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Gao Qifeng (1889–1933) was a Chinese painter who co-founded the Lingnan School. He spent much of his early life following his older brother Gao Jianfu, learning the techniques of Ju Lian before travelling to Tokyo in 1907 to study Western and Japanese painting. While abroad, Gao joined the revolutionary organization Tongmenghui to challenge the Qing dynasty; after he returned to China, he published the nationalist magazine The True Record. He moved to Guangzhou in 1918, taking teaching positions that culminated with an honorary professorship at Lingnan University in 1925. Falling ill in 1929, Gao left for Ersha Island, where he established the Tianfang Studio. He blended traditional Chinese approaches to painting with Japanese techniques for light and shadow and Western understandings of geometry and perspective. Gao is best recognized for his paintings of animals, particularly eagles, lions, and tigers. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Rudel dying in Hodierna's arms

... that according to legend, troubadour Jaufre Rudel fell in love with Countess Hodierna of Tripoli without ever having seen her, sailed to Tripoli to meet her, and promptly died in her arms (pictured)?
... that Marietta College's second radio station, airing classical and jazz music, freed up its original outlet for student programming?
... that the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Wet Hot American Bummer" quotes a bad review for a different episode of Legends of Tomorrow?
... that despite the song "French Letter" being banned in all French territories, members of the French Foreign Legion sang along to the song when the band Herbs performed it while playing in Tahiti?
... that English footballer Ian Wolstenholme once saved three penalty kicks in a 1966 match?
... that an apartment building that once housed North Korean soldiers, the American CIA, and United Nations troops is set to be demolished?
... that two poll workers for the 2024 United States elections were found dead on Election Day, having drowned in a major flash flood event?
... that a North Korean refugee became the "godfather of gangsta rap" by selling records at the Compton Swap Meet?
... that the "world's loneliest seabird" chose a concrete statue as his mate?

In the news

Brigitte Haas

The Patriotic Union, led by Brigitte Haas (pictured), wins the most seats in the Landtag of Liechtenstein.
In American football, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl.
Former president of Namibia Sam Nujoma dies at the age of 95.
A series of boycotts against retail stores expands to several countries in Southeast Europe.
The 49th imam of Nizari Isma'ilism, Aga Khan IV, dies at the age of 88 and is succeeded by his son Aga Khan V.

On this day

February 13

Coso artifact

1660 – The four-year-old Charles XI became King of Sweden upon his father's death.
1891 – Frances Coles was killed in the last of eleven unsolved murders of women that took place in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London.
1961 – Geode prospectors near Olancha, California, discovered what they claimed to be a 500,000-year-old rock with a 1920s-era spark plug encased within (pictured).
2017 – Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was assassinated using VX nerve agent in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Muhammad ibn Ra'iq (d. 942)
Isabella d'Este (d. 1539)
Dorothy Bliss (b. 1916)
Balu Mahendra (d. 2014)

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Today's featured picture

The Jadeite Cabbage, also known as Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, is a piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a head of Chinese cabbage, with a locust and a katydid camouflaged in the leaves. Created by an unknown sculptor in the 19th century, it was first displayed in the Forbidden City's Yonghe Palace, the residence of Consort Jin, who probably received it as part of her dowry for her wedding to the Guangxu Emperor in 1889. The Jadeite Cabbage is now part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. It has been called the museum's "most famous masterpiece" and, along with the Meat-Shaped Stone and the Mao Gong ding, is considered one of the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum.

Photograph credit: National Palace Museum

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