Natalee Holloway (born 1986) disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a high
school graduation trip to Aruba. The disappearance caused a media sensation
in the United States. She was last seen by her classmates outside Carlos'n
Charlie's, a Caribbean chain restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad, with
locals Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. When
questioned, the three men denied knowing what became of Holloway. Upon
further investigation by authorities, Van der Sloot was arrested twice on
suspicion of involvement in her disappearance, and the Kalpoes were each
arrested three times. Due to lack of evidence, the three men were released
without charge after each arrest. With the help of hundreds of volunteers,
Aruban investigators conducted an extensive search for Holloway. The
searches were unsuccessful, and according to Aruban authorities she is most
likely dead. On December 18, 2007, Aruban prosecutors announced that the
case would be closed without any charges sought against the former suspects.
The Aruban prosecutor's office reopened the case on February 1, 2008, after
receiving video footage of Joran van der Sloot, under the influence of
marijuana, making statements that Holloway died on the morning of May 30,
2005, and that her body was disposed of. Van der Sloot has since denied that
what he said was true. Holloway's family has criticized Aruban investigators
throughout the search for a perceived lack of progress in finding her.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalee_Holloway
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
Napoleonic Wars: The British Royal Navy led by Lord Nelson defeated
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and his combined French and Spanish navy at the
Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain's Cape Trafalgar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar)
1854:
Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale)
1858:
French composer Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld,
featuring the can-can, was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes
Parisiens in Paris.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld)
1969:
Siad Barre became President after a military coup in Somalia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)
1978:
After reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft, Frederick Valentich
disappeared in unexplained circumstances while piloting a Cessna 182L light
aircraft over the Bass Strait to King Island, Australia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentich_Disappearance)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
consequently: (adv) As a result or consequence of something.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consequently)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know
what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in
Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the
balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It
must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a
shadow.
--Ursula K. Le Guin
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin)
The history of Baltimore City College began in 1839, when the city council
of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. passed a resolution mandating the creation of a
male high school with a focus on English and classical literature. Baltimore
City College was opened in the same year with 46 pupils under the direction
of Nathan C. Brooks, a local educator and poet. In 1850, the council granted
the school the authority to present its graduates with certificates of
completion. An effort to expand that power and allow City College to confer
Bachelor of Arts degrees began in 1865, but ended unsuccessfully in 1869. By
the early 1900s, as the importance of higher education increased, the
school's priorities shifted to preparing students for college. In 1927, the
academic program was further changed, when City College divided its
curriculum into two tracks: the standard college preparatory "B" course, and
a more rigorous "A" course of study. In the 1950s, the school underwent
demographic changes following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Brown
v. Board of Education case. In September 1954, African-Americans entered
City College for the first time and continued to increase as a proportion of
the student population in the 1960s. The school saw further changes in the
student population with the acceptance of women in 1978.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Baltimore_City_College
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1708:
Having burned down in the 1666 Great Fire of London, the rebuilt St Paul's
Cathedral was completed on the 76th birthday of its architect, Christopher
Wren.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral)
1818:
The United Kingdom and the United States signed the Treaty of 1818, which
settled the Canada – United States border on the 49th parallel for most of
its length.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_1818)
1827:
An allied British, French, and Russian naval force destroyed a combined
Turkish and Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino, a decisive moment in
the Greek War of Independence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Navarino)
1967:
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject at Six
Rivers National Forest in California who they claimed was a bigfoot.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film)
1973:
Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, formally opened
the Sydney Opera House on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
wormily: (adv) In a manner reminding of a worm, with much twisting and
turning.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wormily)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
To be nameless in worthy deeds exceeds an infamous history.
--Thomas Browne
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne)
Odwalla is a health food company founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980
that sells fruit juice and food bars. Odwalla, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Coca-Cola, is headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California, with a production
facility in Dinuba, California. The company experienced strong growth from
its incorporation in 1985, expanding its distribution network from
California to most of North America, and went public in 1993. However, a
period of decline occurred as a result of a fatal outbreak of E. coli
O157:H7 bacteria in 1996 caused by contamination of its apple juice. Odwalla
recalled its juices and experienced a ninety-percent reduction in sales
following the event. The company gradually recovered, and, after a few
years, was making a profit again. Odwalla was acquired by the Coca-Cola
Company in 2001 for $181 million. Odwalla's range of products includes
juices, smoothies, dairy-free soy milk, and similar organic beverages, as
well as several flavors of energy bars, known as food bars, and bottled
spring water. While Odwalla originally sold unpasteurized juices (because
the process of pasteurization alters the flavor of juice), following the E.
coli outbreak, Odwalla adopted flash pasteurization and other
industry-standard safety procedures.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odwalla
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1469:
Ferdinand II of Aragon wedded Isabella of Castile , a marriage that paved
the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country,
Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II_of_Aragon)
1781:
American Revolutionary War: British forces led by Lord Cornwallis officially
surrendered to Franco-American forces under George Washington, ending the
Siege of Yorktown.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown)
1943:
Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, was first
isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptomycin)
1987:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 22.6% on Black Monday, the largest
one-day percentage decline in stock market history.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_(1987)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_%281987%29>
)
2001:
SIEV-X, an Indonesian fishing boat en route to Christmas Island carrying
over 400 asylum seekers, sank in international waters, killing 353 of them.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIEV-X)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
muster: (v) 1. To collect and display; to assemble.
2. To summon together; to enroll in service; to get together.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/muster)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The essential ingredient of politics is timing.
--Pierre Trudeau
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau)
James Robert Baker (1946–1997) was an American author of sharply satirical,
predominantly gay-themed transgressional fiction. A native Californian, his
work is set almost entirely in Southern California. After graduating from
UCLA, he began his career as a screenwriter, but became disillusioned and
started writing novels instead. Though he garnered fame for his books
Fuel-Injected Dreams and Boy Wonder, after the controversy surrounding
publication of his novel, Tim And Pete, he faced increasing difficulty
having his work published. According to his life partner, this was a
contributing factor in his suicide. Baker's work has achieved cult status in
the years since his death, and two additional novels have been posthumously
published. First-edition copies of his earlier works have become collector's
items. One of his novels was filmed (though it was not a financial success)
and two others have been optioned for the movies, though they have not been
produced.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robert_Baker
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1009:
Under orders from Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church now within the walled Old City of
Jerusalem, was destroyed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre)
1081:
Byzantine–Norman Wars: The Normans under Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and
Calabria, defeated the Byzantines outside the city of Dyrrhachium, the
Byzantine capital of Illyria.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dyrrhachium_(1081))
1356:
An earthquake caused much destruction in a vast region extending into France
and Germany, destroying Basel, Switzerland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1356_Basel_earthquake)
1851:
Moby-Dick, a novel by American writer Herman Melville , was first published
as The Whale.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick)
1968:
At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American Bob Beamon set a world
record of 8.90m in the long jump, a mark that eventually became the longest
unbroken track and field record in history, standing for 23 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Beamon)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
creek: (n) 1. (India, UK) A small inlet or bay, narrower and extending
further into the land than a cove; a recess in the shore of the sea, or of a
river.
2. (Australia, Canada, US) A stream of water smaller than a river and larger
than a brook.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/creek)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
There's too much of an attempt, it seems to me, to think in terms of
controlling man, rather than freeing him. Of defining him rather than
letting him go. It's part of the whole ideology of this age, which is
power-mad.
--Arthur Miller
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller)
IK Pegasi is a binary star system in the constellation Pegasus. A distance
of about 150 light years from the Solar System, it is just luminous enough
to be seen with the unaided eye. The primary (IK Pegasi A) is a main
sequence, A-class star that displays minor pulsations in luminosity. It is
categorized as a Delta Scuti variable star and it has a periodic cycle of
luminosity variation that repeats itself about 22.9 times per day. Its
companion (IK Pegasi B) is a massive white dwarf—a star that has evolved
past the main sequence and is no longer generating energy through nuclear
fusion. They orbit each other every 21.7 days with an average separation of
about 31 million kilometres, or 0.21 astronomical units (AU). This is
smaller than the orbit of Mercury around the Sun. IK Pegasi B is the nearest
known supernova progenitor candidate. When the primary begins to evolve into
a red giant, it is expected to grow to a radius where the white dwarf can
accrete matter from the expanded gaseous envelope. When the white dwarf
approaches the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar masses, it may explode as a
Type Ia supernova.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IK_Pegasi
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1346:
King David II of Scotland led an invasion of England during the Hundred
Years' War, but was captured in the Battle of Neville's Cross.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Neville%27s_Cross)
1448:
Ottoman wars in Europe: The Hungarian army led by John Hunyadi engaged an
Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kosovo_(1448))
1604:
Kepler's Star: German astronomer Johannes Kepler (pictured) observed an
exceptionally bright star which had suddenly appeared in the constellation
Ophiuchus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1604)
1860:
The Open Championship, the oldest of the four major championships in men's
golf, was first played at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire,
Scotland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Championship)
1977:
German Autumn: Four days after it was hijacked, Lufthansa Lufthansa Flight
181 landed in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of German GSG 9 commandos
rescued all remaining hostages on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_181)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
tulgey: (adj) Thick, dense, dark.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tulgey)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat
falsehoods is with truth.
--William O. Douglas
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas)
The history of Stoke City F.C., an English association football club based
in Stoke-on-Trent, covers the years from the club's formation to the present
day. The Stoke Ramblers were formed in 1863, playing their first documented
match on 17 October 1868 at the Victoria Cricket Club ground. In 1878 the
club moved to the Victoria Ground, its home for the next 119 years, and
merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke Football Club. The
club joined the Football League upon its formation in 1888, making it the
second oldest club in the Football League. The club moved in 1997 to the
Britannia Stadium, a 28,383 all-seater stadium; the Victoria Ground was
demolished later that year. In the 2007–08 season, Stoke won promotion from
the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, and
as of 2008-2009 are playing in the top flight (currently English Premier
League) for the first time since 1985, when they were relegated with just 17
points, a record low unsurpassed for 21 years. Stoke's only major trophy was
the 1972 League Cup, won by beating Chelsea 2–1 in the final before a crowd
of 97,852.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Stoke_City_F.C.
________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
456:
Magister militum Ricimer defeated Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and became
master of the Western Roman Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricimer)
1813:
The Sixth Coalition attacked Napoleon and the First French Empire in the
Battle of Leipzig, the largest conflict in the Napoleonic Wars with over
500,000 troops involved.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leipzig)
1843:
William Rowan Hamilton first wrote down the fundamental formula for
quaternions, carving the equation into the side of Broom Bridge in Cabra,
Dublin, Ireland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion)
1940:
World War II: Nazi Governor-General Hans Frank established the Warsaw
Ghetto, the largest Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto)
1978:
Karol Józef Wojtyła, a cardinal from Kraków, Poland, became Pope John Paul
II, the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century and the first ever
from a Slavic country.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
accrete: (v) To grow together, combine.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accrete)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
A nuclear war does not defend a country and it does not defend a system.
I've put it the same way many times; not even the most accomplished
ideologue will be able to tell the difference between the ashes of
capitalism and the ashes of communism.
--John Kenneth Galbraith
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith)
USS New Jersey (BB-62) is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship
of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of New
Jersey. Among the four completed Iowa-class battleships New Jersey is
notable for having earned the most battle stars for her combat actions, and
for being the only battleship of the class to have served a tour of duty in
Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During World War II, New Jersey shelled
targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids
in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War she was involved in raids up
and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned in to
the United States Navy reserve fleets. She was briefly reactivated in 1968
and sent to Vietnam to support U.S. troops before returning to the mothball
fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship
Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned
for service. In 1983, she participated in U.S. operations during the
Lebanese Civil War. New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991,
having earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and a total of
19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the
Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the
Persian Gulf. She was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New
Jersey, and began her career as a museum ship 15 October 2001.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_Jersey_(BB-62)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_Jersey_%28BB-62%29>
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1582:
Spain, Portugal, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Italy became the
first countries to replace the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar)
1917:
Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad for spying for
Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari)
1951:
Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_E._Miramontes)
1966:
The Black Panther Party, a Marxist/Maoist African-American organization that
promoted Black Power and self-defense in the United States, was founded in
Oakland, California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party)
2003:
Chinese space program: Shenzhou 5, China's first manned space mission was
launched, carrying astronaut Yang Liwei.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_5)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
highfalutin: (adj) (US, informal) Self-important, pompous; arrogant or
egotistical; tending to show off or hold oneself in unduly high regard.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/highfalutin)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower)
A subarachnoid hemorrhage is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area
between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. This
may occur spontaneously, usually from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, or may
result from head injury. Symptoms include an intense headache with a rapid
onset ("thunderclap headache"), vomiting, and an altered level of
consciousness. The diagnosis is generally made with a CT scan of the head,
or occasionally by lumbar puncture. SAH is managed with close observation
and prompt neurosurgical investigations, medications and other treatment
methods to help prevent recurrence of the bleeding and complications. SAH is
a medical emergency and can lead to death or severe disability—even when
recognized and treated at an early stage. Up to half of all cases of SAH are
fatal and 10–15% die before reaching a hospital, and those who survive often
have neurological or cognitive impairment. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is
considered a form of stroke and causes 1–7% of all strokes. Surgery for
aneurysms was introduced in the 1930s, but since the 1990s many aneurysms
are treated by a procedure called "coiling", which is carried out from
within the blood vessels.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarachnoid_hemorrhage
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1773:
The first recorded ministry of education, the Commission of National
Education, was formed in Poland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_of_National_Education)
1888:
French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed Roundhay Garden Scene, the earliest
surviving motion picture, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhay_Garden_Scene)
1926:
The first book featuring English author A. A. Milne's fictional bear
Winnie-the-Pooh was first published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh)
1947:
Flying at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13.7 km) in an experimental Bell X-1
rocket-powered aircraft, American test pilot Chuck Yeager (pictured) became
the first person to break the sound barrier.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager)
1953:
Qibya massacre: Israeli military commander Ariel Sharon and his Unit 101
special forces were ordered to "inflict heavy damage on the inhabitants" of
a village on the West Bank.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibya_massacre)
________________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
treacle: (noun) A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden
syrup.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/treacle)
_________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The concept which assumes that everything in the Church is irrevocably set
for all times appears to me to be a false one. It would be naive to
disregard that the Church has a history; the Church is a human institution
and like all things human, was destined to change and evolve; likewise, its
development takes place often in the form of struggles.
-- Edith Stein
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Stein)