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1830 depiction of Zhao Chongguo

Zhao Chongguo (137 BCE – 52 BCE) was a Chinese military commander and official during the Western Han dynasty. Emperor Wu, impressed by Zhao's military service, promoted him, and he served as chief of staff for the supreme head of cavalry units. In 74 BCE, Zhao collaborated with the political leader Huo Guang to depose the newly enthroned emperor Liu He in favor of Emperor Xuan. For this, he was appointed Marquis of Yingping and promoted to general of the rear. He volunteered to lead a campaign against the Qiang people in 62 BCE. Joined by his son, he persuaded the Qiang to defect to the Han cause. Zhao rejected proposals by his fellow generals and the Emperor to continue offensive operations, believing that a protracted occupation would subdue the Qiang through attrition. He was able to implement a policy of tuntian (farming garrisons) in spite of imperial opposition. This gained him acclaim and influenced later tacticians. He retired in 60 BCE after his son caused a scandal. (Full article...)

Zhou Bingde with her uncle Zhou Enlai, Premier of China

• ... that Zhou Bingde, despite being the niece of the premier of China (both pictured), refused to use her family status for protection during the Cultural Revolution?
• ... that the video game Danan: The Jungle Fighter allows the player to summon either an armadillo, an eagle, or a chimpanzee for help?
• ... that, when the dying Patriarch Stephen was asked by his king how he was, he replied: "Sire, I am faring as you desire"?
• ... that actor Paul Nicholls made a surprise return on EastEnders after a 27-year absence?
• ... that it took more than two decades to complete the decorations to the Boston Central Library after it opened to the public?
• ... that Nina Negri was one of only two people to exhibit engravings at the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme?
• ... that the name of Diaphoretickes, a group containing a huge diversity of organisms including plants and kelps, is derived from a Greek word meaning diverse?
• ... that Kathleen Romoli became an anthropologist after witnessing the exploitation of natural resources while promoting a mining company?
• ... that a reviewer found the children's novel The Cat Mummy "really quite disturbing"?

Miguel Uribe Turbay

• The United Nations–backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirms a famine in the Gaza Governorate, Palestine.
• A multi-vehicle collision involving a bus carrying migrants deported from Iran kills at least 79 people in Herat Province, Afghanistan.
• Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay (pictured), a pre-candidate in the 2026 presidential election, dies two months after being shot.
• Azerbaijan and Armenia sign a declaration to formalize a future peace treaty to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

August 26: Heroes' Day in Namibia; Women's Equality Day in the United States

Eruption of Krakatoa

• 1346 – Hundred Years' War: At the Battle of Crécy, English forces established the military supremacy of English longbows over the French combination of crossbows and armoured knights.
• 1883 – A massive eruption (pictured) destroyed the island of Krakatoa, Indonesia, ejecting so much volcanic ash that average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) over the next year.
• 1955 – Pather Panchali, the first film in The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, was released and went on to win many Indian and international film awards.
• 1970 – Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women organized the Women's Strike for Equality in New York City, in which 50,000 women protested the continuing lack of gender equality.
• 2015 – Two American journalists were murdered on live television while conducting an interview in Moneta, Virginia.