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Today's featured article Teresa Cristina (1822–1889) was the Empress consort of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, who reigned from 1831 to 1889. Born a Princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, she was the daughter of King Don Francesco I of the Italian branch of the House of Bourbon and his wife Maria Isabel. The Princess was married by proxy to Pedro II in 1843. Despite a cold beginning, the couple's relationship improved as time passed, due primarily to Teresa Cristina's patience, kindness, generosity and simplicity. These traits also helped her win the hearts of the Brazilian people, and her distance from political controversies shielded her from criticism. Of her four children, two boys died in infancy and a daughter of typhoid fever at the early age of 24. She, along with the remaining members of the Imperial Family, was sent into exile after a coup d'état staged by a clique of army officers in 1889. Being cast from her beloved adopted land had a devastating effect on Teresa Cristina's spirit and health. Grieving and ill, she died of respiratory failure little more than a month after the monarchy's collapse. She was greatly loved by her subjects, both during her lifetime and afterwards. Teresa Cristina is well regarded by historians not only for her character and irreproachable behavior, but also for her sponsorship of Brazilian culture. (more...) Recently featured: Ahalya – Mary Anning – C. D. Howe Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the mineral shigaite (hexagonal crystal pictured) is named for the Japanese Prefecture where it was discovered in 1985? ... that in Renaissance Scotland, the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle was rebuilt for the baptism of James VI's son Henry, to mirror the proportions of the Temple of Solomon? ... that in 2009, the deputy chief of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud, became the country's Minister of Education? ... that England women's cricket captain Charlotte Edwards was the leading run-scorer in three of the first four years of the Super Fours? ... that in his fictional work "Surabaya", Idrus referred to the Indonesian revolutionaries as "cowboys" and the Allies as "bandits"? ... that Roy Lichtenstein's pop art painting Girl with Ball, which was based on a newspaper ad that was still running more than 20 years later, was first sold to Philip Johnson? ... that on 7 June 1998, the Swiss electorate rejected the Gene Protection Initiative, which would have banned scientific research using genetically modified animals?

In the news SpaceX launches (pictured) a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket, the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana'a, Yemen. Tomislav Nikolić is elected President of Serbia. British singer-songwriter Robin Gibb, a member of the Bee Gees, dies at the age of 62. In ice hockey, the IIHF World Championship concludes with Russia defeating Slovakia in the final. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 in connection with the Lockerbie bombing, dies in Libya. The 38th G8 summit takes place at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat. On this day... May 23 1430 – Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was captured at the Siege of Compiègne. 1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Led by the Duke of Marlborough, the allied forces of England, the Dutch Republic, and Denmark defeated the Franco-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium. 1873 – The North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories. 1895 – Representatives of the Astor Library and Lenox Library agreed to merge and form the New York Public Library (pictured under construction in 1908), now the second-largest public library in the United States. 1951 – Delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama and the government of the newly established People's Republic of China signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, affirming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. More anniversaries: May 22 – May 23 – May 24 It is now May 23, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture A Japanese lithograph depicting the capture of Blagoveshchensk, Siberia, by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Siberian Intervention, part of a larger effort by the western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil War. The Allied invasion took place in August 1918, and Japanese troops remained in Russia until October 1922. Image: Shobido & Co.; Restoration: Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Blue wildebeest – Solar flare – Coconut octopus

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