TV News

U.S. Census Bureau: "What is now routine for millions of Americans each day — checking an all-news cable television channel for the latest events around the world — began on this day in 1980. That's when CNN — the Cable News Network — started its service. At the time, some critics questioned whether the public would be interested in a channel that carried nothing but news 24 hours a day."

Mind Your Own Business

"In a free society, government doesn’t make our personal decisions for us," David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, noted when he criticized New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban the sale of big sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters, and even food carts.

Maryland

Erik Ortiz of the New York Daily News: "A Maryland man is accused of dismembering his missing housemate, gorging on his heart and brain, and then storing his severed head and hands in the basement, according to reports."

Saudi Arabia

Via IOL: "The dingy corridors and gloomy wards of a long-abandoned Saudi Arabian hospital have drawn hundreds of amateur ghost hunters who believe it to be haunted by jinn, the malevolent spirits of the Koran and Arabian mythology."

Russia

"What's Behind Russia's Stance on Syria?"

Maps

From RFE/RL: "Moscow City Court has sentenced a former Russian army colonel to 12 years in jail for selling what's described as 'secret' maps to a U.S. agent."

Business Heritage

Taxicabs

1924

Artist: Fred Gardner

Image credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum

Yellow River

Andreas Lorenz at Der Spiegel:

The Yellow River, regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilization, winds its way more than 5,000 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to its mouth in the Bohai Sea. Spiegel traveled the course of the river and discovered how quickly the country is pushing forward with its rise to superpower status — and how ruthlessly.

Read more.

Johnstown Flood

U.S. Census Bureau: "One of the worst disasters to hit the U.S. happened on this day in 1889 — the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) flood. Heavy rains burst a nearby dam forming a lake for a fishing and hunting retreat. When the dam broke, it unleashed 20 million tons of water in a giant wave that roared through Johnstown, killing more than 2,300 men, women and children, and destroying the homes of thousands more."

Bangladesh

BBC News: "At least five suspected robbers have been beaten to death in Bangladesh by a group of fishermen angered over repeated looting of their catches, police say."

Canada

Via Australian Broadcasting Corp.: "Police in Canada have launched a hunt for a male porn actor after a human hand was found in the mail at an Ottawa post office and a decomposing foot was sent to the nation's ruling Conservative Party."

Franz Kafka

"Kafka's Final Absurdist Tale Plays Out In Tel Aviv"

Michael McFaul

Official Russian news agency RIA Novosti:

Moscow considers the "blunt" statements by U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul to be totally unacceptable while his lack of professionalism could be detrimental to the reset of Russian-U.S. relations, a senior Russian diplomatic source said on Wednesday. 

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that Russia would have to get used to McFaul’s outspoken statements as he is not a professional diplomat and often speaks plainly on sensitive matters. 

“The Americans should not expect the government of a sovereign state to get used to impertinent remarks from the head of a diplomatic mission, who admits openly that he has just started to learn his craft,” the source, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, told RIA Novosti. 

“It is understandable that the State Department immediately offered excuses for his gaffes, but it would be more appropriate to advise Mr. McFaul to get used to the fact that the lack of professionalism in diplomacy is a dangerous and unacceptable thing,” the source said.

Yesterday: American Ambassador

Amateur in Action

President Barack Obama insulted Poland.

Angry Customer

Erik Ortiz of the New York Daily News: "An Ohio man was pinched Tuesday for ramming his truck through the glass front of a Taco Bell after he realized his drive-thru order was one taco short."

California

Wharf Markets

Monterey, 1936

Artist: Victor Hugo Basinet

Image credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum

Monterey is the setting for American writer John Steinbeck's novels Tortilla Flat (1935), Cannery Row (1945), and Sweet Thursday (1954).

American Ambassador

Voice of America:

Russia has lashed out at U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul regarding his comments that Russia offered Kyrgyzstan money in a bid to shut down a U.S. airbase in that country.

In a statement Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said McFaul's comments were bewildering and misrepresented some of Moscow's foreign policy positions.

The ministry said this is not the first time the envoy has made such puzzling remarks.

McFaul responded on the social network blogging site Twitter by saying he is still learning "the craft of speaking more diplomatically."

Colonel Sanders

KFC:

 Beginning today, fans of KFC's Facebook pages around the world can access exclusive content from the soon-to-be-released book, Colonel Harland Sanders: The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef. The original manuscript, written by the Colonel himself in 1966 and discovered by accident more than 40 years later, is being launched exclusively on Facebook. The entire book can be downloaded for free at facebook.com/kfc beginning Monday, June 4. It is not available in book stores or via online book sellers.

Syria

Philip Caulfield of the New York Daily News:

“I saw his soul leave his body in front of me.” 

Those are the chilling words of an 11-year-old Syrian boy who described watching gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad slaughter his brother and the rest of his family during a massacre in the central region of Houla over the weekend.

Read more.

Pink Diamond

A rare pink diamond sold for USD 17.4 million in Hong Kong.

Energy

Anthony Kuhn, NPR: "Indonesia, the country with the world's largest number of active volcanoes, is betting that all the hot rocks will provide a clean and reliable energy source for the future."

Related: Solar Industry

World's Tallest Peak

"'People Are Losing Respect for Mt. Everest"

Kill List

"A published report in the United States says President Barack Obama personally oversees a top-secret process for placing al-Qaida suspects on a list of targets to be killed," VOA News reports.

Commandos

VOA News: "U.S. military officials are rejecting a report suggesting that U.S. military commandos have been parachuting into North Korea to gather intelligence on Pyongyang's underground military installations."

Cows

Sonia van Gilder Cooke, Time: "In Boxford, Mass., a gang of five or six escaped local cows decided the best thing to do with their new-found freedom was to get drunk ASAP."

Agriculture

American Farm Hand

1937

Artist: Sandor Klein

Image credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum

Egypt's Presidential Race

Voice of America: "Egyptian election officials on Monday confirmed presidential vote results setting up a polarizing run-off between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate and one with strong ties to the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak."

Romney vs. Obama

"U.S. veterans, about 13% of the adult population and consisting mostly of older men, support Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president by 58% to 34%, while nonveterans give Obama a four-percentage-point edge," Frank Newport of Gallup reports.

U.S. Military

"The Case for Bringing Back the Draft"

Puntland

VOA: "Authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region say they have arrested 11 pirates, including one accused of involvement in the killing of several security force members last year."

Musical Instruments

Oxford University, England: "The first modern humans in Europe were playing musical instruments and showing artistic creativity as early as 40,000 years ago, according to new research from Oxford and Tübingen universities."

Bering Sea

Xinhua: "A Russian ship went down after crashing into an iceberg in the Bering Sea, but all the 91 people on board have been rescued, local media reported Sunday."

Solomon Islands

"The Royal Australian Air Force has helped rescue nearly 50 people who were adrift off the Solomon Islands for four days after their boat sank," Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports.

Watercolorist

Art by renowned American watercolorist Dong Kingman (1911-2000):

Bridge over River, 1936

Southern Pacific Depot in the Morning, ca. 1940

(Art credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum)

Golden Gate Bridge

Amy Standen, NPR: "Seventy-five years ago today, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public."

Florida

A Miami cop killed a naked cannibal.

War Criminal

Dutch-born Nazi war criminal Klaas Carel Faber died in Germany.

Crucifixion

Official Russian news agency RIA Novosti: "U.S. and German geologists claim they had discovered the exact date when Christ was crucified, the International Geology Review reported."

Vatican

Voice of America: "The Vatican confirmed Saturday that Pope Benedict's butler has been arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential documents and letters from the pontiff's private quarters."

Consul General

RIA Novosti: "Russian Consul General in Japan, Vladimir Pushkov, died on Saturday in the town of Agano in Niigata prefecture after falling down a cliff while playing volleyball, Russian embassy to Japan reported."

Joseph Kanon

National Public Radio: "The storied, intricate, contradictory city of Istanbul is a fitting backdrop for Joseph Kanon's new book, Istanbul Passage."

Business Heritage

Gravel Yards

1934

Artist: Gregory Orloff

Image credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum