Sappho (standing) as imagined by Lawrence Alma-Tadema in 1881

Anactoria is a woman mentioned in the work of the ancient Greek poet Sappho (pictured), who wrote in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE. Sappho names Anactoria as the object of her desire in a poem numbered as fragment 16. Another of her poems, fragment 31, is traditionally called the "Ode to Anactoria", although no name appears in it. As portrayed by Sappho, Anactoria is likely to have been an aristocratic follower of hers, of marriageable age. The English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne's "Anactoria" was published in 1866 and is written from the point of view of Sappho, who expresses her lust for Anactoria in a long, sexually explicit monologue written in rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter. Swinburne's poem created a sensation by openly approaching then-taboo topics such as lesbianism and dystheism. Anactoria later featured in an 1896 play by H. V. Sutherland and in the 1961 poetic series "Three Letters to Anaktoria" by Robert Lowell. (Full article...)

Megaliths at the Pengkalan Kempas Historical Complex

• ... that attempts to draw tourism to the town of Pengkalan Kempas include the promotion of an ancient megalith site (pictured)?
• ... that eight Delta Air Lines executives were killed in the 1947 Columbus mid-air collision, including the airline's vice president of operations?
• ... that the South Indian restaurant New Krishna Bhavan served 600 litres (160 US gal) of sambar every day?
• ... that a historical society celebrated the 50th anniversary of its acquisition of Armstrong House by hosting a murder mystery?
• ... that there are more than 100 accepted species of columbines, but Aquilegia kubanica was identified as one of only four to live in the Caucasus?
• ... that Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain was developed during a week-long game jam?
• ... that although nine alibi witnesses placed Temujin Kensu more than 400 miles from a shooting in Port Huron, Michigan, in November 1986, he was convicted of murder and has been in prison ever since?
• ... that Luis Sera was designed to resemble Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings?
• ... that Magnus Gens was given ten trillion Zimbabwean dollars for developing a crash test dummy moose?

Friedrich Merz

• In the German federal election, the CDU/CSU, led by Friedrich Merz (pictured), wins the most seats in the Bundestag.
• Archaeologists announce that the empty tomb Wadi C-4 near Luxor, Egypt, was that of the pharaoh Thutmose II.
• At the British Academy Film Awards, Conclave wins four awards, including Best Film.
• Mahamoud Ali Youssouf is elected chairman of the African Union Commission.
• President of Romania Klaus Iohannis resigns from office, and is succeeded by Ilie Bolojan in an acting capacity.