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From today's featured article

Territorials during the Battle of the Somme

The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer auxiliary created in 1908. It was designed to reinforce the British Army overseas during war without resorting to conscription, but for political reasons it was constituted as a home defence force in which foreign service was voluntary. It was not well regarded by the military authorities. On the outbreak of the First World War, the regular army was expanded by raising the New Army from scratch rather than relying on the Territorial Force. Territorials volunteered for foreign service in large numbers, and territorial divisions filled the gap between the near destruction of the regular army during the German offensive of 1914 and the arrival of the New Army in 1915. The force also provided the bulk of the British contingent in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. The territorial identity was eroded by the introduction of conscription in 1916, and by the war's end there was little to distinguish between regular, territorial and New Army formations. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Pronolagus randensis

... that Jameson's red rock hare (pictured) once had ten recognized subspecies, but now has none?
... that both a statue of Lord Botetourt and a medal named for him have been the subject of replicas made for the College of William & Mary?
... that after being unpicked for the NBA, Damian Chong Qui went on to become the first player to score a triple-double in the East Asia Super League?
... that the mummy of the ancient Egyptian estate manager Wah was wrapped in 375 m² (448 sq yd) of linen?
... that 404 Fifth Avenue's exterior terracotta features a color scheme usually found in pottery rather than on facades?
... that due to her experience of Italy's immigration policies, journalist Nadeesha Uyangoda has been outspoken on migrant rights?
... that The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught explores how school textbooks across the world distort history to serve political interests?
... that Ray Jennison legally changed his last name from "Jenison" because "people were always misspelling it"?
... that history has a history?

In the news

Mark Carney

Mark Carney (pictured) succeeds Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada after winning the Liberal Party leadership election.
In Pakistan, a train hijacking by the Balochistan Liberation Army leaves at least 71 people dead.
Former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is arrested on the basis of an International Criminal Court warrant charging him with crimes against humanity.
Intuitive Machines' Athena lands on the Moon at an incorrect angle and is unable to complete its mission.

On this day

March 15: Ides of March

Julius Caesar

44 BC – Julius Caesar (bust pictured), the dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus.
1823 – American sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of New South Greenland, a phantom island, near Antarctica.
1916 – Six days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. general John J. Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue him.
1917 – Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
1943 – The deportation of 50,000 Jews from the Greek city of Thessaloniki began.
1951 – The Iranian oil industry was nationalized in a movement led by Mohammad Mosaddegh.

Albert of Schwarzburg (d. 1327)
Matthew Charlton (b. 1866)
Ignace Tonené (d. 1916)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (b. 1933)

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Today's featured picture

Xysticus cristatus, the common crab spider, is a species in the family Thomisidae. It has a Palearctic distribution, being found throughout Europe (including Iceland) and east through Asia to Siberia, China, Korea and Japan. It has been introduced to Canada and the United States. The species is usually found in low vegetation and avoids woodland and closed canopy habitats, but is otherwise found in almost every habitat type. The female has a body length of about 6 to 8 millimetres (0.24 to 0.31 inches), and the male about 3 to 5 millimetres (0.12 to 0.20 inches), with coloration varying from light cream, dark brown to greyish. X. cristatus is an ambush hunter that spends much time sitting still with its forelegs spread wide, waiting for insects to blunder into them. During reproduction, the female builds a flat white ovisac containing developing eggs, usually fixed on plants. The female sits on it to protect it, until myriad little spiders are released. This female X. cristatus spider with its prey, a Carniolan honey bee, was photographed in Bled, Slovenia. The photograph was focus-stacked from seven separate images.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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