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On this day in 2023

On this day in 2022

• EVENTS
• Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass is the first woman elected mayor of the city of Los Angeles, defeating Rick Caruso.
• DEATHS
• Gerhard Rodax, Austrian soccer striker (20 caps; FF Admira Wacker, Atlético Madrid, SK Rapid Wien), who died at 57.
• Isabel Salgado, Volleyball Player.
• Robert Clary, TV Actor.
• MOVIES: NOT RATED
• Poker Face is released. A yearly high-stakes poker game between childhood friends turns into chaos when the tech billionaire host (Russell Crowe) unveils an elaborate scheme to seek revenge for the ways they've betrayed him over the years. But as his plans unfold, a group of thieves hatch plans of their own breaking into the mansion thinking it is empty. The old friends quickly band together and the years of playing the game help them win their way through a night of terror.
• Memories of My Father is released. Taking place in the polarized and violent Medellín (Colombia’s “City of Eternal Spring”) of the 1970s, the story tells of the life of prominent doctor and human rights activist Héctor Abad Gómez (Javier Cámara), a father who is concerned about both his children and children from less favored classes. After a devastating loss in the family, Héctor gives himself to the greater cause of public health programs for the poor in Medellín to the consternation of the city’s authorities.
• Master of Light is released. George Anthony Morton, a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison travels to his hometown to paint his family members. Going back forces George to face his past in his quest to rewrite the script of his life.

On this day in 2021

• EVENTS
• Guanyu Zhou confirmed as China's first F1 driver, racing for Alfa Romeo in 2022.
• Frida Kahlo's self-portrait "Diego y yo" (1949) sells for $34.9m - record price at for a Latin American work at auction.
• Astronauts on board the International Space Station forced to take shelter as Russian weapons test creates 1,500 debris field.
• DEATHS
• Kamil Durczok, Journalist.
• GAMING: PC
• Far Cry 6 - Vaas: Insanity for PC is released. In Vaas: Insanity, players become the Far Cry 3 villain portrayed by Michael Mando (Better Call Saul). Mando came back for the DLC, which offers an experience inspired by roguelites. Starting with nothing more than a pistol to defend themselves, players will need to find new weapons and unlock power-ups to become stronger and progress deeper into the depths of Vaas' psyche. Blending intense action and storytelling, Vaas: Insanity will provide a unique opportunity to better understand Vaas' past, personal demons, and motivations.
• Hammerting for PC is released. Manage a Dwarven mining colony in the unexplored mountains of Mara. As a war rages in the Overworld, you will need to craft, explore and fight as you provide your allies with the finest weapons and gear to assist in the war against evil.
• GAMING: PLAYSTATION 4
• Marsupilami: Hoobadventure for PlayStation 4 is released. Punch, Twister and Hope are three Marsupilamis living a peaceful life in Palombia. Their lives are about to take a drastic turn when they accidentally open a sarcophagus whilst playing with debris on a beach, releasing a mysterious ghost cursing all the animals! Thankfully, our three Marsupilamis are immune to the curse and decide to set out on an adventure and find the ghost and reverse the curse. Inspired by the comic book Marsupilami from Franquin, this 2.5D platformer will take you on a colorful journey through the Palombian jungle, a coastal city and even an abandoned temple. Jump, punch, dash and swing with your tail like only Marsupilamis do. While mainly targeting a younger audience, the most dedicated gamers would be delighted to learn a Time Attack mode will challenge them to finish each level as fast as they can. And for the completionist, a beautiful artwork gallery will be unlocked after collecting hidden feathers and visiting secret dojos.
• Ruined King: A League of Legends Story for PlayStation 4 is released. Rise Against Ruin. Unite a party of League of Legends Champions, explore Bilgewater and set sail for the Shadow Isles to uncover the secrets of the deadly Black Mist. Developed by Airship Syndicate and featuring the art style of legendary comic book artist Joe Madureira, creators of Battle Chasers and Darksiders, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is the first Riot Forge game that invites you to explore the League of Legends universe. In this immersive turn-based RPG, you will have the freedom to configure your party and control an unlikely group of League of Legends champions, explore the bustling city of Bilgewater and the mysterious Shadow Isles, and experience the Lane Initiative System.
• GAMING: PLAYSTATION 5
• Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One for PlayStation 5 is released. In this story-driven detective thriller, a young Sherlock Holmes struggles to prove himself as he navigates an exotic, dangerous island in the Mediterranean to investigate the mystery of his mother’s death.
• GAMING: SWITCH
• The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf for Switch is released. Go on an adventure to save your forest!Gargamel, the evil sorcerer just created the EVILEAF, a plant that has the ability to attract and capture the Smurfs... but it's also TOXIC!Embody 4 iconic Smurfs and heal the plants on your way to Gargamel's hovel: the whole forest depends on you!
• Grow: Song of the Evertree for Switch is released. Grow your own worlds and nurture a deep natural connection with everything they hold. See your actions change the world for better! Bring the Evertree back to life in this breathtaking world-crafting sandbox, with life management and adventure elements.
• Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story for Switch is released. Bomb to the beat, groove to the mayhem. In this fast-paced rhythm runner, every action has an explosive reaction and no amount of mayhem is too much. Take on the role of yordle and Hexplosives expert Ziggs as you rampage through the neighborhoods of Piltover. Bomb, bounce, and bop to the beat of the music to avoid obstacles, disarm enemies, and light fuses to achieve maximum chaos. Cause musical mayhem while outrunning no-fun-allowed Heimerdinger in your quest to build the greatest bomb the world has ever seen!Use the Freestyle Mayhem System to create spontaneous blasts and grab bonus points… all while dodging the fun police and showing them what they’re really missing.Leave no fuse unlit in Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story.

On this day in 2020

• EVENTS
• Hurricane Iota makes landfall in Nicaragua as a category four storm, just 15 km south of Hurricane Eta 13 days ago.
• US drugmaker Moderna says its COVID-19 pandemic vaccine is 94.5% effective in early data.
• DEATHS
• Antonis Georgiadis, Greek soccer manager (Greece, South Africa; AEK Athens, Olympiacos), who died at 87.
• MOVIES: NOT RATED
• 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez is released. Part investigative documentary, part real-life gangster movie,69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez unpacks the life of polarizing rap sensation and internet troll Tekashi69. One of the most controversial figures in contemporary pop culture,69 repeatedly broke the internet with his sensationalist music videos and social media beefs before infamously testifying against Brooklyn gang the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods in a landmark trial. [Hulu]
• POLITICS
• Peru's Congress votes in its third interim President in a week, Francisco Sagasti after violent protests.

On this day in 2019

• EVENTS
• Samoa declares state of emergency over measles epidemic closing all schools after six deaths.
• Britain's Prince Andrew refutes claims he had sex with 17 year-old connected to sex offender and friend Jeffery Epstein in BBC interview.
• 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana, Cuba.
• DEATHS
• Terry O'Neill, British fashion and celebrity photographer, who died of prostate cancer at 81.
• POLITICS
• Sri Lankan Presidential election, won by former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

On this day in 2018

• EVENTS
• The kilogram is refined by abstract constants replacing the Le Grand K, along with the ampere (electrical current) and kelvin (temperature) at a conference in Paris.
• CIA concludes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Elevator falls down 84 floors when hoist rope breaks, all six people survive unharmed at John Hancock Center, Chicago.
• DEATHS
• William Goldman, American screenwriter and author (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), who died at 87.
• MOVIES: NOT RATED
• Anchor and Hope is released. In their mid-30s, Eva (Oona Chaplin) and Kat (Natalia Tena) have a fun and carefree simple life in their London canal boat until Eva, inspired by her exceptional mother Germaine (Geraldine Chaplin), presents Kat with an ultimatum: she wants a child. Kat resists, knowing that it will end the bohemian lifestyle that she’s always envisioned with Eva. When Kat’s best friend, Roger (David Verdaguer), drops in from Barcelona, the three of them toy around with the idea of creating a baby together. Kat sees no other way out but to say yes. As the three begin to look forward as one family, their differing expectations of intimacy and responsibility put a heavy strain on their relationship and threatens to rip the three apart. [Wolfe Releasing]
• Of Fathers and Sons is released. After his Sundance award-winning documentary Return to Homs, Talal Derki returned to his homeland where he gained the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years. His camera focuses primarily on the children, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up with a father whose only dream is to establish an Islamic caliphate. Osama (13) and his brother Ayman (12) both love and admire their father and obey his words, but while Osama seems content to follow the path of Jihad, Ayman wants to go back to school. [Kino Lorber]
• Mobile Homes is released. A young mother drifts from one motel to the next with her boyfriend and her 8-year-old son. The makeshift family scrapes by, living one hustle at a time, until the discovery of a mobile home community offers an alternative life.
• Jinn is released. Summer is a 17-year old carefree black girl, whose world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular meteorologist named Jade Jennings, abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person, prompting Summer to reevaluate her identity.
• Jonathan is released. Jonathan (Ansel Elgort) lives a mundane life. He goes to work. He eats alone. He plays video games, and he swaps video messages daily with John, with whom he shares a modest apartment. The lives of the two are entwined, though not quite in the way it might initially seem. So when John breaks one of the ironclad rules that govern their ordered lives, their structured existence, their increasingly suspicious doctor, and their own individual autonomy threaten to collide. [Tribeca Film Festival]
• MOVIES: NR
• The Clovehitch Killer is released. Tyler Burnside (Charlie Plummer) is a Boy Scout, a volunteer at his local church, and the dutiful son of an upstanding, community leader dad (Dylan McDermott). Only one thing troubles the quiet Kentucky town he lives in: the unsolved murders—in which ten women were brutally tortured and killed by a psychopath known as Clovehitch—that rocked the community more than a decade ago. When Tyler discovers a cache of disturbing images in his father’s possession, he begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be Clovehitch—and that his deadly rampage may not be over. [IFC Midnight]
• MOVIES: PG13
• Instant Family is released. When Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of foster care adoption. They hope to take in one small child but when they meet three siblings, including a rebellious 15 year old girl (Isabela Moner), they find themselves speeding from zero to three kids overnight. Now, Pete and Ellie must hilariously try to learn the ropes of instant parenthood in the hopes of becoming a family. [Paramount Pictures]
• At Eternity's Gate is released. At Eternity’s Gate is a journey inside the world and mind of a person who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world’s most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh’s (Willem Dafoe) letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented. [CBS Films]
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is released. At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
• Green Book is released. When Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South, they must rely on The Green Book to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger-as well as unexpected humanity and humor-they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime. [Universal Pictures]
• MOVIES: R
• Widows is released. Widows is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica (Viola Davis), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo) take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.
• Under The Wire is released. On 13 February 2012, two journalists entered war-ravaged Syria. One of them was celebrated Sunday Times war correspondent, Marie Colvin. The other was photographer, Paul Conroy. Their aim was to cover the plight of Syrian civilians trapped in Homs, a city under siege and relentless military attack from the Syrian army. Only one of them returned. This is their story. [Abramorama]
• MOVIES: TVMA
• Cam is released. Alice, an ambitious camgirl, wakes up one day to discover she’s been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. As this copy begins to push the boundaries of Alice's internet identity, the control that Alice has over her life, and the men in it, vanishes. While she struggles to regain what she's lost, she slowly finds herself drawn back to her show and to the mysterious person who has taken her place. [Netflix]
• TV SERIES
• The Kominsky Method: Season 1 is released. Actor-turned-acting coach Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas) and his agent/friend Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin) deal with ageing and living in Los Angeles in the Chuck Lorre comedy.
• ALBUMS
• The Lillywhite Sessions was released by Ryley Walker. The latest release for the Chicago singer-songwriter is a cover album of the Dave Matthews Band's unreleased (but bootlegged and some rerecorded for Busted Stuff) Lillywhite Sessions.
• Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1: No Past. No Future. No Sun was released by Smashing Pumpkins. Produced by Rick Rubin, the 10th full-length release for the alternative rock band sees the return of original members Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha, joining remaining members Billy Corgan and Jeff Schroeder.
• Caution was released by Mariah Carey. The 15th full-length studio release for the pop singer features guest appearances from Blood Orange, Gunna, Slick Rick, and Ty Dolla Sign.
• Faithful Fairy Harmony was released by Josephine Foster. The latest release for the Colorado-based singer-songwriter features contributions from Jon Estes, Victor Herrero, Chris Scruggs, Gyða Valtýsdóttir, as well as members of The Cherry Blossoms.
• Delta was released by Mumford & Sons. The fourth full-length studio release for the British folk rock band was produced by Paul Epworth.
• Love the Holidays was released by Old 97's. The holiday album from the alt-country band features nine original songs and five yuletide classics.
• Mogic was released by Hen Ogledd. The third full-length release for the British band that includes Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell and Sally Pinklington.
• Oxnard was released by Anderson.Paak. The third full-length studio release for the Southern California artist features guest appearances from Kadhja Bonet, BJ The Chicago Kid, J. Cole, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Norelle, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Cocoa Sarai, Snoop Dogg, and The Last Artful, Dodgr.
• Merrie Land was released by The Good, the Bad & the Queen. The second full-length release for the supergroup that includes Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen was influenced by the Brexit vote.
• GAMING: PC
• Among Us for PC is released. An online and local party game of teamwork and betrayal for 4-10 players...in space!
• GAMING: SWITCH
• Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! for Switch is released. Catch Pokémon Like Never Before. The Poké Ball Plus is a Poké Ball-shaped device that can be used to play Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! in place of your Joy-Con. You'll be able to throw Poké Balls in-game with a flick of your wrist! In addition to motion controls, the device lights up with a variety of colors, vibrates, and plays sounds. With the Poké Ball Plus, you can also take one of your favorite Pokémon from these games for a stroll as you go about your daily life in the real world. The Poké Ball Plus even works as a Pokémon GO Plus when playing Pokémon GO.Pikachu or Eevee:Which Will You Choose?Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! bring the experience of a classic Pokémon RPG to Nintendo Switch with gameplay that is easily approachable for newcomers to the series, but is also deep enough to keep veteran Trainers on their toes.The games also have two-player simultaneous play, so you can take the journey with a friend! And there's a deep connection between Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! and Pokémon GO, so fans of the hit mobile game will find even more to enjoy.
• Sid Meier's Civilization VI for Switch is released. Civilization VI offers new ways to interact with your world, expand your empire across the map, advance your culture, and compete against historys greatest leaders to build a civilization that will stand the test of time. Play as one of 24 different leaders from various countries around the world and throughout history. Build an empire of lucrative trade routes with Cleopatra of Egypt, flex the military might of your legions with Trajan of Rome, or develop a powerhouse of culture with Hojo Tokimune of Japan. Each of the leaders can be played any way you prefer, with unique abilities, units, and infrastructure in their quest for victory.

On this day in 2017

• EVENTS
• US senator Al Franken accused of groping and forcibly kissing a woman.
• Cambodian court rules to dissolve the country's main opposition party Cambodia National Rescue party (CNRP).
• 19 countries pledge to phase out coal at UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany.
• WEDDINGS
• Tennis champion Serena Williams marries Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in New Orleans.
• DEATHS
• Alan West, Race Car Driver.
• Ferdie Pacheco, American boxer and physician (the "Fight Doctor"), who died at 89.
• GAMING: PC
• Tower 57 for PC is released. Tower 57 is a fast-paced neo-retro shooter where cooperation is as important as your ammo capacity. As a member of an extraordinary task force fight your way through a dieselpunk megatower and uncover its hidden secrets.
• GAMING: PLAYSTATION 4
• Ashes Cricket for PlayStation 4 is released. Ashes Cricket is the officially licensed video game of cricket's greatest rivalry. Bringing all the fast-paced action, big hits and skill that you see in the greatest cricket competition on earth, in both a more realistic and authentic way than ever before, you'll be able to bathe your team in glory in the men's and women's 2017/2018 Ashes tours. Courtesy of Big Ant's unique photogrammetry technology, Ashes Cricket presents official photorealistic likenesses for all of the Australian and English men's and women's teams -- it will make you feel like you're right there at the live game. Star Test players have been fully motion-captured and you can choose your own batting or bowling style to make your game your own. Big Ant's most detailed and refined cricket engine to date allows for true 360-degree batting. No two players will play the game the same way!

On this day in 2016

• DEATHS
• Alex Stewart, Boxer.
• Jay Forrester, American engineer, invented random-access magnetic core memory, who died at 98.
• MOVIES: NOT RATED
• Notes on Blindness is released. In the summer of 1983, just days before the birth of his first son, writer and theologian John Hull went blind. In order to make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audiocassette. Upon their publication in 1990, Oliver Sacks described the work as 'the most extraordinary, precise, deep and beautiful account of blindness I have ever read. It is to my mind a masterpiece.' With exclusive access to these original recordings, Notes on Blindness encompasses dreams, memory and imaginative life, excavating the interior world of blindness.
• Hunter Gatherer is released. After a 3-year stint in prison, an unreasonably optimistic middle-aged man returns to his stagnant neighborhood to win back his girlfriend only to find that she and his family have done what they always wanted to do - forget he exists.
• GAMING: PC
• RollerCoaster Tycoon World for PC is released. RCTW includes new innovations including an intuitive 3D track builder, deformable terrain, realistic coaster physics, and the ability to share your park creations. Players can also team-up with friends from around the globe to form a theme park company and compete with others worldwide. Experience the ride of your life as you customize incredible coasters, entertain your park guests, create stomach-churning corkscrews and become the world’s next RollerCoaster Tycoon.
• GAMING: PLAYSTATION 4
• Killing Floor 2 for PlayStation 4 is released. In KILLING FLOOR 2 players descend into continental Europe where the outbreak caused by Horzine Biotech’s failed experiment has quickly spread and gained unstoppable momentum, essentially paralyzing the European Union— Just one month after the events in the original KILLING FLOOR, the specimen clones are everywhere and civilization is in disarray; communications have failed, governments have collapsed, and military forces have been systematically eradicated. The people of Europe know survival and self-preservation too well and lucky survivors have gone into hiding.
• POLITICS
• Melvin Laird, politician (Rep-R-Mich), US Secretary of Defense (1969-73), who died at 94.

On this day in 2015

• EVENTS
• Largest diamond discovered in more than a century, a 1,111 carat stone found in the Karowe mine, Botswana.
• DEATHS
• Bert Olmstead, Canadian Hockey HOF left wing (Stanley Cup, Montreal Canadiens 1953,56,57,58; Toronto Maple Leafs 1962), who died from stroke complications at 89.
• David Canary, American actor (Bonanza, All My Children), who died at 77.
• Stephen Birmingham, American author (Real Lace: America's Irish Rich, who died at 86.
• GAMING: XBOX ONE
• Knight Squad for Xbox One is released. Knight Squad is an 8 players top-down Bomberman meets Gauntlet game.Engage into crazy sword fights with your friends where one hit is enough to take anyone down.
• POLITICS
• French President François Hollande declares the country at war with ISIS in an address to parliament.

On this day in 2014

• EVENTS
• Kevin Harvick driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, wins Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida to claim his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series by 1 point from Ryan Newman.
• Novak Ðokovic claims 3 straight ATP World Tour Finals tennis titles after Roger Federer is forced to withdraw from the final in London through injury.
• U2 singer Bono was involved in what doctors called a "high energy bicycle accident."The singer was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center's emergency department and underwent five hours of surgery. The injury forced the group to postpone a planned weeklong residency on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon..
• WEDDINGS
• American singer-songwriter Solange Knowles at the age of 28 weds American music video director Alan Ferguson at the age of 51 in New Orleans, Louisiana; separate in 2019.
• DEATHS
• Ian Craig, Australian cricket batsman and captain (11 Tests), who died from cancer at 79.
• Jovan Cirilov, Playwright.
• POLITICS
• Klaus Iohannis wins the Romanian Presidential election.

On this day in 2013

• EVENTS
• Sachin Tendulkar plays his very last cricket match before retiring in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium against the West Indies.
• DEATHS
• Arne Pedersen, Norwegian soccer inside forward (40 caps; Fredrikstad), who died at 82.
• Chris Argyris, American business theorist and educator, who died at 90.
• TV SERIES
• The Challenger Disaster: Season 1 is released. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (John Hurt) investigates the reasons behind the explosion of the Challenger shuttle in 1986 as he faces issues with his health and the NASA supporters on the Presidential commission to uncover the truth.