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George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Founding Father of the United States. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father. Many clauses in the Constitution were influenced by Mason's input, but he ultimately did not sign, citing the lack of a bill of rights. His prominent fight for a bill of rights led fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First Congress in 1789; these amendments were ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Obscure after his death, Mason later came to be recognized in the 20th and 21st centuries for his contributions to Virginia and the early United States. (Full article...)

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In the news

Lando Norris

In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social-media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.
In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.
In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.

On this day

December 11

Lunar Roving Vehicle, driven by Gene Cernan

1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated British forces trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
1925 – Pope Pius XI promulgated the encyclical Quas primas, establishing the Feast of Christ the King.
1972 – Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo mission, landed on the Moon.
1998 – With its pilot believed to have been suffering from spatial disorientation, Thai Airways Flight 261 crashed in a swamp on approach to Surat Thani Airport, resulting in 101 deaths.
2005 – Demonstrations in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, against recent violence towards locals turned into a series of race riots.

Pieter Nuyts (d. 1655)
Isaac Shelby (b. 1750)
Max Born (b. 1882)
Emmanuelle Charpentier (b. 1968)

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Today's featured picture

Isabella I (1451–1504), also called Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and of León from 1474 until her death. She was also Queen consort of Aragon from 1479. Isabella's 1469 marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon created the basis of the de facto unification of Spain and Ferdinand provided assistance for her victory in the War of the Castilian Succession. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Her reign marked the end of the Reconquista and also the start of the Spanish Empire, allowing Spain to dominate European politics for the next century. This portrait of Isabella was produced in around 1490 by an unknown artist and is now in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Painting credit: Anonymous

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