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Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed between a pair of glass brick towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall, and they use light-emitting diodes to display digital videos on their inward faces. Weather permitting, the water operates from May to October, intermittently cascading down the two towers and spouting through a nozzle on each tower's front face. The fountain highlights Plensa's themes of dualism, light, and water, extending the use of video technology from his prior works. Crown Fountain has been the most controversial of all the Millennium Park features. Before it was even built, some were concerned that the sculpture's height violated the aesthetic tradition of the park. The fountain has survived its somewhat contentious beginnings to find its way into Chicago pop culture. It is a popular subject for photographers and a common gathering place. The fountain is a public play area and offers people an escape from summer heat, allowing children to frolic in the fountain's water. (more...)
Recently featured: Hermann Detzner – 1964 Brinks Hotel bombing – "Mother and Child Reunion"
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![Several men standing on a grass football pitch. One is wearing a black top, black shorts and black socks. Four are wearing yellow tops, black shorts and yellow socks, and six are wearing white shirts, white shorts and white socks. The stand of a sports stadium is visible in the background, with floodlights rising behind it. The floodlights are brightly lit, and the sky is grey.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Rookery_stand.jpg/200px-Rookery_stand.jpg)
The competitive history of Watford Football Club began in 1886, when English football club Watford Rovers competed in the FA Cup for the first time. The team joined the Southern League in the 1896–97 season, and renamed as Watford F.C. in 1898. Under Harry Kent's management, Watford won the Southern League title in the 1914–15 season, joined the Football League in 1920, and moved to Vicarage Road stadium (pictured) in 1922. After spending most of the following five decades at the third and fourth levels of English football, Watford's fortunes changed dramatically in the 1970s. With financial backing from local-born musician Elton John, and Graham Taylor as manager, the team ascended through the divisions. Watford won the Fourth Division title in the 1977–78 season; they came second in the First Division five seasons later, with Luther Blissett finishing as the division's top scorer. In the following campaign, Watford competed in the UEFA Cup for the first time, and also reached the 1984 FA Cup Final. Since relegation from the First Division in 1988, the team has spent all but four seasons competing at the second level of English football. (more...)
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Today's featured picture
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With its 54 inhabitants, Naajaat is one of the smallest settlements in the Qaasuitsup municipality of northwestern Greenland. There are no shops in the settlement. The blue building to the left is used as a church, school, and village hall. Icebergs calve off from the Greenland ice sheet, seen to the left, 22 km (14 mi) away, and drift past the settlement.
Photo: Slaunger
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