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Pound in 1918

Ezra Pound (1885–1972) was an American poet and critic, a major figure in the earlymodernist poetry movement, and aWorld War II collaborator inFascist Italy. His works includeRipostes (1912),Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920), and theepic poemThe Cantos (c. 1917–1962). Pound helped shape the work of contemporaries such as H.D.,Robert Frost,T. S. Eliot,Ernest Hemingway, andJames Joyce. He moved to Italy in 1924, where he embracedBenito Mussolini'sItalian fascism and supportedAdolf Hitler. DuringWorld War II, Pound recorded hundreds ofradio propaganda broadcasts attacking the United States, praisingthe Holocaust in Italy, and urging American soldiers to surrender. In 1945 Pound was captured and ruledmentally unfit to stand trial. While confined for over 12 years at a psychiatric hospital, hisThe Pisan Cantos (1948) was awarded theBollingen Prize for Poetry, causing great controversy. Released in 1958, he returned, unrepentant, to Italy, where he died in 1972. (Full article...)

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Bust of a Chinese Gentleman

... that abust of a Chinese gentleman(pictured) is not based on any actual subject?
... that a 15-secondcommercial for a streaming service has been blamed for causing arguments and domestic violence?
... thatDarko Pešić ran the 100-metre race at the 2024 Summer Olympics with a broken foot?
... that the chimney ina work by Herman Melville has been described as a "a bastion of phallic, assertive, and aggressive masculinity"?
... thatRobert Brodribb Hammond established the Sydney suburb ofHammondville to house families made homeless by the Great Depression?
... thatfake Buddhist monks scam tourists out of money to build non-existent temples?
... thatLou Romanoli ran a semi-pro baseball team whose attendances sometimes exceeded that of a nearbyMLB team?
... that an Antiguan man who escaped from custody in Canada is suspected of stealing a yacht and sailing it directly intoHurricane Larry?
... that junior archaeologists used to askJohn Papadimitriou to walk over their sites for good luck?

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Nicușor Dan

AuthorBanu Mushtaq and translatorDeepa Bhasthi win theInternational Booker Prize forHeart Lamp: Selected Stories.
Nicușor Dan(pictured)is elected aspresident of Romania.
Inthe Portuguese legislative election, theDemocratic Alliance wins the most seats inparliament.
Austria, represented byJJ with the song "Wasted Love", winsthe Eurovision Song Contest.
In the Philippines, theAlyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas wins the most seats inthe Senate election, whileLakas–CMD, one of its component parties, wins the most seats inthe House elections.

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On this day

May 23:Aromanian National Day

Louis of Nassau

1568 – TheDutch Revolt broke out when rebels led byLouis of Nassau(pictured) invadedFriesland at theBattle of Heiligerlee.
1873 – TheNorth-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over theNorthwest Territories.
1934 – Duringa strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company inToledo, a fight began between nearly 10,000 American strikers and sheriff's deputies, later involving theOhio National Guard.
1999 – Professional wrestlerOwen Hart died immediately beforea World Wrestling Federation match after dropping 70 feet (21 m) onto the ring during a botched entrance.

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Entrance sign toMojave National Preserve

There are 21protected areas of the United States designated asnational preserves. They were established by an act ofCongress to protect areas that have resources often associated withnational parks but where certainnatural resource-extractive activities such as hunting and mining may be permitted, provided their natural values are preserved. Eleven national preserves are co-managed with national parks ornational monuments; because hunting is forbidden in those units, preserves provide a similar level of protection from development but allow hunting and in some casesgrazing. National preserves are located in eleven states; Alaska is home to ten of them, including the largest,Noatak National Preserve. Their total area is 24,651,566 acres (99,761 km²), 86% of which is in Alaska. All national preserves exceptTallgrass Prairie permit hunting in accordance with local regulations. (Full list...)

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The Cocoanuts is a 1929pre-Code musical comedy film starring theMarx Brothers (Groucho,Harpo,Chico, andZeppo). Produced forParamount Pictures byWalter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also starsMary Eaton,Oscar Shaw,Margaret Dumont andKay Francis. The firstsound film to credit more than one director (Robert Florey andJoseph Santley), it was adapted to the screen byMorrie Ryskind fromthe musical play byGeorge S. Kaufman. Five of the film's tunes were composed byIrving Berlin, including "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton. Principal photography began on February 4, 1929, atParamount’s Astoria studio, and it premiered on May 23, 1929, at theRialto Theatre in New York.

Film credit:Robert Florey andJoseph Santley

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