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March 21, 2011 (Monday)

Today's featured article
Painting of a princess, most likely Pari Khan Khanum Pari Khan Khanum (1548–1578) was a Safavid princess, the daughter of the second Safavid shah, Tahmasp I, and of his Circassian consort, Sultan-Agha Khanum. Pari Khan played a central role in the succession crisis after her father's death in 1576. She thwarted the plans of her brother Haydar Mirza and enthroned her favoured brother, Ismail Mirza, as Ismail II. Instead of gratitude, she received restrictions and house arrest, and may have been behind his death in 1577. She endorsed her brother Mohammad Khodabanda, who was almost blind, expecting to rule behind the scenes, but his wife, Khayr al-Nisa Begum, emerged as a rival and procured her killing. Regarded as the most powerful woman in Safavid history, Pari Khan was able to dominate the ineffective Safavid court in a society that imposed harsh restrictions on high-class women. Praised by her contemporaries for her intelligence, in later chronicles she was portrayed as a villain who murdered two brothers and tried to usurp the throne. (Full article...) Recently featured: Orphic Hymns HMS Neptune (1909) Nominative determinism Archive By email More featured articles About
Did you know...
Terrorism Confinement Center, El Salvador ... that the Terrorism Confinement Center (pictured) in El Salvador has a capacity of 40,000 inmates? ... that operatic tenor Vladyslav Gorai was a Merited Artist of Ukraine who died while on a volunteer mission during the Russo-Ukrainian War? ... that although abortion in Tunisia has been available for free at government clinics since 1965, it is estimated that most abortions take place at private facilities? ... that the Town Walls of Index, Washington, have 402 climbing routes? ... that Jonas I Losovičius's relocation of the main residence of the bishops of Lutsk would last for three centuries? ... that a Serbian columbine species might be luring some animals with mixtures of molecular compounds? ... that after playing in the NFL, Eddie Garcia became a salesman who "could sell ice to a penguin"? ... that a scene of a man eating a crab in the music video for "Dungka!" symbolised a crab mentality among Filipinos? ... that Giulio Basetti-Sani began as a missionary believing Muhammad to be a "prophet of Satan" and ended believing that the Quran was a prophecy of Christ? Archive Start a new article Nominate an article

In the news
Trifid and Lagoon nebulae The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope. In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals. An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people. The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final. Ongoing: Gaza war Iran–Israel war Russian invasion of Ukraine timeline Sudanese civil war timeline Recent deaths: Takahiro Shiraishi Shefali Jariwala Clark Olofsson Gérard Lefranc Takutai Tarsh Kemp Arnaldo Pomodoro Nominate an article
On this day...
June 30 1598 – Anglo-Spanish War: After a 15-day siege Spanish troops in San Juan, modern-day Puerto-Rico, surrendered to an English force under Sir George Clifford. 1905 – Nadir of American race relations: A mob of white Americans killed eight people in Oconee County, Georgia, as part of a mass lynching. 1960 – The Belgian Congo gained independence from colonial rule, beginning a period of instability that would lead to the dictatorship of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. 1963 – The coronation of Pope Paul VI took place, the last such ceremony before its abandonment by later popes. 2015 – An Indonesian Air Force military transport aircraft (pictured) crashed near a residential neighborhood in Medan, killing 139 people. William Oughtred (d. 1660) Toyohara Kunichika (b. 1835) Cody Rhodes (b. 1985) Chris Gragg (b. 1990) More anniversaries: June 29 June 30 July 1 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Today's featured picture

Boyd's forest dragon (Lophosaurus boydii) is a species of arboreal lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is native to rainforests and their margins in the Wet Tropics region of northern Queensland, Australia. It spends the majority of its time perched on the trunks of trees, usually at around head height. It is a sit-and-wait predator, catching prey that it spies from its perch. Its diet consists primarily of invertebrates, with earthworms making up a relatively high proportion. Small fruits and vertebrates are also occasionally consumed. This Boyd's forest dragon was photographed in Daintree National Park.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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