The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in
the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States
federal government. The Justices are nominated by the President and
confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. Appointed to
serve for life, they can be removed only by resignation, or by
impeachment and subsequent conviction. The Supreme Court holds both
original and appellate jurisdiction, with its appellate jurisdiction
accounting for most of the Court's caseload. The Supreme Court meets
in Washington, D.C., in the United States Supreme Court building. The
Court's yearly terms usually start on the first Monday in October and
finish sometime during the following June or July. Each term consists
of alternating two week intervals. During the first interval, the
court is in session and hears cases, and during the second interval,
the court is recessed to consider and write opinions on cases they
have heard.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
After a successful invasion of Sweden, Danish soldiers under King
Christian II executed scores of Swedish leaders in the Stockholm
Bloodbath.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Bloodbath)
1865:
Henry Wirz, the superintendent of the Andersonville Prison, was
hanged, becoming the only American Civil War soldier executed for war
crimes.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersonville_prison)
1871:
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" – Henry Morton Stanley located missing
missionary and explorer, David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake
Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morton_Stanley)
1969:
Sesame Street debuted on the National Educational Television network
in the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street)
1995:
Playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others
from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were executed
by the Nigerian military government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Rarely do we arrive at the summit of truth without running into
extremes; we have frequently to exhaust the part of error, and even of
folly, before we work our way up to the noble goal of tranquil wisdom.
-- Friedrich Schiller
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller)
Karen Dotrice is an English actress most notable for her role as a
child in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of the Mary Poppins
series of children's books. Dotrice was born in 1955 in the British
Crown possession of Guernsey, Channel Islands, to two accomplished
stage actors. Her acting career began on stage, expanded into film and
television roles, and concluded with a short run as Desdemona in the
1981 Broadway production of Othello. In 1984, Dotrice retired from
show business to focus on motherhood. She was named a Disney Legend in
2004.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Dotrice
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
The coup of 18 Brumaire led by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Napoléon
Bonaparte deposed the French government, replacing the Directory with
the Consulate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18_Brumaire)
1918:
German Emperor William II abdicated, Prince Maximilian of Baden
resigned as Chancellor, and Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the Weimar
Republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic)
1953:
Cambodia gained independence from France and became a constitutional
monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia)
1989:
The Berlin Wall fell, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War,
impending collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of
Soviet communism.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for
leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long
term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be
a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use
of vigorous criticism. -- Carl Sagan
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan)
The concerto delle donne was a group of professional female singers in
the late Renaissance court of Ferrara, Italy, renowned for their
technical and artistic virtuosity. The ensemble was founded by Alfonso
II, Duke of Ferrara, in 1580 and was active until the court was
dissolved in 1597. Giacomo Vincenti, a music publisher, praised the
women as "virtuose giovani" (virtuosic youths), echoing the sentiments
of contemporaneous diarists and commentators. The concerto delle donne
revolutionized the role of women in professional music, and continued
the tradition of the Este court as a musical center. Word of the
ladies' ensemble spread across Italy, inspiring imitations in the
powerful courts of the Medici and Orsini. The founding of the concerto
delle donne was the most important event in secular Italian music in
the late sixteenth century; the musical innovations established in the
court were important in the development of the madrigal, and
eventually the seconda pratica.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerto_delle_donne
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1519:
Spanish conquest of Mexico: Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlan where
Aztec tlatoani Moctezuma II welcomed him with great pomp as would
befit a returning god.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Mexico)
1793:
In Paris, the Louvre was opened to the public as a museum during the
French Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre)
1895:
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered x-rays.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Conrad_R%C3%B6ntgen)
1923:
Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other members of the Kampfbund
started the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed attempt to seize power in
Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch)
2002:
The UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441,
forcing Iraq to disarm or face "serious consequences".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1441)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to
his heart and eye the morning can be. -- Bram Stoker
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker)
Eric Havelock was a British classicist. He was a professor at the
University of Toronto and was active in the academic wing of the
Canadian socialist movement during the 1930s. In the 1960s and '70s,
he served as chair of the classics departments at both Harvard and
Yale. Although he was trained in the turn-of-the-century Oxbridge
tradition of classical studies, which saw Greek intellectual history
as an unbroken chain of related ideas, Havelock broke radically with
his own teachers and proposed an entirely new model for understanding
the classical world, based on a sharp division between literature of
the 6th and 5th centuries BC on the one hand, and the 4th on the
other. Much of Havelock's work was devoted to a single thesis: that
all of Western thought is informed by a profound shift in the kinds of
ideas available to the human mind at the point that Greek philosophy
converted from an oral to a literate form. The idea has been
controversial in classical studies, and has frequently been rejected
outright; however, outside his own field, Havelock has been
extraordinarily influential. He and Walter J. Ong essentially founded
the amorphous field that studies transitions from orality to literacy,
and Havelock has been one of the most frequently cited theorists in
that field.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_A._Havelock
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860
Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican candidate to win the U.S.
presidential election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%2C_1860)
1935:
Edwin Armstrong presented his study on frequency modulation for FM
radio broadcasting to the Institute of Radio Engineers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation)
1962:
The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 1761,
condemning South Africa's apartheid policies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africa_in_the_apartheid_era)
1963:
Duong Van Minh officially took over the government of South Vietnam a
few days after the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duong_Van_Minh)
1975:
Demonstrators in Morocco began the Green March to Spanish Sahara,
calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_March)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Me, I shall be an autocrat: that is my trade; and The Good God will
forgive me: that is His. -- Catherine the Great
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Catherine_II_of_Russia)
Ketuanan Melayu is the racialist belief that the Malay people are the
"tuan" (masters) of Malaysia or Malaya; Malaysian Chinese and Indian
Malaysians are considered beholden to the Malays, who have granted
them citizenship in return for the Malays' special privileges as set
out in Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. This quid pro quo
arrangement is usually referred to as the social contract, not to be
confused with the usual idea of a social contract between the
government and the people. The most vocal opposition towards the
concept has come from non-Malay-based parties, such as the Democratic
Action Party. However, the portions of the Constitution related to
ketuanan Melayu were "entrenched" after the racial riots of May 13
1969, which followed an election campaign focused on the issue of
non-Malay rights. The riots caused a major change in the government's
approach to racial issues, and led to the introduction of an
aggressive affirmative action policy strongly favouring the Malays,
the New Economic Policy. The National Culture Policy, also introduced
in 1970, emphasised an assimilation of the non-Malays into the Malay
ethnic group. However, during the 1990s Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad rejected this approach, with his Bangsa Malaysia policy
emphasising a Malaysian instead of Malay identity for the state.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketuanan_Melayu
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
Count Cavour became prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon
expanded to become the Kingdom of Italy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camillo_Benso%2C_conte_di_Cavour)
1869:
Nature, one of the oldest and most reputable general purpose
scientific journals, was first published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_(journal))
1979:
Iranian radicals seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, beginning a
444-day hostage crisis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis)
1995:
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was mortally wounded by Yigal
Amir while at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigal_Amir)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly
exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it. -- William
Styron
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Styron)
The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate
was used to roof the fort at Segontium, modern Caernarfon. The slate
industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, from when it
expanded rapidly and reached its peak output in the late 19th century,
at which time the most important slate producing areas were in
north-west Wales. These included the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the
Dinorwig Quarry near Llanberis, the Nantlle Valley quarries and
Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the slate was mined rather than quarried.
Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world,
and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine
in the world. The Great Depression and the Second World War led to the
closure of many smaller quarries, and competition from other roofing
materials, particularly tiles, resulted in the closure of most of the
larger quarries in the 1960s and 1970s. Slate production continues on
a much reduced scale.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_industry_in_Wales
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
French playwright, journalist and outspoken feminist Olympe de Gouges
was guillotined for her revolutionary ideas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympe_de_Gouges)
1838:
The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language
daily broadsheet newspaper, was founded.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_India)
1848:
A new constitution drafted by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke was proclaimed,
severely limiting the powers of the monarchy of the Netherlands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Rudolf_Thorbecke)
1957:
The Sputnik 2 spacecraft was launched, carrying Laika the Russian
space dog as the first living being to orbit the Earth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_2)
1971:
The UNIX Programmer's Manual was first published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_manual)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Art is a revolt against fate. -- André Malraux
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux)
Stuyvesant High School is a New York City public high school that
specializes in math and science. The school opened in 1904 on
Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City
in 1992. The school is noted for its famous alumni, including four
Nobel laureates, its strong academic programs, and the large
percentage of its graduates who attend prestigious universities.
Together with Brooklyn Technical High School and Bronx High School of
Science, Stuyvesant is one of the three original Specialized High
Schools of New York City. These schools are operated by the New York
City Department of Education and are open, with no tuition fee, to all
residents of New York City (only). Admission is by competitive
examination only. There has been a long-standing friendly rivalry
between Stuyvesant and Bronx Science over the Intel Science Talent
Search, with both schools claiming dominance at various times.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuyvesant_High_School
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1817:
The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opened in
Montreal, Quebec.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Montreal)
1917:
Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, proclaiming British
support for Jewish settlements in Palestine.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration%2C_1917)
1936:
BBC Television Service, the oldest regular high-definition television
station in the world, was launched.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_One)
1947:
Howard Hughes flew Spruce Goose, the largest flying boat ever built,
on its maiden flight in Long Beach, California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose)
2000:
The first crew arrived at the International Space Station.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station)
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Wikiquote of the day:
It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well
despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work
hard for their happiness. -- Marie Antoinette
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette)