Luís Montenegro

• In Portugal, the Democratic Alliance (leader Luís Montenegro pictured) wins a narrow plurality of seats in the snap legislative election.
• At the Academy Awards, Oppenheimer wins seven awards, including Best Picture.
• Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama, author of Dragon Ball, dies at the age of 68.
• Sweden becomes the thirty-second member state of NATO.

March 15: Ides of March

Julius Caesar

• 44 BC – Julius Caesar (bust pictured), the dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus.
• 1823 – Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica.
• 1916 – Six days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. General John J. Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue Villa.
• 1917 – Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
• 1943 – The deportation of 50,000 Jews from the Greek city of Thessaloniki began.
• 1951 – The Iranian oil industry was nationalized in a movement led by Mohammad Mosaddegh.

Muqarnas vault at the Mosque of Ulmas al-Hajib

• ... that the Mosque of Ulmas al-Hajib has the first "flat" muqarnas vault (pictured) in Cairo?
• ... that the record label Tidy Trax released an album in 2023 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of Tony De Vit, the "godfather of UK hard house"?
• ... that the city of Tacoma, Washington, incentivized building Seattle–Tacoma International Airport at Bow Lake by contributing $100,000?
• ... that after dodging censorship for years, The Korea Daily News was finally bought out and turned into a publication of the Japanese colonial government in Korea?
• ... that the Buddhist-studies scholar Paula Arai suffered racial and sexual discrimination while researching Sōtō Zen laywomen and nuns?
• ... that Zwycięzcy oceanu, a Polish young-adult adventure book from 1890, features Polish, English, and American characters?
• ... that Charles Knight's wartime painting activities led to him being mistaken for a German spy?

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  Mars can be seen next to Earth.
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  At first I thought it was aurora borealis, but it's actually our Sun brimming with solar activity.
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  Mars moonbase movie-set for Phobos in upcoming Doom film. Gotcha! It's the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.
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  Hubble deep starfield 10,000 galaxies.
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  James Webb deep starfield.
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  Neptune wide field with galaxies.
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  Sombrero galaxy.
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  And here we always thought a black hole was an invisible orb floating in space that would vacuum us into another dimension or wormhole us to another galaxy. Thanks Hollywood...
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  Eye of God.
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  Infrared Eye of God.
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  Pillars of creation, but I like to call it the claw of destiny...
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  Flying Bat and Squid nebulae.
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  Click the image to enlarge, then use keyboard arrows to switch back and forth between this image and the next one to turn the lights "off and on". The resulting details and effect are amazing. You're welcome. Enjoy...
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  Still frame from upcoming Star Trek film depicting disruptor fire from Klingon warbird to Federation outpost. The bunker glows red-hot just before it explodes. Gotcha again! You're so gullible! It's actually lasers from Starfire Optical Range.
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  ISS as it appeared from Discovery (2005)
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  ISS as it appeared from Atlantis (2011)
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  Untethered EVA from Challenger using hand operated nitrogen jets.
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  Kittinger and Baumgartner's world record Space Jumps.
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  Crookes radiometer with vanes sealed in partial vacuum that react to a light source.
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  The filament (normally protected in a vacuum of inert gas) has been exposed to oxygenated air by a breach in the bulb allowing it to burn up when turned on.
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  The knight's chessboard tour
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  3 suns of Tatooine as seen in the new Star Wars TV series. Fooled ya again! Tatooine has only 2 suns. This is an atmospheric optical illusion.
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  Now I know why they call them "hooters". Look at that "owl face". lol
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  A predecessor from the late 40's to this popular photo style. Thanks copycats. Copy culture evolves...
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  This is here to remind me I found out art is more interesting than I thought when I happened to notice the author had painted her since early youth, and it was a somewhat common practice to do so. Seeing the development of these ladies portrayed by these artists reminds me of popular age progression videos. The evolution of copy culture is here...
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  Put Googly eyes on anything to make it come alive!
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  IDK why, but this reminds me of vampire flicks. Life imitates art, and copy culture is born...
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  The double-neck guitar been around much longer than we thought...
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  So, Kim Kardashian copied the 1800's? Thanks public domain. Copy culture evolves...
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  Titanic grand staircase.
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  But, that bulb horn and handbrake tho...
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  Outdoor street urinals (1865).
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  Legend has it a chess champion noticed the distraught mortal is only one move away from winning in spite of the smirky devil holding many more pieces.
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  Just because I'm a fan of anything related to Hannibal Lecter.
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  The file name translates to Swamp-Smiley in English.
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  Hand painting circa early 2000's on entrance to primitive communal public toilets. This basic penis shaped figure and many other overtly sexual female images were frequently depicted in this manner during the period. It was a barbaric and hedonistic age so it is believed the paintings may be representations or symbols of the many gods they worshipped which might have included phallic, and fertility god worship. It is also believed the privacy features built into the public lavatory may have been included so patrons could also use the time as a private place of reflection or prayer to these gods as they paid tribute to them with their devotional paintings in a sacred ritual known as the Bathroom Graffiti.((cetacean needed))

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