George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang,
encompassing Penang Island and surrounding islets. With a population of
794,313 as of the 2020 census, it is the core city of Malaysia's second-
largest metropolitan area, which has a population of 2.84 million.
George Town serves as the commercial centre for northern Malaysia. Its
technological sector, anchored by hundreds of multinational companies,
has made the city the top exporter in the country. It was the first
British settlement in Southeast Asia, and its proximity to maritime
routes along the Strait of Malacca attracted an influx of immigrants
from various parts of Asia. In 1974, the city was merged with the rest
of the island, throwing its administrative status into doubt until 2015,
when its jurisdiction was reinstated and expanded to cover the entire
island and adjacent islets. UNESCO designated the city centre of George
Town as a World Heritage Site in 2008.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Penang>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship
to English nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately
excluding Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toleration_Act_1688>
1963:
United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with
African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to
improve race relations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Kennedy_meeting>
2014:
A gunman involved in Islamic extremism opened fire at the
Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_of_Belgium_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
back-of-the-envelope:
(idiomatic, informal) Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other
reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/back-of-the-envelope>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We may try to see things as objectively as we please. None the
less, we can never see them with any eyes except our own.
--Benjamin N. Cardozo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_N._Cardozo>
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