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The Friday, August 14, 2026 Edition

Mangione to Plead Guilty, Judge Tosses Harvard Suit, and Stolen Mini Mozarts

4 min read

Need to Know
In the Know
By the Numbers

406 mph

The speed at which the Hydromax — built by JCB, a company best known for diggers — blasted into the land-speed record books. It got there on a pair of reworked production-based engines, from machines ordinarily built to move earth, not break speed records.

Source: The Register

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What's Ahead
  • Coming days: Watch for the courts to respond to the Kennedy Center board's vote restoring President Trump's name and approving a $250 million renovation — moves that appear to challenge a federal judge's earlier order and set up a fresh legal fight.

  • Coming months: Monuments to Elon Musk — from fans and critics alike, including Cards Against Humanity — are set to go up near SpaceX's Starbase in Texas, with at least one designed purely to annoy him.

  • 2026-27 season: The NBA's newly released 2026-27 schedule locks in opening night, Christmas Day matchups, and marquee reunions, with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo slated to face their former teams.

See the full week’s calendar →

On This Day
  • 1935President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law
  • 1945Japan accepts Allied surrender terms, effectively ending World War II
  • 1947Pakistan gains independence from British rule
  • 2003A massive blackout leaves roughly 50 million people without power in the northeastern US and Canada

The Historybook →

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