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Meghan Trainor

"Mother" is a song by American singer-songwriterMeghan Trainor(pictured) from the deluxe edition of her fifth major-label studio album,Takin' It Back (2022). She wrote the song withSean Douglas, and its producers,Gian Stone, and her brother Justin.Epic Records released it as the lead single on March 27, 2023. Apop song withdoo-wop influences, "Mother"interpolates "Mr. Sandman". Inspired by men who said Trainor's pregnancy would end her career, the song is aboutwomen's empowerment; she asks the male subject to stopmansplaining and to listen to her. Critics were complimentary about the composition but criticized the use of the term "mother". The song reached the top 30 in Belgium, Ireland, Suriname, and the United Kingdom.Charm La'Donna directed the music video, which starsKris Jenner; critics praised the fashion choices and described it as glamorous. Trainor performed the song onToday,Capital's Summertime Ball, andthe Timeless Tour (2024).(This article is part of afeatured topic:Takin' It Back.)

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Statue of the Rani of Jhansi inSolapur

... that theRani of Jhansi(statue pictured) has been described as "the greatest heroine of Indian history"?
... that American-bornFreddie Lish called playing for theThai national basketball team, "my dream ever since I found out my mom was born in Thailand"?
... that Pakistani prime ministerMohammad Ali Bogra opposedthe 1955 election to protect his political position?
... that nine days after hisheart transplant,J. C. Walter Jr. merged his company Houston Oil & Minerals withTenneco, then retired to his ranch and shortly after founded Walter Oil & Gas?
... that during his final known voyage,Lope Martín overthrew two captains before being marooned onUjelang Atoll?
... thata Japanese governor wore a pregnancy simulation suit to encourage men to help out their wives at home?
... that theshooting of Eileen Quinn was referenced in the poetry ofW. B. Yeats?
... thatVictor L. King employed only black people fromthe South in 1917 at his new chemical plant in New Jersey to "prevent the entrance into the organization of any enemy aliens" duringWorld War I?
... thatCory Bookerdelivered the longest recorded individual speech inUnited States Senate history while protesting thesecond presidency of Donald Trump?

In the news

Robert Prevost

Robert Francis Prevost(pictured)is elected asPope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholicpope born in the United States.
Friedrich Merz is electedChancellor of Germany and sworn in alongsidehis coalition government.
Zhao Xintong defeatsMark Williams to winthe World Snooker Championship.
In horse racing,Sovereignty, ridden byJunior Alvarado, winsthe Kentucky Derby.
TheAustralian Labor Party increases its majority inthe federal election.

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On this day

May 11

HMSBeagle

868 – A copy of theDiamond Sutra was printed inTang-dynasty China, making it the world's oldest dated printed book.
1820 –HMSBeagle(pictured), the ship that would takeCharles Darwin on his voyage, was launched.
1889 –Bandits attacked a U.S. Army paymaster's escort in theArizona Territory, stealing more than $28,000.
1970 –Lubbock, Texas,was struck by a tornado that left 26 people dead.
2010 –Gordon Brown resigned asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom andLeader of the Labour Party afterfailing to strike a coalition agreement with theLiberal Democrats.
2022 –Myanmar civil war: Government troopskilled 37 unarmed civilians inMondaingbin.

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Ottmar Mergenthaler (11 May 1854 – 28 October 1899) was the inventor of thelinotype machine, the first device that could easily and quickly set complete lines oftype for use inprinting presses. Mergenthaler was born into a German family inHachtel in theKingdom of Württemberg. He was apprenticed to awatchmaker inBietigheim before emigrating to the United States in 1872 to work inWashington, D.C., with his cousin August Hahl. In 1876, Mergenthaler was approached byJames O. Clephane and his associate Charles T. Moore, who sought a quicker way of publishinglegal briefs. By 1884, he conceived the idea of assembling metallic letter molds, called matrices, andcasting molten metal into them, all within a single machine. In July 1886, theMergenthaler Linotype Company installed the first commercially used Linotype in the printing office of theNew-York Tribune. This photograph shows Mergenthaler at approximately 45 years of age in 1899; he died that year inBaltimore oftuberculosis.

Photograph credit: unknown; restored byAdam Cuerden

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