Thierry Henry is a French football player. Renowned for his pace, goal
scoring record and ability to create assists, he plays as a striker
for the France national team and FC Barcelona. He was spotted by AS
Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in
1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which
he signed for the Italian defending champions Juventus. He had a
disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for
£10.5 million in 1999. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a
world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the
Premiership, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every
season. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club
captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In
June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to FC
Barcelona for a fee of £16.1 million. Henry has enjoyed similar
success with the French national squad, having won the 1998 FIFA World
Cup and Euro 2000. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's
record becoming the country's top goal-scorer of all time. Given his
accomplishments, he is regarded today by many as one of the best
footballers in the world.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1661:
Charles II was crowned King of England, Ireland, and Scotland at
Westminster Abbey.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England)
1827:
Irish mathematician and physicist William Rowan Hamilton presented
his Theory of Systems of Rays.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton)
1920:
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Turkish unicameral
parliament, was founded in Ankara in the midst of the Turkish War of
Independence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_National_Assembly_of_Turkey)
1923:
Gdynia was inaugurated as a Polish seaport on the coast of Gdańsk
Bay, a southwestern bay of the Baltic Sea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdynia)
1961:
Dressed in his 1940s-vintage general's uniform, President Charles de
Gaulle delivered a televised speech calling on the military personnel
and civilians of France to oppose the Algiers putsch, a coup d'état
attempt against him.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers_putsch_of_1961)
1968:
Students protesting the Vietnam War at Columbia University in New
York City took over administration buildings and shut down the
university.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_protests_of_1968)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
shanghai: To force or trick (someone) into joining a ship which is
lacking a full crew.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shanghai)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again: And by that
destiny, to perform an act Whereof what's past is prologue, what to
come In yours and my discharge.
-- William Shakespeare
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare)
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington
in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has consisted of
Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone
Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar). The band's
current drummer is Matt Cameron, formerly of Soundgarden, who has been
with the band since 1998. Formed after the demise of Ament and
Gossard's previous band Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the
mainstream with its debut album Ten. One of the key bands of the
grunge movement in the early 1990s, Pearl Jam was nevertheless
criticized early on as being a corporate cash-in on the alternative
rock explosion. However, its members became noted for their refusal to
adhere to traditional music industry practices as their career
progressed, including refusing to make music videos and engaging in a
much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster. Rolling Stone described the
band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing
apart their own fame." Since its inception, the band has sold 30
million records in the U.S., and an estimated 60 million albums
worldwide. Pearl Jam has outlasted many of its contemporaries from the
alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered
one of the most influential bands of the decade, and "the most popular
American rock band of the 1990s".
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1500:
Portuguese explorer Pedro ??lvares Cabral and his crew became the
first Europeans to sight Brazil when they spotted Monte Pascoal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%EF%BF%BD%EF%BF%BDlvares_Cabral)
1889:
Over 50,000 people rushed to claim a piece of the available two
million acres (8,000 km??) in the Unassigned Lands, the present-day
U.S. state of Oklahoma. Within hours, both Oklahoma City and Guthrie
had established cities of around 10,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Run_of_1889)
1915:
The Germans released chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in the Second
Battle of Ypres, killing over 5,000 soldiers within ten minutes by
asphyxiation in the first large-scale successful use of poison gas in
World War I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I)
1930:
France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States
signed the London Naval Treaty, regulating submarine warfare and
limiting military ship building.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Naval_Treaty)
1945:
About 600 prisoners of the Jasenovac concentration camp in the
Independent State of Croatia revolted, but only 80 of the managed to
escape while the other 520 were killed by the Croatian Usta??e regime.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasenovac_concentration_camp)
1993:
The first version of Mosaic, created by computer programmers Marc
Andreessen and Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was
released, becoming the first popular World Wide Web browser and Gopher
client.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_%28web_browser%29)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
johnnycake: (US) A dense baked or fried flatbread made of cornmeal.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/johnnycake)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.
-- Marshall McLuhan
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan)
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is a system of government in which
a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of the United Kingdom and its
overseas territories. The terms British monarch and British monarchy
may mean different things in different contexts beyond the United
Kingdom. The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned
since 6 February, 1952. The heir apparent is her eldest son, Charles,
Prince of Wales and Duke of Rothesay. They and the Queen's husband and
consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, undertake various public
duties in accordance with their positions. Elizabeth II is Head of the
Commonwealth and also reigns as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth
countries. This developed from the former colonial relationship of
these countries to Britain, but they are now independent and the
monarchy of each is legally distinct.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdom
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1836:
Texan forces led by Sam Houston defeated General Antonio López de
Santa Anna and his Mexican troops in the Battle of San Jacinto near La
Porte, the decisive battle in the Texas Revolution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto)
1894:
Norway formally adopted the Krag-Jørgensen, a repeating bolt action
rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik
Jørgensen, as the main firearm of its armed forces.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krag-J%C3%B8rgensen)
1918:
The German fighter pilot known as "The Red Baron", the most
successful flying ace of World War I with 80 confirmed air combat
victories, was shot down and killed near Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen)
1967:
Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos overthrew the government of Prime
Minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos in a coup d'état, establishing the
Regime of the Colonels in Greece.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgios_Papadopoulos)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
bucolic: Rustic, pastoral, country-styled
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bucolic)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious
starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the
mountaintop it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make
— leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone
— we all dwell in a house of one room — the world with the firmament
for its roof — and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving
any track.
-- John Muir
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Muir)
Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is the diagnostic term for severe
and relatively uncommon disorders of attachment that can affect
children. RAD is characterized by markedly disturbed and
developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most
contexts. It can take the form of a persistent failure to initiate or
respond to most social interactions in a developmentally appropriate
way—known as the "inhibited" form—or can present itself as
indiscriminate sociability, such as excessive familiarity with
relative strangers—known as the "disinhibited form". RAD arises from
a failure to form normal attachments to primary caregivers in early
childhood. Such a failure could result from severe early experiences
of neglect, abuse, abrupt separation from caregivers between the ages
of six months and three years, frequent change of caregivers, or a
lack of caregiver responsiveness to a child's communicative efforts.
The criteria for a diagnosis of a reactive attachment disorder are
very different from the criteria used in assessment or categorization
of attachment styles such as insecure or disorganized attachment.
Children with RAD are presumed to have grossly disturbed internal
working models of relationships which may lead to interpersonal and
behavioral difficulties in later life. There are few studies of long
term effects, and there is a lack of clarity about the presentation of
the disorder beyond the age of five years.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_attachment_disorder
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1653:
Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament of the Commonwealth of
England by force, eventually replacing it with the Barebone's
Parliament.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rump_Parliament)
1862:
French physiologist Louis Pasteur and physiologist Claude Bernard
completed the first test on pasteurization.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pasteurization)
1884:
Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical Humanum Genus, denouncing
Freemasonry, the doctrine of a separation of church and state, and
many other principles, some of which are today equated by most people
with the founding ones of the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanum_Genus)
1968:
British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell made his controversial
"Rivers of Blood" speech in opposition to immigration and
anti-discrimination legislation, resulting in him being removed from
the Shadow Cabinet.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech)
1978:
Soviet fighters shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 after it
violated Soviet airspace and failed to respond to Soviet interceptors.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_902)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
quidnunc: Someone who attempts to know all that happens, but who is
not careful of the facts.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quidnunc)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things.
... Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may
not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like
unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but
not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.
-- Peter S. Beagle
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_S._Beagle)
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism,
writing, and speeches. She was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel
woman" by admirers, and derided as an advocate of
politically-motivated murder and violent revolution by her critics.
Born in the province of Kaunas, Lithuania she moved with her sister
Helena to Rochester, New York in the United States at the age of
sixteen. Attracted to anarchism after the Haymarket Riot, Goldman was
trained by Johann Most in public speaking and became a renowned
lecturer, attracting crowds of thousands. The writer and anarchist
Alexander Berkman became her lover, lifelong intimate friend and
comrade. Together they planned to assassinate Henry Clay Frick as an
act of propaganda of the deed. Though Frick survived, Berkman was
sentenced to twenty-two years in prison. In 1917 Goldman and Berkman
were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to "induce persons
not to register" for the newly instated draft. After their release
from prison, they were arrested - with hundreds of others - and
deported to Russia. Initially supportive of that country's Bolshevik
revolution, Goldman quickly voiced her opposition to the Soviet use of
violence and the repression of independent voices. Eventually she
traveled to Spain to participate in that nation's civil war. She died
in Toronto on 14 May 1940.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1713:
With no living male heirs, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued the
Pragmatic Sanction to ensure one of his daughters would inherit the
Habsburg monarchy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1775:
The American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington
and Concord in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord)
1943:
Nazi German troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the
remaining Jews, sparking the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the first mass
uprising in Poland against the Nazi occupation during the Holocaust.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising)
1971:
The first space station, Salyut 1, was launched from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR, USSR.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_1)
1984:
Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick's "Advance Australia
Fair", a patriotic song that was first performed in 1878, officially
replaced "God Save the Queen" as Australia's national anthem.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Australia_Fair)
1995:
A car bomb was detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, killing 168 people and
injuring over 800 others.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
espalier: A horticultural technique using pruning and shaping to train
the branches of a tree or shrub into a two-dimensional ornamental
design, as along a wall or fence.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/espalier)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
When you study natural science and the miracles of creation, if you
don't turn into a mystic you are not a natural scientist.
-- Albert Hofmann
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann)
Cannibal Holocaust is a controversial exploitation film directed by
Ruggero Deodato and based on a screenplay written by Gianfranco
Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest, it focuses on a team of four
documentarians who head deep into the jungle to make a documentary on
the primitive native tribes that live there. After two months and no
word from the team, a famous anthropologist is sent on a rescue
mission in hopes of finding the team alive. Cannibal Holocaust is one
of the best known exploitation films due to the controversy it caused
upon its release. After premiering in Italy, the film was seized by
the local Magistrate and Deodato was arrested for obscenity. He was
later accused of making a snuff film based on circulating rumors that
the film's actors were slain for the camera. Though Deodato would be
cleared of these charges, the film was banned in Italy, the UK,
Australia, and several other countries for graphic gore, sexual
violence, and for the genuine slayings of six animals featured in the
film. Despite this notoriety, Cannibal Holocaust is seen by some
critics as a social commentary on civilized society.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica (interior pictured)
in Vatican City, to replace the old St. Peter's Basilica built in the
4th century, began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica)
1942:
World War II: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft
carrier USS Hornet carried out the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, the first
Allied attack on the Japanese home islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid)
1983:
A suicide bomber destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut with
a car bomb, killing over 60 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_United_States_Embassy_bombing)
1988:
Iran-Iraq War: U.S. naval forces launched Operation Praying Mantis
in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the
subsequent damage to the American frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis)
1996:
Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon during Operation Grapes of
Wrath, killing over 100 civilians and injuring over 110 others at a UN
compound.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_shelling_of_Qana)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
tantamount: Equivalent in meaning or effect.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tantamount)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the
other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.
-- Clarence Darrow
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clarence_Darrow)
Dawson Creek is a small city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada.
It covers an area of 20.66 square kilometres (8 sq mi) with a 2006
population of 11,615 people. Dubbed "The Capital of the Peace", it is
a service centre for the rural areas south of the Peace River and the
seat of the Peace River Regional District. Dawson Creek turned from a
small farming community to a regional centre when the western terminus
of the Northern Alberta Railways was extended there in 1932, and the
US Army used that terminus as a transshipment point in 1942 during the
construction of the Alaska Highway. Most of the city's development
occurred between 1942 and 1966 when highways and railways were built
connecting the farming area of the Peace River Country to the rest of
BC through Dawson Creek. Dawson Creek derived its name from the creek
of the same name that runs through the city. The creek was named after
George Mercer Dawson by a member of his land survey team when they
passed through the area in August 1879. The city, at the southern end
of the Alaska Highway, is known as the "Mile 0 City" and is also home
to a regional fall fair and heritage interpretation village.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_Creek%2C_British_Columbia
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1797:
French Revolutionary Wars: British Lieutenant General Ralph
Abercromby and a force of over 6,000 men invaded Spanish-controlled
Puerto Rico.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_%281797%29)
1895:
The Empire of Japan and the Chinese Qing Empire signed the Treaty of
Shimonoseki, an unequal treaty that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki)
1942:
World War II: Captured French General Henri Giraud escaped from
German captivity in the K??nigstein Castle.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Giraud)
1961:
Armed Cuban exiles backed by the CIA invaded Cuba, landing in the
Bay of Pigs, with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion)
1975:
The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot captured Phnom Penh, ending the
Cambodian Civil War, and established the Democratic Kampuchea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War)
1982:
A new "patriated" Constitution of Canada, including the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was signed into law.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1982)
1986:
The Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace, ending the
Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hundred_and_Thirty_Five_Years%27_War)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
kedge: To move a boat by tossing a small anchor in the desired
direction of movement, then hauling the boat by using the anchor
cable.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kedge)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
I am not a novelist, really not even a writer; I am a storyteller. One
of my friends said about me that I think all sorrows can be borne if
you put them into a story or tell a story about them, and perhaps this
is not entirely untrue. To me, the explanation of life seems to be its
melody, its pattern. And I feel in life such an infinite, truly
inconceivable fantasy.
-- Karen Blixen
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karen_Blixen)
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting comprised of two
separate incidents about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the
campus of Virginia Tech. The shooter killed thirty-two people and
wounded twenty-three others before committing suicide, making it the
deadliest shooting in U.S. history. The perpetrator had been court
ordered to seek treatment at the university's Cook Counseling Center
seventeen months earlier, but the order was neither obeyed nor
enforced. Additionally, the university's administration had failed to
heed warnings from the shooter's professors on numerous occasions. The
incident sparked intense debate in the U.S. and globally about gun
violence, gun laws, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health
issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college
administrators, privacy laws, journalism ethics, and other issues. The
incident prompted immediate changes in Virginia law that had allowed
the shooter, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to
purchase handguns. It also led to passage of the first major federal
gun control measure in more than thirteen years, a law that
strengthened the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1853:
Indian Railways, the state-owned railway company of India, launched
its first passenger service between Bombay and Thane.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways)
1912:
Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English
Channel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Quimby)
1925:
A group of Bulgarian Communist Party members assaulted the St
Nedelya Church in Sofia, Bulgaria during the funeral service of
General Konstantin Georgiev, killing 150 people and injuring about 500
others.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nedelya_Church_assault)
1943:
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of
the semisynthetic drug LSD.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann)
1947:
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first
described the post-World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and
the United States as a "cold war".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cold_war)
2003:
The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens, admitting ten new
member states into the European Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Accession_2003)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
hurdy-gurdy: A medieval stringed instrument which has a droning sound.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hurdy-gurdy)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what
we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life
before we can enter another.
-- Anatole France
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France)
Subject: April 15: Ailanthus altissima
Ailanthus altissima is a deciduous tree in the quassia family
(Simaroubaceae). It is native to northeast and central China as well
as Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in
temperate climates rather than the tropics. The tree grows rapidly and
is capable of reaching heights of 15 metres (50 ft) in 25 years.
However, the species is also short-lived and rarely lives more than
50 years. A. altissima was first brought from China to Europe in the
1740s and to the United States in 1784. The plant has been spread to
many other areas beyond its native range. In a number of these, it has
become an invasive species due to its ability to quickly colonise
disturbed areas and suppress competition with allelopathic chemicals.
It is considered a noxious weed in Australia, the United States, New
Zealand and several countries in southern and eastern Europe. The tree
also re-sprouts vigorously when cut, making its eradication extremely
difficult and time-consuming. In China, the tree of heaven has a long
and rich history. It was mentioned in the oldest extant Chinese
dictionary and listed in countless Chinese medical texts for its
purported ability to cure ailments ranging from mental illness to
balding.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1738:
Baroque composer George Frideric Handel's Serse, an opera loosely
based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serse)
1755:
A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson was first
published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language)
1912:
The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty
minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic)
1947:
Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball
color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson)
1986:
U.S. armed forces launched Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Libya)
1989:
The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a
series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Yaobang)
_____________________
Wiktionary's Word of the day:
feckless: Lacking purpose.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feckless)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an
immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken
threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every
air-borne particle in its tissue. It is the very atmosphere of the
mind; and when the mind is imaginative — much more when it happens to
be that of a man of genius — it takes to itself the faintest hints of
life, it converts the very pulses of the air into revelations.
-- Henry James
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_James)
Subject: April 14: 1999 Sydney hailstorm
The 1999 Sydney hailstorm was the costliest natural disaster in
Australian insurance history, causing extensive damage along the east
coast of New South Wales. The storm developed south of Sydney on the
afternoon of 14 April, 1999 and struck the city's eastern suburbs,
including the central business district, later that evening. The storm
dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones in its path. Insured
damages caused by the storm were over A$1.7 billion, with the total
damage bill (including uninsured damages) estimated to be around A$2.3
billion, equivalent to US$1.5 billion. It was the costliest in
Australian history in terms of insured damages, overtaking the 1989
Newcastle earthquake that had resulted in A$1.1 billion in insured
damages. Lightning also claimed one life during the storm, and the
event caused approximately 50 injuries. The storm was classified as a
supercell following further analysis of its erratic nature and extreme
attributes. During the event, the Bureau of Meteorology was
consistently surprised at the frequent changes in direction, as well
as the severity of the hail and the duration of the storm. The event
was also unique as the time of year and general conditions in the
region were not seen as conducive for an extreme storm cell to form.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Sydney_hailstorm
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1471:
Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the
Lancastrians near the town of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of
Warwick.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barnet)
1865:
Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_assassination)
1931:
King Alfonso XIII left Spain. The Second Spanish Republic was
proclaimed by a provisional government led by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Spanish_Republic)
1956:
The use of the quadruplex videotape was first demonstrated in
public.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/quadruplex_videotape)
1970:
An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 exploded, causing the NASA
spacecraft to lose most of its oxygen and electrical power.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13)
1978:
Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in Tbilisi against an attempt by
the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR to change the constitutional
status of the Georgian language.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Tbilisi_Demonstrations)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
persiflage: Good-natured banter; raillery.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/persiflage)
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Wikiquote of the day:
hat really matters is that there is so much faith and love and
kindliness which we can share with and provoke in others, and that by
cleanly, simple, generous living we approach perfection in the highest
and most lovely of all arts. ... But you, I think, have always
comprehended this.
-- James Branch Cabell
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell)