The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the
Spanish Golden Age, in the National Gallery, London. Completed between 1647
and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work
depicts the goddess Venus in an erotic pose, lying on a bed and looking into
a mirror held by the god of sensual love, her son Cupid. Numerous works,
from the ancient to the baroque, have been cited as sources of inspiration
for Velázquez. The nude Venuses of the Italian painters, such as Giorgione's
Sleeping Venus (c. 1510) and Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538), were the main
precedents. In this work, Velázquez combined two established poses for
Venus: recumbent on a couch or a bed, and gazing at her reflection in a
mirror. In a number of ways the painting represents a pictorial departure;
through its central use of a mirror, and because it shows the body of Venus
turned away from the picture's viewer. The Rokeby Venus is the only
surviving female nude by Velázquez. The painting adorned the houses of
Spanish courtiers until 1813 when it was brought to England to hang in
Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. In 1906, the painting was purchased by National Art
Collections Fund for the National Gallery, London. Although it was attacked
and badly damaged in 1914 by the suffragette Mary Richardson, it was soon
fully restored and returned to display.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
284:
Diocletian became Roman Emperor, eventually establishing reforms that
brought an end to the Crisis of the Third Century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian)
1700:
Great Northern War: Swedish forces led by King Charles XII defeated the
Russian army of Tsar Peter the Great in the Battle of Narva.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Narva_(1700)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Narva_%281700%29>
)
1902:
While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto during a lunch meeting
in Paris, sports journalists Henri Desgrange and Géo Lefèvre came up with
the idea of holding a cycling race that became known as the Tour de France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France)
1910:
Francisco I. Madero promulgated the San Luis Plan, starting a revolt against
President Porfirio Díaz that marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Revolution)
1998:
Zarya, the first module of the International Space Station, was launched on
a Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarya)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
conundrum (n) 1. A difficult question or riddle.
2. A difficult choice or decision that must be made.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conundrum)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Never burn a penny candle looking for a halfpenny.
--Irish proverb
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Irish_proverbs)
The Greater Crested Tern is a seabird in the tern family, which nests in
dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old
World. Its five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the
Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations
dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. The Greater Crested
Tern has grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow bill, and a shaggy
black crest which recedes in winter. Its young have a distinctive
appearance, with strongly patterned grey, brown and white plumage, and rely
on their parents for food for several months after they have fledged. Like
all members of the genus Thalasseus, the Greater Crested Tern feeds by
plunge diving for fish, usually in marine environments; the male offers fish
to the female as part of the courtship ritual. This is an adaptable species
which has learned to follow fishing boats for jettisoned bycatch, and to
utilise unusual nest sites such as the roofs of buildings and artificial
islands in salt pans and sewage works. Its eggs and young are taken by gulls
and ibises, and human activities such as fishing, shooting and egg
harvesting have caused local population declines. There are no global
conservation concerns for this bird, which has a stable total population of
more than 500,000 individuals.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Crested_Tern
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1493:
Christopher Columbus became the first European to land on Puerto Rico, an
island he named San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico)
1816:
The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was
established as The Royal University of Warsaw after Warsaw was separated
from Kraków, the oldest and most influential Polish academic centre.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw)
1941:
World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German
auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran destroyed each other off the coast of Western
Australia in the Indian Ocean.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_between_HMAS_Sydney_and_HSK_Kormoran)
1969:
Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazilian football player Pelé scored his 1000th goal on a penalty
kick.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)
1999:
Shenzhou 1, China's first unmanned test flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft,
was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Alxa League, Inner
Mongolia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_1)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lurid (adj) 1. Ghastly, pale, or wan in appearance.
2. Shocking, horrifying.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lurid)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true.
--Niels Bohr
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr)
Congregation Beth Elohim is a Reform congregation located at 274 Garfield
Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New
York. Founded in 1861 as a more liberal breakaway from Congregation Baith
Israel, in its first 65 years it attempted four mergers with other
congregations, including three with Baith Israel, all of which failed. The
congregation completed its current Classical Revival synagogue building in
1910 and its "Jewish Deco" (Romanesque Revival and Art Deco) Temple House in
1929. The congregation went through difficult times during the Great
Depression, and the bank almost foreclosed on its buildings in 1946.
Membership dropped significantly in the 1930s because of the Depression, and
again in the 1970s as a result of demographic shifts. Programs for young
children helped draw Jewish families back into the neighborhood and
revitalize the membership. By 2006 Beth Elohim had over 1000 members, and,
as of 2008[update], it was the largest Reform congregation in Brooklyn, the
"oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate
name", and its pulpit was the oldest in continuous use in any Brooklyn
synagogue.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_Beth_Elohim
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1307:
William Tell, a legendary marksman in Switzerland, is said to have
successfully shot an apple on his son's head with a single bolt from his
crossbow.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell)
1626:
St. Peter's Basilica, one of four major basilicas of Rome, was consecrated
on the anniversary of that of the previous church in 326.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica)
1905:
Prince Carl of Denmark became Haakon VII, the first King of Norway after the
personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haakon_VII_of_Norway)
1928:
Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie, the first completely post-produced
synchronized sound animated cartoon, was released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat_Willie)
1987:
An underground fire killed 31 people at London's busiest underground station
at King's Cross St Pancras.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Cross_fire)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
prurient (adj) 1. Uneasy with desire; having a lascivious anxiety
or propensity.
2. Arousing or appealing to sexual desire.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prurient)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it
happens.
--Woody Allen
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Allen)
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band that formed in 1990 in Stockholm. While
the band has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and
songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force since joining
shortly after its inception. While firmly rooted in Scandinavian death
metal, Opeth has consistently incorporated influence by progressive music,
folk, blues rock and jazz into their usually lengthy songs. Many
compositions include acoustic guitar interludes and strong dynamic shifts,
as well as both growling and clean vocals. Though they rarely toured in
support of their first four albums, Opeth conducted their first world tour
after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park. Opeth has released nine studio
albums, two live albums, one box set, and two DVDs. The band released its
debut album Orchid in 1995, but did not experience American commercial
success until the 2003 release of seventh effort Damnation which debuted at
number 192 on the Billboard 200. Opeth's ninth studio album, Watershed, was
released on June 3, 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at #23.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opeth
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1558:
Elizabeth I became Queen of England and Ireland, marking the start of the
Elizabethan era.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England)
1855:
Explorer David Livingstone became the first European to see Victoria Falls,
one of the largest waterfalls in the world, on what is now the
Zambia–Zimbabwe border.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls)
1869:
The Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, was
inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal)
1969:
Cold War: Representatives from the Soviet Union and the United States met in
Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of
strategic weapons on both sides.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Arms_Limitation_Talks)
1997:
Sixty-two people were killed by Islamic terrorists outside the Deir
el-Bahri, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions, in Luxor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1997_Luxor_massacre)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gravitas (n) 1. Seriousness in bearing or manner; dignity.
2. (figuratively) Substance, weight.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gravitas)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.
--Samuel Johnson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson)
Phan Xich Long (1893–1916) was a 20th century Vietnamese mystic and
geomancer who claimed to be the Emperor of Vietnam. He attempted to exploit
religion as a cover for his own political ambitions, having started his own
ostensibly religious organisation. Claiming to be a descendant of Emperor
Ham Nghi, Long staged a ceremony to coronate himself, before trying to seize
power in 1913 by launching an armed uprising against the colonial rule of
French Indochina. His supporters launched an attack on Saigon in March 1913,
drinking potions that purportedly made them invisible and planting bombs at
several locations. The insurrection against the French colonial
administration failed when none of the bombs detonated and the supposedly
invisible supporters were apprehended. The French authorities imprisoned
Long and many of his supporters, who openly admitted their aim of
overthrowing French authorities at the trial. In 1916, southern Vietnam was
hit by uprisings against French rule, with many of Long's supporters
attempting to break him out of jail. The French easily repelled the attack
on the jail, decimating Long's movement. Following attempted breakout, Long
and his key supporters were put to death. Many of the remnants of his
support base went on to join what later became the Cao Dai, a major
religious sect in Vietnam.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Xich_Long
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1384:
Though she was only a ten-year old girl, Jadwiga was crowned "King of
Poland".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga_of_Poland)
1532:
Sapa Inca Atahualpa was captured by Conquistador Francisco Pizarro at the
Battle of Cajamarca in Cajamarca, Peru.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cajamarca)
1885:
After a five-day trial following the North-West Rebellion, Louis Riel,
Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba", was executed by
hanging for high treason.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel)
1979:
The first line of Bucharest Metro, the M1 Line, opened from Timpuri Noi to
Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucharest_Metro)
2002:
The first case of the respiratory disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) was recorded in Guangdong, China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
repudiate (v) 1. To reject the truth or validity of something.
2. To refuse to have anything to do with; to disown.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repudiate)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As for the future, your task is not to forsee it, but to enable it.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exupery)
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester,
North West England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The
canal, when fully opened, was 15 miles (24 km) and 1 furlong (200 m) long.
It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford. Seventeen
locks were required to climb to the summit as it passed through Pendleton,
heading northwest to Prestolee before it split northwest to Bolton and
northeast to Bury. The canal was commissioned in 1791 by local landowners
and businessmen and built between 1791 and 1808, during the Golden Age of
canal building, at a cost of £127,700. Originally designed for narrow gauge
boats, the canal was altered during its construction into a broad gauge
canal to allow an ultimately unrealised connection with the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal. The majority of the freight carried was coal from local
collieries but, as the mines reached the end of their working lives,
sections of the canal fell into disuse and disrepair and it was officially
abandoned in 1961. In 1987, a society was formed with the aim of restoring
the canal for leisure use and, in 2006, restoration began in the area around
the junction with the River Irwell in Salford. The canal is currently
navigable as far as East Ordsall Lane, in Salford.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Bolton_%26_Bury_Canal
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
655:
Penda of Mercia was defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria at the Battle of the
Winwaed in what is modern-day Yorkshire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Winwaed)
1889:
A military coup led by Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca overthrew Emperor
Pedro II and declared Brazil a republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodoro_da_Fonseca)
1920:
The first general assembly of the League of Nations was held in Geneva,
Switzerland, with 42 founding members.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations)
1971:
Intel released the 4004 4-bit central processing unit, the world's first
commercially available microprocessor, capable of executing approximately
60,000 instructions per second.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_4004)
1985:
Northern Ireland peace process: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,
and the Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement,
giving the Irish Government an advisory role in Northern Ireland's
government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Agreement)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
panacea (n) 1. A remedy believed to cure all disease and prolong
life; a cure-all.
2. Something that will solve all problems.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/panacea)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The reason that clichés become clichés is that they are the hammers and
screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.
--Terry Pratchett
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett)
Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland, the
southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which
began 130 metres (426 ft) below sea level, and reached the surface on 14
November 1963. The eruption may have started a few days earlier and lasted
until 5 June 1967, when the island reached its maximum size of 2.7 km² (1.0
mi²). Since then, wind and wave erosion has caused the island to steadily
diminish in size: as of 2002, its surface area was 1.4 km² (0.54 mi²). The
new island was named after the fire god Surtr from Norse mythology, and was
intensively studied by volcanologists during its creation and, since the end
of the eruption, has been of great interest to botanists and biologists as
life has gradually colonised the originally barren island. The undersea
vents that produced Surtsey are part of the Vestmannaeyjar (Westmann Isles)
submarine volcanic system, part of the fissure of the sea floor called the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Vestmannaeyjar also produced the famous eruption of
Eldfell on the island of Heimaey in 1973. The eruption that created Surtsey
also created a few other small islands along this volcanic chain, such as
Jólnir and other unnamed peaks. Most of these eroded away fairly quickly.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surtsey
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1228:
Frederick of Isenberg was executed for the murder of his cousin Engelbert of
Berg, the Archbishop of Cologne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_of_Isenberg)
1817:
Bolívar's War: Colombian seamstress Policarpa Salavarrieta was executed by
firing squad by the Spanish in Bogotá for working as a spy for the
revolutionary forces in New Granada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policarpa_Salavarrieta)
1889:
Nellie Bly, reporter for the New York World, departed on her successful
attempt to travel Around the World in Eighty Days, eventually completing her
journey in only seventy-two days.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly)
1940:
World War II: Coventry Cathedral and much of the city centre of Coventry,
England were destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during the Coventry Blitz.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Blitz)
1971:
NASA's Mariner 9 reached Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit
another planet.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_9)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
extirpate (v) 1. To pull up by the roots; uproot.
2. To destroy completely; to annihilate.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/extirpate)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not
become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes
into you.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche)
The Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany was the first public anti-smoking
campaign in modern history. Anti-tobacco movements grew in many nations from
the beginning of the 20th century, but these had little success except in
Germany where the campaign was supported by the government after the Nazis
came to power. It was the most powerful anti-smoking movement in the world
in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Nazi leadership condemned smoking and
several of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Research on smoking
and its effects on health thrived under Nazi rule and was the most important
of its type at that time. Hitler's personal distaste for tobacco and the
Nazi reproductive policies were among the motivating factors behind their
campaign against smoking, and this campaign was associated with both
antisemitism and racism. The Nazi anti-tobacco campaign included banning
smoking in trams, buses and city trains, promoting health education,
limiting cigarette rations in the Wehrmacht, organizing medical lectures for
soldiers and raising the tobacco tax. The Nazis also imposed restrictions on
tobacco advertising, tobacco rationing for women, smoking in public spaces
and regulated restaurants and coffeehouses. The anti-tobacco movement did
not have much effect in the early years of the Nazi regime and tobacco use
increased between 1933 and 1939, but smoking by military personnel declined
from 1939 to 1945.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tobacco_movement_in_Nazi_Germany
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1642:
First English Civil War: The Royalist army engaged the much larger
Parliamentarian army at the Battle of Turnham Green near Turnham Green,
Middlesex.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Turnham_Green)
1954:
Great Britain defeated France at the Parc des Princes in Paris to win the
first Rugby League World Cup.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_World_Cup)
1970:
The Bhola tropical cyclone hit the densely populated Ganges Delta in East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Bhola_cyclone)
1982:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C.
was dedicated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial)
1985:
The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted, causing a volcanic mudslide that buried
Armero, Colombia and killed approximately 23,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevado_del_Ruiz)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
craquelure (n) (art) The distinctive pattern of hairline cracks in the
surface of an old painting.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/craquelure)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still
calm of life, or in the repose of a pacific station, that great characters
are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with
difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.
--Abigail Adams
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams)
Joe Sakic (born 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre of
Croatian origin, who has played his entire National Hockey League career
with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In his 19-year
tenure, Sakic has won the Stanley Cup twice, various NHL trophies, and has
been voted into 13 NHL All-Star Games. Named captain of the team in 1992, he
is regarded as one of the strongest team leaders to ever play in the league,
and has been able to motivate his team throughout his entire career to play
at a winning level. Over the course of his career, Sakic has been one of the
most productive forwards in the game, having twice scored 50 goals and
earning at least 100 points in six different seasons. His wrist shot,
considered to be one of the best in the NHL, has been the source of much of
his production. At the conclusion of the 2006–07 NHL season, he was the 9th
all-time points leader in the NHL, as well as 14th in all-time goals and
11th in all-time assists. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sakic helped lead
Team Canada to its first gold medal in 50 years, and was voted as the
tournament's most valuable player.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sakic
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1028:
Future Byzantine empress Zoe married Romanus Argyrus according to the wishes
of the dying Constantine VIII.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_III)
1893:
Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India, and Abdur Rahman Khan,
Amir of Afghanistan, signed the Durand Line Agreement, establishing what is
now the international border between Afghanistan and modern-day Pakistan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line)
1927:
Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in
undisputed control of the Soviet Union
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky)
1936:
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Oakland,
California across San Francisco Bay, opened to traffic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco-Oakland_Bay_Bridge)
1970:
The Oregon Highway Division attempted to destroy a rotting beached sperm
whale near Florence, Oregon with explosives, leading to the exploding whale
incident.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
taciturn (adj) Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to
speak.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taciturn)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I never met a man so stupid I could not learn something from him
--Galileo Galilei
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei)
Ronald Niel Stuart (1886 – 1954) was a British Merchant Navy Commodore and
Royal Navy Captain who was highly commended following extensive and
distinguished service at sea over a period of more than thirty five years.
During World War I he received the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service
Order, the French Croix de Guerre avec Palmes. and the United States' Navy
Cross for a series of daring operations he conducted while serving in the
Royal Navy during the First Battle of the Atlantic. Stuart's Victoria Cross
was awarded following a ballot by the men under his command. This unusual
method of selection was used after the Admiralty board was unable to choose
which members of the crew deserved the honour after a desperate engagement
between a Q-ship and a German submarine off the Irish coast. His later
career included command of the liner RMS Empress of Britain and the
management of the London office of a major transatlantic shipping company.
Following his retirement in 1951, Stuart moved into his sister's cottage in
Kent and died three years later. A sometime irascible man, he was reportedly
embarrassed by any fuss surrounding his celebrity and was known to exclaim
"Mush!" at any demonstration of strong emotion.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Niel_Stuart
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1880:
Australian bank robber and bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged in Melbourne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Varna)
1889:
The U.S. territory of Washington officially became the 42nd U.S. state as
the State of Washington.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington)
1918:
Germany and the Allies signed an armistice treaty in a railway carriage in
France's Compiègne Forest, ending World War I on the Western Front.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_with_Germany_(Compi%C3%A8gne)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_with_Germany_%28Compi%C3%A8gne%29>
)
1965:
Ian Smith, Premier of the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia, issued
the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, a move that the British
government and the United Nations condemned as illegal.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence_(Rhodes…<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence_%28Rhod…>
)
1975:
The Australian constitutional crisis came to a head as Prime Minister Gough
Whitlam was dismissed from office by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apotheosis (n) 1. Glorification, sometimes to a divine level;
deification; crediting a person with god-like power.
2. (mythology) The process of becoming a deity.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apotheosis)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As long as I am mayor of this city the great industries are secure. We hear
about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I
hear these words I say to myself, 'That man is a Red, that man is a
Communist.' You never hear a real American talk like that.
--Frank Hague
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Hague)