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Elvis Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. Often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", Presley began his career in 1954 and became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll in the late 1950s. Conscripted in 1958, he relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. In 1968, he returned to live performance in a television special that led to an extended Las Vegas residency and a string of tours. In 1973, he staged the first concert broadcast globally via satellite, seen by around 1.5 billion viewers. Prescription drug abuse severely affected his health, and he died suddenly in 1977. With wide success in many musical genres, Presley is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of popular music. He won three Grammys, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the age of 36. (Full article...)

Debra Toporowski

• ... that Debra Toporowski (pictured) served simultaneously on the Cowichan Tribes council, on the North Cowichan council, and as acting mayor, before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia?
• ... that a musical adaptation of Homer's Odyssey is structured after video-game level progression?
• ... that scholars have suggested that bædlings may have been a third gender in Anglo-Saxon society?
• ... that the FBI's first successful use of silver nitrate to identify fingerprints was in solving the kidnapping of a brewery executive?
• ... that one Tumblr user cursed another for stealing bones for use in curses?
• ... that in 1902 the paramedic student Anna Weisman smuggled fonts to help set up an underground revolutionary publishing house in Saratov?
• ... that debris was carried aloft to an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,100 m) after the 1957 Ruskin Heights tornado?
• ... that Johannes Kaiser was the leading opponent to Liechtenstein's accession to the International Monetary Fund?
• ... that the publication of Paul Creston's saxophone sonata was delayed by a "rat with a toothbrush mustache"?

Tibet earthquake aftermath

• A 7.1-magnitude earthquake (aftermath pictured) hits Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China, leaving at least 126 people dead.
• Justin Trudeau announces his intention to resign as prime minister of Canada.
• Luke Littler wins the PDC World Darts Championship.
• A spree shooter in Cetinje, Montenegro, kills 12 people and injures 4 others.
• Romania and Bulgaria become full members of the Schengen Area.

January 8

Blackstone Library

• 1697 – Scottish student Thomas Aikenhead became the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy.
• 1904 – Blackstone Library (pictured), the first branch of the Chicago Public Library system, was dedicated.
• 1977 – Three bombs attributed to Armenian nationalists exploded across Moscow, killing seven people and injuring 37 people.
• 1981 – In Trans-en-Provence, France, a local farmer reported a UFO sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
• 2011 – Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S. representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and injuring twelve others.

A lime is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, lime green in colour, 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles. There are several species of citrus trees whose fruits are called limes, including the Key lime, Persian lime, kaffir lime, finger lime, blood lime, and desert lime. Limes are a rich source of vitamin C, are sour, and are often used to accent the flavours of foods and beverages. They are grown year-round, originally in tropical South and Southeast Asia but now in much of the world. Plants with fruit called "limes" have diverse genetic origins; limes do not form a monophyletic group. This photograph shows two limes grown in Brazil, one whole and one halved, and was focus-stacked from 23 images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus Recently featured: Golden-fronted woodpecker Cathedral of La Laguna Holger Drachmann Archive More featured pictures

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