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Today's featured article James Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his short story collection Dubliners, and for his novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Together with Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Richardson, he is credited with the development of the stream of consciousness technique in which the same weight is given to both the internal world of the mind and the external world of events and circumstances as factors shaping the actions and views of fictional characters. His fictional universe is firmly rooted in Dublin and reflects his family life and the events and friends and enemies from his school and college days. In this, he became both one of the most cosmopolitan and local of all the prominent English-language modernists. (Full article...) Recently featured: Metaphysics Stanley Green Nihilism (Alexander McQueen collection) Selected anniversaries February 2 Medieval artwork of Conrad II 1033 – An assembly at the Abbey of Payerne crowned Conrad II (pictured) king of Burgundy. 1725 – J. S. Bach led the first performance of his chorale cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, based on Luther's paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis. 1848 – Mexican–American War: During the American occupation of Mexico City, diplomats signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war and had Mexico cede 1.36 million square kilometres (530,000 sq mi) of territory and the United States pay US$15 million. 1913 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, the world's largest train station by number of platforms, opened immediately after midnight. 1972 – The Troubles: Protestors burned the British Embassy in Ireland following the massacre of 14 civilians in Derry by British forces. Eleanor of Navarre (b. 1426) Gertrude Blanch (b. 1897) Hannah Ryggen (d. 1970) Mary Docherty (d. 2000) More anniversaries: February 1 February 2 February 3

In the news Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed al-Sharaa (pictured) is appointed president of the Syrian transitional government. American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with an army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., United States, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft. In sumo, Hōshōryū Tomokatsu becomes the 74th yokozuna. In an ongoing campaign, the Rwandan-supported March 23 Movement captures Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ongoing: Russian invasion of Ukraine timeline Sudanese civil war timeline Recent deaths: Gaositwe Chiepe Norbert Horst Köhler Kazuyoshi Akiyama Leif "Loket" Olsson Salwan Momika Did you know... Rose barnacles in Royal National Park ... that the rose barnacle (examples pictured) eats only when the current is strong? ... that Doris Tulifau, after founding an online campaign to counter Samoan gender-based violence, moved to Samoa to expand the campaign in person? ... that the 2014 chariot racing video game Qvadriga was inspired by a 1979 board game? ... that singer Tomoko Aran became a city-pop icon decades after her initial music career? ... that the owner of a Montana TV station bought an American Legion hall, gutted by fire, to use as a studio building? ... that Ernesius, a 12th-century archbishop of Caesarea, was once prevented from crossing the sea by such a severe storm that he refused to make a second attempt? ... that Olde Raleigh Distillery is not located within its namesake city? ... that archaeologists found evidence at Taur Ikhbeineh in the Gaza Strip of interactions between Egyptians and Canaanites in the 4th millennium BC? ... that an emu named Emmanuel Todd Lopez was the target of a death hoax by undercover journalists? Today's featured picture Picture of the day The hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is a medium-sized wading bird. It is the only living species in the genus Scopus and the family Scopidae. Its closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill, in the order Pelecaniformes. The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this species its name after the Afrikaans word for hammerhead. It is a medium-sized waterbird with brown plumage. It is found in Africa and Arabia, living in a wide variety of wetlands, including estuaries, lakesides, fish ponds, riverbanks, and rocky coasts. This hamerkop was photographed at Lake Baringo in Kenya.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp