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Tell es-Sakan is an archaeological site about 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Gaza City in Palestine. It was the site of two separate Early Bronze Age urban settlements. Ancient Egypt expanded its territory into southwestern Palestine in the latter half of the 4th millennium BCE and during this time Tell es-Sakan was founded as an administrative centre for the Egyptian colonies in the region. It was inhabited from about 3300 BCE to 3000 BCE. After a period of abandonment a Canaanite city was established around 2600 BCE and inhabited until about 2250 BCE, after which Tell es-Sakan was permanently abandoned. Tell es-Sakan functioned as a trading post and was positioned along what was probably a dried-up channel of the Wadi Ghazzeh – a watercourse that is dry most of the year but in the Bronze Age would have been navigable. The site covered around 8 to 9 hectares (20 to 22 acres), of which 0.14 hectares (0.35 acres) has undergone archaeological excavation. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Shreen Abdul Saroor

... that women's rights activist Shreen Saroor (pictured) was sent to a Catholic convent for her education after her mother became concerned with her tomboy-like behavior?
... that four US Army soldiers stole $36 million in valuables from a German castle in late 1945?
... that forensic scientist Luke S. May was nicknamed "America's Sherlock Holmes" for his work as an investigator?
... that the author of The Space-Time Painter considers the review bombing against it to be reasonable?
... that Rita Rusk was employed to style the hair of her former trainee Sharleen Spiteri after Spiteri became the lead singer of Texas?
... that architect Geoff Malone was tasked with impressing visitors with a "rocket ship" design for a Singapore movie theatre?
... that Sarah Kraning perceives sound as color, texture, and movement?
... that the ependytes, originally a Persian male tunic, became a luxury fashion statement in classical Athens, where it was worn by women and children?
... that part of the bonus paid to bartender Gary Hoffman after he was selected in the 1984 NFL draft was a round of drinks for his friends?

In the news

José Jerí

José Jerí (pictured) is sworn in as President of Peru after Dina Boluarte is removed from office by the Congress.
An explosion at an explosives manufacturing plant in Tennessee, United States, kills at least 16 people.
María Corina Machado is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy activism in Venezuela.
László Krasznahorkai is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

On this day

October 13: Thanksgiving in Canada (2025), Indigenous Peoples' Day in the United States (2025)

Brigid Kosgei

1710 – Queen Anne's War: French and Wabanaki forces surrendered to end the Siege of Port Royal, giving the British permanent possession of Nova Scotia.
1812 – War of 1812: British troops and Mohawk warriors repelled an American invasion from across the Niagara River at the Battle of Queenston Heights near Queenston, Ontario.
1908 – British suffragette Margaret Travers Symons became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons when she escaped from her escort into the chamber and shouted at the assembly.
1994 – The Troubles: In a meeting at Fernhill House, Belfast, loyalist leader Gusty Spence announced that the Combined Loyalist Military Command would observe a ceasefire.
2019 – At the Chicago Marathon, Kenyan runner Brigid Kosgei (pictured) set the current marathon world record for women running in a mixed-sex race.

Iyasu I (d. 1706)
Marie Osmond (b. 1959)
Stephen Flynn (b. 1988)
Clarence Lushbaugh (d. 2000)

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From today's featured list

Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi

Uganda has three World Heritage Sites and a further eight sites on its tentative list. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. The first two Ugandan sites were listed in 1994, Rwenzori Mountains National Park and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, both for their natural significance. The Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (pictured), a cultural site, was listed in 2001. Both Rwenzori Mountains National Park and the Kashubi Tombs were at some point listed as endangered, the former because of security issues and lack of monitoring by the park staff and the latter because of the damage in a fire that destroyed the tombs in 2010. They have since been carefully restored. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is a black-and-white photograph taken by American landscape photographer Ansel Adams, late in the afternoon on November 1, 1941, from a shoulder of the highway US 84 / US 285, in the unincorporated community of Hernandez, New Mexico, United States. The photograph shows the Moon rising in a dominating black sky with low clouds above a collection of modest dwellings, a church and a cross-filled graveyard, with snow-covered mountains in the background. Adams captured a single image, with the sunset lighting the white crosses and buildings. Because Adams did not date the image, attempts have been made to determine a date from astronomical information in the photograph. It is one of Adams's most popular works.

Photograph credit: Ansel Adams

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