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Today's featured list: The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets less than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) across to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has sixty-two moons with confirmed orbits, fifty-three of which have names, and only thirteen of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers (31 mi). Saturn has seven moons that are large enough to become spherical, and dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.

Today's featured topic: The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and as of 2008^[update], eight awards are presented, including the Team of the Year, Overseas Personality, Lifetime Achievement Award, Helen Rollason Award, the Coach Award, and the Newcomer Award.

Listen to
Spring, from The Four Seasons

Today's featured sound: The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723,The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. Performed by John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber Players.

Did you know...

1912 memento dollar

... that the first silver dollars of the Republic of China were crudely designed mementos (example pictured)?
... that the Haitian Revolution began when Cécile Fatiman sacrificed a black pig, a ritual that was later repeated by Haitians resisting the United States occupation and the Duvalier dynasty?
... that a shark cost a competitor a silver medal in the spearfishing event at the 2014 Micronesian Games?
... that the number 1 is its own square, square root, and factorial?
... that Deep Cut Gardens in New Jersey contains a stone replica of Mount Vesuvius that once erupted smoke at the behest of mobster Vito Genovese?
... that the Hillbilly Thomists, a band made up of friars from the Dominican Order, reached the number-two spot on Billboard's bluegrass chart?
... that Pituamkek National Park Reserve, Canada's newest national park, protects a chain of barrier islands that have been used for fishing and hunting by the Mi'kmaq for 4,000 years?
... that the Palace Theater light bulb has been running since 1908?
... that a sensational story in 1888 claimed that James Wickham, a British scientist, introduced two whales to the Great Salt Lake in an attempt to start a whale oil industry?

In the news
Daron Acemoglu The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to Daron Acemoglu (pictured), Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson for their comparative studies of prosperity between nations. The comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is visible in the western sky after sunset. Kenyan Ruth Chepng'etich breaks the women's marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon. Ongoing: Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hezbollah conflict Russian invasion of Ukraine timeline Sudanese civil war timeline Recent deaths: Liam Payne Leif Segerstam Mike Jackson G. N. Saibaba Thomas J. Donohue Lilly Ledbetter Nominate an article
On this day...
Wikimedia template October 17 Lake Burley Griffin 1604 – German astronomer Johannes Kepler began observations of an exceptionally bright object, now known as Kepler's Supernova, that had appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British general John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign ended with his surrender to the Americans, later convincing France to enter the war in alliance with the United States. 1814 – A wooden beer-fermenting vat in London burst, destroying a second vat and causing a large flood of at least 128,000 imperial gallons (580,000 l; 154,000 US gal) of porter that killed eight people. 1914 – Off the coast of the Dutch island of Texel, a British naval squadron sank the German 7th Half Flotilla of torpedo boats in the Battle off Texel. 1964 – Prime Minister Robert Menzies inaugurated the artificial Lake Burley Griffin (pictured) in the centre of the Australian capital Canberra. Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke (d. 1781) Haritina Korotkevich (b. 1882) Don Coryell (b. 1924) James Scott (b. 1947) More anniversaries: October 16 October 17 October 18 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Today's featured picture

The greenbottle blue tarantula (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens) is a species of spider in the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. It is native to the Paraguaná Peninsula in the Venezuelan state of Falcón. The spider features metallic blue legs and a blue-green carapace, which give it its name. They are very active and fast-growing animals that are particularly attractive to hobbyists. This mounted greenbottle blue tarantula female is part of the collection of the Muséum de Toulouse in France.

Photograph credit: Didier Descouens

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