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John Oliver, comedian

Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption was a legally recognized church in the United States established by the comedian and satirist John Oliver (pictured). Announced on August 16, 2015, in an episode of the television program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the church's purpose was to highlight and criticize televangelists, such as Kenneth Copeland and Robert Tilton, who Oliver argued used television broadcasts of Christian church services for private gain. Oliver also established Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption to draw attention to the tax-exempt status given to churches. During his show on September 13, 2015, Oliver announced that the church had received "thousands of dollars" and a variety of other items from viewers, and stated that the Church would be shutting down. All monetary donations were given to Doctors Without Borders. Oliver set up spinoffs of the Church in 2018 and 2021. The segments and later spinoff segments featured the comedian Rachel Dratch as Oliver's fictional wife, Wanda Jo. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Fredy Clue wearing Bäckadräkten

... that Bäckadräkten (pictured) is Sweden's first unisex folk costume?
... that several ambiguously gendered figurines from pre-Columbian Ecuador can be analyzed through the lens of transgender archaeology?
... that despite the titular character of the game Cat Bird being a hybrid of a cat and a bird, critics thought the character looked more like a bat?
... that the first words in English that National Football League player Bayron Matos knew were "I'm hungry"?
... that the 1748 chapbook A Spy on Mother Midnight is studied for its sex scenes with cross-dressing and a dildo?
... that Asha Sobhana is the first Indian player to take a five-wicket haul in the Women's Premier League?
... that the posthumously released documentary Clean centered on the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a former sex worker, drag queen, and crime scene cleaner?
... that the last twenty residents of the only Shilshole village on Salmon Bay in Seattle were evicted in 1914 to allow the creation of the Ballard Locks?
... that the Darwin Rocksitters Club had "no funny business" as their first, third, and fifth rules?

In the news

Michel Patrick Boisvert

Acting prime minister of Haiti Ariel Henry resigns, and is replaced by Michel Patrick Boisvert (pictured) while the Transitional Presidential Council is sworn in.
Following the Solomon Islands general election, Jeremiah Manele becomes the prime minister.
NASA announces that the Voyager 1 space probe is sending readable data for the first time in five months.
The HDZ-led coalition wins the most seats in the Croatian parliamentary election but falls short of a majority.
Ichthyotitan, the largest known marine reptile, is formally described.

On this day

May 3: World Press Freedom Day; Constitution Memorial Day in Japan (1947); Constitution Day in Poland (1791)

Benty Grange helmet

1481 – The largest of a series of earthquakes struck the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.
1848 – The Benty Grange helmet (pictured), a boar-crested Anglo-Saxon helmet similar to those mentioned in the contemporary epic poem Beowulf, was discovered in Derbyshire, England.
1939 – Subhas Chandra Bose formed the All India Forward Bloc, a faction within the Indian National Congress, in opposition to Gandhi's tactics of nonviolence.
1999 – A Doppler on Wheels team measured the fastest winds recorded on Earth, at 301 ± 20 mph (484 ± 32 km/h), in a tornado near Bridge Creek, Oklahoma.

Elizabeth Bacon (d. 1621)
Jacob Riis (b. 1849)
Bob McCallister (b. 1934)
Ron Hextall (b. 1964)

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Alan Brooke, the first commanding officer of the Mobile Division

The British 1st Armoured Division had eight permanent commanders, or general officer commanding (GOC). The 1st Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army. It was formed in 1937 and disbanded in 1945. The division was commanded by a GOC, who received orders from a level above him in the chain of command, and then used the forces within the division to undertake the mission assigned. In addition to directing the tactical battle in which the division was involved, the GOC oversaw a staff and the administrative, logistical, medical, training, and discipline concerns of the division. On 24 November 1937, after several years of debate on such a formation, the division was founded as the Mobile Division. It was then renamed, in April 1939, as the 1st Armoured Division. Following the start of the Second World War, subordinate units and formations were withdrawn from the division to reinforce others. It was eventually deployed for combat, in May 1940. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The great blue turaco (Corythaeola cristata) is a bird species in the turaco family, Musophagidae, which is widespread throughout the African tropical rainforest. It has a typical length of around 75 cm (30 in) with a mass of around 1 kg (2 lb). The adult great blue turaco has predominantly gray-blue upperparts with an upright blue-black crest. Its bill is yellow and the two sexes have similar plumage. This great blue turaco was photographed in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Photograph credit: Giles Laurent

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