Nicolo Giraud (born c. 1795 – unknown) was a friend and possibly lover of the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. The two met in 1809 while Byron was staying in Athens. Giraud was reported to have taught him Italian, and was his travel companion in Greece. Byron paid for Giraud's education and left him £7,000 in his will. Years after they parted company, Byron changed his will to exclude Giraud. Other than his involvement with Byron, little is known of Giraud's life. The friendship between Byron and Giraud has become a topic of interest among scholars and biographers of Byron. Many believe that the pair's relationship was platonic, but correspondence between Byron and his friends has been used since the late 20th century to argue that the two were engaged in a love affair. The earliest claim of a sexual relationship between them comes from George Colman's poem Don Leon, published in 1833, in which Byron is the principal character and Giraud is portrayed as his liberator from the sexual prejudices in Britain. One modern writer says that the poem and the fictional discussion of their relationship provides insights into 19th-century British views on homosexuality. ( Full article...)

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• An explosion at an underground coal mine in Turkey kills more than 280 miners.
• In association football, Manchester City win the Premier League.
• The ruling African National Congress wins a majority in the South African general election.
• " Rise Like a Phoenix" by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst (pictured) wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Syrian government forces capture the city of Homs after three years of siege and a ceasefire agreement allowing rebel withdrawal.
• The Constitutional Court of Thailand rules that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra abused her power and removes her from office.

Ongoing: Ukrainian unrest – Chibok kidnapping
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May 16

• 1771 – The Battle of Alamance—the final battle of the War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control—was fought.
• 1811 – Peninsular War: An allied force of British, Spanish, and Portuguese troops clashed with the French at the Battle of Albuera south of Badajoz, Spain.
• 1929 – The 1st Academy Awards (statuette pictured) ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
• 1961 – The Military Revolution Committee, led by Park Chung-hee, carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Bo-seon, ending the Second Republic of South Korea.
• 1966 – Chinese leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution officially as a campaign to rid China of its liberal bourgeois elements and to continue revolutionary class struggle.

More anniversaries: May 15 – May 16 – May 17

There are 24 High Courts at the state and union territory level of India which, together with the Supreme Court of India at the national level, comprise the country's judicial system. Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below the High Courts is a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the civil courts, family courts, criminal courts and various other District Courts. High Courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, Article 214 of the Indian Constitution, and are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in each state and union territory. The precise territorial jurisdiction of each High Court varies. The judges are appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the state. The Calcutta High Court (pictured) is the oldest in the country, established on 2 July 1862. ( Full list...)

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster is a convertible version of the SLS AMG Coupé. It was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt International Motor Show, where this photograph was taken. Photograph: Stephen Krause Recently featured: The Sleeping Beauty – Autosomal recessive gene – Clynotis Archive – More featured pictures...