John Martin Scripps (1959–1996) was a British spree killer who murdered three tourists—Gerard Lowe in Singapore, and Sheila and Darin Damude in Thailand—with another three unconfirmed victims. He posed as a tourist himself when committing the murders, for which British tabloids nickname him "the tourist from Hell". He would stay in the same hotels as his victims in a room near theirs. Once he had an excuse to be in their rooms, he would use an electroshock weapon to immobilise them before killing them. Martin was arrested in Singapore when he returned there after murdering the Damudes. Photographs of decomposed body parts were shown as evidence during his trial, making it "one of the most grisly" ever heard in Singapore. He defended himself by saying that Lowe's death had been an accident and that a friend of his had killed the Damudes. The judge did not believe Martin's account of events and sentenced him to death by hanging, making him the first Briton in Singapore since Singapore's independence to be given the death penalty. ( more...)

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American astronaut Neil Armstrong (pictured), the first person to walk on the Moon, dies at the age of 82.

A blast at the Paraguaná Refinery Complex in Falcón, Venezuela, kills at least 41 people and injures at least 90 others.

A jury in California rules that Samsung Electronics owes Apple Inc. more than US$1 billion for patent infringement.

Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in the 2011 Norway attacks, is sentenced to 21 years in prison, subject to extension.

Retired cyclist Lance Armstrong decides to stop contesting doping charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

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August 28: Feast of the Assumption ( Julian calendar)

1789 – With the first use of his new 1.2 m (3.9 ft) telescope, then the largest in the world, William Herschel discovered a new moon of Saturn, which was later named Enceladus.

1845 – The first issue of the popular science magazine Scientific American (cover pictured) was published, currently the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States.

1901 – Silliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, Philippines, became the first American private school to be founded in the country.

1909 – A military coup d'etat against the government of Dimitrios Rallis began in the Goudi neighbourhood of Athens, Greece.

1955 – African American teenager Emmett Till was murdered near Money, Mississippi, for flirting with a white woman, energizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.

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The Castello Plan is a map of New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island that later became New York City. It was originally created in 1660 by Jacques Cortelyou and made its way to Italy in the collection of Cosimo III de' Medici. It was discovered again in 1900 in Villa di Castello (hence the name), and redrawn by John Wolcott Adams and Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes in 1916, which is the version shown here. Recently featured: The Tepees, Petrified Forest National Park, US – Italian wall lizard – Orange spider conch Archive – More featured pictures...