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Pierre Boulez (26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer and conductor. He was one of the dominant figures of post-warcontemporary classical music. As a composer, he played a leading role in the development ofintegral serialism in the 1950s, and the electronic transformation of instrumental music in real time from the 1970s. Boulez conducted many of the world's great orchestras, including theVienna Philharmonic and theLondon Symphony Orchestra. In the 1970s, he was the music director of theNew York Philharmonic and the chief conductor of theBBC Symphony Orchestra. He was particularly known for his performances of 20th-century music, including Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Boulez's work in opera included theJahrhundertring, a production of Wagner'sRing cycle for the centenary of theBayreuth Festival. He also established several musical institutions, including theInstitut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique / Musique and theEnsemble intercontemporain. (Full article...)

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Decorative strap junction from the Melsonby Hoard

Archaeologists announce the discovery of theMelsonby Hoard, a collection ofIron Age artefacts(example pictured), in a field inNorth Yorkshire, England.
ZimbabweanKirsty Coventryis elected as the first female president of theInternational Olympic Committee and the first from an African country.
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Somali presidentHassan Sheikh Mohamud survivesan attack on his convoy byal-Shabaab that kills at least 10 people.

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On this day

March 26

Elbridge Gerry

1344 –Reconquista: The Muslim city ofAlgeciras surrendered aftera 21-month siege and was incorporated into theKingdom of Castile.
1651 – TheSpanish shipSan José ran aground onto coasts controlled by the indigenousCunco people, who subsequently killed the crew.
1697 – TheSafavid Empire begana four-year occupation of theOttoman city ofBasra on thePersian Gulf.
1812 – TheBoston Gazette printed a cartoon coining the term "gerrymander", named after GovernorElbridge Gerry(pictured), who approved the legislation that created oddly shaped electoral districts.
1939 –Nationalist forces begantheir final offensive of theSpanish Civil War, at the end of which they controlled almost the entire country.
1999 – A jury began deliberations in the trial ofJack Kevorkian, an American practitioner ofphysician-assisted suicide who was charged with murder in the death of aterminally ill patient.

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TheFrancis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26, 2024, at 1:28 a.m.Eastern Time, in theBaltimore metropolitan area in the U.S. state ofMaryland. The mainspans and the three nearest northeast approach spans of theFrancis Scott Key Bridge, spanning thePatapsco River, collapsed afterMV Dali, acontainer ship, struck one of the bridge'spiers. Six members of a maintenance crew working on the roadway were killed, and two more were rescued from the river. The collapse blocked most shipping to and from thePort of Baltimore for 11 weeks.Wes Moore, thegovernor of Maryland, called the event a "global crisis" that affected more than 8,000 jobs. The economic impact of the closure of the waterway was estimated at $15 million per day. This photograph, taken on the afternoon of March 26 by a member of theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers, shows the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, withDali'sbow damaged by and lying under a section of the bridge's collapsedtruss.

Photograph credit: David Adams

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