Firefighter watching the Boundary Fire

The Boundary Fire was a 2017 wildfire in Arizona that burned 17,788 acres (7,199 ha) of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests. The fire was ignited on June 1 when lightning struck a spot on the northeast side of Kendrick Peak within the Coconino National Forest. The fire spread rapidly because of high temperatures, steep terrain, leftovers from a wildfire in 2000, and high wind speeds. The winds blew smoke over local communities and infrastructure, leading to the closure of U.S. Route 180 from June 8 to June 21. Smoke was also visible from the Grand Canyon. The Boundary Fire burned out on July 3, 2017, after 32 days of firefighting. The cost of managing the fire was $9.4 million (equivalent to $11.5 million in 2023). Damage to the area's foliage increased the risk of landslides into 2018. The Boundary Fire was one of 2,321 wildfires in Arizona in 2017 that burned a total of 429,564 acres (173,838 ha). (Full article...)

Galileo's middle finger

• ... that Galileo's middle finger (pictured) is considered a secular relic?
• ... that Richard Osman, who wrote "the biggest thing in fiction since Harry Potter", lost confidence in his writing ability after his experience with Boyz Unlimited?
• ... that Green Bay Packers player Travis Glover started at three separate positions along the offensive line during his college football career?
• ... that even though about 100,000 mines were laid in Le Touquet during World War II, making it "the most mined city in France", it was the first resort in northern France to open its beaches after the Liberation?
• ... that for his first recital as the organist of the restored Frauenkirche in Dresden, Samuel Kummer chose music by Bach, Brahms, and himself?
• ... that El Salvador was the first country to recognize Manchukuo, apart from Japan?
• ... that poet Peggy Pond Church became a strong pacifist and a member of the Society of Friends after the Manhattan Project used her home as a place to build nuclear weapons?
• ... that Bob Noel was the one responsible for dealing "with all the dirty laundry" of the Green Bay Packers?
• ... that a firearm blank goes off during The Days of '98 Show shootout, startling the audience?

Mitchell Starc

• In cricket, the Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the Indian Premier League (player of the final Mitchell Starc pictured).
• Gitanas Nausėda is re-elected as president of Lithuania.
• A landslide in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province leaves thousands of people missing and presumed dead.
• The European Union passes the Artificial Intelligence Act, aiming to establish a regulatory and legal framework for AI.

May 30: Statehood Day in Croatia (1990)

Johann Sebastian Bach

• 1431 – Hundred Years' War: After being convicted of heresy, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
• 1723 – Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured) assumed the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting the cantata Die Elenden sollen essen in St. Nicholas Church.
• 1943 – The first game of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the United States, was played.
• 1963 – Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination was held outside the National Assembly of South Vietnam in Saigon, the first open demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
• 1998 – A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000 people homeless.