Paul Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) was until 2011 a regular member of the England Test cricket team. He is a batting all-rounder, and a medium-pace bowler. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes series was the first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years. Three consecutive match-winning performances at the end of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval in the British media, helping to secure the trophy for England. In 2010 he led the England team to their first International Cricket Council trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20. He has made the most One Day International (ODI) appearances for England and was, until recently passed by Ian Bell, the leading ODI run scorer. He announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the 5th Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-time Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3–1 win. He is regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time. (Full article...)

• Recently featured:
  • Operation Copperhead
  • "Push the Button" (Sugababes song)
  • Spanish conquest of Petén

George O'Mullane

• ... that during the early years of Australian rules football, only Tom Wills was said to be able to match the "pluck and skill" of George O'Mullane (pictured) as a player?
• ... that NASCAR drivers Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Brad Keselowski were hired to assist in developing the video game NASCAR Heat Evolution?
• ... that the song "Ständchen" (Serenade), by Richard Strauss, begins with an appeal to creep out quietly and ends with a climax of expecting a rose to glow from the rapture of the night?
• ... that Sigismund Ernuszt, Bishop of Pécs, was accused of embezzlement in 1496, and murdered for his wealth in 1505?
• ... that Seema Malaka, a 19th-century Buddhist temple in Colombo constructed on platforms in a lake, slowly sank into the water but was reconstructed in 1979?
• ... that Ben Affleck won the Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Director for Argo, but did not receive an Academy Award nomination, though the film won the Oscar for Best Picture?
• ... that widgiemoolthalite, which is composed in part of nickel, was first described by a man named Nickel?

Binali Yıldırım

• Binali Yıldırım (pictured) is appointed Prime Minister of Turkey following the resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu.
• In the Tajikistani constitutional referendum, voters approve the removal of term limits of incumbent President Emomali Rahmon.
• Independent Green Alexander Van der Bellen is narrowly elected President of Austria.
• Cyclone Roanu kills at least 90 people and leaves more than 130 missing across Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
• Austrian Federal Railways CEO Christian Kern succeeds Werner Faymann as Chancellor of Austria.

• Ongoing events:
  • EgyptAir Flight 804
• Recent deaths:
  • Burt Kwouk
  • Akhtar Mansour
  • Morley Safer

May 26: Corpus Christi (various Western Christian churches, 2016); Lag BaOmer (Judaism, 2016); National Sorry Day in Australia; Independence Day in Georgia (1918)

Vauxhall Bridge, London

• 451 – Armenian rebels were defeated by forces of the Sassanid Empire on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan, but the loss played a major factor in their being granted religious freedom 33 years later.
• 1637 – Pequot War: An allied Puritan and Mohegan force attacked a fortified Pequot village in the Connecticut Colony, killing 500 people.
• 1822 – The deadliest fire in Norwegian history took place at a church in Grue, Norway, with at least 113 deaths.
• 1906 – Vauxhall Bridge (pictured) in London opened, crossing the River Thames between Vauxhall and Westminster.
• 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 experienced an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment of an engine and broke apart in mid-air, killing all 223 people on board.

• More anniversaries:
  • May 25
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