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TheMerchant's House Museum is ahistoric house museum at 29 EastFourth Street in theNoHo neighborhood ofManhattan in New York City. The four-story edifice, built by thehatter Joseph Brewster between 1831 and 1832 as aspeculative development, was sold in 1835 to the merchant Seabury Tredwell. It was the Tredwell family's residence for almost a century, with the structure remaining in the family until the death of the youngest child in 1933. A distant relative purchased the building and in 1936 transformed it into a museum. It is the only 19th-century residence in Manhattan with its original exterior and interior intact. The museum's collection has more than 4,500 items owned by the Tredwell family, including pieces of furniture, clothing, household items, and personal items. The building's facade and interior areNew York City designated landmarks, and the building is aNational Historic Landmark. (Full article...)

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I. B. Donalson

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José Mujica

Formerpresident of UruguayJosé Mujica(pictured) dies at theage of 89.
Robert Francis Prevostis 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.

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On this day

May 15:Feast day ofSaint Carthage (Catholicism);Nakba Day inPalestinian communities;Peace Officers Memorial Day in the United States

Statue of Valentinian II

392 – Roman emperorValentinian II(pictured) was found hanged in his residence inVienne, in present-day France.
1725 –Bach led the first performance of his cantataIch bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as theGood Shepherd.
1855 –Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London toFolkestone, England.
1864 –American Civil War: A smallConfederate force, which included cadets from theVirginia Military Institute,forced theUnion army out of theShenandoah Valley.
1916 –Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched inWaco, Texas.

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Kiwifruit is the edibleberry of several species of woodyvines in the genusActinidia. The most commoncultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var.deliciosa 'Hayward') is oval, 5–8 centimetres (2–3 inches) in length and 4.5–5.5 cm (1+3⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) in diameter. Kiwifruit has a thin, fuzzy, fibrous, tart but edible, light brown skin and light green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. Kiwifruit is native to central and eastern China, with the first recorded description dating back to the 12th century during theSong dynasty. In 2023, world kiwifruit production was 4.4 million tonnes, led by China with 55% of the total. Thisfocus-stacked photograph shows the cross-section of a kiwifruit grown in Portugal.

Photograph credit:Ivar Leidus

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