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. (Full article...)
... that Axel Downard-Wilke(pictured) led a campaign in 2020 to have macrons used in Māori place names in Wikipedia articles?
... that although the icosian game was advertised as a "highly amusing game for the drawing room", it was too easy to play and not a commercial success?
... that the architects of the Eldridge Street Synagogue were Catholics who had never designed a synagogue before?
... that Theo Benedet is the first offensive lineman to be named the best Canadian university football lineman two years in a row?
... that the historic mansion Bulgur Palas in Istanbul hosted a birdhouse for hundreds of domestic canaries in one room during its ownership by the Ottoman Bank?
Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth's extensive body of work includes the Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra, and the Mass in D. Her opera The Wreckers is considered by some critics to be the "most important English opera composed during the period between Purcell and Britten". This photograph of Smyth was taken in 1922.
Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
