Main Page

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguishes his later work. In 1886 he moved to Paris where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As Van Gogh's work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and local landscapes. In the south of France in 1888, he turned to painting olive trees, cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers, using brighter colours. Selling only one painting during his lifetime, he was considered a madman and a failure, and committed suicide at 37. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as Fauvists and German Expressionists took up elements of his painting style. He has attained widespread critical and popular acclaim, and is remembered as an important but tragic painter. His works are among the world's most expensive paintings. (Full article...)

• ... that the first director of the Tokyo National Museum was the samurai Machida Hisanari (pictured)?
• ... that Kurile Lake is the site of the largest volcanic eruption of Holocene Kamchatka and one of the largest in the Holocene, spreading ash to a distance of 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi)?
• ... that pastry chef Carine Goren was the most googled person in Israel in 2015?
• ... that aluminium triacetate is used to treat aphthous ulcers and otitis, to relieve the itch from poison ivy, and as an astringent with Mortellaro disease in hoofed animals?
• ... that during her 1895 trial, Queen Liliuokalani was defended by her former attorney general and tried by a military tribunal led by another former attorney general?
• ... that the main hall of Shuri Castle was reused as the haiden of Okinawa Shrine before its destruction in the Battle of Okinawa?
• ... that Mary Barkas was the first female house physician at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London?
• ... that the Westboro Baptist Church called Houston's Montrose Center "an oozing, purulent sore of sodomite contagion?"

• Bill English (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• A bombing at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo, Egypt, kills at least 25 people and injures 49 others.
• A church collapses in Uyo, Nigeria, killing at least 23 people.
• Two explosions outside a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, kill 46 people and injure more than 150 others.
• A freight train derails, explodes and catches fire at Hitrino, Bulgaria, killing 7 people and injuring 29 others.

December 16: Mawlid begins at sunset (Shia Islam, 2016); National Day in Bahrain; Victory Day in Bangladesh and India (1971); Day of Reconciliation in South Africa

• 1761 – Seven Years' War: Russian forces captured Kolberg, Prussia's last port on the Baltic coast, after a four-month siege.
• 1811 – The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes struck the Midwestern United States and made the Mississippi River appear to run backward.
• 1893 – Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony (audio featured) premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• 1930 – Herman Lamm, "the father of modern bank robbery", killed himself during a botched robbery attempt in Clinton, Indiana, US, rather than be captured by police.
• 1938 – Adolf Hitler instituted the Cross of Honour of the German Mother as an order of merit for Imperial German women.
• 1986 – Dinmukhamed Konayev was dismissed from the post of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, sparking riots throughout the country.

The 2016 Tour de France featured 198 riders from 35 countries. The 21-stage race took place from 2 July to 24 July 2016, starting in Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy and finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. All eighteen Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTeams were automatically invited and were obliged to attend the race. In March 2016, four UCI Professional Continental teams were given wildcard places into the race by the organiser – Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) – to complete the 22-team peloton. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany all had ten or more riders competing in the race. The final stage in Paris was contested by 174 riders, with 24 of the riders failing to finish the race, a record low number of withdrawals. The race was won by Chris Froome (Team Sky) (pictured), the champion from the 2013 and 2015 Tours. Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) finished second, 4 minutes and 5 seconds behind Froome, with Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) third. Adam Yates (Orica–BikeExchange) won the competition for the best young rider. The points classification was won for the fifth consecutive year by Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), who also won the combativity award. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) of Poland won the mountains classification, while Movistar won the team classification. (Full list...)