Ryūjō ("Prancing Dragon") was a light aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the early 1930s. Small and lightly built in an attempt to exploit a loophole in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, she proved to be top-heavy and only marginally stable, and was back in the shipyard for modifications within a year of completion. With her stability improved, Ryūjō returned to service and was employed in operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During World War II, she provided air support for operations in the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies, where her aircraft participated in the Second Battle of the Java Sea. During the Indian Ocean raid in April 1942, the carrier attacked British merchant shipping with both her guns and her aircraft. Ryūjō participated in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands in June. She was sunk by American carrier aircraft at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. (Full article...)

Fourteen National Treasures of Japan are residential structures from the 15th-century feudal Muromachi period to the early modern 17th-century Edo period. The term National Treasure has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. The residential structures adhere to the current definition, and were designated National Treasures when the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was implemented on June 9, 1951. The structures listed include teahouses, shoin (the Ninomaru Palace pictured), guest or reception halls and other rooms which are part of Japanese domestic architecture. While most of the structures are located in temples, one is a castle. In 2009, the early 20th century Akasaka Palace was designated as a National Treasure in the category of "modern residences" (Meiji period and later). It is the only National Treasure in this category. (Full list...)

Sutton Hoo Helmet is a 2002 sculpture by the English artist Rick Kirby. A representation of the Anglo-Saxon helmet of the same name found in the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, it was commissioned by the National Trust to hang outside the Sutton Hoo visitor centre. Together with the centre, the sculpture was unveiled by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney on 13 March 2002. Weighing 900 kg (2,000 lb), it is 1.8 m (5.9 ft) high, 1.2 m (3.9 ft) wide and 1.6 m (5.2 ft) deep. It is made of mild steel plates that are coloured red. Designed to have a "fierce presence", it is inspired by the fragmentary appearance of the reconstructed helmet rather than the glistening replica made by the Royal Armouries. Steel is Kirby's favoured medium, allowing the sense of scale and dramatic impact found in Sutton Hoo Helmet. The sculpture is illustrative of Kirby's largely figural body of work, and its mask-like quality has been repeated in subsequent pieces. (Full article...)

Fourteen singles topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011. The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Its data, published by Billboard magazine and compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, was based collectively on each single's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as airplay. In 2011, nine acts achieved their first US number-one single, either as a lead artist or a featured guest. Six collaboration singles topped the chart. Pop singers Adele, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Rihanna (pictured) each earned two number-one songs during the year. One of Adele's songs, "Rolling in the Deep", was the best-performing single of 2011, topping the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. She became the fourth solo female to have multiple songs spend at least five weeks each at number one in one calendar year. Rihanna's "We Found Love" was the longest-running single of the year, having topped the chart for eight consecutive weeks in 2011 and two additional weeks in 2012. (Full list...)

The Battle for Henderson Field (23–26 October 1942) on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands was the third of three land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. U.S. Army and Marine forces under Major General Alexander Vandegrift defended Henderson Field against attacks by the Japanese 17th Army under Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake (pictured). Hyakutake's mission was to recapture the airfield from the Allies and drive them off the island. Numerous assaults over three days were repulsed with heavy Japanese losses, and Allied aircraft operating from the airfield successfully defended U.S. positions from attacks by Japanese naval air and sea forces. After a failed attempt to deliver reinforcements in November, Japan conceded the island and successfully evacuated many of its remaining forces in February. (Full article...)