Debris from the Roswell balloon

The Roswell incident is a conspiracy theory that alleges that debris from a United States Army Air Forces balloon (pictured) recovered in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico, was part of a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. The debris was from the top-secret Project Mogul, which used high-altitude balloons to detect nuclear tests. Roswell Army Air Field personnel, unaware of Mogul, gathered the material and announced the recovery of a "flying disc"; the statement was retracted within a day. To obscure the source of the debris, the Army reported that it was a conventional weather balloon. In 1978, retired Air Force officer Jesse Marcel revealed that the weather balloon had been a cover story and speculated that the debris was extraterrestrial. This became the basis for long-lasting and increasingly complex and contradictory UFO conspiracy theories, none of which have any factual basis. The conspiracy narrative has become a common trope in fiction. The town of Roswell promotes itself as a UFO tourism destination. (Full article...)

Artist's concept of 1ES 1927+654's black hole

• ... that 1ES 1927+654 (pictured), a galaxy in Draco, exhibited such extreme nuclear activity that it challenged conventional models of black-hole environments?
• ... that the musical career of Louise Beach has ranged from nationally recognized compositions to a children's book about the viola?
• ... that the alpine columbine has been cultivated for centuries, and other columbines have often been mistaken for the species for decades?
• ... that the Lutheran pastor Théodore Beck employed modern education methods at the École alsacienne in Paris in the 1880s: no prizes and no corporal punishment?
• ... that Jonathan Rado invited the Lemon Twigs to record their debut album at his house while they were on a school break?
• ... that Ivan Petrovtsii's vulgar poems were condemned by senior Ukrainian officials in spite of their popularity?
• ... that the CSS-10 aircraft was not produced, despite passing its state trials, as the license for the production of its engine was abandoned?
• ... that the University of Southwestern Louisiana basketball scandal resulted in one of only five times that the NCAA has applied the "death penalty" against a member institution?
• ... that Simeon Barclay's "sculpture of a chicken on its own little mini-mountain" references a traditional Indian game?

Friedrich Merz

• In the German federal election, the CDU/CSU, led by Friedrich Merz (pictured), wins the most seats in the Bundestag.
• Archaeologists announce that the empty tomb Wadi C-4 near Luxor, Egypt, was that of the pharaoh Thutmose II.
• At the British Academy Film Awards, Conclave wins four awards, including Best Film.
• Mahamoud Ali Youssouf is elected chairman of the African Union Commission.
• President of Romania Klaus Iohannis resigns from office, and is succeeded by Ilie Bolojan in an acting capacity.

February 26

Nabonassar's name in Akkadian

• 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonassar (name in Akkadian pictured) began, marking a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records.
• 1914 – RMS Britannic, the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line after RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
• 1979 – The Superliner railcar entered revenue service with Amtrak.
• 1995 – Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London, was declared insolvent after its head derivatives trader in Singapore, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million while making unauthorised trades on futures contracts.
• 2014 – Former editor-in-chief of Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Kevin Lau was stabbed, prompting concerns and protests about media freedom.