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Surviving remains of the temple's podium in 1994

The Temple of Apollo Palatinus was a temple to the god Apollo in Rome, constructed on the Palatine Hill on the initiative of Augustus between 36 and 28 BCE. It was associated with Augustus's victories at the battles of Naulochus and Actium; the latter was extensively memorialised through its decoration. The temple represented the restoration of Rome's golden age and Augustus's devotion to religious and political duty. Its precinct was used for diplomatic functions and meetings of the Roman Senate. Augustan poets frequently praised the temple and its lavish artistic decoration and statuary. The temple was destroyed in a fire in 363 CE, which was rumoured to be an act of arson committed by Christians. The incomplete remains of the temple have been excavated and partially restored since the nineteenth century. Modern assessments of the temple have variously treated it as a Hellenising break with Roman tradition and as a conservative attempt to reassert the values of the Roman Republic. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Lány Castle

... that Lány Castle (pictured) is the summer residence of the president of the Czech Republic?
... that one of the founders of a public TV station in California gave 92 speeches in 90 days during a fundraising drive?
... that Isabella Correa was one of the few Jewish women poets active in the Netherlands before the 19th century?
... that in his Liber Gratissimus, Peter Damian argues that simony is a sin worse than adultery or murder?
... that Michael Collins has been called "one of the best clarinettists walking the planet" by The Times?
... that in Hyprov, off-Broadway audience members perform improv after undergoing stage hypnosis?
... that Swiss-born peace activist Henriette Ith chose to marry an anarchist to regain Swiss citizenship?
... that The Lit. Bar was funded to "Bring a Goddamn Bookstore to the Bronx"?

In the news

Expo City in Dubai

The COP28 climate change summit (location pictured) ends with a call to transition away from the use of fossil fuels.
Donald Tusk becomes Prime Minister of Poland in the aftermath of the October parliamentary election.
Baldur's Gate 3 wins game of the year at The Game Awards.
At least 17 people are killed as Cyclone Michaung makes landfall in India.
Former president of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is sentenced to prison on charges of corruption.

On this day

December 14: Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh (1971); Monkey Day

Japanese battlecruiser Haruna

1650 – English domestic servant Anne Greene survived being hanged for infanticide.
1836 – The Toledo War, a mostly bloodless territorial dispute between Ohio and the Michigan Territory, was unofficially ended with a resolution passed by the controversial "Frostbitten Convention".
1913 – Haruna (pictured), the fourth and last Japanese battlecruiser of the Kongō class, was launched and went on to serve in both world wars.
1918 – Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
2008 – During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. president George W. Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, yelling "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq".

John III of the Sedre (d. 648)
Al-Ashraf Khalil (d. 1293)
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
Helle Thorning-Schmidt (b. 1966)

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Today's featured picture

The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus. The name also applies to the plant itself. Raspberry plants are perennial with woody stems. It is an aggregate fruit, developing from the numerous distinct carpels of a single flower. Originally occurring in East Asia, the raspberry is now cultivated across northern Europe and North America and is eaten in a variety of ways including as a whole fruit and in preserves, cakes, ice cream and liqueurs. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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