The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of
South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 650,000,
of which 450,000 still live in the regency of Tana Toraja. Most of the
population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist
beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). Torajans are renowned for their
elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs,
massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and
colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social
events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several
days. Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages,
where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the
outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to
convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja
regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it
became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism
developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism
peaked, Toraja society had evolved significantly, from its
agricultural beginnings into a largely Christian society.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toraja
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1099:
The First Crusade concluded with the Battle of Ascalon and Fatimid
forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah retreating to Egypt.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ascalon)
1121:
Forces led by David the Builder decisively won the Battle of
Didgori, driving Ilghazi and the Seljuk Turks out of Georgia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_IV_of_Georgia)
1953:
History of nuclear weapons: The first Soviet thermonuclear bomb, Joe
4, was detonated at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_atomic_bomb_project)
1985:
Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed in Gunma Prefecture, Japan,
killing 520 of 524 on board in the world's worst single-aircraft
aviation disaster.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123)
1990:
American paleontologist Sue Hendrickson found the most complete
skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus near Faith, South Dakota, USA.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
turgid: Distended beyond the natural state by some internal agent,
especially fluid, or expansive force.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turgid)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Faith plays an important role in an open society. Exactly because our
understanding is imperfect, we cannot base our decisions on knowledge
alone. We need to rely on beliefs, religious or otherwise, to help us
make decisions. But we must remain open to the possibility that we may
be wrong so that we can correct our mistakes. Otherwise, we are bound
to be wrong. -- George Soros
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Soros)
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion is a 1944
triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The work is
based on the Eumenides, or Furies, of Aeschylus' The Oresteia, and
depicts three writhing anthropomorphic creatures set against a flat
orange background. The triptych was executed in oil paint and pastel
on Sundeala fibre board, and was completed within the space of two
weeks. The work summarizes themes explored in Bacon's previous
paintings, including his examination of Picasso's biomorphs, and his
interpretations of the Crucifixion and the Greek Furies. Bacon did not
realize his intention to paint a large crucifixion scene and place the
figures at the foot of the cross. The Three Studies triptych is
generally considered Bacon's first mature piece; he regarded his works
before the triptych as irrelevant, and throughout his life he tried to
suppress their appearance in the art market. When the painting was
first exhibited in 1945, it caused a sensation, and helped to
establish him as one of England's foremost post-war painters.
Commenting on the cultural significance of Three Studies, the critic
John Russell observed in 1971 that "there was painting in England
before the Three Studies, and painting after them, and no one ... can
confuse the two."
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Studies_for_Figures_at_the_Base_of_a_Cru…
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Today's selected anniversaries:
378:
A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens was destroyed by the Goths
in the Battle of Adrianople.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople)
1173:
The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa)
1945:
World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb named Fat
Man, devastating Nagasaki, Japan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man)
1969:
Followers of cult leader Charles Manson brutally murdered pregnant
actress Sharon Tate and four others in her Benedict Canyon, Los
Angeles home.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Tate)
1974:
The Watergate scandal: Richard Nixon became the first (and to date
only) President of the United States to resign from office.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
parochial: Of or relating to a parish.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parochial)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
You do not chop off a section of your imaginative substance and make a
book specifically for children, for — if you are honest — you have no
idea where childhood ends and maturity begins. It is all endless and
all one. -- P. L. Travers
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers)
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman,
educator, and author. He served as a general in the United States Army
during the American Civil War (1861–65), receiving both recognition
for his outstanding command of military strategy, and criticism for
the harshness of his "scorched earth" policies while conducting total
war against the enemy. Military historian Basil Liddell Hart famously
declared that Sherman was "the first modern general." In 1864, Sherman
became the Union commander in the western theater of the war. He
proceeded to lead his troops to the capture of Atlanta. His subsequent
march through Georgia and the Carolinas further undermined the
Confederacy's ability to continue fighting. He accepted the surrender
of all the Confederate armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida
in April 1865. After the Civil War, Sherman became Commanding General
of the U.S. Army (1869–83). As such, he was responsible for the
conduct of the Indian Wars in the western United States. In 1875, he
published his Memoirs, one of the best-known firsthand accounts of the
Civil War.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1679:
Le Griffon, a brigantine by René-Robert de LaSalle, became the first
sailing ship to navigate the Great Lakes.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9-Robert_Cavelier%2C_Sieur_de_La_Salle)
1782:
The Badge of Military Merit, the original Purple Heart, was
established as a military decoration in the Continental Army.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart)
1947:
An expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Pacific Ocean in 101
days on his raft, Kon-Tiki.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl)
1965:
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of the Federation of Malaysia
demanded that Singapore withdraw from the federation, choosing to
"sever ties with a State Government that showed no measure of loyalty
to its Central Government."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunku_Abdul_Rahman)
1998:
The bombing of U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and
Nairobi, Kenya killed over 200 people and injured over 4,500.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_United_States_embassy_bombings)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
vivacious: Lively and animated; full of life and energy.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vivacious)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Wikipedia is first and foremost an effort to create and distribute a
free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single
person on the planet in their own language. Asking whether the
community comes before or after this goal is really asking the wrong
question: the entire purpose of the community is precisely this goal.
-- Jimmy Wales
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales)
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary body of
the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union,
it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions
and has been described by some as one of the most powerful
legislatures in the world. The Parliament, together with the Council,
form the highest legislative body within the Union. This is only
within the competencies of the European Community being limited to
specific policy areas, however Union law does override national law.
The Parliament is composed of 785 MEPs (Member of the European
Parliament) who serve the second largest democratic electorate in the
world (after India) and the largest trans-national democratic
electorate in the world (492 million). It has been directly elected,
every five years by universal suffrage, since 1979. Although the
European Parliament has legislative power that such bodies as those
above do not possess, it does not have legislative initiative like
most national parliaments. While it is the "first institution" of the
European Union, the Council has greater powers over legislation than
the Parliament where codecision procedure (equal rights of amendment
and rejection) doesn't apply. It has however had control over the EU
budget since the 1970s and has a veto over the appointment of the
European Commission.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
The Holy Roman Empire dissolved after Francis II, the last Holy
Roman Emperor, was forced to abdicate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire)
1890:
At Auburn Prison in Auburn, New York, USA, William Kemmler became
the first person to be executed in an electric chair.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/electric_chair)
1945:
World War II: Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress of the U.S. Army Air
Force, dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan,
killing an estimated 80,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki)
1966:
Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan became emir and ruler of Abu
Dhabi.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayed_bin_Sultan_Al_Nahayan)
1991:
British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee posted files online
describing his idea for a system of interlinked, hypertext documents
accessible on the Internet, which he called a "World Wide Web".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
diaphanous: Of a fine, almost transparent texture.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/diaphanous)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Flower in the crannied wall,I pluck you out of the crannies,I hold you
here, root and all, in my hand,Little flower — but if I could
understandWhat you are, root and all, and all in all,I should know
what God and man is. -- Alfred Tennyson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Tennyson)