Yes Minister is a multi-award winning satirical British sitcom written
by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC
television and radio between 1980 and 1984, split over three
seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to
1988. In total this made 38 episodes, all but one of which lasts for
half an hour. Set principally in the private office of a British
government cabinet minister in the Department for Administrative
Affairs in Whitehall (and, in the sequel, in 10 Downing Street), the
series follows the senior ministerial career of The Rt Hon. Jim Hacker
MP, played by Paul Eddington. His various struggles to formulate and
enact legislation or effect departmental changes are opposed by the
will of the British Civil Service, in particular his Permanent
Secretary (head of each government department's bureaucrats), Sir
Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne. His Principal Private
Secretary Bernard Woolley, played by Derek Fowlds, is usually caught
between the two. Almost every programme ends with the line "Yes,
Minister" (or "Yes, Prime Minister"), uttered (usually) by Sir Humphrey
as he relishes his victory over his "political master" (or, sometimes,
acknowledges defeat). A huge critical and popular success, the series
received a number of awards, including several BAFTAs and in 2004 came
sixth in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll. It was the favourite
television programme of the then British Prime Minister, Baroness
Thatcher.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Minister>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1570:
Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis to excommunicate
Queen Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnans_in_Excelsis>
1836:
American inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt received a patent for a
"revolving gun", later known as a revolver.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/revolver>
1921:
The Soviet Red Army took over the Georgian capital Tbilisi after heavy
fighting and declared the new Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_invasion_of_Georgia>
1986:
Corazon Aquino was inaugurated as the first female President of the
Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos fled the nation after twenty years
of rule because of the People Power Revolution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Aquino>
1994:
Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim Arabs praying
at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people and
wounding 125 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
plenary (adj):
1. Fully attended; for everyone's attendance.
2. (theology or law) Complete, entire
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plenary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every intelligent child is an amateur anthropologist. The first thing
such a child notices is that adults don't make sense.
--John Leonard
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Leonard>
Meshuggah is a Swedish five-piece experimental metal band formed in
1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members
vocalist Jens Kidman and guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas
Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who
joined in 1994. Having gone through a number of bassists, the spot has
been held by Dick Lövgren since 2004. Meshuggah first attracted
international attention with the 1995 release Destroy Erase Improve for
its fusion of fast-tempo death metal, thrash metal and progressive
metal. Since their 2002 album Nothing, Meshuggah uses eight-string
guitars and downtuned, groovy riffs. Meshuggah has become known for its
complex, innovative and precise songwriting and musicianship, and
polyrhythmic song structures. It has been labeled as one of the ten
most important hard and heavy bands by Rolling Stone and as the most
important band in metal by Alternative Press. Meshuggah has found
little mainstream success but is a significant act in extreme
underground music. Nothing and the albums that followed all charted on
the Billboard 200. In 2006, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy
Award. Meshuggah's commercially most successful album, 2008's obZen,
peaked at No. 59 and sold 11,400 copies in the first week and 50,000
copies six months after its release.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshuggah>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1582:
Pope Gregory XIII issued the papal bull Inter gravissimas to promulgate
the Gregorian calendar, a modification of the Julian calendar in use
since 45 BC.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_gravissimas>
1803:
In their ruling in Marbury v. Madison, the U.S. Supreme Court
established judicial review in the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison>
1848:
Amid a revolt, French King Louis-Philippe abdicated and escaped to
England, leading to the creation of the French Second Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Philippe_of_France>
1875:
The steamship SS Gothenburg hit a section of the Great Barrier Reef at
low tide and sank about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest of Holbourne
Island, Queensland, Australia, with the loss of over 100 lives.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Gothenburg>
303:
Roman Emperor Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians" was
published, beginning the Diocletianic Persecution, the last and most
severe episode of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lope (v):
To travel an easy pace with long strides
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lope>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When you're young, you look at television and think, "There's a
conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down." But when you
get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in
business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more
depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the
bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in
business to give people what they want. It's the truth.
--Steve Jobs
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs>
Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive element. It is a
radiological poison that accumulates in bone marrow, although its
overall toxicity is sometimes overstated. The most important isotope of
plutonium is plutonium-239, which is fissile, meaning Pu-239 atoms
inside a critical mass of the isotope can break apart relatively easily
and release a great deal of energy and more neutrons to sustain a
nuclear chain reaction. This property makes it useful in nuclear
weapons and in some nuclear reactors. The discovery of plutonium by a
team led by Glenn T. Seaborg in 1940 became a classified part of the
Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb during World War II. The
first nuclear test, "Trinity" (July 1945) and the atomic bomb used to
destroy Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945, "Fat Man", both had cores of
Pu-239. Disposal of plutonium waste from nuclear power plants and
dismantled nuclear weapons built during the Cold War is a major
concern. Most plutonium in the environment is from the fallout from
above-ground nuclear tests and from several nuclear accidents.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1820:
British authorities arrested the conspirators of the Cato Street
Conspiracy, an attempt to murder Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and all
the British cabinet ministers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_Street_Conspiracy>
1903:
The Cuban-American Treaty was finalized, allowing the United States to
perpetually lease Guantánamo Bay from Cuba for the purposes of
operating coaling and naval stations.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guant%C3%A1namo_Bay>
1909:
The Silver Dart was flown off the ice of Baddeck Bay, a sub-basin of
Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island, making it the first controlled
powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEA_Silver_Dart>
1945:
American photographer Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize-winning
photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima
in World War II, an image that was later reproduced as the U.S. Marine
Corps War Memorial.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima>
2005:
The controversial French law on colonialism, requiring lycée teachers
to teach their students "the positive role" of French colonialism, was
passed, creating so much public uproar and opposition that it was
repealed less than one year later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_law_on_colonialism>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
banyan (n):
A tropical Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis, that has many aerial
roots
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banyan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not
know.
--W. E. B. Du Bois
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois>
USS Connecticut was the lead ship of the six Connecticut-class
battleships. Due to the Royal Navy's commissioning of HMS Dreadnought
seven months earlier, Connecticut was obsolete before she was
commissioned; thus, she was the last lead ship of any class of
pre-dreadnought battleship commissioned by the United States Navy.
Connecticut served as a flagship for the Jamestown Exposition, which
commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown
colony. She later sailed with the Great White Fleet on a
circumnavigation of the Earth to showcase the United States Navy's
growing fleet of blue-water-capable ships. After completing her service
with the Great White Fleet, Connecticut participated in several
flag-waving exercises intended to protect American citizens abroad
until she was pressed into service as a troop transport at the end of
World War I to expedite the return of American Expeditionary Forces
from France. For the remainder of her career, Connecticut sailed to
various places in both the Atlantic and Pacific while training newer
recruits to the Navy. However, the provisions of the 1922 Washington
Naval Treaty stipulated that many of the older battleships, Connecticut
among them, would have to be disposed of, so she was decommissioned on
1 March 1922 and sold for scrap on 1 November 1923.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Connecticut_%28BB-18%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1744:
War of the Austrian Succession: British ships began attacking the
Spanish rear of a France–Spanish combined fleet in the Mediterranean
Sea off the coast near Toulon, France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Toulon_%281744%29>
1819:
Under the terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sold Florida and other
North American territory to the United States for about US$5 million.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams-On%C3%ADs_Treaty>
1943:
Members of the White Rose, a nonviolent resistance movement in Nazi
Germany that became known for a leaflet campaign that called for active
opposition to Adolf Hitler's regime, were found guilty of treason and
guillotined.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose>
1959:
Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 NASCAR auto race at the Daytona
International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_500>
2006:
At least six men staged Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing
£53,116,760 in bank notes from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securitas_depot_robbery>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moniker (n):
A personal name or nickname
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moniker>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the
truth.
--Arthur Schopenhauer
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer>
The University of California, Riverside is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is in Riverside, California, with a branch campus in Palm Desert. Founded in 1907 as the UC Citrus Experiment Station, UCR's undergraduate College of Letters and Science opened in 1954. The Regents of the University of California declared UCR a general campus of the system in 1959, and graduate students were admitted in 1961. To accommodate an enrollment of 21,000 students by 2015, more than $730 million has been invested in new construction projects since 1999. Plans are underway to open a medical school—California's newest one in 40 years—by 2012. The Washington Monthly ranked UCR 15th in the United States in terms of social mobility, research achievement and community service, while US News and World Report ranked UCR's undergraduate program 89th in the nation based on peer assessment, student selectivity, financial resources, and other factors. UCR's extensive outreach and retention programs have contributed to its reputation as a "campus of choice" for minority students, including LGBT students. UCR's sports teams are known as the Highlanders and play in the Big West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California%2C_Riverside>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1613:
Mikhail I was elected unanimously by the Zemsky Sobor to become Tsar, beginning the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_of_Russia>
1804:
Built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, the first self-propelled steam engine or locomotive first ran in Wales.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Trevithick>
1848:
The Communist Manifesto by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was first published, becoming one of the world's most influential political tracts.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto>
1952:
Protesters in Dhaka, East Pakistan walked into military crossfire demanding the establishment of the Bengali language as an official language.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_Language_Movement>
1958:
British artist Gerald Holtom designed a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that became more commonly known as the peace symbol (pictured).
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peace_symbol>
1965:
Black nationalist Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
perfunctory (adj):
Performed out of routine and with little care
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perfunctory>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death. --Anaïs Nin
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin>
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations undertaken
by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of
Kharkov, between 19 February and 15 March 1943. The German counterstroke led
to the destruction of approximately 52 Soviet divisions and the recapture of
the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod. As the German Sixth Army was encircled
in Stalingrad, the Red Army undertook a series of wider offensives against
the rest of Army Group South. These culminated on 2 January 1943, when the
Soviets launched Operation Star, which between January and early February
broke German defenses and led to the Soviet recapture of Kharkov, Belgorod
and Kursk. Despite the success of the Soviet offensive, it also resulted in
participating Soviet units over-extending themselves. Freed on 2 February by
the surrender of the German Sixth Army, the Red Army's Central Front turned
its attention west and on 25 February expanded its offensive against both
Army Group South and Army Group Center. However, months of continuous
operations had taken a heavy toll on the Soviets and some divisions were
reduced to 1,000–1,500 combat effectives. On 19 February, Field Marshal
Erich von Manstein took the opportunity to launch his Kharkov counterstroke,
using the fresh SS Panzer Corps and two panzer armies. Although the Germans
were also understrength, the Wehrmacht successfully flanked, encircled and
defeated the Red Army's armored spearheads south of Kharkov.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Kharkov>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
King Sigismund III Vasa of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was crowned
King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_Vasa>
1811:
Peninsular War: An outnumbered French force under Édouard Mortier routed and
nearly destroyed the Spanish at the Battle of the Gebora near Badajoz,
Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Gebora>
1819:
English explorer William Smith sighted Livingston Island in the South
Shetland archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands about more than
1,000 kilometres (620 mi) south of the Falkland Islands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Shetland_Islands>
1942:
World War II: In the largest attacks mounted by a foreign power against
Australia, more than 240 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy
bombed Darwin, Northern Territory.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Darwin>
1986:
The space station Mir of the Soviet space program was launched, establishing
the first long-term research station in space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
atone (v):
To make reparation, compensation, or amends, for an offence or a crime one
has committed
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atone>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grave,
I've been kissed by a rose on the grave. --Seal (musician)
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Seal_%28musician%29>
The Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland.
While its original date of foundation is unknown, James VII instituted the
modern Order in 1687. The Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen
Knights and Ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights (members of the
British Royal Family and foreign monarchs). The Sovereign alone grants
membership of the Order; he or she is not advised by the Government, as
occurs with most other Orders. The sixteen members are required to be
Scottish-born, though not the "extra" knights and ladies. The Order's
primary emblem is the thistle, the national flower of Scotland. The motto is
Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin for "No one provokes me with impunity"). The
patron saint of the Order is St Andrew. Most British orders of chivalry
cover the entire kingdom, but the three most exalted ones each pertain to
one constituent country only. The Order of the Thistle, which pertains to
Scotland, is the second-most senior in precedence.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Thistle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
Peasants led by Jakub Szela began an uprising against Polish nobles in
Galicia in the Austrian partition, killing about 1000 people and destroyed
about 500 manors.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_slaughter>
1861:
With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont,
Savoy and Sardinia assumed the title King of Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_of_Italy>
1908:
The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden's national stage for "spoken
drama", opened with playwright August Strindberg's play Master Olof.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dramatic_Theatre>
1932:
The Empire of Japan established Manchukuo, a puppet state in northeastern
China during the Sino-Japanese War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo>
1943:
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister, delivered the Sportpalast
speech to motivate the German people when the tide of World War II was
turning against Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xanthous (adj):
1. Yellow-brown; yolk-colored.
2. (archaic) Pertaining to people with skin and hair that is lighter than
usual for their race or ethnicity
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xanthous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My prayer is not the whimpering of a beggar nor a confession of love. Nor is
it the petty reckoning of a small tradesman: Give me and I shall give you.
My prayer is the report of a soldier to his general: This is what I did
today, this is how I fought to save the entire battle in my own sector,
these are the obstacles I encountered, this is how I plan to fight tomorrow.
--Nikos Kazantzakis
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis>
Theramenes was an Athenian statesman, prominent in the final decade of the
Peloponnesian War. He was particularly active during the two periods of
oligarchic government at Athens, as well as in the trial of the generals who
had commanded at Arginusae in 406 BC. A moderate oligarch, he often found
himself caught between the democrats on the one hand and the extreme
oligarchs on the other. Successful in replacing a narrow oligarchy with a
broader one in 411 BC, he failed to achieve the same end in 404 BC, and was
executed by the extremists whose policies he had opposed. Theramenes
remained a controversial figure after his death; Lysias vigorously denounced
him while prosecuting several of his former political allies, but others
defended his actions. Modern historical assessments have shifted over time;
in the 19th century, Theramenes was almost universally condemned, but recent
scholarship has produced more positive assessments. Some historians have
found in Theramenes a selfish opportunist, others a principled moderate. The
details of his actions, his motivations, and the nature of his character
continue to be debated down to the present day.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theramenes>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, best-known as a proponent of
heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe, was burned at the stake as a
heretic by the Roman Inquisition.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno>
1801:
The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as President and
Aaron Burr as Vice President, resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 U.S.
presidential election.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%2C_1800>
1904:
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala in
Milan, generating negative reviews that forced him to rewrite the opera.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly>
1936:
The Phantom, one of the first modern comic book superheroes with the
hallmark skintight costume and a mask with no visible pupils, made his first
appearance in a daily newspaper comic strip.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_%28comics%29>
2003:
The London congestion charge, a fee that is levied on motorists travelling
within designated parts of London, came into operation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Ishikawa diagram (n):
A diagram used in quality management to display a detailed list of causes
and effects of a problem and thus to decipher the root cause of a problem
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is calling
All for the love of you. --Loreena McKennitt
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Loreena_McKennitt>
Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and
Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI.
Along with Thomas Cromwell, he supported the principle of royal supremacy in
which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm. He
was responsible for establishing the first doctrinal and liturgical
structures of the Church of England, and succeeded in publishing the first
officially authorised vernacular service, the Exhortation and Litany. When
Edward came to power, Cranmer was able to promote major reforms. He wrote
and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete
liturgy for the English Church. He developed new doctrinal standards in
areas such as the eucharist, clerical celibacy, the role of images in places
of worship, and the veneration of saints. Cranmer was tried for treason and
heresy when Mary I came to the throne. Imprisoned for over two years and
under pressure from the Church authorities, he made several recantations and
reconciled himself with the Catholic faith. However, on the day of his
execution, he dramatically withdrew his recantations and died as a
Protestant martyr. His legacy lives on within the Church of England through
the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles, an Anglican
statement of faith derived from his work.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1804:
United States Navy Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a raid to destroy the
captured USS Philadelphia in Tripoli, denying her use to the Barbary States
in the First Barbary War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Decatur>
1899:
French President Félix Faure suddenly died from apoplexy while having sexual
activities with Marguerite Steinheil in his office.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Faure>
1918:
The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania,
proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania governed by
democratic principles, despite the presence of German troops in the country
during World War I.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Independence_of_Lithuania>
1934:
The Austrian Civil War ended with the military of the First Austrian
Republic defeating the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund,
leaving at least several hundred people dead and more than a thousand
wounded in the five-day conflict.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Civil_War>
1985:
"The Hizballah Program" was released, describing the ideology and goals of
the Shia Islamic political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah as
"putting an end to any colonialist entity" in Lebanon, bringing the
Phalangists to justice for "the crimes they [had] perpetrated," and
establishing an Islamic regime in Lebanon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology_of_Hezbollah>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sobriquet (n):
A familiar name for a person, such as a pet name or nickname
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sobriquet>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Public opinion, or what passes for public opinion, is not invariably a
moderating force in the jungle of politics. It may be true, and I suspect it
is, that the mass of people everywhere are normally peace-loving and would
accept many restraints and sacrifices in preference to the monstrous
calamities of war. But I also suspect that what purports to be public
opinion in most countries that consider themselves to have popular
government is often not really the consensus of the feelings of the mass of
the people at all, but rather the expression of the interests of special
highly vocal minorities — politicians, commentators, and publicity-seekers
of all sorts: people who live by their ability to draw attention to
themselves and die, like fish out of water, if they are compelled to remain
silent. --George F. Kennan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan>
The aldol reaction is an important carbon-carbon bond formation reaction in
organic chemistry. In its usual form, it involves the nucleophilic addition
of a ketone enolate to an aldehyde to form an aldol (β-hydroxy ketone), a
structural unit found in many naturally occurring molecules and
pharmaceuticals. Sometimes, the aldol addition product loses a molecule of
water during the reaction to form an α,β-unsaturated ketone. This is called
an aldol condensation. The aldol reaction was discovered independently by
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and by Alexander Porfyrevich Borodin in 1872. Borodin
observed the aldol dimerization of 3-hydroxybutanal from acetaldehyde under
acidic conditions. The aldol reaction is used widely in the large scale
production of commodity chemicals such as pentaerythritol. The aldol
structural motif is especially common in polyketides, a class of natural
products from which many pharmaceuticals are derived, including the potent
immunosuppressant FK506, the tetracycline antibiotics, and the antifungal
agent amphotericin B. Extensive research on the aldol reaction has produced
highly efficient methods which enable the otherwise challenging synthesis of
many polyketides in the laboratory.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldol_reaction>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1898:
The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana,
Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish-American
War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_%28ACR-1%29>
1942:
World War II: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita captured
Singapore, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in
British history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore>
1971:
The British pound sterling and the Irish pound were decimalised on what is
called Decimal Day.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_Day>
1989:
The Soviet Union officially announced that all of its troops had withdrawn
from Afghanistan after a nine-year conflict.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan>
2003:
In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world
in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending
invasion of Iraq.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15%2C_2003_anti-war_protest>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
exuviate (v):
To shed or cast off a covering, especially a skin; to slough; to moult
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exuviate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars,
pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the
object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all
kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no
one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.
--Abraham Lincoln
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln>