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Today's featured article Olivia Shakespear (1863–1938) was a British novelist, playwright, and patron of the arts. She wrote six books that are described as "marriage problem" novels. Her works sold poorly, sometimes only a few hundred copies. Her last novel, Uncle Hilary, is considered her best. She wrote two plays in collaboration with Florence Farr. In 1894 her literary interests led to a friendship with William Butler Yeats that became physically intimate in 1896. Following their consummation he declared that they "had many days of happiness" to come, but the affair ended in 1897. They nevertheless remained lifelong friends and corresponded frequently. Yeats went on to marry Georgie Hyde-Lees, Olivia's step-niece and her daughter Dorothy's best friend. Olivia began hosting a weekly salon frequented by Ezra Pound and other modernist writers and artists in 1909, and became influential in London literary society. Dorothy Shakespear married Pound in 1914, despite the less-than-enthusiastic blessing of her parents. After their marriage, Pound would use funds received from Olivia to support T. S. Eliot and James Joyce. When Dorothy gave birth to a son, Omar Pound, in France in 1926, Olivia assumed guardianship of the boy. He lived with Olivia until her death on 3 October 1938. (more...) Recently featured: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Belyayev circle – Rochester Castle – 1907 Tiflis bank robbery Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Marie Bankhead Owen (pictured) was the aunt of actress Tallulah Bankhead and helped create the Alabama state motto? ... that Holocaust denial and 9/11 conspiracy theories are part of what Damian Thompson describes in Counterknowledge as a "pandemic of credulous thinking"? ... that Indonesian songwriter Maia Estianty is descended from the National Hero Tjokroaminoto? ... that the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Georgetown is a former historic industrial building? ... that Ross Youngs is the member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who died at the youngest age? ... that the Keśin were long-haired ascetic wanderers with mystical powers described in the Rigveda? ... that Catholic priest Matija Škerbec was once imprisoned in Slovenia for his political activities and later became a central figure in Slovenian emigration to the United States?

In the news The U.S. Supreme Court (Chief Justice John Roberts pictured) upholds a majority of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a statute reforming health insurance in the country. Barclays is fined a total of £290 million for attempting to manipulate the Libor and the Euribor. The European Court of Justice rejects an appeal by Microsoft, confirming a fine of €860 million for the abuse of its dominant position in the market. American director, playwright and screenwriter Nora Ephron dies at the age of 71. The last known specimen of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies. On this day... June 29: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Christianity (Gregorian calendar) 1613 – The original Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground after a cannon employed for special effects misfired during a performance of William Shakespeare's Henry VIII and ignited the theatre's roof. 1659 – Russo-Polish War: The hetman of Ukraine Ivan Vyhovsky and his allies defeated the armies of Russian Tsardom led by Aleksey Trubetskoy at the Battle of Konotop in the present-day Sumy Oblast of Ukraine. 1864 – Canada's worst railway accident took place when a passenger train fell through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River near present-day Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. 1974 – Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (pictured) defected from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto. 2002 – North and South Korean patrol boats clashed along a disputed maritime boundary near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. More anniversaries: June 28 – June 29 – June 30 It is now June 29, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture Chips of cobalt, electrolytically refined, as well as a 1 cm3 cube for comparison. Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal that is found naturally only in chemically combined form. Cobalt-based blue pigments have been used since ancient times for jewelry and paints, as well as blue-colored glass. Photo: Alchemist-hp Recently featured: Male Superb Fairywren – Death of Joseph Smith – The Custer Fight by C. M. Russell

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