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Statue of a nymph and satyr once held in the Secretum

The Secretum was a British Museum collection of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that held artefacts and images deemed sexually graphic. Many of the items were from pre-Christian traditions and covered wide ranges of human history and geography. Many of the early artefacts with erotic or sexually graphic images acquired by the museum were not put on public display. Modern scholars believe this segregation was probably motivated by a paternalistic stance from the museum to keep what they considered morally dangerous material away from the public. By the 1860s there were around 700 such items held by the museum. In 1865 the antiquarian George Witt donated his phallocentric collection of 434 artefacts to the museum, which led to the formal setting up of the Secretum. Beginning in 1912 items were gradually transferred from the Secretum into departments appropriate for their time frame and culture. The last remaining items were moved out of the collection in 2005. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Lion sculpture by Anders Årfelt

... that after some of Anders Årfelt's lion sculptures (example pictured) were struck during the 2017 Stockholm truck attack, the city ordered new versions weighing 3 tonnes?
... that pastry chef and television judge Benoit Blin cut off the tips of his fingers in a kitchen accident during his service in the French Navy?
... that the Netflix-released film A House in Jerusalem is inspired by the history of the director's Palestinian family, who were expelled in 1948 from what had become Israel during the Nakba?
... that former Commonwealth Games diver Nicky Cooney became a police officer?
... that in 1917 British soldiers in France opened fire on mutineers from the Egyptian Labour Corps, killing at least 27 of them?
... that Maryvonne Le Dizès commissioned a trio for saxophone, trombone and violin during her time as a violinist with the Ensemble intercontemporain?
... that Patrick Tse's performance in the film Time won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor at the age of 85, making him the award's oldest recipient?
... that Elham Mahamid Ruzin, a blind Muslim Arab, won a silver medal for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics?
... that attractions at the 1939 World's Fair included a roller coaster, a ski slope, and scantily clad women?

In the news

Iranian missiles being intercepted

Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Israel invades Lebanon, and Iran launches missiles (pictured) against Israel.
Flooding in Nepal leaves more than 200 people dead, including 37 in the nation's capital, Kathmandu.
In Australian rules football, the Brisbane Lions defeat the Sydney Swans to win the AFL Grand Final.
Hurricane Helene leaves more than 100 people dead across the southeastern United States.
British actress Maggie Smith dies at the age of 89.

On this day

October 3

Battle of the Narrow Seas

1392 – Muhammad VII became the twelfth sultan of the Emirate of Granada.
1602 – Anglo-Spanish War: An English fleet intercepted and attacked six Spanish ships at the Battle of the Narrow Seas (pictured).
1849 – American author Edgar Allan Poe was found semi-conscious and delirious in Baltimore under mysterious circumstances; it was the last time he was seen in public before his death four days later.
1952 – The United Kingdom successfully conducted its first nuclear test, becoming the world's third state with nuclear weapons.
1991 – Nadine Gordimer became the first South African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Ermengarde of Hesbaye (d. 818)
Louise Lehzen (b. 1784)
George Ripley (b. 1802)
Fakih Usman (d. 1968)

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Today's featured picture

Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist. He developed important concepts and proved mathematical theorems in fields as diverse as calculus, number theory and topology. Euler introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion of a mathematical function. He is also renowned for his work in mechanics, optics and astronomy. Euler is considered to be the preeminent mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest of all time. He was prolific; if printed, his works would occupy between 60 and 80 quarto volumes. Euler was featured on the sixth series of the Swiss ten-franc banknote and on numerous Swiss, German and Russian stamps. The asteroid 2002 Euler was named in his honor. This portrait of Euler was created by the Swiss painter Jakob Emanuel Handmann in 1753 and is now in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Basel.

Painting credit: Jakob Emanuel Handmann; restored by Bammesk

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