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Alexis Soyer (1810–1858) was a French chef, writer and inventor, who made his reputation in Victorian England. He worked in the kitchens of royalty, the aristocracy and the landed gentry until 1837. He was then appointed head chef of the Reform Club, where he designed the kitchens on radical modern lines and became celebrated for the range and excellence of his cooking. Soyer became a well-known author of cookery books, aimed variously at the grand kitchens of the aristocracy, at middle-class households and at the poorest families, whose diet he strove to improve. He published recipes for inexpensive and nutritious food and took a keen interest in public health. During the Irish potato famine he set up a soup kitchen in Dublin. During the Crimean War Soyer travelled to the front and worked with Florence Nightingale to improve conditions for the troops. He invented the portable Soyer stove which remained in army use for more than a century. In 1858 he died of a stroke. (Full article...)

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Diseño del Rancho de los Palos Verdes

... that grantees of ranchos of Los Angeles County submitted hand-drawn maps known as diseños (example pictured) when making their land claims to the U.S. government?
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... that Tim Allen debuted in the 1988 film Tropical Snow?
... that Cathy Whims has opened several restaurants in Portland, Oregon, including the Nostrana, which has been described as "Portland's capital of the Negroni"?
... that at Capa House, photographer Robert Capa captured The Picture of the Last Man to Die, of American soldier Raymond J. Bowman?
... that Michalis Rakintzis said that he "came close to throwing down [his] microphone and walking off the stage" during his performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002?
... that in her first year with San Diego State, basketball player Tina Hutchinson set NCAA freshman scoring records and led the Aztecs to their first NCAA tournament?
... that most figures in 16th-century etchings by Jean Mignon have open mouths?

In the news

King Charles III and Queen Camilla

King Charles III and Queen Camilla (both pictured) are crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.
In horse racing, Mage wins the Kentucky Derby.
The World Health Organization ends its designation of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency.
Seventeen people are killed in two separate shootings in Belgrade, Serbia, at an elementary school and nearby.
At least 60 people are killed in violence between ethnic groups in Manipur, India.

On this day

May 10

One World Trade Center

28 BC – Chinese astronomers during the Han dynasty made the first precisely dated observation of a sunspot.
1833 – Siamese–Vietnamese wars: Lê Văn Khôi escaped from prison to begin a revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng, primarily to avenge his adoptive father, Vietnamese general Lê Văn Duyệt.
1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five companions arrived at South Georgia, completing a 1,300 km (800 mi) lifeboat voyage over 16 days to obtain rescue for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
1940 – World War II: German forces commenced their invasion of Belgium.
2013 – One World Trade Center in New York City, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, was topped out at a height of 1,776 feet (541 m).

Leonhart Fuchs (d. 1566)
Karl Barth (b. 1886)
Arthur Kopit (b. 1937)

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Today's featured picture

The Palácio Rio Negro is a palace in Petrópolis in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One of the official residences of the president of Brazil, it is used mainly as a country retreat. The palace was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Jannuzzi in 1889 and built in the same year as a summer residence for Manuel Gomes de Carvalho, Baron of Rio Negro. He moved to Paris in 1894, leaving the building empty, and in February 1896 the palace and adjacent buildings were sold to the state of Rio de Janeiro to serve as the official residence of the state governor. It was then acquired by the federal government of Brazil in 1903, becoming the official presidential summer residence. This photograph depicts the façade of the Palácio Rio Negro in 2015.

Photograph credit: Wilfredor

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