Hurricane Iniki was the most powerful hurricane to strike the state of
Hawaii and the Hawaiian Islands in recorded history. Forming during
the strong El Niño of 1991-1994, Iniki was one of eleven Central
Pacific tropical cyclones during the 1992 season. The eye of Hurricane
Iniki passed directly over the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992
as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It
was the first hurricane to hit the state since Iwa in the 1982 season,
and the first major hurricane since Hurricane Dot in 1959. Iniki
caused around $1.8 billion (1992 US dollars) in damage and 6 deaths.
At the time, Iniki was among the costliest United States hurricanes
and remains one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the eastern
Pacific.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Iniki
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
44 BC:
Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic was stabbed to death by Marcus
Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March)
1311:
The Catalan Company defeated Walter V of Brienne in the Battle of
Halmyros and took control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in
Greece.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halmyros)
1877:
History of cricket: Cricketers representing England and Australia
began the first match in Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Test_cricket_from_1877_to_1883)
1917:
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate in the February
Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia)
1939:
German troops began the occupation of Czechoslovakia; the Protectorate
of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed the following day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Czechoslovakia)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in
its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as
Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the
low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing. --
Andrew Jackson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson)
The Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of
men's One-day International cricket. The event is organised by the
sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council, with
preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament
which is held every four years. The tournament is one of the world's
largest and most viewed sporting events. The first Cricket World Cup
contest was organised in England in 1975. The finals of the Cricket
World Cup are contested by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing
nations, together with other national teams that qualify through the
ICC Trophy competition. Australia has been the most successful of the
five teams to have won the tournament, taking three titles. The West
Indies have won twice, while India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each
won once.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, thinking it was a
comet.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus)
1881:
Tsar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated in a Nihilist plot by
Ignacy Hryniewiecki.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_II_of_Russia)
1921:
Mongolia, under the Black Baron, proclaimed its independence from
China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Ungern_von_Sternberg)
1954:
Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap unleashed a massive artillery
barrage on the French military to begin the Battle of Dien Bien Phu,
the final battle in the First Indochina War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu)
1996:
Dunblane massacre: A spree killer in Dunblane, Scotland shot 16
children and a teacher at a primary school to their death and then
committed suicide.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Man becomes aware of the sacred because it manifests itself, shows
itself, as something wholly different from the profane... something
sacred shows itself to us ... something of a wholly different order, a
reality that does not belong to our world, in objects that are an
integral part of our natural "profane" world. -- Mircea Eliade
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade)
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house
movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Beginning in 1987,
Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty released hip hop-inspired and
sample-heavy records as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and, on one
occasion (the British number one hit single "Doctorin' the Tardis"),
as The Timelords. As The KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered the genres
"stadium house" (rave music with a pop-rock production and sampled
crowd noise) and "ambient house". The KLF released a series of
international top-ten hits on their own KLF Communications record
label, and became the biggest selling singles act in the world for
1991. Their most notorious performance was at the February 1992 Brit
Awards, where they fired machine gun blanks into the audience and
dumped a dead sheep at the aftershow party. This performance announced
The KLF's departure from the music business, and in May 1992 the duo
deleted their entire back catalogue. With The KLF's profits, Drummond
and Cauty established the K Foundation and sought to subvert the art
world, staging an alternative art award for the worst artist of the
year and burning a million pounds sterling in The K Foundation burn a
million quid. Although Drummond and Cauty remained true to their word
of May 1992—the KLF Communications catalogue remains deleted—they have
released a small number of new tracks since then, as the K Foundation.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_KLF
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that captive Africans who seized control
of La Amistad, the trans-Atlantic slave-trading ship carrying them,
had been taken into slavery illegally.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amistad_(1841))
1862:
Ironclad warships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought to a draw in the
Battle of Hampton Roads.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads)
1916:
General Pancho Villa led Mexicans raiders in a cross-border attack
against Columbus, New Mexico, prompting a punitive expedition from the
U.S. military.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa)
1945:
A bomb raid on Tokyo started a firestorm, killing 100,000.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo_in_World_War_II)
1959:
Barbie, the world's best-selling doll, debuted at the American
International Toy Fair in New York City.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to
the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page
sells that book. The last page sells your next book. -- Mickey
Spillane
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mickey_Spillane)
Lead(II) nitrate is a chemical compound, the inorganic salt of nitric
acid and lead. It is colourless crystal or white powder and a strong,
stable oxidizer. Unlike most other lead(II) salts, it is soluble in
water. Its main use from the Middle Ages, under the name plumb dulcis,
has been as raw material in the production of many pigments. Since the
twentieth century, it has been used industrially as a heat stabilizer
in nylon and polyesters, and in coatings of photothermographic paper.
Commercial production did not take place until the nineteenth century
in Europe, and in the United States until after 1943, with a typical
production process of metallic lead or lead oxide in nitric acid.
Lead(II) nitrate is toxic and probably carcinogenic to humans.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%28II%29_nitrate
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1702:
Princess Anne became the queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Great_Britain)
1782:
Almost 100 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio died at the hands of
Pennsylvanian militiamen in a mass murder known as the Gnadenhütten
massacre.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhütten_massacre)
1844:
Oscar I acceded to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_I_of_Sweden)
1966:
Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar with a statue of Lord Nelson
on top in Dublin, Ireland, was destroyed by a bomb.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson's_Pillar)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Animals arrived, liked the look of the place, took up their quarters,
settled down, spread, and flourished. They didn't bother themselves
about the past — they never do; they're too busy. -- Kenneth Grahame
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Grahame)
Law is a system of rules which is usually enforced through a set of
institutions. Law frames everyday life and society in a wide variety
of ways. "The rule of law," wrote the ancient Greek philosopher
Aristotle in 350 BC, "is better than the rule of any individual."
Legal systems around the world elaborate legal rights and
responsibilities in different ways. A basic distinction is made
between civil law jurisdictions and systems using common law. Small
numbers of countries still base their law on religious scripts.
Scholars investigate the nature of law through many perspectives,
including legal history and philosophy, or social sciences, such as
economics and sociology. The study of law raises important questions
about equality, fairness and justice, which is not always simple. "In
its majestic equality," said the author Anatole France in 1894, "the
law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the
streets and steal loaves of bread." The most important institutions
for law are the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, its
bureaucracy, the military and police, the legal profession and civil
society.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1770:
Boston Massacre: The pelting of British soldiers with snowballs during
a military occupation soon escalated into a riot in Boston.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre)
1872:
George Westinghouse patented the air brake for trains to stop more
reliably.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_brake_(rail))
1918:
Bolshevist Russia moved its capital from Petrograd to Moscow.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Moscow)
1946:
Winston Churchill used the term "Iron Curtain" in a speech at
Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, USA.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain)
1970:
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into force.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
I've always wanted to make the world a more rational place. I'm still
working on it. -- Penn Jillette
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Penn_Jillette)
Turkey is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian
peninsula in southwestern Asia and the Balkan region of southeastern
Europe. The region comprising modern Turkey has seen the birth of
major civilisations including the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Owing
to its strategic location at the intersection of two continents,
Turkey's culture is a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition,
often described as a bridge between the two civilisations. Turkey is a
democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political
system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of
World War I. Since then, Turkey has increasingly integrated with the
West while continuing to foster relations with the Eastern world. It
is a founding member of the United Nations, the Organization of the
Islamic Conference, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe, a member state of the Council of Europe since 1949 and of NATO
since 1952. Since 2005, Turkey is in accession negotiations with the
European Union, having been an associate member since 1963. Turkey is
also a member of the G20 which brings together the 20 largest
economies of the world.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI was deposed by
his Yorkist cousin, who then became King Edward IV.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI_of_England)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_IV_of_England)
1681:
King Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter for the
Pennsylvania Colony.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn)
1825:
Despite having lost in both the electoral and popular votes in the
1824 presidential election, John Quincy Adams was inaugurated as the
sixth President of the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams)
1980:
Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union was elected to
head the first government in Zimbabwe.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
In all living nature (and perhaps also in that which we consider as
dead) love is the motive force which drives the creative activity in
the most diverse directions. -- P. D. Ouspensky
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._D._Ouspensky)
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of
stars, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and dark matter.
Typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million
(10^7) stars up to giants with one trillion
(10^12) stars, all orbiting a common center of gravity.
Galaxies can also contain a large number of multiple star systems and
star clusters as well as various types of interstellar clouds.
Historically, galaxies have been categorized according to their
apparent shape. Interactions between nearby galaxies, which may
ultimately result in a galaxy merger, may induce episodes of
significantly increased star formation, producing what is called a
starburst galaxy. There are probably more than a hundred billion
(10^11) galaxies in the observable universe. Most galaxies
are a thousand to a hundred thousand parsecs in diameter and are
usually separated from one another by distances on the order of
millions of parsecs. Intergalactic space, the space between galaxies,
is filled with a tenuous gas with an average density less than one
atom per cubic metre. There is some evidence that supermassive black
holes may exist at the center of many, if not all, galaxies. These
massive objects are believed to be the primary cause of active
galactic nuclei found at the core of some galaxies. The Milky Way
galaxy appears to harbor at least one such object within its nucleus.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
Samuel Nicholas and the Continental Marines successfully landed on New
Providence and captured Nassau in the Bahamas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Nicholas)
1878:
The signing of the Treaty of San Stefano established Bulgaria as an
autonomous principality in the Ottoman Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_San_Stefano)
1918:
Bolshevist Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central
Powers and exited from World War I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Brest-Litovsk)
1931:
"The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem of
the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner)
1958:
Nuri as-Said became the Prime Minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuri_as-Said)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow
growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much
study is put upon them. -- Alexander Graham Bell
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell)
The immune system is a set of mechanisms that protect an organism from
infection by identifying and killing pathogens. This task is extremely
difficult, since pathogens range from viruses to parasitic worms and
these diverse threats must be detected with absolute specificity
amongst normal cells and tissues. Pathogens are also constantly
evolving new ways to avoid detection by the immune system and
successfully infect their hosts. To meet this challenge, multiple
mechanisms have evolved to recognize and neutralize pathogens. The
immune systems of vertebrates such as humans consist of many types of
proteins, cells, organs, and tissues, which interact in an elaborate
and dynamic network. As part of this more complex immune response, the
vertebrate system adapts over time to recognize particular pathogens
more efficiently. The adaptation process creates immunological
memories and allows even more effective protection during future
encounters with these pathogens. This process of acquired immunity is
the basis of vaccination.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1700:
Sweden introduced its own Swedish calendar in an attempt to reform
into the Gregorian calendar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_calendar)
1872:
Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was
established.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park)
1896:
Ethiopia won the decisive Battle of Adowa over Italy, ending the First
Italo-Abyssinian War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adowa)
1919:
Korea under Japanese rule: The Samil Movement began with numerous
peaceful protests in Korea, but was brutally suppressed by the
Japanese police and army.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement)
1954:
The 15-megaton hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo was detonated on Bikini
Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in one of the worst cases of
radioactive contamination ever caused by nuclear testing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but
struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know
where good and evil are to be found. -- Tzvetan Todorov
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tzvetan_Todorov)