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Fluorine is an extremely reactive chemical element with atomic number 9. At standard conditions, pure fluorine is a toxic pale yellow diatomic gas. Fluorite, the element's primary mineral source, was first described in 1529, and fluorine was proposed as an element in 1810. As the lightest halogen and most electronegative reactive element, it is difficult to separate from its compounds, and several early experimenters died or were injured in the attempt. French chemist Henri Moissan finally succeeded in 1886 using low-temperature electrolysis, a process still used today. Global fluorochemical sales amount to more than US$15 billion a year, including in toothpaste and water fluoridation, refrigerants, Teflon for electrical insulation and cookware, pharmaceuticals, aluminium refining and steelmaking. Fluorocarbon gases are generally greenhouse gases. Fluorine has no known metabolic role in mammals, but a few plants and sea sponges synthesize poisonous fluorocarbons to deter predators. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Māori warrior on the New Zealand shilling

... that the Māori warrior on the New Zealand shilling (pictured) was actually depicted wearing a dance uniform?
... that with Gogoliad, Dmitri Shostakovich ended his film career with Grigori Kozintsev, the same director with whom he started?
... that during the Mongol campaigns in Siberia, the Mongols defeated rival tribes at the Battle of Irtysh River?
... that in 2014, BBC Three cancelled a debate on being gay and Muslim featuring Asifa Lahore, a Muslim drag queen, citing security concerns at the mosque where it was filmed?
... that "Thy Strong Word" replaced an anti–Mexican–American War hymn in the Episcopal Church?
... that despite Daniel Lopatin's electronic album Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 having a limited 2010 release on cassette tapes, it became a foundational album for the vaporwave genre?
... that Shanthi Kalathil believes Radio Free Asia "filled a critical role in combating Chinese disinformation"?
... that a pornographic screenplay about Jesus led to papal and royal condemnations, a firebombing, the writer's ban from the UK, and thousands of letters per week demanding the ban of a non-existent gay Jesus film?

In the news

Ram Mandir

The Ram Mandir (pictured) is consecrated at Ram Janmabhoomi, a disputed site in Ayodhya, India.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's lunar module SLIM lands on the Moon.
Iran launches missile strikes in Pakistan and aerial strikes in Iraq and Syria, and Pakistan responds with retaliatory airstrikes.
Azali Assoumani is re-elected President of the Comoros.
Bernardo Arévalo is inaugurated as President of Guatemala after multiple attempts to obstruct the event.

On this day

January 24: Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities (1859)

Henry VIII

914 – The Fatimid Caliphate began their first invasion of Egypt, against the Abbasids, which eventually ended in failure.
1536 – King Henry VIII of England (pictured) suffered a serious accident while jousting, receiving injuries which may have caused his later obesity and erratic personality.
1848 – James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, leading to the California gold rush.
1972 – Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was found in the jungles of Guam, where he had been hiding since the end of World War II.
1977 – During the Spanish transition to democracy, neo-fascists attacked an office in Madrid, killing five people and injuring four others.

Pope Stephen IV (d. 817)
Charles James Fox (b. 1749)
Luis Suárez (b. 1987)
Rosemary Bryant Mariner (d. 2019)

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Today's featured picture

The Mac (known as the Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The product lineup includes the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and the iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro desktops. Macs are sold with the macOS operating system, previously known as OS X. The Macintosh project was conceived by Jef Raskin in 1979 and then redefined in 1981 by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the first model being introduced in 1984 through an advertisement played during Super Bowl XVIII. The product evolved with the introduction of color in 1987 with the Macintosh II, and a new processor line in the Power Macintosh in 1994. Through most of the 1990s, the Mac was not fully competitive with commodity IBM PC compatibles. Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 and subsequently returned the Mac to the mainstream with the launch of the iMac series OS X. Many users, especially professionals, felt that the Mac was neglected during the 2010s under CEO Tim Cook, but a new line of Macs with the Apple silicon chipset has received more positive reviews. This photograph shows Jobs with the first Mac, at the time of its launch on January 24, 1984. The image on the computer screen is a digitized version of A Woman Combing Her Hair, a print by the Japanese artist Goyō Hashiguchi.

Photograph credit: Bernard Gotfryd; edited by W.carter and Janke

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