Herne Hill railway station is a passenger railway station in Lambeth,
South London. Opened on 25 August 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover
Railway, the station was an important interchange for passengers
travelling between London and continental Europe for many decades;
direct rail services were available to the Kent coast and London
Victoria, the City of London and King's Cross. The arrival of the
railways transformed Herne Hill from a wealthy suburb with large
residential estates into a densely populated urban area; the number of
residents increased five-fold in the decade after the station’s
opening as workers took advantage of the fast and cheap trains to
central London (some services cost as little as a penny per journey).
Today, the station is served by two commuter routes and used by more
than 2.6 million passengers a year. The original building, which is
still in use, has been praised for its architectural quality and was
Grade II listed in 1998.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herne_Hill_railway_station>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1248:
Ommen in the Netherlands received city rights and fortification
rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht, after the town was
pillaged at least twice by a local robber baron.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ommen>
1580:
War of the Portuguese Succession: The army of the pretender to
the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato (pictured), was routed
in the Battle of Alcântara, ending his short-lived reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alc%C3%A2ntara_(1580)>
1939:
The United Kingdom and Poland entered into a military alliance
for mutual assistance in case of military invasion by "a European
Power".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Polish_military_alliance>
1942:
Second World War: Japanese forces attacked the Australian base
at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay>
1945:
Armed supporters of the Communist Party of China killed
American military intelligence officer and Baptist missionary John Birch
as he was leading a mission to reach Allied personnel in a Japanese
prison camp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(missionary)>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
draculin:
(organic chemistry) A glycoprotein with anticoagulant properties, found
in the saliva of vampire bats.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/draculin>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whate'er of us lives in the hearts of others Is our truest and
profoundest self.
--Johann Gottfried Herder
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Herder>