Zeus was considered the chief god of the pantheon, though Athena and Apollo were honoured in a greater number of sanctuaries in major cities. (Full list...)

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Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism and the supreme god in the tradition of Shaivism. Worshipped throughout India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and parts of Southeast Asia, he is an amalgamation of various older deities into a single figure. Alongside Brahma and Vishnu, Shiva forms part of the Trimurti, in which he is known as the "destroyer", although in many traditions he also creates, preserves and transforms the universe. He is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder with his consort Parvati and his sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. Shiva's iconography includes the trishula (trident), the third eye, the damaru, the serpent king Vasuki, the crescent moon, and the river Ganga flowing from his hair. Usually worshipped in the form of the lingam, Shiva is regarded as the patron of meditation, yoga and the arts. This painting depicts Shiva and Parvati seated together on a terrace at night, with iconographic elements including skulls, snakes, and the Ganga flowing through his hair. The work was painted around 1800 on paper in bodycolour and gold, inlaid with pieces of iridescent beetle carapace, and is now in the collection of the British Museum in London.

Painting credit: unknown

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