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World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Sunday, 17 May 2026

2009

Dalia Grybauskaitė is elected the first female President of Lithuania.

2007

Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.

2006

The aircraft carrier {{USS|Oriskany|CV-34|6}} is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.

2004

Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

1997

Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.

1994

Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.

1992

Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.

1990

The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.

1987

An Iraqi fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. warship {{USS|Stark|FFG-31|6}}, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.

1984

Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.

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