The western front of World War I opened in 1914, with the German army
invading first Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control
of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was
dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides then dug
in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the
North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained
essentially unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 a
series of major offensives took place along this front. The attacks
employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances.
However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed
wire, and other defenses, repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on
the attackers. As a result, no significant advances were made during
these assaults. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the
introduction of new military technology, including poison gas and
tanks. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that
some degree of mobility was restored. In spite of the generally
stagnant nature of this front, this theater would prove decisive. The
inexorable advance of the Allied armies in 1918 persuaded the German
commanders that defeat was unavoidable, and the government was forced
to sue for conditions of surrender.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_%28World_War_I%29
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
The first baseball game (using modern rules) was played in Hoboken,
New Jersey.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_the_United_States)
1865:
The Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, beginning the
tradition of Juneteenth celebrations.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth)
1867:
Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire was executed by firing squad
in Querétaro.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico)
1953:
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed as Soviet spies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_and_Julius_Rosenberg)
1961:
Kuwait declared independence from the United Kingdom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait)
1978:
Garfield made his debut in a comic strip.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts
those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who
are subject to it. -- Aung San Suu Kyi
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi)
Che Guevara was an Argentine-born physician, Marxist revolutionary,
politician, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a
young man studying medicine, Guevara traveled "rough" throughout Latin
America, bringing him into direct contact with the poverty in which
many people lived. Through these experiences he became convinced that
only revolution could remedy the region's economic inequality, leading
him to study Marxism and become involved in Guatemala's social
revolution under President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. Sometime later,
Guevara became a member of Fidel Castro's paramilitary 26th of July
Movement that seized power in Cuba in 1959. After serving in various
important posts in the new government and writing a number of articles
and books on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare, Guevara
left Cuba in 1965 with the intention of fomenting revolutions first in
the Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured in a
CIA-organized military operation. Guevara died at the hands of the
Bolivian Army in La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9 1967.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
The United States declared war against Great Britain, officially
beginning the War of 1812.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812)
1815:
Napoléon Bonaparte fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of
Waterloo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo)
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by Alfred Russel Wallace
on evolution, which prompted him to publish his theory.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace)
1873:
Woman suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting
to vote in the 1872 U.S. presidential election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony)
1979:
The SALT II treaty was signed by the United States and the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SALT_II)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Will you still need me,Will you still feed me,When I'm sixty-four?~
Paul McCartney
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney)
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third
major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. The Cape
Verde-type hurricane formed off the coast of Africa and lasted from
September 7 to September 19, peaking in strength as a very strong
Category 4 hurricane — just short of the highest possible rating — on
the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was among the largest Atlantic
hurricanes of its strength ever recorded. Floyd struck the Bahamas at
peak strength, causing heavy damage. It then paralleled the East Coast
of the United States, causing massive evacuations and costly
preparations. The storm weakened significantly, however, before making
landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, and caused
further damage as it traveled up the Mid-Atlantic and into New
England. The hurricane produced torrential rainfall in eastern North
Carolina, adding more rain to an area hit by Hurricane Dennis just
weeks earlier. In total, Floyd was responsible for 57 fatalities and
$4.5 billion ($5.1 billion in 2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, mostly in
North Carolina.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Floyd
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: British forces took Bunker Hill outside of
Boston.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill)
1789:
French Revolution: The Third Estate of France declared itself the
National Assembly.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_%28French_Revolution%29)
1961:
Canada's New Democratic Party was founded with the merger of the CCF
and organised labour.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democratic_Party)
1972:
Watergate scandal: Five men were arrested for burglarising the offices
of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal)
1994:
O. J. Simpson was chased down and arrested on suspicion of murdering
his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Some would say that it is too idealistic to believe in a society
based on tolerance and the sanctity of human life, where borders,
nationalities and ideologies are of marginal importance. To those I
say, this is not idealism, but rather realism, because history has
taught us that war rarely resolves our differences. Force does not
heal old wounds; it opens new ones." -- Mohamed ElBaradei
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohamed_ElBaradei)
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative
institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. At
its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an Upper House,
called the House of Lords, and a Lower House, called the House of
Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of
members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of
England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage); it is a
wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a
democratically elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of
Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster, in the
British capital, London. By constitutional convention, all government
ministers, including the Prime Minister are drawn exclusively from the
House of Commons or House of Lords.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1487:
The Battle of Stoke Field, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses,
was fought.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoke_Field)
1745:
During King George's War, British colonial forces led by William
Pepperrell captured the French stronghold at Fortress Louisbourg on
Cape Breton Island after a six-week siege.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_Louisbourg)
1846:
Pius IX was elected pope, beginning the longest reign of all popes
since the days of the apostles.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_IX)
1963:
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova)
1976:
Police in Soweto, South Africa opened fire on schoolchildren
protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of
instruction in township schools, triggering a series of nationwide
demonstrations, strikes, riots and violence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we
could then better judge what to do, and how to do it." -- Abraham
Lincoln
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln)
AIDS is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting
from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the late stage of which leaves
individuals prone to opportunistic infections and tumours. Although
treatments for AIDS and HIV exist that slow the virus' progression,
there is no known cure. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a
mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV,
such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid and breast milk.
This transmission can come in the form of: (anal or vaginal) sex;
blood transfusion; contaminated needles; exchange between mother and
infant during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding; or other
exposure to one of the above bodily fluids. Most researchers believe
that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth
century; it is now a pandemic, with more than 40 million people now
living with the disease worldwide.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1215:
King John of England put his seal to the Magna Carta.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta)
1389:
In the Battle of Kosovo, Turks defeated Serbs and Bosnians.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kosovo)
1752:
Benjamin Franklin conducted an experiment to prove that lightning is
electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin)
1904:
The General Slocum burned in New York's East River, killing over 1,000
people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Slocum)
1954:
The Union of European Football Associations was founded in Basel,
Switzerland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Responsibility's like a string we can only see the middle of. Both
ends are out of sight." -- William McFee
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_McFee)
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that
occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26 2004. The earthquake triggered
a series of lethal tsunamis that spread throughout the Indian Ocean,
killing large numbers of people and devastating coastal communities
across South and South East Asia, including parts of Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, India, Thailand and elsewhere. Initial estimates put the death
toll at over 275,000 with thousands of others missing. However, recent
analysis indicates the number of casualties were 186,983 dead and
42,883 missing, for a total of 229,866 affected. The catastrophe was
one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. The magnitude of the
earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0 (Richter scale), but has
been upgraded to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the
second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The plight
of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread
humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more
than US$7 billion in humanitarian aid to those affected by the
earthquake.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
Union General Ulysses S. Grant pulled his troops out of the Battle of
Cold Harbor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cold_Harbor)
1889:
The Armagh rail disaster killed 88 people near Armagh, Northern
Ireland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armagh_rail_disaster)
1964:
Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison
by the South African government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela)
1979:
A human-powered aircraft named Gossamer Albatross flew across the
English Channel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by
departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to
expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important.
The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial
matters." -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yamamoto_Tsunetomo)
Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher and
theologian, generally recognized as the first existentialist
philosopher. He bridged the gap that existed between Hegelian
philosophy and what was to become Existentialism. Kierkegaard strongly
criticized both the Hegelian philosophy of his time, and what he saw
as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals
with religious problems such as the nature of faith, the institution
of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the
emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with existential
choices. Because of this, Kierkegaard's work is sometimes
characterized as Christian existentialism and existential psychology.
Since he wrote most of his early work under various pseudonyms, and
often these pseudo-authors would comment on and critique the works of
his other pseudo-authors, it can be exceedingly difficult to
distinguish between what Kierkegaard truly believed and what he was
merely arguing for as part of a pseudo-author's position. Ludwig
Wittgenstein remarked that Kierkegaard was "by far, the most profound
thinker of the nineteenth century".
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1770:
Captain James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef)
1892:
The Salvation Army's Limelight Department, one of the world's earliest
film studios, was officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_Department)
1937:
Marshall Mikhail Tukhachevsky and several senior officers of the Red
Army were convicted in the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military
Organization, a secret trial during the Great Purge in the Soviet
Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_of_Trotskyist_Anti-Soviet_Military_Organi…)
1955:
More than 80 people were killed after Pierre Levegh and Lance Macklin
collided at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Mans_1955_disaster)
1963:
The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor George Wallace
stepped aside after a stand in the schoolhouse door.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
In small proportions we just beauties see,And in short measures life
may perfect be.~ Ben Jonson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson)
USS Wisconsin is an Iowa-class battleship, and is the second ship of
the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
She was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and launched on December
7, 1943. During her career Wisconsin served in World War II, where she
shelled Japanese fortifications at Ulithi and Leyte Gulf, and screened
U.S. aircraft carriers as they conducted air raids against enemy
positions. During the Korean War she shelled North Korean targets in
support of UN and South Korean ground operations, after which she was
decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better
known as the mothball fleet. She was reactivated and modernized in
1986 as part of the "600-ship Navy" plan, and participated in the 1991
Gulf War. Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991 and
currently functions as a museum ship at the Nauticus National Maritime
Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Wisconsin was struck from the Naval
Vessel Register in 2006 and is currently awaiting donation for use as
a museum ship.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wisconsin_%28BB-64%29
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
68:
Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide after he was deposed by the
Senate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero)
1815:
Congress of Vienna ended, redrawing the political map of Europe after
the defeat of Napoleon.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Vienna)
1885:
The end of the Franco-Chinese War. China gave up Tonkin and Annam
(most of present day Vietnam).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Chinese_War)
1934:
Donald Duck debuted in The Wise Little Hen.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Duck)
1986:
The Rogers Commission released its report on the Space Shuttle
Challenger disaster.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Commission_Report)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
When you were born in this world Everyone laughed while you
criedConduct not yourself in manner such That they laugh when you are
gone. -- Kabir
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kabir)
The FIFA World Cup is the most important competition in international
football. The world's most representative team sport event, the World
Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of Federation
Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (the sport's largest
governing body) member nations. The championship has been awarded
every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942
and 1946 due to World War II). However, it is more of an ongoing event
as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three
years preceding the final rounds. In 1991, FIFA added a separate
Women's World Cup. The men's final tournament phase involves 32
national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously
nominated host nation, with these games making it the most
widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held,
only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the
current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having
won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with
three titles each. The next World Cup finals will begin in Germany on
June 9, and will continue until July 9, 2006.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
632:
Muhammad, founder of Islam, died in Medina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad)
1887:
Herman Hollerith received a patent for his punch card calculator.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/punch_card)
1949:
George Orwell's dystopian political novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was
first published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four)
1966:
One of the XB-70 Valkyrie prototypes is destroyed in a mid-air
collision with a F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot.
NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross were both
killed.
2004:
Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele broke the world record for
outdoor 10,000 m in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenenisa_Bekele)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from
tomorrow. In that lies hope." -- Frank Lloyd Wright
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright)
Krazy Kat is a comic strip created by George Herriman that appeared in
weekday and Sunday U.S. newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It was first
published in William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal. Set
against a dreamlike portrayal of Herriman's vacation home of Coconino
County, Arizona, Krazy Kat's mixture of surrealism,
innocent playfulness, and poetic language have made it a favorite of
comics aficionados and art critics for more than eighty years. The
strip focuses on the relationship triangle between its title
character, a carefree and innocent cat of indeterminate gender (but
often referred to in prose as female), her antagonist Ignatz Mouse,
and the protective police-dog Officer Bull Pupp. Krazy nurses an
unrequited love for the mouse, but Ignatz despises her and constantly
schemes to throw a brick at her head; for unknown reasons, Krazy takes
this as a sign of affection. Officer Pupp, as Coconino County's
administrator of law and order, makes it his unwavering mission to
interfere with Ignatz's brick-tossing plans and lock the mouse in the
county jail.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krazy_Kat
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1654:
Charles X Gustav succeeded his cousin Christina to the Swedish throne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_X_Gustav_of_Sweden)
1925:
The Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Chrysler.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Corporation)
1944:
The Battle of Normandy began with 155,000 Allied troops landing on the
beaches of Normandy in the largest amphibious military operation in
history.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Normandy)
1971:
The Ed Sullivan Show, a top rated variety show that introduced the
United States to Elvis Presley and The Beatles, went off the air after
twenty-three years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ed_Sullivan_Show)
1982:
A war in Lebanon began when Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon to
root out PLO militants.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lebanon_War)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of
the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six
hundred threescore and six." -- The Book of Revelation
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Bible)