The North East Line is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in
Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, the 20-kilometre (12 mi) line runs
from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in
the northeast via Chinatown, Little India, Serangoon and Hougang.
Completed at a cost of S$5 billion, the line began operating 14 of its
16 stations on 20 June 2003. Buangkok station opened on 15 January
2006, and Woodleigh station began operations on 20 June 2011. A one-
station extension to Punggol Coast station is expected to be completed
in 2024. Alstom rolling stock – C751A (examples pictured) and
C751C – runs on the line, which is fully automated using the moving
block Alstom Urbalis 300 communications-based train control signalling
system. The stations are wheelchair-accessible, and most are Civil
Defence shelters designed to withstand airstrikes and chemical attacks.
There are 18 artworks displayed across its 16 stations as part of the
MRT network's Art-in-Transit programme.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_MRT_line>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1900:
Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army began a 55-day siege
of the Legation Quarter in Peking.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_International_Legations>
1943:
World War II: The Royal Air Force began Operation Bellicose, a
four-day shuttle-bombing mission that included raids on Germany and
Italy and a refuelling and rearming stop in Algeria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bellicose>
1975:
Steven Spielberg's film Jaws was released; it became a summer
blockbuster and the first film to earn $100 million in U.S. theatrical
rentals.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_%28film%29>
2019:
Iranian aircraft shot down an American drone over the Strait of
Hormuz amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Iranian_shoot-down_of_American_drone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
music to someone's ears:
(idiomatic) A spoken expression or a sound which is pleasing;
specifically, some good news, or welcome information or remarks.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/music_to_someone%27s_ears>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did.
--Lillian Hellman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lillian_Hellman>
Gather Together in My Name is the second of seven memoirs by Maya
Angelou (pictured). Published in 1974, the book begins just after the
events of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and follows Angelou from the
ages of 17 to 19. Written three years after Caged Bird, the book
"depicts a single mother's slide down the social ladder into poverty and
crime." She expands upon many themes that she started discussing in her
first autobiography, including motherhood and family, racism, identity,
education and literacy. Gather Together received mostly positive
reviews; it was not as critically acclaimed as Caged Bird, but was
recognized as being better written. The book's structure, consisting of
a series of episodes tied together by theme and content, parallels the
chaos of adolescence, which some critics felt makes it an unsatisfactory
sequel. The title, taken from the Bible, conveys how one black woman
lived in white-dominated American society after World War II.
(This article is part of a featured topic: Maya Angelou
autobiographies.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Maya_Angelou_autobi…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
The Jesuits' Maryland province contracted to sell 272 slaves to
buyers in Louisiana in one of the largest slave sales in American
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Jesuit_slave_sale>
1953:
Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies for
passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg>
1965:
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, the commander of the South Vietnam Air
Force, was appointed prime minister at the head of a military regime.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_Cao_K%E1%BB%B3>
1987:
Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at the
Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipercor_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
priceless:
1. So precious as not to be obtainable or sold at any price; invaluable.
2. (figuratively)
3. Held in high regard; treasured.
4. (informal) Absurd, ridiculous.
5. (informal) Very amusing, hilarious.
6. (informal, often ironic) Excellent, fantastic, wonderful.
7. (literally, uncommon) Without a price assigned.
8. (obsolete) Of no value; valueless, worthless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/priceless>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and
subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day
of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power. A
day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery
took on the country and continues to take — what I’ve long called
“America’s original sin.” At the same time, I also remember the
extraordinary capacity to heal, and to hope, and to emerge from the most
painful moments and a bitter, bitter version of ourselves, but to make a
better version of ourselves.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
Albert Levitt (1887–1968) was an American attorney and official who
ran for office many times, receiving only a small percentage of the
vote. He attended Harvard Law School, and helped draft the Equal Rights
Amendment. After serving as a law professor, he settled in Connecticut
with his first wife, the suffragist Elsie Hill, and involved himself in
politics. The faction he led affected the outcome in multiple races. In
1933, he was given a position in the Franklin D. Roosevelt
administration. While a judge in the Virgin Islands in 1935, he ordered
that women there must be allowed to register and vote. After leaving
government work in 1937, Levitt challenged the appointment of Hugo Black
to the Supreme Court; in its decision, Ex parte Levitt, the court
refused to consider his claims. He moved to California, and began to run
as a fringe candidate in Republican primaries, including in the 1950
Senate election, finishing sixth out of six, behind the winner, Richard
Nixon.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Levitt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
860:
Rus' forces sailed into the Bosporus in a fleet of about 200
vessels and started pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_%28860%29>
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist
Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which encouraged him to
publish his own theory of evolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace>
1953:
A Douglas C-124 Globemaster II aircraft crashed just after
takeoff from Tachikawa, Japan, killing all 129 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachikawa_air_disaster>
1983:
Iranian teenager Mona Mahmudnizhad and nine other women were
hanged in Shiraz because of their membership in the Baháʼí Faith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Mahmudnizhad>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kangatarian:
A non-vegetarian who, for ethical reasons, does not eat meat from
animals other than kangaroos, because they are sourced from the wild and
not farmed.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kangatarian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as
though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday.
--Paul McCartney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>
Li Rui (1917–2019) was a politician, historian, and Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) dissident. Joining the CCP in the 1930s, he became vice-
minister of the Ministry of Water Resources by 1958. His vocal
opposition to the proposed Three Gorges Dam brought him to the attention
of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the CCP. Li impressed Mao, who made him his
personal secretary for industrial affairs. However, Li defied Mao at the
1959 Lushan Conference, and was expelled from the party and sent to a
prison camp, spending eight years in solitary confinement. After Mao's
death in 1976, Li regained an influential position in the CCP, but was
eventually forced to resign because he was unwilling to favor the
children of powerful party members. In retirement, Li wrote extensively.
He called for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and democracy
within a socialist framework, but was censored. Li remained a Communist
Party member, respected but isolated, until his death at age 101 in
2019.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Rui>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1631:
Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died in
childbirth; Jahan spent the next seventeen years constructing her
mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal>
1913:
In Detroit, autoworkers for car manufacturer Studebaker went on
strike in the American auto industry's first major strike action.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Studebaker_strike>
1963:
Riots broke out in Saigon one day after the signing of the
Joint Communiqué, an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South
Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Communiqu%C3%A9>
2017:
Wildfires erupted across central Portugal, eventually causing
the deaths of 66 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2017_Portugal_wildfires>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fixedly:
1. In a fixed manner.
2. Firmly, resolutely.
3. Without changing one's expression; unchangingly.
4. Without shifting one's gaze; intently, steadily.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fixedly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To imitate the ostrich in political matters has never been a
satisfactory method of avoiding danger; yet this is what Hitler, as well
as his more important political, economic and even military advisers,
chose to do over and over again. The consequences of this deliberate
blindness in the face of hard facts were devastating; and it was we who
now had to bear them.
--Heinz Guderian
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heinz_Guderian>
Cyathus is a genus of bird's nest fungi in the family Nidulariaceae, so
named since they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with eggs. The
"eggs", or peridioles, are attached to the inner surface of the fruiting
body by a cord of mycelium. Both surfaces of the cup may be ridged
longitudinally, a taxonomic characteristic that has traditionally served
to distinguish between species. Cyathus species are widely distributed
across the globe, and some are found in most countries, although a few
are localized. C. stercoreus is considered endangered in a number of
European countries. Generally considered inedible, Cyathus species are
saprobic, obtaining nutrients from decomposing organic matter. They
usually grow on decaying woody material, on cow and horse dung, or
directly on humus-rich soil. The life cycle of this genus allows them to
reproduce both sexually via meiosis, and asexually via spores.
Phylogenetic analysis has provided insights into the relationships
between the various species. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyathus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1632:
The Plymouth Company granted a land patent to Thomas Purchase,
who became the first permanent European settler of Pejepscot, Maine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pejepscot,_Maine>
1936:
A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft of Norwegian Air Lines crashed into a
mountainside near Hyllestad, Norway, killing all seven people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hav%C3%B8rn_Accident>
1963:
Aboard Vostok 6, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became
the first woman in space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova>
2016:
Jo Cox, a British Member of Parliament, was murdered in her
constituency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jo_Cox>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wring:
1. (transitive)
2. Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly
so that liquid is forced out.
3. To squeeze water from (an item of wet clothing) by passing through a
wringer.
4. (also figuratively) Often followed by from or out: to extract (a
liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting
pressure on it.
5. To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.
6. To clasp and twist (hands) together due to distress, sorrow, etc.
7. To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to
wrest.
8. To contort or screw up (the face or its features).
9. To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil.
10. Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part
of their body), causing pain.
11. (archaic or Britain, dialectal, also figuratively) To cause (someone
or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying
pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure.
12. (figuratively)
13. To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes.
14. To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.);
to distress, to torment.
15. To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion
or other force.
16. To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of
someone; to generate (something) as a response.
17. (obsolete) To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to
extort.
18. (obsolete) To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain
way.
19. (obsolete) To change (something) into another thing.
20. (obsolete) To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to
twist, to wrest.
21. (obsolete, reflexive) To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or
subtle means; to insinuate.
22. (materials science) To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such
that their faces bond.
23. (intransitive)
24. To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or
exerting pressure.
25. To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe.
26. (figuratively)
27. To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil.
28. To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc.
29. (mining) Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out.
30. (obsolete) To make a way out with difficulty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wring>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the
baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own
interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their
self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their
advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the
benevolence of his fellow-citizens. Even a beggar does not depend upon
it entirely.
--Adam Smith
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adam_Smith>
Margaret Abbott (June 15, 1878 – June 10, 1955) was an American
amateur golfer and the first American woman to win an Olympic event: the
women's golf tournament at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Born in Calcutta in
1878, Abbott moved with her family to Chicago in 1884. She joined the
Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, where she was coached by Charles
B. Macdonald and H. J. Whigham. In 1899, she traveled with her mother
to Paris to study art. The following year, along with her mother, she
signed up for a women's golf tournament without realizing it was part of
the second modern Olympics. Abbott won with a score of 47 strokes and
was awarded a porcelain bowl; her mother tied for seventh. In
December 1902, she married the writer Finley Peter Dunne. They moved to
New York and had four children. Abbott died never realizing she won an
Olympic event. She was not well known until University of Florida
professor Paula Welch researched her life. The New York Times published
her belated obituary in 2018.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Abbott>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Exsurge Domine, censuring 41
propositions from Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses and subsequent
writings, and threatening him with excommunication unless he recanted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exsurge_Domine>
1921:
Bessie Coleman became the first Black person to earn an
international pilot's license from the Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman>
1995 :
Western Greece was struck by an earthquake registering
6.4–6.5 Mw that killed 26 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Aigio_earthquake>
2006:
US president George W. Bush designated 140,000 square miles
(360,000 km2) around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as the
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, now one of the world's
largest protected areas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papah%C4%81naumoku%C4%81kea_Marine_National_M…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
glacis:
1. A gentle incline.
2. (geomorphology) A gentle sloping landform created by the deposition
or erosion of material.
3. (military)
4. (architecture, also figuratively) A gentle incline in front of a
fortification which protects it from cannon fire and exposes attackers
to more effective return fire from defenders.
5. In full glacis plate: the angled armour plate on the front of a tank
which protects it from projectiles; also (often nautical), such a plate
protecting an opening (for example, on a ship).
6. (post) A device for sorting mail which slides parcels across a sloped
surface.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glacis>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Drovers were racing brokenly across the milling hogs like wind
through grass until a whole echelon of them careering up the outer flank
forsook the land and faired into space with torn cries. Now the entire
herd had begun to wheel wider and faster along the bluff and the
outermost ranks swung centrifugally over the escarpment row on row
wailing and squealing and above this the howls and curses of the drovers
that now upreared in the moil of flesh they tended and swept with dust
had begun to assume satanic looks with their staves and wild eyes as if
they were no true swineherds but disciples of darkness got among these
charges to herd them to their doom.
--Cormac McCarthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy>
Science Fiction Adventures was a US science fiction magazine, published
from 1956 to 1958 by Royal Publications as a companion to Infinity
Science Fiction and edited by Larry Shaw for all 12 issues. It printed
action-adventure stories, focusing on fiction longer than Infinity's.
Historian Mike Ashley considers it better than similarly edited
magazines Imagination and Imaginative Tales. Robert Silverberg
contributed prolifically, sometimes pseudonymously. He collaborated
with Randall Garrett in the first issue. Occasionally contributing
writers included Harlan Ellison, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Algis Budrys, and
Harry Harrison. Ed Emshwiller contributed cover art for nine issues
(example pictured), with John Schoenherr doing one other. Canceled due
to disappointing sales, the magazine's last issue was for June 1958;
Infinity only lasted a few months longer. A British reprint edition
commenced in early 1958, edited by John Carnell and continued for 32
issues by using reprints and original material.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_Adventures_%281956_magazine%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1646:
Franco-Spanish War: French and Spanish fleets fought the
inconclusive Battle of Orbetello, with sailing vessels of both sides
having to be towed into action by galleys due to light winds.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orbetello>
1846:
Settlers in Sonoma began rebelling against Mexico, later
proclaiming the California Republic and raising a homemade flag with a
bear and a star.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Republic>
1940:
The Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding
that the Red Army be allowed to enter the country and form a pro-Soviet
government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ultimatum_to_Lithuania>
1949:
Albert II became the first monkey in space, reaching an
altitude of 134 km (83 mi) in a V-2 rocket.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkeys_and_apes_in_space>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
epistemic:
1. (philosophy) Of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or
how it is acquired.
2. (by extension, linguistics) Of or relating to how cognition or
knowledge is expressed in language.
3. (philosophy) Of or relating to epistemology (“the branch of
philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge”); epistemologic or
epistemological.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/epistemic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning
the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.
--Donald Trump
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Trump>
Diodorus scytobrachion was a silesaurid dinosauromorph that lived
during the Late Triassic of what is now Morocco. The dinosauromorph is
the only known member of genus Diodorus. Fossils dating to about
230 million years ago were discovered in the Timezgadiouine Formation
of the Argana Basin, and were used to name the new genus and species.
The genus name honors the mythological king Diodorus and the historian
Diodorus Siculus; the specific name is ancient Greek for 'leathery arm'
and also honors the mythographer Dionysius Scytobrachion. The holotype
specimen is a partial dentary bone (front of the lower jaw), and
assigned specimens include isolated teeth, two humeri, a metatarsal, and
a femur (diagram shown). Diodorus is estimated to have been around
2.3 m (7.5 ft) long, with features thought to be shared by most
silesaurs, including leaf-shaped teeth, long limbs, and a quadrupedal
posture. It is believed to have been principally though not entirely
herbivorous.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_scytobrachion>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
World War I: The Battle of Mont Sorrel in the Ypres Salient
came to an end as a Canadian assault led German forces to withdraw to
their original lines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mont_Sorrel>
1973:
The Los Angeles Dodgers started Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron
Cey, and Bill Russell in the infield, beginning a record eight-year run
in Major League Baseball for four people designated as starters for
those positions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodger_infield_of_Garvey,_Lopes,_Cey_and_Russ…>
2007:
Insurgents carried out a second bombing at the al-Askari
Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_al-Askari_mosque_bombing>
2011:
A 6.0 Mw earthquake caused up to NZ$6 billion of additional
damage to Christchurch, New Zealand, which was still recovering from an
earthquake four months earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2011_Christchurch_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
oligopoly:
(economics) An economic condition in which a small number of sellers
exert control over the market of a commodity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oligopoly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We may find illustrations of the highest doctrines of science in
games and gymnastics, in travelling by land and by water, in storms of
the air and of the sea, and wherever there is matter in motion.
--James Clerk Maxwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell>
BTS is a South Korean boy band. A K-pop group, BTS debuted on June 12,
2013; by 2017, it had entered the global music market, leading the
Korean Wave into the U.S., and becoming the first Korean ensemble to
receive a Gold certification from the RIAA for the single "Mic Drop".
BTS became the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with
Love Yourself: Tear (2018). With a large, well-organized worldwide fan
base, BTS is the best-selling artist in South Korean history, with sales
of more than 40 million albums. Members have thrice addressed the
United Nations General Assembly, and in 2022 visited the White House.
Dubbed the "Princes of Pop", BTS has also appeared on Time's lists of
the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100
most influential people in the world (2019). In 2018, they became the
youngest recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit. Now on
pause to allow members to complete their required military service, the
group plans a reunion for 2025.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
As part of the Ottoman Empire's policies of ethnic cleansing,
Turkish irregulars began a six-day massacre of the predominantly Greek
town of Phocaea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Phocaea>
1921:
Soviet politician Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko authorised the use
of chemical weapons against a peasant rebellion in the Tambov
Governorate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambov_Rebellion>
1963:
The premiere was held in New York of the historical drama film
Cleopatra, the most expensive film made to that point.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_%281963_film%29>
1987:
Cold War: During a speech at the Brandenburg Gate by the Berlin
Wall, U.S. president Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" (speech featured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall!>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
deplorable:
1. To be deplored.
2. To be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion; lamentable.
3. Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad, wretched. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deplorable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I've learned one thing: you only really get to know a person
after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character!
--Anne Frank
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Frank>
The short-beaked echidna is one of four living species of echidna. It is
covered in fur and spines, has a distinctive snout to help detect its
surroundings, and uses a specialized tongue to catch insects. Its
extremely strong front limbs and claws allow it to burrow quickly. It
repels predators by curling into a ball and deters them with its spines.
During the Australian winter, it goes into deep torpor and hibernation.
As the temperature increases, it emerges to mate. Female echidnas lay
one egg a year and the mating period is the only time the solitary
animals meet. A newborn echidna grows rapidly on their mother's milk and
is expelled into the mother's burrow when they grow too large for the
mother's pouch. They leave the burrow when they are around six months
old. The species is found throughout Australia and in coastal and
highland regions of eastern New Guinea. It is not threatened with
extinction, but human activities have reduced its distribution in
Australia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-beaked_echidna>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1509:
Catherine of Aragon married King Henry VIII of England,
becoming the first of his six wives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon>
1923:
Kitosh, an African labourer, died after having been flogged by
his British employer, in a case that eventually led to reform of the
legal system of the Kenya Colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Abraham_murder_case>
1963:
Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death
in Saigon to protest the persecution of Buddhists by Catholic South
Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem's administration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c>
2008:
Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper apologised to the First
Nations for past governments' policies of forced assimilation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rheumy:
1. Of, relating to, or made of rheum (“thin or watery discharge of mucus
or serum”); watery.
2. Producing rheum from the mucous membranes; (also figuratively)
especially of the eyes: filled with rheum; watery.
3. (literary, poetic, obsolete) Especially of the air: damp, moist.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rheumy>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's reason good, that you good laws should make: Men's
manners ne'er were viler, for your sake.
--Ben Jonson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson>