The Ulm Campaign was a series of French and Bavarian military
maneuvers and battles in 1805, during the War of the Third Coalition,
designed to outflank an Austrian army. The French Grande Armée, led by
Napoleon Bonaparte, comprised 210,000 troops organized into seven
corps, and hoped to knock out the Austrian army in the Danube before
Russian reinforcements could arrive. Through feverish marching,
Napoleon conducted a large wheeling maneuver that captured an Austrian
army of 23,000 under General Mack on October 20 at Ulm, bringing the
total number of Austrian prisoners in the campaign to 60,000. The
campaign is generally regarded as a strategic masterpiece and was
influential in the development of the Schlieffen Plan in the late
nineteenth century. The victory at Ulm was not decisive enough to end
the war. A large Russian army under Kutuzov near Vienna ensured that
another major confrontation would be required to settle affairs. On
December 2, the French prevailed decisively at the Battle of
Austerlitz, which effectively removed Austria from the war. The
resulting Treaty of Pressburg in late December brought the Third
Coalition to an end and left Napoleonic France as the major power in
Central Europe, leading to the War of the Fourth Coalition with
Prussia and Russia the following year.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm_Campaign
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
Abdul Hamid II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire when his brother
Murad V was deposed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Hamid_II)
1888:
Mary Ann Nichols' body was found on the ground in front of a gated
stable entrance in Buck's Row, London, allegedly the first victim of
the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper)
1986:
After a collision with a freighter, the Soviet ocean liner Admiral
Nakhimov sank in the Tsemes Bay area of the Black Sea within 7
minutes, killing over 400 on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Admiral_Nakhimov)
1992:
The one-party Marxist rule in the Republic of the Congo officially
ended when Pascal Lissouba was inaugurated as its president after a
multi-party election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congo)
1997:
Princess Diana, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their driver Henri
Paul were killed in a high speed car accident in the Pont de l'Alma
road tunnel in Paris.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Diana%2C_Princess_of_Wales)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
specious: Seemingly well-reasoned or factual, but actually fallacious
or insincere.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/specious)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Have no shame in being kindly and gentle, but if the time comes in the
time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret. In the time of
your life, live — so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to
the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite
delight and mystery of it. -- William Saroyan
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan)
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest moon
in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the
Earth to the Moon is 384,403 kilometres (238,857 miles). The
gravitational pull at its surface is about a sixth of Earth's. The
Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days, and the
periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are
responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days. The
gravitational, centripetal forces generated by the rotation of the
Moon and Earth around a common axis, the barycentre, are largely
responsible for the tides on Earth. The Moon is the only celestial
body that humans have traveled to and landed on. The first artificial
object to escape Earth's gravity and pass near the Moon was the Soviet
Union's Luna 1, the first artificial object to impact the lunar
surface was Luna 2, and the first photographs of the normally occluded
far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3, all in 1959. The U.S. Apollo
program has achieved the first (and only) manned missions to date,
resulting in six landings between 1969 and 1972. Human exploration of
the Moon ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although as
of 2007, several countries have announced plans to send either people
or robotic spacecraft to the Moon. On 4 December, 2006, NASA outlined
plans for a permanent base on the Moon as part of preparation for a
voyage to Mars.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1565:
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in Spanish Florida,
the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the continental
United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine%2C_Florida)
1640:
Bishops' Wars: Scottish Covenanter forces led by Alexander Leslie
defeated Charles I's English army at the Battle of Newburn near
Newburn, England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Newburn)
1845:
The first issue of the popular-science magazine Scientific American
was published, currently the oldest continuously published magazine in
the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_American)
1850:
German composer Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin, featuring
the Bridal Chorus, was first performed under the direction of
Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohengrin_%28opera%29)
1963:
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., describing his
desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously
as equals.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
temerity: Reckless boldness; stupid bravery.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temerity)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Moderation, the Golden Mean, the Aristonmetron, is the secret of
wisdom and of happiness. But it does not mean embracing an
unadventurous mediocrity: rather it is an elaborate balancing-act, a
feat of intellectual skill demanding constant vigilance. Its aim is a
reconciliation of opposites. -- Robertson Davies
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robertson_Davies)
York City F.C. is an English football club based in York, North
Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth
tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined The Football
League in 1929, and have spent the majority of their history in the
lower divisions. The club once rose as high as the second tier of
English football, spending two seasons in the Second Division in the
1970s. In the 2003–04 season the club lost their League status when
they were relegated from the Third Division, and have since remained
in the Conference. York have enjoyed more success in cup competitions
than in the league, with highlights including an FA Cup semi-final
appearance in 1955. In the 1995–96 Coca-Cola Cup, York beat Manchester
United 3–0 at Old Trafford; Manchester United went on to win the FA
Cup and Premiership double that season. York play their home games at
KitKat Crescent in York. This stadium was formerly known as Bootham
Crescent, but was renamed KitKat Crescent because of a sponsorship
deal with Nestlé, whose confectionery factory, formerly known as
Rowntrees, is one of the city's largest employers.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_City_F.C.
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1071:
Byzantine-Seljuk wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan captured
Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert)
1346:
Hundred Years' War: English forces established the military
supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of
crossbow and armoured knights at the Battle of Crécy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy)
1748:
The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania
Ministerium, was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Ministerium)
1789:
French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the
people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly at
Versailles.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Ci…)
1968:
The U.S. Democratic Party's National Convention began at the
International Amphitheatre in Chicago, sparking four days of
peaceful–to–violent clashes between anti–Vietnam War protesters and
police.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
cachinnate: To laugh loudly, immoderately, or too often.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachinnate)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Our sufferings have taught us that no nation is sufficient unto
itself, and that our prosperity depends in the long run, not upon the
failure of our neighbors but their successes. -- John Buchan, 1st
Baron Tweedsmuir
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Buchan%2C_1st_Baron_Tweedsmuir)
William Goebel was a controversial American politician who served as
Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 before being assassinated.
Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to be
assassinated while in office. A skilled politician, Goebel was well
able to broker deals with fellow lawmakers, and equally able and
willing to break them if a better deal came along. His tendency to use
the state's political machinery to advance his personal agenda earned
him the nicknames "Boss Bill", "the Kenton King", "Kenton Czar", "King
William I", and "William the Conqueror". Goebel's abrasive personality
made him many political enemies, but his championing of populist
causes, like railroad regulation, won him many friends. This conflict
of opinions came to a head in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of
1900. Goebel, a Democrat, divided his party with self-serving
political tactics at a time when Kentucky Republicans were finally
gaining strength, having elected the party's first governor four years
previously. These dynamics led to a close contest between Goebel and
William S. Taylor. In the politically chaotic climate that resulted,
Goebel was assassinated.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goebel
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1537:
The Honourable Artillery Company, currently the oldest surviving
regiment in the British Army, was formed by Royal Charter from King
Henry VIII.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honourable_Artillery_Company)
1609:
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope,
a device that became known as a terrestrial or spyglass refracting
telescope, to Venetian lawmakers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei)
1875:
Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English
Channel, traveling from Dover, England to Calais, France in less than
22 hours.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Webb)
1920:
Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski successfully forced the Russians
to withdraw from Warsaw at the Battle of Warsaw, the decisive battle
of the Polish-Soviet War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_%281920%29)
1945:
About ten days after World War II ended with Japan announcing its
surrender, armed supporters of the Communist Party of China killed
Baptist missionary John Birch, regarded by a portion of the American
right as the first victim of the Cold War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_%28missionary%29)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
pandemonium: Chaos; tumultuous or lawless violence.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pandemonium)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The humourless as a bunch don't just not know what's funny, they don't
know what's serious. They have no common sense, either, and shouldn't
be trusted with anything. -- Martin Amis
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis)
Jake Gyllenhaal is an Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA Award-winning
American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and
screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age eleven, and
his career has seen performances in diverse roles. Gyllenhaal's first
major film appearance was in 2001's cult hit Donnie Darko, in which he
played a teenager troubled by psychological problems. In the 2004
blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, he portrayed a student caught in a
cataclysmic global cooling event alongside Dennis Quaid. He then
played against type as a frustrated Marine in Jarhead (2005) and, that
same year, won critical acclaim as a "gay cowboy" in the controversial
but highly lauded film, Brokeback Mountain. Gyllenhaal has taken an
activist role in supporting various political and social causes. He
appeared in Rock the Vote advertising, campaigned for the Democratic
party in the 2004 election, and has promoted environmental causes and
the American Civil Liberties Union.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Gyllenhaal
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1305:
After a show trial, William Wallace, leader of the Scottish
resistance against England during the Wars of Scottish Independence,
was executed in Smithfield Market, London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace)
1839:
As it prepared for war against China's Qing Dynasty, an ensuing
conflict that became known as the First Opium War, Britain captured
the southeast Asia port of Hong Kong.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War)
1927:
After a controversial trial, and despite worldwide protests,
Italian-born American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed via
electrocution in Massachusetts for the charge of murder and theft.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti)
1939:
World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a 10-year, mutual non-aggression treaty that
was eventually broken when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union two
years later.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pact)
1989:
Baltic Way: Approximately two million people joined their hands to
form an over 600 km (373 mi) long human chain across the Estonian,
Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics during the Singing Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Way)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
cheval de frise: (military) An obstacle made of wood with
spikes, for use against attacking cavalry.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cheval de frise)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-- William Ernest Henley
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley)
Gwoyeu Romatzyh (GR) is a system for writing Chinese in the Latin
alphabet. It was developed in the 1920s by a group of linguists led by
Y.R. Chao, and is unique in its use of "tonal spelling" to indicate
the four tones of Mandarin. Tones are a fundamental part of the
Chinese language: using the wrong tone sounds as puzzling as if one
said bud in English, meaning "not good" or "the thing one sleeps in".
Unlike other systems, which indicate tones with accents or numbers, GR
modifies the spelling of the syllable: the four tones of guo, for
example, are shown above (the second tone gwo, meaning "nation",
occurs in Gwoyeu). Some teachers believe that these distinctive
spellings may help foreign students remember the tones. In 1928 China
adopted GR as the nation's official romanization system. Although GR
was mainly used in dictionaries, its proponents hoped one day to
establish it as a writing system for a reformed Chinese script. But
despite support from trained linguists in China and overseas, GR met
with public indifference and even hostility due to its complexity.
Eventually GR lost ground to Pinyin and other later romanization
systems. However, its influence is still evident, as several of the
principles introduced by its creators have been used in romanization
systems that followed it.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1485:
Lancastrian forces under Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond defeated
Yorkist forces under Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth
Field, decisively ending the Wars of the Roses.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field)
1791:
A slave rebellion erupted in the French colony of Saint-Domingue,
starting the Haitian Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution)
1864:
The Red Cross movement led by Henry Dunant officially began when
twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention,
establishing the International Committee of the Red Cross.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movem…)
1910:
Korea was annexed by Japan with the signing of the Japan-Korea
Annexation Treaty, beginning a period of Japanese rule of Korea that
lasted until the end of World War II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule)
1922:
Irish Civil War: Irish National Army commander-in-chief Michael
Collins was assassinated in an ambush while en route through County
Cork at the village of Béal na mBláth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
reify: To regard something abstract as if it were a concrete material
thing.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reify)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
I wish to write down my musical dreams in a spirit of utter
self-detachment. I wish to sing of my interior visions with the naïve
candour of a child. No doubt, this simple musical grammar will jar on
some people. It is bound to offend the partisans of deceit and
artifice. I foresee that and rejoice at it. -- Claude Debussy
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy)
The effects of Hurricane Isabel in Maryland and Washington, D.C. were
among the worst from a tropical cyclone in the Baltimore-Washington
Metropolitan Area. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on
September 6 2003 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved
northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm
waters it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 mph
(265 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four
days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks
of North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) on September 18. It
quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western
Pennsylvania the next day. On September 19, Tropical Storm Isabel
passed through extreme western Maryland, though its large circulation
produced tropical storm force winds throughout the state. About
1.24 million people lost power throughout the state. The worst of its
effects came from its storm surge, which inundated areas along the
coast and resulted in severe beach erosion. In Eastern Maryland,
hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed, primarily in Queen
Anne's County from tidal flooding. Thousands of houses were affected
in Central Maryland, with severe storm surge flooding reported in
Baltimore and Annapolis. Washington, D.C. sustained moderate damage,
primarily from the winds. Throughout Maryland and Washington, damage
totaled about $820 million, with only one direct fatality due to
flooding.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Isabel_in_Maryland_and_Wa….
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1572:
French Wars of Religion: Marguerite de Valois was married to
Huguenot King Henry of Navarre, in a supposed attempt to reconcile
Protestants and Catholics in France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_de_Valois)
1868:
Pierre Janssen discovered helium while analyzing the chromosphere
during a total eclipse of the sun. This was the first element detected
in space before being found on Earth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/helium)
1941:
The T-4 Euthanasia Program in Nazi Germany was temporarily halted
due to public resistance.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4)
1966:
Vietnam War: A company of the Royal Australian Regiment fought a
much larger North Vietnamese unit in the Battle of Long Tan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
pretzel: A toasted bread or cracker usually in the shape of a loose
knot.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pretzel)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
What we say is the truth is what everybody accepts ... Psychiatry:
it's the latest religion. We decide what's right and wrong. We decide
who's crazy or not. I'm in trouble here. I'm losing my faith. --
Madeleine Stowe as "Dr. Kathryn Railly" in Twelve Monkeys
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_Stowe)
Rail transport in India is one of the most common modes of
long-distance transport. Rail operations are largely run by a
state-owned company, Indian Railways. The rail network traverses the
length and width of the country, covering a total length of 63,140 km
(39,233 miles). It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in
the world, transporting over 5 billion passengers and over 350
million tonnes of freight annually. Its operations cover twenty-five
states and three union territories and also link the neighbouring
countries of Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Railways were introduced
to India in 1853, and by the time of India's independence in 1947 they
had grown to forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were
nationalised as one unit—Indian Railways—to form one of the largest
networks in the world. Locomotives manufactured at several places in
India are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and
type of operation. Colour signal lights are used as signals, but in
some remote areas of operation, the older semaphores and discs-based
signalling are still in use. Accommodation classes range from general
through first class AC. Trains have been classified according to speed
and area of operation. Many trains are officially identified by a
four-digit code, though many are commonly known by unique names also.
The ticketing system has been computerised to a large extent, and
there are reserved as well as unreserved categories of tickets.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_India
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The New Hampshire Militia led by John
Stark routed British and German troops under Friedrich Baum in the
Battle of Bennington.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bennington)
1819:
Cavalry charged into a crowd, turning a public meeting in
Manchester, England into the Peterloo Massacre.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre)
1896:
A group led by Skookum Jim Mason discovered gold near Dawson City,
Yukon, Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush)
1977:
Elvis Presley, "The King of Rock and Roll", was found dead on the
floor of his bathroom. Although it was officially ruled as a fatal
heart attack, many people have claimed to have seen Elvis alive since
then.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley)
1987:
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after takeoff in Detroit,
Michigan, USA, killing all of the crew and passengers except one.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_255)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
vehemence: An intense concentration, force or power.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vehemence)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armoury of the modern
commander. -- T. E. Lawrence
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence)
Postage stamps of Ireland are the postage stamps issued by the postal
authority of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first
postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent
British issues, were used in Ireland until the new Irish Government
assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British
stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives
until separate Irish issues became available. Following the
overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the
new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These
definitives were issued on 6 December 1922; the first was a 2d stamp,
depicting a map of Ireland. Since then new images, and additional
values as needed, have produced a total of nine series of definitives.
These were the major stamp production for everyday use. Commemorative
stamps first appeared in 1929, and these now appear several times a
year, celebrating many aspects of Irish life, such as notable events
and anniversaries, Irish life and culture, and many famous Irish
people. Some definitive and commemorative stamps have been produced in
miniature sheet, booklet and coil configurations in addition to the
common sheet layout.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_of_Ireland
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1385:
Forces under João I defeated the Castilians in the Battle of
Aljubarrota, ending the 1383–1385 Crisis in Portugal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aljubarrota)
1842:
Seminole Indians were forced from Florida to Oklahoma, ending the
Second Seminole War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Wars)
1941:
After a secret meeting aboard warships in a secure anchorage near
Argentia, Newfoundland, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter,
establishing a vision for a post-World War II world despite the fact
that the United States had yet to enter the war.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter)
1994:
Leftist revolutionary and mercenary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as
Carlos the Jackal, was handed over to French agents by his own
bodyguards.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_the_Jackal)
2005:
Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a mountain north of Marathon
and Varnava, Greece, killing all 121 on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
synopsis: A brief summary of the major points of a written work,
either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a
work.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/synopsis)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
It's always worth while before you do anything to consider whether
it's going to hurt another person more than is absolutely necessary.
-- John Galsworthy
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy)
Maximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.
In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. However, he gave up this life in the
political sphere to enter into the monastic life. After moving to
Carthage, Maximus studied several Neo-Platonist writers and became a
prominent author. When one of his friends began espousing the
Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into
the controversy, in which he supported the Chalcedonian position that
Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both
Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. His positions
eventually resulted in exile, soon after which he died. However, his
theology was vindicated by the Third Council of Constantinople and he
was venerated as a saint soon after his death. His feast day is 13
August.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximus_the_Confessor
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1704:
Led by the Duke of Marlborough, the combined forces of England, the
Holy Roman Empire, and the United Provinces defeated France and
Bavaria in the Battle of Blenheim, one of the turning points of the
War of the Spanish Succession.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim)
1961:
Construction of the Berlin Wall, a long barrier separating West
Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany,
began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall)
2004:
Black Friday: The Maldivian National Security Service cracked down
on a peaceful protest in Malé, the capital of the Maldives, causing
Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to declare a state of
emergency in Malé and nearby islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28Maldives%29)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
implicit: Implied indirectly, without being directly expressed.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/implicit)
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Wikiquote of the day:
The Supreme Ethical Rule: Act so as to elicit the best in others and
thereby in thy self. -- Felix Adler
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler)