The Hubble Deep Field is the result of a series of observations by the
Hubble Space Telescope of a small region of the northern celestial
hemisphere. It was assembled from 342 separate exposures taken with
the Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over 10
consecutive days between December 18 and December 28, 1995. The field
is small enough that only a few foreground stars in the Milky Way lie
within it; thus, almost all of the 3,000 objects in the image are
galaxies, some of which are among the youngest and most distant known.
By revealing such large numbers of very young galaxies, the HDF has
become a landmark image in the study of the early universe, and it has
been the source of almost 400 scientific papers since it was created.
Three years after the HDF observations were taken, a region in the
south celestial hemisphere was imaged in a similar way and named the
Hubble Deep Field South. The similarities between the two regions
strengthened the belief that the universe is uniform over large scales
and that the Earth occupies a typical region in the universe (the
cosmological principle).
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Deep_Field
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
54:
Claudius was fatally poisoned by his wife Agrippina the younger,
making her seventeen-year-old son Nero the next Roman Emperor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero)
1307:
Thousands of members of the Knights Templar
were simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair and
subsequently tortured into "admitting" heresy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar)
1812:
War of 1812: British troops and Mohawk warriors repelled an American
invasion from across the Niagara River in the Battle of Queenston
Heights.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Queenston_Heights)
1843:
The Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, the oldest
continually-operating Jewish service organization in the world, was
founded in New York City.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%27nai_Brith)
1943:
World War II: With a new government led by General Pietro Badoglio,
parts of Italy switched sides to the Allies and declared war on the
Axis Powers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Badoglio)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands,
whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to
us." -- Liturgy for Yom Kippur
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/w%3AYom_Kippur)
Wario is a fictional Nintendo video-game character who was created as
an antagonist to Mario and has since become the protagonist of his own
games. He first appears in the 1992 video game Super Mario Land 2: 6
Golden Coins as the main villain and final boss. He is voiced by
Charles Martinet, who also voices the Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi
characters. The name "Wario" can be taken to be a blending of Mario's
name with the Japanese adjective warui meaning "bad"; hence, a "bad
Mario". In the United States, the name is often seen as a play on the
word "war" and on the fact that the letter W resembles an upside-down
M. As Wario is Mario's evil counterpart, his actions are often the
opposites of Mario's, just as the first letters in their names appear
to be opposites.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wario
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
The Morant Bay rebellion, led by Paul Bogle and George William
Gordon, began in Jamaica. It was brutally suppressed by Governor
Edward John Eyre.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morant_Bay_rebellion)
1954:
Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh)
1962:
Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, the first Roman
Catholic ecumenical council in 92 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council)
1968:
NASA launched Apollo 7, the first manned mission of the Apollo
program.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7)
1975:
Saturday Night Live, an American weekly comedy-variety show, was
broadcast for the first time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"You always fall when you’re training, that’s sort of part of the
process. If you’re not falling, you’re not training hard enough."
-- Michelle Trachtenberg
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michelle_Trachtenberg)
Isaac Brock was a British major-general and administrator, who served
in various parts of the Empire for nearly thirty years, serving in the
Caribbean, Denmark, and elsewhere. During that time he challenged
duelists, nearly died from fever, was injured in battle, faced both
desertions and near mutinies, and also had the privilege of serving
alongside Lord Nelson. However, he is best remembered for his actions
while assigned to the Canadian colonies. Brock was assigned to Canada
in 1802, eventually reaching the rank of Major-General. In this
capacity, he was responsible for defending Canada from the United
States during the War of 1812. While many in Canada and in England
believed war could be averted, Brock began preparing the army, the
militia, and the populace for what was to come. Thus, when war broke
out, Canada was prepared, and quick victories at Fort Mackinac, and in
the Battle of Detroit, which crippled American invasion efforts,
secured Brock's reputation as a brilliant leader and strategist. His
death in the Battle of Queenston Heights was a crushing blow to
British leadership. Brock's efforts earned him accolades, a
knighthood, and the moniker 'The Hero of Upper Canada'.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Brock
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
732:
Battle of Tours: Charles Martel and the Franks defeated a large
Andalusian Muslim army led by Abd er Rahman near Tours and Poitiers,
stopping the northward advance of Islam from the Iberian Peninsula.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours)
1911:
The Xinhai Revolution began with the Wuchang Uprising, marking the
beginning of the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuchang_Uprising)
1973:
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew <small>(pictured)</small> resigned
after being charged with tax evasion.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew)
1982:
St. Maximilian Kolbe, who had volunteered to die in place of another
man in a Nazi concentration camp, was canonized by the Roman Catholic
Church.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe)
1987:
After two military coups in Fiji led by Sitiveni Rabuka, the
military government revoked the constitution and declared Fiji a
republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_coups_of_1987)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The truth is that there is only one terminal dignity — love. And
the story of a love is not important — what is important is that one
is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of
eternity." -- Helen Hayes
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Hayes)
Moorgate was one of the old minor gates of the old London Wall
surrounding the City of London, the historic and financial centre of
Greater London in the United Kingdom. The name survives as the name of
a major street in the heart of the City connecting it with Islington,
and in the name of a mainline terminus and London Underground train
station. Several major investment and commercial banks congregate in
this area. There is a mixture of historic and contemporary office
buildings, including Moorhouse, which was designed by Foster and
Partners, and stands at the corner of Moorgate and London Wall.
Moorgate is named after Moorfields, one of the last pieces of open
land in the City. Moorgate station is best known for an incident on
February 28, 1975, when a Northern Line tube train terminating at
Moorgate failed to stop and crashed into a brick wall beyond a
platform, killing 43 people. This resulted in automatic systems for
stopping trains at dead-ends being installed on all dead-ends on the
Underground. These systems are known as Moorgate control.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorgate
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1514:
Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England, became queen consort of
France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Tudor_%28queen_consort_of_France%29)
1831:
John Capodistria, the Greek head of state, was assassinated in
Náfplio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Capodistria)
1888:
The Washington Monument, then the world's tallest building,
officially opened to the general public.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument)
1919:
The Black Sox scandal: The Cincinnati Reds "defeated" "Shoeless Joe"
Jackson <small>(pictured)</small> and the Chicago White Sox to "win"
the World Series major league baseball championship by 5 games to 3.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_World_Series)
1963:
A landslide displaced large amounts of water from the Vajont Dam in
northern Italy, causing waves and floods that quickly swept away
several villages and killed almost 2,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"I think the ultimate sense of security will be when we come to
recognize that we are all part of one human race. Our primary
allegiance is to the human race and not to one particular color or
border." -- Mohamed ElBaradei
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohamed_ElBaradei)
The current national flag of Belarus was formally adopted on June 7,
1995, following the result of a referendum voted on by the Belarusian
people in the previous month. This new design replaced a historical
flag that Belarus had used before becoming a Soviet Republic, and
again after it regained its independence in 1991. The current flag is
a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic
of the Soviet Union. The 1995 flag has been the basis of several flags
used by government bodies. A few groups have continued to use the
previous flag, though its use in Belarus has been restricted by the
government of president Alexander Lukashenko. The 1991 flag is still
used in protests against the government. Independent observers have
said that the referendum that selected the current flag did not meet
democratic standards.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Belarus
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
3761 BCE:
The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar)
1571:
The Ottoman Empire was decisively defeated by the Christian West for
the first time, as a multinational fleet led by Don John of Austria
crushed the Turkish navy near the Gulf of Corinth in the Battle of
Lepanto.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto_%281571%29)
1949:
The German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Berlin.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany)
1985:
The Mediterranean ocean liner Achille Lauro was hijacked by
Palestine Liberation Front terrorists while sailing from Alexandria to
Port Said.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro)
2001:
War on Terrorism: The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began at 16:30
UTC with an aerial bombing campaign targeting Taliban and Al-Qaida
forces.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._invasion_of_Afghanistan)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the
opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." --
Niels Bohr
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr)
The Commodore 64 was a popular home computer of the 1980s. Announced
by Commodore Business Machines in January 1982 and released in August
of that year at a price of US$595, it offered unprecedented value
(sound and graphics performance) for the money. Aggressive pricing of
the C64 by Commodore was one of the major catalysts for the video game
crash of 1983. Approximately 15,000 software titles were made for the
Commodore 64, including games, development tools, and office
applications. It is also credited with popularizing the computer demo
scene. With estimated sales between 17 and 25 million units by the
time it was discontinued in 1993, the C64 became and remains the
best-selling computer model of all time.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1927:
The first successful talking movie The Jazz Singer, starring Al
Jolson, was released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer)
1976:
Premier Hua Guofeng ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four and their
associates, putting an end to the Cultural Revolution in China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Four_%28China%29)
1981:
Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated while
attending a parade in Cairo to mark the eighth anniversary of the
Crossing of the Bar Lev Line at the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli
War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat)
1995:
An article in the journal Nature reported the discovery of a planet
orbiting 51 Pegasi as the first known extrasolar planet around a
main-sequence star.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51_Pegasi)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil. Death closes all; but
something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not
unbecoming men that strove with gods. -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Tennyson)
BC Rail was a railway that operated in the Canadian province of
British Columbia between 1912 and 2004. It was a class II regional
railway and the third largest in Canada, operating 1,441 miles (2,320
kilometres) of mainline track. It was owned by the provincial
government from 1918 until 2004, when it was sold to Canadian National
Railway. Chartered in 1912, the railway was acquired by the provincial
government in 1918 after running into financial difficulties. A
railway that ran from "nowhere to nowhere" for over 30 years, neither
passing through any major city nor interchanging with any other
railway, it expanded significantly between 1949 and 1984. Primarily a
freight railway, it also offered passenger service, as well as some
excursion services, most notably the Royal Hudson excursion train. The
railway's operations have not always been profitable, and its debts
have made it the centre of political controversy on multiple
occasions.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Rail
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
Belgian Revolution: A provisional government in Brussels declared
the creation of the independent and neutral state of Belgium, in
revolt against the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Revolution)
1883:
The Orient Express began operations.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient_Express)
1910:
Manuel II, the last King of Portugal, fled to the United Kingdom when
a revolution erupted in Lisbon and his palace was shelled. The
Portuguese First Republic was proclaimed the next day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_II_of_Portugal)
1957:
Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1 was launched by an R-7 rocket from
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh SSR and became the first artificial
satellite to orbit the Earth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1)
1993:
Russian Constitutional Crisis: Tanks bombarded the White House in
Moscow, a government building that housed the Russian parliament,
where demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rallied outside.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_constitutional_crisis_of_1993)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be
understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few
scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just
ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the
question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the
answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason —
for then we would know the mind of God." -- Stephen Hawking
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking)
Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It
was created with the intention of being turned into a film, and is
officially credited as being "based on a screen treatment by Kevin
McClory, Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming", a shared credit which has
been the subject of much controversy. The novel was published in 1961
and stands, technically, as the first novelisation of a James Bond
screenplay, even though at the time it was written and published, no
such film had yet been produced. It was subsequently adapted as a
daily comic strip beginning in 1961. Thunderball has, to date, been
adapted twice for the cinema. The first adaptation was released in
1965, with Sean Connery as James Bond. It was the fourth official Bond
movie in EON Productions' series. McClory later produced an unofficial
remake, 1983's Never Say Never Again, which again starred Connery as
Bond. Thunderball was originally scheduled to have been the first
James Bond film, in 1962, but this was later changed to Dr. No due to
a lawsuit brought about by McClory.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderball
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1283:
Dafydd ap Gruffydd the Prince of Wales, the last native ruler of Wales
to resist English domination, was executed by drawing and quartering.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dafydd_ap_Gruffydd)
1935:
Italy invaded Ethiopia, igniting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Abyssinian_War)
1990:
German reunification: The five re-established German states
(Bundesländer) of East Germany formally joined West Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification)
1993:
Soldiers from Malaysian, Pakistani and U.S. armed forces attempted to
capture Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in the Battle of
Mogadishu.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Everyone seems to be playing well within the boundaries of his usual
rule set. I have yet to hear anyone say something that seemed likely
to mitigate the idiocy of this age." -- John Perry Barlow
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow)
The economy of India is the fourth largest in the world, with a GDP of
$3.363 trillion at PPP, and is the tenth largest in the world, with a
GDP of $691.9 billion at 2004 USD exchange rates and has a real GDP
growth rate of 6.2% at PPP. However India's huge population results in
a relatively low per capita income ($3,100 at PPP). Services are the
major source of economic growth in India today, though two-thirds of
Indian workforce earn their livelihood directly or indirectly through
agriculture. In recent times, India has also capitalised on its large
number of highly-educated populace fluent in the English language to
become a major exporter of software services, financial services and
software engineers. For most of India's independent history, a
socialist inspired approach was adhered to, with strict government
control and regulation on private sector participation, foreign trade
and foreign direct investment. Since the early 1990s, India has
gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing
government controls on foreign trade and investment. The
socio-economic problems India faces are the burgeoning population,
growing inequality, lack of infrastructure, growing unemployment and
growing poverty.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1187:
The Siege of Jerusalem: Ayyubid forces led by Saladin captured
Jerusalem, prompting the Third Crusade.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281187%29)
1535:
French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed along the St. Lawrence River
and reached an Iroquois fort on the island now known as Montréal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Montreal)
1835:
Mexican dragoons dispatched to disarm settlers at Gonzales, Texas
encountered stiff resistance from a Texian militia in the Battle of
Gonzales, the first armed engagement of the Texas Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales)
1928:
Saint Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei, a worldwide organization of
lay members of the Roman Catholic Church.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei)
1950:
Peanuts, a syndicated comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, featuring
Charlie Brown and his pet beagle Snoopy, was first published in major
newspapers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a
dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the
middle ground between light and shadow, between science and
superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the
summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is
an area which we call the Twilight Zone." -- Rod Serling in The
Twilight Zone
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rod_Serling)
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and the 16th largest city of the
United States. The settlement that became the City of Louisville was
founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis
XVI of France. Louisville is most famous as the home of the Kentucky
Derby, the most widely watched event in American horse racing.
Louisville is situated on the Kentucky-Indiana border at the only
natural obstacle in the Ohio River, the Falls of the Ohio. As of the
2000 census, Louisville had a total population of 256,231. However, in
2003, the city and Jefferson County merged into a single consolidated
city-county government.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville%2C_Kentucky
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1936:
Generalísimo Francisco Franco became the head of the Spanish State.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco)
1958:
NASA began operations, replacing the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA)
1964:
To-kaido- Shinkansen, the first Shinkansen line of high-speed
railways in Japan, opened.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen)
1977:
Brazilian football star Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as
Pelé, played his last professional football game.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary,
it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live
together in peace by killing each other's children." -- Jimmy Carter
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter)