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The tufted jay , also known as the painted jay and Dickey's jay, is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is endemic to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. A large jay, it has a prominent dark crest on its head; a purplish-blue back, wings, and face; a white spot above the eye and on the cheek; white undersides; and a partially white tail. Its typical call is a quick, four-note vocalization. The relationship between the tufted jay and other members of the genus Cyanocorax has been a subject of interest since the species was first described in 1935. Because of the visual similarities between the tufted jay and the white-tailed jay, the two were thought by some to be closely related. A 2010 mitochondrial-DNA study has shown that the tufted jay is most closely related to a group of South American jays, despite their ranges being separated by more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). They are likely descended from an ancestral jay that ranged throughout Latin America. ( Full article... )

Mai Murakami

• ... that Mai Murakami (pictured) was the first Japanese female gymnast in 63 years to win a world title?
• ... that Maid Marian in Super Robin Hood was voiced by the developers' mother?
• ... that Charles Throsby Smith led the first British expedition to what became Canberra, and is a founding figure of Wollongong?
• ... that a 1:10 wooden model was used in the acoustic design of Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall ?
• ... that historian Jürgen Matthäus used artificial intelligence to help identify Jakobus Onnen as the gunman in The Last Jew in Vinnitsa ?
• ... that people routinely morally condemn taboo acts like consensual incest, even though they cannot explain why?
• ... that a petition to restrict the sale of fireworks in New Zealand included 80,000 paw prints?
• ... that FIFA-listed referee Adonis Carrasco signed up for basic training without having ever played football and without knowing any rules?
• ... that Tipat Halav , a network of well-baby care centers, cut infant mortality rates in pre-state Israel by more than 50 percent between 1927 and 1948?

Osman Hadi

• A mass stabbing in Taipei results in four deaths, including the perpetrator, and 11 injuries.
• Bangladeshi activist Osman Hadi (pictured) is assassinated, generating violent protest and arson.
• Fatafehi Fakafānua is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.

December 24

• 1818 – The Christmas carol " Silent Night " (audio featured) by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber was first performed in a church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.
• 1865 – Six Confederate veterans of the American Civil War founded a social club they named the Ku Klux Klan , which later became a white supremacist group.
• 1918 – Forces united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes defeated Hungarian forces to end the occupation of Međimurje .
• 1925 – Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name in a children's story in the London Evening News.
• 1955 – According to legend, the NORAD Tracks Santa program began after children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to inquire about Santa Claus's whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number in an advertisement.