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Unauthorized postal cover carried on Apollo 15

TheApollo 15 postal covers incident involved the crew ofNASA'sApollo 15, who in 1971 carried about 400 unauthorizedpostal covers(example pictured) to the Moon's surface. American astronautsDavid Scott,Alfred Worden andJames Irwin agreed to receive about $7,000 each for transporting the covers, which were inside theLunar ModuleFalcon as Scott and Irwin walked on the Moon. The covers were postmarked both prior to liftoff fromKennedy Space Center and after splashdown. Though the astronauts returned the money, they were reprimanded by NASA for poor judgment and were called before a closed session of aSenate committee. They were removed as the backup crew forApollo 17 and never flew in space again; by 1977, all had left NASA. In 1983, Worden sued for the return of covers that had been impounded by NASA in 1972, and the three men received them in an out-of-court settlement. One of the covers provided in 1971 to West Germanstamp dealer Hermann Sieger sold for over $50,000 in 2014. (Full article...)

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Schafer at the74th Berlin International Film Festival

... that aged 17,Hunter Schafer(pictured) was a plaintiff in a successful lawsuit against an act preventing trans people from using the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity?
... that players on theLaos national baseball team helped construct the country's first baseball stadium in 2019?
... that accountantDan Busby studied with a minor-leagueumpire in hopes of becoming one himself?
... thatQuizKnock created puzzle games for theImperial Palace East Garden?
... that while filming a music video for herdebut album at a motel,Underscores had the police called on her by the motel staff because they thought she was shooting a pornographic film?
... that the family drama filmLittle Red Sweet revolves aroundred bean soup, asred beans symbolize "longing for family" in Chinese culture?
... that the author ofIf It's You, I Might Try Falling in Love made the main characters unfamiliar with each other so that she could draw all sorts of scenarios between them?
... that singer-songwriterSZA wore ahijab as a child, but stopped wearing it due toIslamophobia after9/11?
... that in an effort toreclaim "the most offensive word in the English language" as aspirational, some people describe being "powerful in an unapologetic and feminine manner" as "serving cunt"?

In the news

Riek Machar and Angelina Teny

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake leaves more than 2,900 people dead in Myanmar and Thailand.
TheSudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition unilaterally voids the2018 peace agreement afterthe arrest of South Sudanese vice presidentRiek Machar and his wife, interior ministerAngelina Teny(both pictured).
TheSudanese Armed Forcesrecapture Khartoum from theRapid Support Forces after almost two years of fighting.
Nationwide protests are held throughout Indonesia following the enactment oflegislation increasing military involvement in civilian government roles.

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On this day

March 31:Cesar Chavez Day in various U.S. states (1927);International Transgender Day of Visibility

Woodcut picture of Matthew C. Perry

1854 –U.S. Navy CommodoreMatthew C. Perry(Japanese depiction pictured) and theTokugawa shogunate signed theConvention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
1959 – After atwo-week escape journey from Tibet, the14th Dalai Lama reached theTawang Monastery inArunachal Pradesh in India.
1964 – TheBrazilian Armed Forcesoverthrew PresidentJoão Goulart, establishinga military dictatorship that lasted 21 years.
2004 – TheOld National Library Building in Singapore was closed to make way fora tunnel, despite widespread protests.

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Typhoon Hagibis

There were 49 tropical cyclones in the2019 Pacific typhoon season, the annual cycle oftropical cyclone formation over the western North Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The first cyclone of the season,Tropical Storm Pabuk, developed in late December 2018; the final cyclone,Typhoon Phanfone, dissipated on December 29, 2019. Of the 49 tropical depressions that formed during the season, 29 developed intonamed tropical storms, 20 became severe tropical storms and 17 becametyphoons. Additionally, five typhoons becamesuper typhoons – an unofficial rank given by the United StatesJoint Typhoon Warning Center to storms with one-minutemaximum sustained winds of at least 240 km/h (150 mph). Activity in the 2019 season was greater than normal, primarily due to highsea surface temperatures. The most destructive system wasTyphoon Hagibis(pictured), which inflicted damage to Japan that amounted to¥1.88 trillion (US$17.3 billion) and killed 118 people. (Full list...)

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TheArtScience Museum is a building within the integrated resort ofMarina Bay Sands in theDowntown Core of Singapore. Opened in 2011, it features exhibitions in art, science, culture and technology. The museum was designed byMoshe Safdie and features an exterior made offibre-reinforced plastic supported internally by a steel lattice. It is anchored by a round base in the middle, with ten extensions referred to as "fingers" in the shape of a flower. This photograph shows the ArtScience Museum with other buildings of Singapore's Central Business District in the background.

Photograph credit:Basile Morin

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