The New Carissa was a freighter that ran aground on a beach near Coos
Bay, Oregon, United States, during a storm in February 1999 and
subsequently broke apart. An attempt to tow the bow section of the
ship out to sea failed when the tow line broke, and the bow was
grounded again. Eventually, the bow was successfully towed out to sea
and sunk. The stern section remains on the beach near Coos Bay. Fuel
on board the ship was burned off in situ, but a significant amount was
also spilled from the wreckage, causing ecological damage to the
coastline. The United States Coast Guard performed an investigation
and found that captain's error was the main cause of the wreck;
however, no criminal liability was established and the captain and
crew were not charged. There were significant legal and financial
consequences for the ship's owners and insurer. There are plans in
place to dismantle the stern section at its current site and remove it
from the beach.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Carissa
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy signed the Treaty of
Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Calbraith_Perry)
1889:
The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower)
1903:
New Zealand inventor Richard Pearse reportedly flew in one of the
first flying machines.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse)
1917:
The Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands after the United
States paid Denmark US$25 million for the Caribbean islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Virgin_Islands)
1930:
Hollywood movie studios instituted the Production Code to avoid
government censorship.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_Code)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they
often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to
hope for success, but merely being willing to risk the experiment of
finding whether the truth they seek lies there. ... I do not deny that
sometimes in these wanderings they are lucky enough to find something
true. But I do not allow that this argues greater industry on their
part, but only better luck. -- René Descartes
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes)
Ivan Alexander ruled as Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371,
during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown.
He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is
considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history. Ivan
Alexander began his rule by dealing with internal problems and
external threats from Bulgaria's neighbours, the Byzantine Empire and
Serbia, as well as leading his empire into a period of economic
recovery and cultural and religious renaissance. However, the emperor
was later unable to cope with the mounting incursions of Ottoman
forces, Hungarian invasions from the northwest and the Black Death. In
an ill-fated attempt to combat these problems, he divided the country
between his two sons, thus forcing it to face the imminent Ottoman
conquest weakened and divided.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Alexander_of_Bulgaria
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of
Alaska for US$7.2 million from Russia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward)
1912:
Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French
protectorate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Morocco)
1940:
World War II: Wang Jingwei was installed by Japan as head of the
puppet government in China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei)
1961:
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty aimed
against the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, was
signed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs)
1981:
John Hinckley, Jr. shot and wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and
three others outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_assassination_attempt)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Accept the truth from whatever source it comes. -- Maimonides
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maimonides)
The Pashtun people are an ethno-linguistic group with populations
primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in the North-West
Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan
provinces of Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterized by
their Pashto language, adherence to Pashtunwali and Islam. Pashtuns
have survived a turbulent history over several centuries, during which
they have rarely been politically united. Pashtun martial prowess has
been renowned since Alexander the Great's invasion in the third
century BCE. Pashtuns played a pivotal role in the Soviet war in
Afghanistan, as many joined the Mujahideen. The Pashtuns gained
world-wide attention with the rise and fall of the Taliban, since they
were the main ethnic contingent in the movement. Modern Pashtuns have
been prominent in the rebuilding of Afghanistan where they are the
largest ethnic group and are an important community in Pakistan, where
they are the second-largest ethnic group. The Pashtuns are the world's
largest segmentary lineage tribal group. The total population of the
group is estimated to be at least 40 million, but an accurate count
remains elusive due to the nomadic nature of many tribes, the practice
of secluding women and the lack of an official census in Afghanistan
since 1979.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun_people
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
193:
Praetorian Guards assassinated Roman Emperor Pertinax and sold the
throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinax)
845:
Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, captured Paris and held
the city for a huge ransom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok)
1862:
American Civil War: An invasion of New Mexico Territory by the
Confederate States Army was halted in the Battle of Glorieta Pass.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass)
1979:
A nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
suffered a loss of coolant and a partial meltdown.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
We cannot know whether we love God, although there may be strong
reason for thinking so; but there can be no doubt about whether we
love our neighbor or not. Be sure that, in proportion as you advance
in fraternal charity, you are increasing your love of God... -- Teresa
of Avila
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teresa_of_Avila)
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is an 1899 book by Charles
Godfrey Leland. The book is an attempt to portray the beliefs and
rituals of an underground religious witchcraft tradition in Tuscany
that had survived for centuries until Leland's claimed discovery of
its existence in the 1890s. Scholars have disputed the veracity of
this claim. Still, the book has become one of the foundational texts
of Wicca and Neo-paganism. Its fifteen chapters portray the origins,
beliefs, rituals and spells of an Italian pagan witchcraft tradition.
The central figure of that religion is the goddess Aradia who came to
Earth to teach the practice of witchcraft to oppressed peasants in
order for them to oppose their feudal oppressors and the Christian
church. Leland's work remained obscure until the 1950s, when other
theories about, and claims of, "pagan witchcraft" survivals began to
be widely discussed. Aradia began to be examined within the wider
context of such claims. Scholars are divided, with some dismissing
Leland's assertion regarding the origins of the manuscript, and others
arguing for its authenticity as a unique documentation of folk
beliefs.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aradia%2C_or_the_Gospel_of_the_Witches
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León first sighted Florida,
purportedly while searching for the Fountain of Youth in the New
World.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Florida)
1794:
The United States Navy was established.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy)
1958:
Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev)
1964:
The Good Friday Earthquake and subsequent tsunamis devastated
Anchorage, Alaska.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake)
1977:
Two Boeing 747 airliners collided in the Tenerife disaster on Tenerife
of the Canary Islands, killing 583 people and resulting in the worst
aircraft accident in aviation history.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_disaster)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
History is a novel written by the people. -- Alfred de Vigny
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_de_Vigny)
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national and social turmoil
caused by World War I in Europe. The war was fought from January 27,
1918 to May 15, 1918, between the forces called the "Reds" led by the
People's Deputation of Finland under the control of the Finnish Social
Democrats, and the forces called the "Whites", led by the Senate of
Vaasa representing the Senate of Finland formed by the bourgeois
parties. The defeat in World War I and the February and October
revolutions in 1917 caused a total collapse of the Russian Empire; and
the destruction of the mother country resulted in a corresponding
breakdown of Finnish society during 1917. As there were no generally
accepted police and army forces to keep order in Finland after March
1917, the left and right began building security groups of their own,
leading to the emergence of two independent armed military troops, the
White and Red Guards. The Whites were the victors in the war that
followed. The Civil War remains the most controversial and emotionally
loaded event in the history of modern Finland. Approximately 37,000
people died during the conflict, including casualties at the war
fronts, and deaths from political terror campaigns and high prison
camp mortality. The turmoil destroyed the economy, split the political
apparatus, and divided the Finnish nation for many years.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1027:
Pope John XIX crowned Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1484:
William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, printed his
translation of Aesop's Fables.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop's_Fables)
1971:
East Pakistan declared its independence from Pakistan to form
Bangladesh, starting the Bangladesh Liberation War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War)
1995:
The Schengen Agreement, a 1985 treaty to abolish systematic border
controls between participating European countries, went into effect.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement)
1999:
The Melissa computer worm was released, infecting e-mail systems
around the world.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(computer_worm))
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The world and the universe is an extremely beautiful place, and the
more we understand about it the more beautiful does it appear. It is
an immensely exciting experience to be born in the world, born in the
universe, and look around you and realise that before you die you have
the opportunity of understanding an immense amount about that world
and about that universe and about life and about why we're here. We
have the opportunity of understanding far, far more than any of our
predecessors ever. That is such an exciting possibility, it would be
such a shame to blow it and end your life not having understood what
there is to understand. -- Richard Dawkins
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins)
The Fourth International has been a communist international
organisation working in opposition to both capitalism and Stalinism.
Consisting of supporters of Leon Trotsky, it has striven for an
eventual victory of the working class to bring about socialism. In
Paris in 1938, Trotsky and many of his supporters, having been
expelled from the Soviet Union, considered the Comintern to have
become lost to "Stalinism" and incapable of leading the international
working class towards political power. Thus, they founded their own
competing "Fourth International". Throughout the better part of its
existence, the Fourth International was hounded by agents of the
Soviet secret police, repressed by capitalist countries such as France
and the United States, and rejected by followers of the Soviet Union
and later Maoism as illegitimate - a position these communists still
hold today. The FI suffered a split in 1940 and an even more
significant split in 1953. Despite a partial reunification in 1963,
more than one group claims to represent the political continuity of
the Fourth International. The broad array of Trotskyist Internationals
are split over whether the Fourth International still exists and if
so, which organisation represents its political continuity.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_International
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
238:
Gordian I and Gordian II were proclaimed Roman Emperors.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_I)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_II)
1784:
The Emerald Buddha of Thailand was installed at the Wat Phra Kaew on
the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Buddha)
1849:
After capturing the fortress town of Mortara, forces led by Austrian
General Joseph Radetzky von Radetz routed Piedmontese troops at the
Battle of Novara.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Novara_(1849))
1963:
Please Please Me, the first album recorded by The Beatles, was
released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Please_Me)
1995:
Russian cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov of the Soyuz programme returned
from the Mir space station after 437 days in space, setting a record
for the longest spaceflight.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight_records)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Man’s destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth... I
have tried to shed some gleams of light on the shadow of man startled
by his anguish. -- Marcel Marceau
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau)
Uranium is a silvery metallic chemical element that has atomic number
92 in the actinide series of the periodic table. The heaviest
naturally occurring element, uranium is nearly twice as dense as lead
and weakly radioactive. It occurs naturally in low concentrations in
soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from
uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. In nature, uranium atoms
exist as uranium-238 (99.275%), uranium-235 (0.72%), and a very small
amount of uranium-234 (0.0058%). Uranium decays slowly by emitting an
alpha particle. The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.5 billion
years and that of uranium-235 is 700 million years, making them useful
in dating the age of the earth. Along with thorium and plutonium, it
is one of the three fissile elements, meaning it can easily break
apart to become lighter elements. This property of uranium-235 and to
a lesser degree uranium-233 generates the heat needed to run nuclear
reactors and provides the explosive material for nuclear weapons. Both
uses rely on the ability of uranium to produce a sustained nuclear
chain reaction. Depleted uranium (uranium-238) is used in kinetic
energy penetrators and armor plating.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1279:
The Song Dynasty in Imperial China ended with a Mongolian victory in
the Battle of Yamen.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty)
1687:
The search for the mouth of the Mississippi River led by French
explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle ended with a mutiny and his
murder in present-day Texas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René-Robert_Cavelier%2C_Sieur_de_La_Salle)
1915:
Pluto was photographed for the first time, 15 years before it was
eventually discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
1916:
Ten days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked
Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. General John J. Pershing led a punitive
expedition into Mexico to pursue Villa.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition)
1982:
Argentine forces led by Alfredo Astiz occupied South Georgia,
precipitating the Falklands War against the United Kingdom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Georgia_and_the_South_Sandwich_Islands)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
All Faith is false, all Faith is true: Truth is the shattered mirror
strown In myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to
own. -- Sir Richard Francis Burton
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a theatre in the Covent Garden
district of London, facing Catherine Street and backing onto Drury
Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four
theatres at the same location dating back to 1663. For its first two
centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's
leading theatre" and thus one of the most important theatres in the
English-speaking world. Through most of that time, it was one of a
small handful of patent theatres that were granted monopoly rights to
the production of "legitimate" drama in London. The first theatre on
the location was built on behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early
years of the English Restoration. The building that stands today
opened in 1812. It has been home to actors as diverse as Shakespearean
Edmund Kean, comedian Dan Leno, and musical composer and performer
Ivor Novello. Today, the theatre is owned by composer Andrew Lloyd
Webber and generally stages popular musical theatre. It is a Grade I
listed building.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Royal%2C_Drury_Lane
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1229:
Sixth Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared himself King
of Jerusalem.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1438:
Albert II of Habsburg became King of the Romans in the Holy Roman
Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II_of_Germany)
1921:
The Polish-Soviet War, which determined the borders between the
Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia, formally concluded with the
signing of the Peace of Riga.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Riga)
1922:
Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil
disobedience.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi)
1965:
Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov donned a spacesuit and ventured outside the
Voskhod 2 spacecraft (mission insignia shown), becoming the first
person to walk in space.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
I mistake the American people if they favor the odious doctrine that
there is no such thing as international morality; that there is one
law for a strong nation and another for a weak one, and that even by
indirection a strong power may with impunity despoil a weak one of its
territory. -- Grover Cleveland
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland)
Jocelin was a 12th century Cistercian monk and cleric, who became the
fourth Abbot of Melrose before becoming Bishop of Glasgow. He was
probably born in the 1130s, and in his teenage years became a monk of
Melrose Abbey. He rose in the service of Abbot Waltheof, and, by the
time of the short abbacy of Waltheof's successor Abbot William,
Jocelin had become prior. Then in 1170 Jocelin himself became abbot, a
position he held for four years. Jocelin was responsible for promoting
the cult of the emerging Saint Waltheof, and in this had the support
of Enguerrand, Bishop of Glasgow. As Bishop of Glasgow, he was a royal
official. In this capacity he traveled abroad on several occasions,
and performed the marriage ceremony between King William the Lion and
Ermengarde de Beaumont, later baptizing their son, the future King
Alexander II. Among other things, he has been credited by modern
historians as "the founder of the burgh of Glasgow and initiator of
the Glasgow fair", as well as being one of the greatest literary
patrons in medieval Scotland, commissioning the Life of St Waltheof
and the Life of St Kentigen and the Chronicle of Melrose.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelin
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
45 BC:
Julius Caesar scored his final military victory in the Battle of
Munda, defeating the Optimate forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the
Younger.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar)
624:
History of Islam: Muslims of Medina defeated the Quraish of Mecca in
the Battle of Badr.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Badr)
1950:
The discovery of californium, a radioactive transuranium element, was
announced.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californium)
1958:
Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite, was launched. It is the
oldest human-launched object still in Earth orbit today.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_1)
1969:
Golda Meir of the Labour Party became the fourth Prime Minister of
Israel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Straighten up and fly right Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
-- Nat King Cole
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole)
The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is an autonomous
engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education
founded by the Government of India in 1951. The first of the seven
IITs to be established, it is officially recognised as an Institute of
National Importance by the Government of India and is regarded as one
of the best engineering institutions in India. IIT Kharagpur was
established to train scientists and engineers after India attained
independence in 1947. Its organisational structure as well as its
undergraduate admission process is shared by sister IITs. The students
and alumni of IIT Kharagpur are referred to as KGPians. Among all
IITs, IIT Kharagpur has the largest campus (2,100 acres), the most
departments, and the highest student enrollment. IIT Kharagpur is
particularly famous for its festivals Illumination and Rangoli, Spring
Fest and Kshitij.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Kharagpur
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
William I proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the
Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_the_Netherlands)
1872:
In the first ever final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football
competition, Wanderers F.C. defeated Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The
Oval in Kennington, London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup)
1935:
Conscription was re-introduced in Nazi Germany, and the German
military was renamed Wehrmacht.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht)
1968:
Vietnam War: American soldiers killed 347 civilians in My Lai,
Vietnam.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mỹ_Lai_Massacre)
2006:
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to establish
the UN Human Rights Council.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were
to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government
would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be
administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you
must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the
next place oblige it to control itself. -- James Madison
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Madison)