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Kitty Marion (1871–1944) was an activist who advocated for women's suffrage and birth control. Born in Germany, she immigrated to England in 1886 when she was 15 years old. She sang in music halls throughout Britain and became known in the industry for bringing attention to the sexism and sexual assaults that were common in the business. Marion was a prominent member of the British suffrage movement. She began her advocacy by selling copies of the newspaper Votes for Women, then progressed to militant protests, including riots, bombing and arson attacks; she was imprisoned several times for arson and bombing. On the outbreak of World War I, she left Britain for the United States. She joined the American birth control movement, and spent 13 years campaigning on street corners, selling the magazine Birth Control Review. Marion was arrested several times for distributing birth control information in violation of anti-obscenity laws. She died in New York in 1944. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Okanogan fameflower blooms

... that according to a 1994 paper, the Okanogan fameflower (pictured) spent the last ice age in a glacial refugium?
... that swimmer Yu Zidi qualified for the World Aquatics Championships at just twelve years old?
... that a community vote allowed players of the "wholesome" city-building game The Wandering Village to feed their villagers to a giant beast?
... that Olympic silver medallist Eduard von Lütcken captured a Russian general before being killed in an early action of the First World War?
... that 4chan users found a Burger King restaurant based on a photo of someone standing on lettuce within 15 minutes of its posting?
... that Lindsay de Sausmarez was elected head of government of Guernsey only a few days after deciding to run for the position?
... that a French abortion ban in Mali dating from 1920 was in place until 2002?
... that Ames Shipbuilding and Drydock Company employees participated in a walkout that precipitated the 1919 Seattle General Strike?
... that, according to tradition, after Saint Vidal was martyred, his body was separated into pieces but reassembled itself three times?

In the news

Jim Lovell in 1969

Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a pre-candidate in the 2026 presidential election, dies two months after being shot.
Azerbaijan and Armenia sign a declaration to formalize a future peace treaty, ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
American astronaut Jim Lovell (pictured), the commander of Apollo 13, dies at the age of 97.
A helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, kills eight people on board including ministers Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.

On this day

August 16

Elvis Presley

1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: English and Imperial forces defeated French cavalry, forcing them to retreat.
1900 – Second Boer War: A 10,000-strong column of soldiers led by Lord Kitchener broke a 13-day siege of a small garrison.
1920 – The British parliament's Blind Persons Act received royal assent, becoming the first disability-specific legislation to be passed anywhere in the world.
1977 – American singer and actor Elvis Presley (pictured) was found dead in his home in Memphis, Tennessee.
2015 – Suicide bombers assassinated Pakistani politician Shuja Khanzada and killed at least 21 others at his home in Attock District.

Theodore II Laskaris (d. 1258)
Ramakrishna (d. 1886)
Angela Bassett (b. 1958)
Jannik Sinner (b. 2001)

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Today's featured picture

Charles Roscoe Savage (August 16, 1832 – February 4, 1909) was a British-born landscape and portrait photographer most notable for his images of the American West. Savage converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his youth while living in England. He served a mission in Switzerland and eventually moved to the United States. In America he became interested in photography and began taking portraits for hire in the East. He traveled to Salt Lake City with his family and opened up his Art Bazar where he sold many of his photographs. Savage concentrated his photographic efforts primarily on family portraits, landscapes, and documentary views. He is best known for his 1869 photographs of the linking of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah. This self-portrait of Savage was taken in the 1880s.

Photograph credit: Charles Roscoe Savage; restored by Adam Cuerden

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