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Victory celebration with Mark Selby

The 2021 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 45th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre and was the 15th and final ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was organised by the World Snooker Tour, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred and broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport and Matchroom Sport. There were 128 participants in the qualifying rounds, consisting of a mix of professional and invited amateur players. The main stage of the tournament featured 32 players: the top 16 players from the snooker world rankings and an additional 16 players from the qualifying rounds. It featured a total prize fund of £2,395,000 of which the winner received £500,000. It was won by Mark Selby, who defeated Shaun Murphy 18–15 in the final. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Chinese Cultural Center before remodeling

... that Phoenix's Chinese Cultural Center (pictured) was remodeled into an ordinary office building despite the objections of preservationists and community groups?
... that John Spencer "exploded two myths" by winning the 1977 World Snooker Championship with a two-piece cue that he had only been using for a couple of months?
... that Mansiya V. P., an Indian classical dancer, has experimented with choreographing a fusion of classical Bharatnatyam and traditional Sufi music?
... that there are only around 30 southern corroboree frogs in the wild?
... that man camps can overwhelm local infrastructure, including emergency services, and contribute to an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in North America?
... that in 1776 Abraham Hunt entertained Hessian mercenaries with food and drink to render them incapable for duty the night before George Washington defeated them at Trenton?
... that visitors to Balmaclellan in Scotland can stay in a historic watermill that is "remarkable" for the preservation of its internal workings?
... that Japanese mixed martial artist Itsuki Hirata's nickname is "Android 18" due to being told she looks like the Dragon Ball character?

In the news

Dritan Abazović

Dritan Abazović (pictured) is elected as the new Prime Minister of Montenegro by the Parliament.
Twitter's board of directors accepts a takeover offer from Elon Musk.
The Freedom Movement, led by Robert Golob, wins the most seats in the Slovenian parliamentary election.
Emmanuel Macron is re-elected as President of France.

On this day

May 2: Eid al-Fitr (Islam, 2022); Flag Day in Poland

ARA General Belgrano

1670 – A royal charter granted the Hudson's Bay Company a monopoly in the fur trade in Rupert's Land (present-day Canada).
1878 – A dust explosion at the world's largest flour mill in Minneapolis resulted in 18 deaths.
1945 – World War II: General Helmuth Weidling, the German commander of Berlin, surrendered to Soviet forces led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, ending the Battle of Berlin.
1982 – Falklands War: HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano (pictured), the only ship ever to have been deliberately sunk by a nuclear submarine in battle.
2014 – Russo-Ukrainian War: Forty-eight people were killed during a confrontation between pro-Russian protesters and pro-Ukrainian unity protesters in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

Blanche of Artois (d. 1302)
Ichiyō Higuchi (b. 1872)
Dwayne Johnson (b. 1972)

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Steve Forbes

Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers are individuals who have been initiated into Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), a fraternity founded by five men – Joseph Lorenzo Settles, James Carson McNutt, Clarence Arthur Mayer, Owen Ison Truitt, and Charles Roy Atkinson – on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. Members traditionally initiate into a chapter during their collegiate career, although honorary members may not necessarily have attended a university or college. The list of Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers spans multiple careers including politics, business, athletics, and entertainment. Among the most recognized include U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was the recipient of the Order of the Golden Eagle, the fraternity's highest honor. Dozens of top CEOs and university presidents have also made the list such as Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, and Steve Forbes (pictured) of the magazine Forbes, who was the fraternity's 250,000th initiate. Many athletes and musicians are also members including NFL quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw, Phil Simms, and Aaron Rodgers, and singers Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and the Everly Brothers. (Full list...)

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A talismanic shirt is an item of clothing worn as a talisman. Talismanic shirts are found throughout the Islamic world, and can be grouped into four general types that differ in style and the symbols used: Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, and West African. Such shirts were believed to be capable of offering protection to the wearer, especially in battle. This 17th-century Turkish talismanic shirt is made of cotton and inscribed with Quranic verses, the names of Allah, Islamic prayers, and views of Mecca and Medina in ink and gold. The shirt forms part of the Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage.

Textile credit: unknown; photographed by the Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage

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