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13th-century Venetian galley

The Battle of Settepozzi was fought in 1263 off the Greek island of Spetses between a Genoese–Byzantine fleet and a Venetian fleet (Venetian galley pictured). Genoa had been engaged in the War of Saint Sabas against Venice since 1256, and had been allied with the Byzantines since the Treaty of Nymphaeum in 1261. In 1263, 48 Genoese ships, en route to the Byzantine stronghold of Monemvasia, encountered 32 Venetian ships. A Genoese chronicle states that only two of the four admirals of the Genoese fleet and 14 of its ships took part in the attack, and were easily routed by the Venetians, who captured four vessels, including both flagships, and inflicted considerable casualties. The Venetian victory, and the demonstration of Genoese reluctance to confront them, had important political repercussions, as the Byzantines began to distance themselves from their alliance with Genoa and restored their relations with Venice, signing a five-year non-aggression pact in 1268. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Altay railway station

... that until the opening of Altay railway station (pictured) in June 2017, no railway services were provided to Altay City, a tourist attraction with rich mineral resources?
... that Robert Ford Jr. wrote the first article about hip-hop in a major publication?
... that Adele's song "My Little Love" features voice notes of her nine-year-old son?
... that Dennis Law broke an "unwritten commandment" while returning a punt, causing him to get tackled in the end zone?
... that during a call that led to the creation of the Congressional Workers Union, one of the participants attended from a bathroom stall?
... that in the 1950s, 70 percent of senior officers in the People's Liberation Army came from the Eyuwan Soviet area?
... that according to legend, the Sacambaya River houses treasure hidden in a cavern by Jesuits?
... that a statue of Ernest Rutherford was snapped off by a thief and later found in an attic?

In the news

Hurricane Otis

Hurricane Otis (satellite image shown) makes landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, leaving at least 27 people dead.
In the United States, 18 people are killed in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.
The Sakharov Prize is awarded to Mahsa Amini and the Iranian Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
Daniel Noboa is elected President of Ecuador.

On this day

October 27

City Hall station in the 1900s

1904 – The first underground segment of the New York City Subway opened, connecting New York City Hall (station pictured) with Harlem.
1914 – World War I: The Royal Navy dreadnought HMS Audacious was sunk by a mine, but its loss was kept secret for four years.
1946 – Inter-religious riots in which Hindu mobs targeted Muslim families began in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in 2,000 to 30,000 deaths.
1967 – American Catholic priest Philip Berrigan led a protest against the Vietnam War by pouring blood over Selective Service records in Baltimore, Maryland.
1993 – Widerøe Flight 744 conducted a controlled flight into terrain on approach to Namsos Airport, Norway, killing two crew members and four passengers.

Abulfeda (d. 1331)
Robert Hubert (d. 1666)
William Gillies (b. 1868)
Judy LaMarsh (d. 1980)

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From today's featured list

Barry Bonds

The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters consider several offensive statistics, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, as well as their "general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". The award is a bat-shaped trophy, three feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver. Ten Silver Slugger Awards are given each year per league. One each goes to a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. Three outfielders receive the award, irrespective of their specific position. Home run record-holder Barry Bonds (pictured) won twelve Silver Slugger Awards, the most of any player. Mike Piazza and Alex Rodriguez are tied for second, with ten wins each. (This list is part of a featured topic: Silver Slugger Award.)

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Today's featured picture

Charon is the largest of the five known natural satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. It has a mean radius of 606 kilometres (377 mi), making it the sixth-largest known trans-Neptunian object after Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Gonggong. With half the radius and one-eighth the mass of Pluto, Charon is a very large moon in comparison to its parent body. Its gravitational influence is such that the barycenter of the Plutonian system lies outside Pluto, and the two bodies are tidally locked to each other. Charon was discovered in 1978 by James W. Christy at the United States Naval Observatory (USNO), using photographic plates taken at USNO Flagstaff Station in Arizona. This photograph of Charon in true color was taken by the NASA spacecraft New Horizons, which flew by the Plutonian system in 2015.

Photograph credit: NASA, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Southwest Research Institute and Alex Parker

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