Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals
or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by
melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of
molten material that cools to become a strong joint, but sometimes
pressure is used in conjunction with heat, or by itself, to produce
the weld. Many different energy sources can be used for welding,
including oxy-acetylene gas, an electric arc, a laser, an electron
beam, friction, and ultrasound. While often an industrial process,
welding can be done in many different environments, including open
air, underwater and in space. Until the end of the 19th century, the
only welding process was forge welding, which blacksmiths had used for
centuries to join metals by heating and pounding them. Arc welding and
oxyfuel welding were among the first processes to develop during the
1800s. Welding technology advanced quickly during the early 20th
century as World War I and World War II drove the demand for reliable
and inexpensive joining methods. Following the wars, several modern
welding techniques were developed, including shielded metal arc
welding, gas metal arc welding, submerged arc welding and flux-cored
arc welding. Today, the science continues to advance, with robot
welding becoming more commonplace in industrial settings, and
researchers continuing to develop new welding methods.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welding
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1678:
The Godiva procession in Coventry, England, began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godiva)
1889:
Johnstown Flood: A flood killed over 2200 people in Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood)
1916:
German and British navies clashed in the Battle of Jutland, the
largest naval battle of World War I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland)
1974:
Syria and Israel signed a disengagement agreement to resolve the Yom
Kippur War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War)
1977:
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Alaska_Pipeline_System)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"When there are no more memories of heroes and martyrs, And when all
life and all the souls of men and women are discharged from any part
of the earth, Then only shall liberty or the idea of liberty be
discharged from that part of the earth, And the infidel come into full
possession." -- Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman)
Dawson's Creek is an hour-long American television drama aimed at and
mostly about teenagers, which aired from 1998 to 2003. The show is
semi-autobiographical, based on the small-town childhood of creator
Kevin Williamson, writer of the slasher film Scream: Dawson Leery, the
lead character, shares Williamson's interests and background. The show
was set in a small Massachusetts seaside town and focused on four
friends who began their sophomore year of high school as the show
began. The program, part of a craze for teen-themed movies and
television shows in America in the late 1990s, made stars of its leads
and was a defining show for its network, The WB. It was the first
series bold enough to pick up the mantle of Beverly Hills, 90210 and
an inspiration for many variations on the teenage angst theme,
including The O.C. on Fox."
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson%27s_Creek
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1431:
Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen,
France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouen)
1434:
Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were decisively defeated in
the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussite_Wars)
1536:
Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his
first two queen consorts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Seymour)
1911:
The first Indianapolis 500 open-wheel automobile race was held at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500)
1967:
Chief Emeka Ojukwu took office as the first President of Biafra, a
secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukwuemeka_Odumegwu_Ojukwu)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The liberty of man consists solely in this: that he obeys natural
laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because
they have been externally imposed upon him by any extrinsic will
whatever, divine or human, collective or individual." -- Mikhail
Bakunin
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin)
The use of poison gas was a major military innovation of the First
World War. The gases used ranged from tear gas to disabling chemicals
such as mustard gas and killing agents like phosgene. The killing
capacity of gas was limited — only 3% of combat deaths were due to gas
— however, the proportion of non-fatal casualties was high and gas
remained one of the soldier's greatest fears. Unlike most other
weapons of the period, it was possible to develop effective
countermeasures to gas and hence in the latter stages of the war, as
the use of gas increased, in many cases its effectiveness was
diminished.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_poison_gas_in_World_War_I
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
Constantinople fell to an Ottoman army, ending the Byzantine Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople)
1660:
Oak Apple Day: Charles II regained the throne of England in the
English Restoration.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Restoration)
1914:
Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint Lawrence River,
killing 1,012 on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Ireland)
1919:
Observations made by Sir Arthur Eddington during a solar eclipse
confirmed part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Stanley_Eddington)
1953:
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach
the summit of Mount Everest.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing
which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured
by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is
the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
-- T. H. White
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._H._White)
The Temptations are an American Motown singing group whose repertoire
has included doo-wop, soul, psychedelia, funk, disco, R&B, and adult
contemporary. Formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1960, The Temptations has
always featured five African-American male vocalists/dancers. The
group, known for its finely tuned choreography, distinct harmonies,
and stylish suits, has been said to be as influential to soul as The
Beatles are to rock. Having sold an estimated 22 million albums by
1982, The Temptations are the most successful group in black music
history. In addition, they have the second-longest tenure on Motown
(behind Stevie Wonder), as they were with the label for a total of 40
years: 16 years from 1961 to 1977, and 24 more from 1980 to 2004 (from
1977 to 1980, they were signed to Atlantic Records). As of 2005, The
Temptations continue to perform as an independent act with only one
original member, founder Otis Williams, in its lineup.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temptations
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1588:
The Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon for the English Channel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada)
1892:
The Sierra Club was founded in San Francisco by environmentalist John
Muir.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Club)
1905:
Japanese forces led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro destroyed the Russian
Baltic Fleet and won the Battle of Tsushima, the decisive naval battle
in the Russo-Japanese War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima)
1936:
Alan Turing submitted "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to
the Entscheidungsproblem" for publication.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing)
1961:
A newspaper article by Peter Benenson started a letter-writing
campaign that grew and became Amnesty International.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"We have gotten some terrible reviews at times but if we depended on
the judgment of the studios or critics, we never would have made more
than one movie." -- Ismail Merchant
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ismail_Merchant)
The Canadian Senate is a component of the Parliament of Canada, which
also includes the Sovereign and the House of Commons. The Senate is an
unelected body, consisting of 105 members appointed by the Governor
General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Senate seats are divided
among the provinces, so that Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime provinces,
and the Western provinces are equally represented. The Senate was
established in 1867, when the British North America Act 1867 created
the Dominion of Canada. Known as the "Upper House", the Senate, which
meets at Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, is far less powerful
than the House of Commons (the "Lower House"). Although the approval
of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely
rejects bills passed by the democratically elected Commons.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Senate
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1328:
Philip VI of France was crowned at the Notre-Dame de Reims, beginning
the Valois Dynasty.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_VI_of_France)
1860:
Italian unification: Giuseppe Garibaldi and his Redshirts launched
their attack on Palermo, capital of the Two Sicilies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi)
1919:
The flying boat NC-4 arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, becoming the first
aircraft to complete a transatlantic flight.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NC-4)
1923:
The first 24 heures du Mans sports car endurance race was held in Le
Mans, France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_hours_of_Le_Mans)
1999:
Slobodan Milosevic was indicted for war crimes and crimes against
humanity committed in Kosovo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Milosevic)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs
swiftness." -- Julia Ward Howe
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julia_Ward_Howe)
The Country Wife is a Restoration comedy from 1675 by William
Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the
play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was
controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. Even
its title contains a lewd pun. Based on several plays by Molière, it
turns on two indelicate plot devices: a rake's trick of pretending
impotence in order to safely have clandestine affairs with married
women, and the arrival in London of an inexperienced young "country
wife", with her discovery of the joys of town life, especially the
fascinating London men. The scandalous trick and the frank language
have for much of the play's history kept it off the stage and out of
print. Between 1753 and 1924, The Country Wife was considered too
outrageous to be performed at all and was replaced on the stage by
David Garrick's cleaned-up and bland version The Country Girl. The
original play is again a stage favourite today, and is also acclaimed
by academic critics, who praise its linguistic energy, sharp social
satire, and openness to different interpretations.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Country_Wife
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
Napoléon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy in Milan with the Iron
Crown of Lombardy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Italy)
1896:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published by Charles Dow as
a stock market index.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average)
1918:
The Democratic Republic of Georgia was proclaimed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Georgia)
1972:
– Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty in Moscow, concluding SALT I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty)
1986:
– The European Community adopted the European flag.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_flag)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the
earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and
humility." -- Rachel Carson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson)
Mount Pinatubo is an active volcano located on the island of Luzon in
the Philippines, at the intersection of the borders of the provinces
of Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga. Before 1991, the mountain was
inconspicuous and heavily eroded. It was covered in dense forest which
supported a population of several thousand indigenous people, the
Aeta, who had fled to the mountains from the lowlands when the Spanish
conquered the Philippines in 1565. The volcano's most recent eruption
in June 1991 came after 500 years of dormancy, and produced one of the
largest and most violent eruptions of the 20th century. Successful
predictions of the onset of the climactic eruption led to the
evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the surrounding areas,
saving many lives, but the surrounding areas were severely damaged by
pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and later, lahars caused by rainwater
remobilising earlier volcanic deposits, and thousands of houses were
destroyed. The effects of the eruption were felt world-wide. It
injected large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere—more than any
eruption since that of Krakatoa in 1883. Global temperatures dropped
by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F), and ozone destruction increased
substantially.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pinatubo
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1420:
Henry the Navigator became Grandmaster of the Order of Christ, the
Portuguese successor to the Knights Templar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator)
1521:
Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and a heretic by the Diet of
Worms.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther)
1810:
May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires ousted the Spanish viceroy
and established the first independent local government in Argentina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires)
1895:
The Republic of Formosa was inaugurated in Taiwan, proclaiming
independence from Qing China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Taiwan)
1961:
Project Apollo, with the goal of "landing a man on the Moon and
returning him safely to Earth", was announced.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Apollo)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would
men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the
remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night
come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their
admonishing smile." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson)
The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen
whales. Blue Whales are believed to be the largest animal ever to have
lived, at up to 30 metres in length and 140 tonnes or more in weight.
Blue Whales were abundant in most oceans around the world up until the
beginning of the twentieth century. For the first 40 years of that
century they were hunted by whalers almost to extinction. Hunting of
the species was outlawed by the international community in 1966. The
current world population is between three and four thousand
invididuals. These are located in four (or possibly five) groups. The
largest is in the North-East Pacific. There are two groups in the
North Atlantic and one in Antarctic waters. Blue Whales found in the
Indian Ocean may or may not be part of the Antarctic group.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Whale
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1487:
Impostor Lambert Simnel was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in
Dublin, Ireland as "King Edward VI".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_Simnel)
1626:
Peter Minuit bought Manhattan in exchange for trade goods valued at 60
guilders.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit)
1822:
Troops led by Antonio José de Sucre secured the independence of Quito
from Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Jos%E9_de_Sucre)
1911:
The New York Public Library opened.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library)
1941:
World War II: The German battleship Bismarck sank the British
battlecruiser HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of
responsibility that comes with his freedom." -- Bob Dylan
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan)
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the
British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The mutated
remains of the Kaled people of the planet Skaro, they travel around in
tank-like mechanical casings, and are a race bent on universal
conquest and destruction. They are also the greatest alien adversaries
of the Time Lord known as the Doctor. Their catchphrase is
"EXTERMINATE!", screeched in a frantic mechanical voice. The Daleks
were created by writer Terry Nation and BBC designer Raymond Cusick
and were first introduced in December 1963 in the second Doctor Who
serial. They became an immediate hit with the viewing audience and
have become synonymous with Doctor Who, with their behaviour and
catchphrases also becoming part of British popular culture.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalek
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1533:
The marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England was
annulled.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon)
1568:
The Eighty Years' War broke out when Dutch rebels led by Louis of
Nassau invaded Friesland in the Battle of Heiligerlee.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War)
1873:
The North West Mounted Police was established in the Northwest
Territories, Canada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police)
1934:
American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed by police and
killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde)
1969:
British rock band The Who released the rock opera Tommy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It seems that it is madder never to abandon one's self than often to
be infatuated; better to be wounded, a captive and a slave, than
always to walk in armor." -- Margaret Fuller
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller)
Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the normal flow of speech is
frequently disrupted by repetitions (sounds, syllables, words, or
phrases), pauses, and prolongations that differ both in frequency and
severity from those of normally fluent individuals. The term
stuttering is most commonly associated with the involuntary
repetition, but it also encompasses the abnormal hesitation or pausing
before speech, referred to by stutterers as blocks, and the
prolongation of certain sounds, usually vowels. Much of what
constitutes “stuttering” cannot be observed by the listener; this
includes such things as sound and word fears, situational fears,
anxiety, tension, shame, and a feeling of "loss of control" during
speech. The emotional state of the individual who stutters in response
to the stuttering often constitutes the most difficult aspect of the
disorder.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttering
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1674:
John Sobieski was elected by the szlachta to be King of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III_Sobieski%2C_King_of_Poland)
1881:
The American Red Cross was established by Clara Barton.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Cross)
1894:
The Manchester Ship Canal was officially opened, linking the city of
Manchester to the Irish Sea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal)
1927:
Aboard the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh completed the first
solo non-stop transatlantic flight.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh)
1991:
Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female
suicide bomber.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhi)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"May the Force be with you." -- Jedi saying; used in all Star Wars
episodes.
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Wars)