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Prince Alfred of Great Britain

Prince Alfred (1780–1782) was the fourteenth child and the ninth and youngest son of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland and his queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Alfred was baptised by Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Great Council Chamber at St James's Palace on 21 October 1780. His godparents were his elder siblings George, Prince of Wales; Prince Frederick; and Charlotte, Princess Royal. Alfred was a delicate child. He suffered from "eruptions" on his face and, throughout his life, a cough. In 1782, Alfred became unwell and died after his inoculation against the smallpox virus. Although the household did not go into mourning (it was not prescribed for royal children under seven), his parents took the loss harshly. Alfred's early death, along with that of his brother Prince Octavius six months later, deeply distressed the royal family. In his later bouts of madness, King George imagined conversations with both of his youngest sons. (Full article...)

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Kölner Domchor
Kölner Domchor

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June 2: Festa della Repubblica in Italy (1946)

Elizabeth II on her coronation day
Elizabeth II on her coronation day
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Franz Klein's bust of Beethoven
Franz Klein's bust of Beethoven

There have been many private and public sculptures of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, including busts, reliefs, and statues. The first, a bust (pictured) by Franz Klein, was commissioned by Johann Andreas Streicher and created in 1812, while the composer was still alive. After Beethoven's death in 1827, his hometown, Bonn, immediately began planning a monument. A design competition was eventually held, in which a submission by Ernst Julius Hähnel beat ones from Friedrich von Amerling, Gustav Bläser and Friedrich Drake. Hähnel's monument was erected in 1845. The Beethoven monuments that followed, while retaining a high pedestal, began to portray the composer in a less simplistic and increasingly heroic light. In the early 20th century, the glorified portrayals of Beethoven reached their peak, with god-like representations such as Max Klinger's monument (1902), unveiled at the Vienna Secession and Fidus's unexecuted design for a "Beethoven temple" (1903). (Full list...)

Western bowerbird

The western bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata) is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae. The species is endemic to Australia, where it has a disjunct distribution, occurring in both Central Australia and the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is 24 to 28 centimetres (9.4 to 11.0 in) in length with a mass of 120 to 150 grams (4.2 to 5.3 oz). The plumage is brown with reddish or buff spots over the throat, chest, neck, back head and wings, with a pink erectile crest on the nape. Its tail is brown, with the undersides buff. Males and females are similar in appearance, except that the tail of the female is slightly longer and it is more spotted on the throat than the male. This western bowerbird was photographed near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory in 2022.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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