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From today's featured article

Circinus is a small, faint constellation in the southern sky, first defined in 1756 by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Its name is Latin for compass, a tool that draws circles. Its brightest star is the slightly variable Alpha Circini, the brightest rapidly oscillating Ap star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of 3.19. AX Circini is a Cepheid variable visible with the unaided eye, and BX Circini is a faint star thought to have been formed from two merged white dwarfs. The sun-like star HD 134060 has two small planets, and another, HD 129445, has a Jupiter-like planet. Supernova SN 185 appeared in Circinus in 185 AD and was recorded by Chinese observers. Two novae were observed in the 20th century. The Milky Way runs through the constellation, featuring prominent objects such as the open cluster NGC 5823 and the planetary nebula NGC 5315 (pictured). The Circinus Galaxy, discovered in 1977, is the closest Seyfert galaxy to the Milky Way. The Alpha Circinids meteor showers, discovered the same year, radiate from this constellation. (Full article...)

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Old Slaughter's Coffee House

... that Benjamin Franklin played chess at Old Slaughter's Coffee House (pictured)?
... that the U.S. was accused by President Maduro of provoking a covert coup against his government in Venezuela's state of emergency?
... that the Jordan Museum is the largest museum in Jordan, and hosts the country's most important archaeological finds?
... that white jute and Jew's mallow are used both for the production of fibre and for food?
... that Mexican actor Sebastián Aguirre won an Ariel Award for the role of a child sexually abused by a priest?
... that the 2001 Marlboro 500 saw a record-breaking 73 lead changes in a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race?
... that patent barley flour is used as an ingredient in infant foods?

In the news

Muhammad Ali

American heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (pictured) dies at the age of 74.
Severe flooding in Western and Central Europe causes at least 14 deaths.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in the world, opens in the Swiss Alps.
In the Philippine presidential election, Rodrigo Duterte of PDP–Laban is proclaimed as president.
Former Chadian military ruler Hissène Habré is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison by a court in Senegal.

Ongoing events:
- EgyptAir Flight 804
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On this day...

June 4: Day of National Unity in Hungary; Independence Day in Tonga (1970)

Emily Davison

1792 – Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest for Great Britain.
1913 – Emily Davison (pictured), an activist for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, was fatally injured when she was trampled by King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby.
1940 – Second World War: The remaining Allied forces protecting the Dunkirk evacuation surrendered, giving the Germans a tactical victory in the Battle of Dunkirk.
1996 – The maiden flight of the Ariane 5 failed, with the rocket self-destructing 37 seconds after launch because of a malfunction in the control software—one of the most expensive computer bugs in history.

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Today's featured picture

The Malaysian plover (Charadrius peronii) is a small wader that nests on beaches and salt flats in Southeast Asia. It is classified as near-threatened, a situation attributed to increased human use of important beach habitats.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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