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The Goldfinch is a painting of a chained goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, a Dutch Golden Age artist. Signed and dated 1654, it is now in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands. The work is a trompe-l'œil oil painting on panel measuring 33.5 by 22.8 centimetres (13.2 by 9.0 in) that was once part of a larger structure, perhaps a window jamb or a protective cover. A common and colourful bird with a pleasant song, the goldfinch was used in Italian Renaissance painting as a symbol of Christian redemption and the Passion of Jesus. The Goldfinch is unusual for Dutch Golden Age paintings in the simplicity of its composition and use of illusionary techniques. After Fabritius was killed in the gunpowder explosion that destroyed much of the city of Delft in 1654, the painting was lost for more than two centuries before its rediscovery in Brussels. It plays a central role in the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and also in its film adaptation. ( Full article... )

Michael Gove

• ... that UK MP Michael Gove (pictured) won a televised quiz show before entering politics?
• ... that the freighter Hippocampus was sunk by fruit?
• ... that costume designer Gwen Wakeling crafted Shirley Temple's on-screen image by working on 14 of her films?
• ... that the melody of " Fly-Day Chinatown " was said to have "the soaring wings of a phoenix"?
• ... that Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt once attributed a New York City statue to Michelangelo?
• ... that one of Indonesia's largest charities was established by a group of journalists in response to a local famine?
• ... that Francis Scobell prevented Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun from killing a coachman?
• ... that one Legends of Tomorrow episode is named after a classic Western film?
• ... that Cuban swimmer Rafael Polinario had to defect to Canada instead of Spain after Fidel Castro's brother got on his plane?

Mette Frederiksen

• The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured), remain the largest party after the Danish general election , with no political bloc winning a majority of seats.
• In Italy, voters reject a reform of the judicial system in a constitutional referendum .
• A Colombian Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, killing 70 people.
• In mathematics, Gerd Faltings is awarded the Abel Prize for his work in arithmetic geometry.

March 29 : Boganda Day in the Central African Republic (1959); Martyrs' Day in Madagascar (1947)

Terracotta Army

• 845 – Viking expansion: Viking raiders, possibly led by the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok, plundered and occupied Paris , holding the city for a large ransom.
• 1823 – Joaquín de Oreamuno led a coup d'état that overthrew Rafael Francisco Osejo, attempting to restore allegiance to the Mexican Empire .
• 1931 – Authorities held an inquest at New Town, Tasmania, into the deaths of a woman and two children who were fatally poisoned after eating smooth toadfish .
• 1974 – A group of farmers in the Chinese province of Shaanxi discovered a vast collection of terracotta statues (pictured) depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.