The Colossus of Rhodes is a 1954 oil painting by the Spanish artist
Salvador Dalí (pictured). One of a series of seven paintings created
for the 1956 film Seven Wonders of the World, it shows the Colossus of
Rhodes, the ancient statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios.
Painted two decades after Dalí's heyday with the surrealist movement,
The Colossus of Rhodes is emblematic of his transition from the avant-
garde to the mainstream. After financial pressures imposed by his move
to the United States in 1940, and influenced by his fascination with
Hollywood, he shifted focus away from his earlier exploration of the
subconscious and perception, and towards historical and scientific
themes. His rendering of the Colossus is heavily influenced by a 1953
presentation by Herbert Maryon, a sculptor and conservator at the
British Museum. None of the commissioned paintings were ultimately used
for the film, and The Colossus of Rhodes was donated in 1981 to the
Kunstmuseum Bern.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colossus_of_Rhodes_%28Dal%C3%AD%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1872:
In the inaugural final of the FA Cup (trophy pictured), the
world's oldest association football competition, Wanderers defeated
Royal Engineers 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_FA_Cup_Final>
1918:
Finnish Civil War: The Whites won the Battle of Länkipohja,
after which they executed at least 70 Reds.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_L%C3%A4nkipohja>
1962:
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a charter flight carrying U.S.
and South Vietnamese soldiers, disappeared without a trace, prompting
one of the largest searches in the history of the Pacific.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tiger_Line_Flight_739>
2014:
Annexation of Crimea: The Autonomous Republic of Crimea held a
controversial referendum in which voters overwhelmingly chose to join
Russia as a federal subject.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
growl:
1. (intransitive) To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to
give forth an angry, grumbling sound.
2. (intransitive, jazz) Of a wind instrument: to produce a low-pitched
rumbling sound.
3. (intransitive, software) To send a user a message via the Growl
software library.
4. (transitive) To express (something) by growling.
5. (transitive, jazz) To play a wind instrument in a way that produces a
low-pitched rumbling sound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/growl>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is
here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that
the future of us all hangs in the balance.
--Mateusz Morawiecki
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mateusz_Morawiecki>
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