The Raft of the Medusa is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French
Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824).
Completed when the artist was just 27, the work has become an icon of
French Romanticism. At 491 cm × 716 cm (193.3 in × 282.3 in), The Raft
of the Medusa is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from
the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which
ran aground off the coast of today's Mauritania on July 5, 1816. At
least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all
but 15 of them died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who
survived endured starvation, dehydration, cannibalism and madness. In
choosing the tragedy as subject matter for his first major work—an
uncommissioned depiction of an event from recent history—Géricault
consciously selected a well-known incident that would generate great
public interest and help launch his career. The event fascinated the
young artist, and before he began work on the final painting, he
undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He
interviewed two of the survivors, and constructed a detailed scale
model of the raft. The painting proved highly controversial at its
first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise
and condemnation in equal measure. However, it established his
international reputation, and today is widely seen as seminal in the
early history of the Romantic movement in French painting.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1606:
The Charter of the Virginia Company of London was established by Royal
Charter by King James I of England with the purpose of establishing
colonial settlements in North America.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Company>
1741:
War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeated Austria at the Battle
of Mollwitz in present-day Małujowice, Poland, cementing Prussian King
Frederick II's authority over the newly conquered territory of Silesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mollwitz>
1815:
Mount Tambora in Indonesia began one of the most violent volcanic
eruptions in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora>
1919:
Mexican Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was shot to death near
Ciudad Ayala, Morelos.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata>
1998:
The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom signed the Belfast
Agreement in Belfast, a major step in the Northern Ireland peace
process.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tabiya (n):
(chess) An arrangement of pieces used by two players to start a game
because their usual play inevitably leads to it
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tabiya>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
They knew me from the dawn of time: if Hermes beats his rainbow wings,
If Angus shakes his locks of light, or golden-haired Apollo sings,
It matters not the name, the land; my joy in all the gods abides:
Even in the cricket in the grass some dimness of me smiles and hides.
--George William Russell
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Russell>
Motörhead are a British rock band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and
songwriter Lemmy Kilmister, who has remained the sole constant member.
Usually a power trio, Motörhead had particular success in the early
1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The
albums Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and particularly No Sleep 'til
Hammersmith, cemented Motörhead's reputation as one of Britain's
foremost rock bands. While Motörhead are typically classified as heavy
metal, speed metal or thrash metal (and often regarded as a
foundational influence on the later two styles), Lemmy dislikes such
labels, preferring to describe the band's music simply as "rock n'
roll". Motörhead's approach has remained the same over the band's
career, preferring to play what they enjoy and do best; their
appreciation of early rock and roll is reflected in some of their
occasional cover songs. Motörhead's lyrics typically cover such topics
as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance
abuse, and "life on the road." The band's distinctive fanged-face logo,
Snaggletooth, with its oversized boars' horns, chains, and spikes, was
created by artist Joe Petagno in 1977 for the cover of the Motörhead
album and has appeared in many variations on covers of ensuing albums.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mot%C3%B6rhead>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
With their supply trains destroyed by Union troops one day earlier,
Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee eventually surrendered to Union
General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House near the Appomattox Court
House in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLean_House>
1917:
World War I: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks at the
Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
1959:
NASA announced the selection of the Mercury Seven , the first
astronauts in Project Mercury.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury>
1967:
The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the
most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the
world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737>
1989:
An anti-Soviet demonstration in Tbilisi, Georgia, was quashed by the
Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_9_tragedy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
yodel (v):
To sing in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the
normal chest voice and falsetto
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yodel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Imagination is the queen of truth, and possibility is one of the
regions of truth. She is positively akin to infinity.
--Charles Baudelaire
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire>
Florida Atlantic University is a public, coeducational, research
university located in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The
university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of
Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in
Fort Pierce at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. Florida
Atlantic serves a seven-county region that has a populace of more than
three million people and spans more than 100 miles (160 km) of
Florida's eastern coastline. The university opened its doors in 1964 as
the first public university in southeast Florida and the first
university in the nation to offer only upper-division and graduate
level courses. Although initial enrollment was only 867 students, this
number increased in 1984 when the university admitted its first
undergraduate students. As of 2008, enrollment has grown to
approximately 27,000 students representing 139 countries, 48 states and
the District of Columbia. In recent years Florida Atlantic has
undertaken an effort to increase its academic and research standings
while also evolving into a more traditional university. Under the
direction of current President Frank T. Brogan, the university has
raised admissions standards, increased research funding, built new
facilities, and established notable partnerships with major research
institutions.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Atlantic_University>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
217:
Roman Emperor Caracalla was assassinated at a roadside near Harran.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla>
1093:
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire, one of the largest
cathedrals in England, was dedicated by Bishop Walkelin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Cathedral>
1341:
Italian scholar and poet Petrarch took the title poet laureate at a
ceremony in Rome.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch>
1886:
British Prime Minister William Gladstone introduced the first Irish
Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Government_Bill_1886>
1904:
British occultist and writer Aleister Crowley began transcribing The
Book of the Law, a Holy Book in Thelema.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Law>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
diminutive (adj):
1. Very small.
2. Serving to diminish
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/diminutive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hill and stream
--Yip Harburg
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg>
The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition was the last Antarctic expedition led
by Sir Ernest Shackleton, and the final episode in the Heroic Age of
Antarctic Exploration. The venture, lasting from 1921 to 1922, financed
by businessman John Quiller Rowett, is
sometimes referred to as the Quest Expedition after its ship, a small
converted Norwegian whaler. Before the expedition's work could properly
begin, Shackleton died aboard ship, just after its arrival at the
sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. The major part of the subsequent
foreshortened expedition was a three-month cruise to the eastern
Antarctic, under the leadership of second-in-command Frank Wild. In
these waters the shortcomings of Quest were soon in evidence: slow
speed, heavy fuel consumption, a tendency to roll in heavy seas, and a
steady leak. The ship was unable to proceed further than longitude
20°E, well short of its easterly target, and its engine's low power was
insufficient for it to penetrate far into the Antarctic ice. Following
several fruitless attempts to break southwards through the pack ice,
Wild returned the ship to South Georgia, after a nostalgic visit to
Elephant Island, where he and 21 others had been stranded during
Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition six years earlier.
Although not greatly regarded in the histories of polar exploration,
the Quest voyage is of historical significance, standing at the very
end of the Heroic Age and the beginning of the "Mechanical Age" that
followed it.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackleton%E2%80%93Rowett_Expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
529:
Byzantine Emperor Justinian I issued the first draft of the Corpus
Juris Civilis, a first attempt to codify Roman law.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Juris_Civilis>
1348:
King Charles of Bohemia issued a Golden Bull to establish Charles
University in Prague, the first university in Central Europe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_University_in_Prague>
1805:
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony,
sometimes cited as marking the beginning of musical Romanticism and the
end of the Classical Era, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_%28Beethoven%29>
1868:
D'Arcy McGee, a Canadian Father Of Confederation, was assassinated – to
date, the only Canadian political assassination at the federal level.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_McGee>
1954:
Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the domino
theory, speculating that if one nation in a region came under the
influence of communism, then its surrounding countries would follow in
a domino effect.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/domino_theory>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
integument (n):
1. (biology) An outer protective covering such as the feathers or skin
of an animal, a rind or shell.
2. (botany) The outer tissue layer of an ovule, which develops into
the seed coat
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/integument>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I always work on the theory that the audience will believe you best if
you believe yourself.
--Charlton Heston
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlton_Heston>
State Route 128 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. The road
is part of the Utah Scenic Byways program, and also forms part of the
Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway, a National Scenic Byway.
Residents of Moab frequently refer to SR-128 as "the river road", after
the Colorado River, which the highway follows. The highway was
originally constructed to connect rural cities in eastern Utah with
Grand Junction, Colorado, the largest city in the region. The highway
was partially merged into the Utah state highway system in 1931; the
rest was taken over by the state and assigned route number 128 in 1933.
Today, the highway is used as a scenic drive for visitors to the area.
The highway crosses the Colorado River at the site of the Dewey Bridge,
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This bridge was the
longest suspension bridge in Utah until April 2008 when it was
destroyed by a fire started by a child playing with matches. The future
of the bridge is uncertain, with Grand County conducting a study to
determine the feasibility of reconstructing it.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_State_Route_128>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1652:
Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck established the first permanent European
settlement in South Africa at what eventually became known as Cape
Town.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town>
1782:
Rama I succeeded King Taksin of Siam, founding the Chakri Dynasty.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_Yodfa_Chulaloke>
1830:
Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and others formally
organized the Church of Christ, starting the Latter Day Saint movement.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ_%28Latter_Day_Saints%29>
1886:
Vancouver, one of British Columbia's youngest cities, was incorporated.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver>
1896:
The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics>
1994:
The airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and
Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to
land in Kigali, Rwanda, marking the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Habyarimana_and_Ntaryamira>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
noetic (adj):
1. Of or pertaining to the mind or intellect.
2. Originating in or apprehended by reason
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noetic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have never looked for dream in reality or reality in dream. I have
allowed my imagination free play, and I have not been led astray by it.
--Gustave Moreau
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Moreau>
The decipherment of rongorongo began with the discovery of the
rongorongo tablets on Easter Island in the late nineteenth century. As
with most undeciphered scripts, many of the proposals have been
fanciful. Apart from a portion of one tablet which has been shown to
deal with a lunar calendar, none of the texts are understood, and even
the calendar cannot actually be read. There are three serious obstacles
to decipherment: the small number of remaining texts, comprising only
15,000 legible glyphs; the lack of context in which to interpret the
texts, such as illustrations or parallels to texts which can be read;
and the fact that the modern Rapanui language is heavily mixed with
Tahitian and is unlikely to closely reflect the language of the
tablets—especially if they record a specialized register such as
incantations—while the few remaining examples of the old language are
heavily restricted in genre and may not correspond well to the tablets
either. Since a proposal by Butinov and Knorozov in the 1950s, the
majority of philologists, linguists, and cultural historians have taken
the line that rongorongo was not true writing but proto-writing, that
is, an ideographic- and rebus-based mnemonic device. If it is the case
that rongorongo is proto-writing, then it is unlikely to ever be
deciphered. Oral history suggests that only a small elite were ever
literate, and that the tablets were considered sacred.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decipherment_of_rongorongo>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1242:
Northern Crusades: In the Battle of the Ice, Novgorod forces led by
Alexander Nevsky rebuffed an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights
at Lake Peipus on the present-day border of Estonia and Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ice>
1614:
Native American Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in
Virginia, and was christened Lady Rebecca.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas>
1879:
A decades-long border dispute between Chile and Bolivia over control of
the saltpeter-rich Atacama Desert and other territories escalated into
the War of the Pacific.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific>
1976:
The Tiananmen Incident, a protest against the repression of the Chinese
regime nearing the end of the Cultural Revolution, took place in
Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Incident>
1992:
Bosnian War: Serb gunmen killed two people while firing upon a large
crowd of anti-war protesters in Sarajevo, marking the start of the
Siege of Sarajevo.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sarajevo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
soigné (adj):
Fashionable and elegant; well-groomed
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soign%C3%A9>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I learned the lesson that great men cultivate love, and that only
little men cherish a spirit of hatred. I learned that assistance given
to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and that oppression of
the unfortunate makes one weak.
--Booker T. Washington
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the
early years of writer and activist Maya Angelou. The first in a
six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how
strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism
and trauma. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim
of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified
young woman capable of responding to racism. Angelou was challenged by
her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to
write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Because
Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to
fiction, reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical
fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an
autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand.
The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by black
American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a
celebration of black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance
of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and
self-definition. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in
1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for
two years. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape,
racism, and sexuality have caused it to be challenged or banned in some
schools and libraries.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_Why_the_Caged_Bird_Sings>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1721:
Robert Walpole took office as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of
the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, essentially becoming
the first British Prime Minister even though the term "Prime Minister"
was not used at the time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Walpole>
1859:
Bryant's Minstrels premiered the popular American song "Dixie" in New
York City as part of their blackface minstrel show.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_%28song%29>
1949:
Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, an
organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby
its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by
any external party.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO>
1968:
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated
on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King%2C_Jr._assassination>
1969:
Surgeons Denton Cooley and Domingo Liotta implanted the first total
artificial heart.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/artificial_heart>
1975:
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
USA, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xylograph (n):
1. An engraving in wood, especially one used for printing.
2. A print taken from an engraving in wood
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xylograph>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
--John Lennon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Lennon>
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other
sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a
competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run,
overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the
capture of game. It has a number of variations in its rules around the
world. Informal coursing can be a true form of hunting. It is often
conducted to kill game or vermin, mainly for food, and occasionally as
a form of gambling. Coursing is a long established and almost universal
hunting technique, practiced historically with Greyhounds, other
sighthound breeds, or with lurchers which are crossbred sighthounds,
and working breeds. The sport grew in popularity in the UK and Europe
during the 19th century, but has since experienced a decline due in
part to the introduction of Greyhound racing and betting. In recent
decades some controversy has developed around hare coursing in the UK
and USA, with some viewing it as a cruel bloodsport and others seeing
it as a traditional activity that assists in the conservation of hares
and tests the ability of sighthounds. Since 2002, hare coursing has
been banned in Great Britain but continues elsewhere in the world as a
regulated and judged, competitive sport, especially in the Republic of
Ireland and Spain, as well as in Russia and the Western United States.
Elsewhere, in Eurasia for example, coursing continues as a classic form
of hunting.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_coursing>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1882:
Jesse James, an outlaw in the American Old West, was shot in the back
and killed for a bounty of US$5,000.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>
1895:
The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began,
eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on
charges of homosexuality.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde>
1948:
The Marshall Plan , an economic recovery program established by U.S.
Secretary of State George Marshall to assist the post-World War II
re-building of Europe, was signed into law.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan>
1973:
On a New York City street, Motorola researcher Martin Cooper made the
first public call on a handheld mobile phone.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Cooper_%28inventor%29>
1996:
A U.S. Air Force CT-43 crashed into a mountainside while attempting an
instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport in Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and all the other 34 people on
board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Croatia_USAF_CT-43_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
coalesce (v):
1. (of separate parts) To join into a single mass or whole.
2. (of a whole) To form from different pieces or elements
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coalesce>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Stretch or contract me, Thy poor debtor;
This is but tuning of my breast,
To make the music better.
Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust,
Thy hands made both, and I am there;
Thy power and love, my love and
trust
Make one place ev'rywhere.
--George Herbert
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert>
Meningitis is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the
protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known
collectively as the meninges. The inflammation is caused by infection
with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by
certain drugs or diseases. Meningitis is potentially life threatening
due to the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord;
therefore it is a medical emergency. The most common symptoms of
meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever,
confusion or altered consciousness, and an inability to tolerate light
(photophobia) or loud noises (phonophobia). If a rash is present, it
may indicate a particular cause of meningitis; for instance, meningitis
caused by meningococcal bacteria may be accompanied by a characteristic
rash. Meningitis is diagnosed by a lumbar puncture, which involves
inserting a needle into the spinal canal to extract a sample of
cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that envelops the brain and spinal cord.
Meningitis must be treated promptly with antibiotics and sometimes
antiviral drugs. Meningitis can lead to serious long-term consequences
such as deafness, epilepsy, hydrocephalus and cognitive deficits. Some
forms of meningitis may be prevented by immunization.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
By the Coinage Act, the United States Mint was founded and the U.S.
currency was decimalized.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1792>
1801:
War of the Second Coalition: British forces led by Vice Admiral Horatio
Nelson defeated the Dano-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen
off the coast of Copenhagen.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen_%281801%29>
1982:
Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the
Falklands War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_invasion_of_the_Falkland_Islands>
1992:
John Gotti, the crime boss of the Gambino crime family, was convicted
of racketeering, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking,
obstruction of justice, illegal gambling and tax evasion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gotti>
2002:
Operation Defensive Shield: Approximately 200 Palestinians fled
advancing Israeli forces into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
starting a month-long standoff.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_Church_of_the_Nativity_in_Bethleh…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
haricot (n):
1. A stew of lamb and vegetables.
2. A kidney bean
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haricot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Forgiveness is the offspring of a feeling of heroism, of a noble heart,
of a generous mind, whilst forgetfulness is only the result of a weak
memory, or of an easy carelessness, and still oftener of a natural
desire for calm and quietness. Hatred, in the course of time, kills the
unhappy wretch who delights in nursing it in his bosom.
--Giacomo Casanova
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giacomo_Casanova>
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a world-renowned institution dedicated
to showcasing the finest art acquired from Boston-area refuse. The
museum started in a pile of trash in 1994, in a serendipitous moment
when an antiques dealer came across a painting of astonishing power and
compositional incompetence that had been tragically discarded. Its
magnetic pull was immediate; it has since inspired a collection of 500
masterful pieces of art so awful they prompt viewers to appeal loudly
for divine intervention. Located next to two Massachusetts bathrooms,
the museum's collection aspires to be a monument to creative ecstasy
that has resulted in glorious failure. Only the most arresting
paintings and sculptures are accepted by MOBA, but priority goes to
those that prominently feature a monkey or a poodle. Public reaction
has been overwhelming, freeing the art-loving community to point and
laugh at art everywhere. Two of their pieces have been stolen, so
alarming the museum that they promptly offered a reward in the amount
of $6.50 for their return. Some of their more notable pieces show a
footless John Ashcroft wearing a diaper, and a hula skirt-wearing
wiener dog juggling bones. Such enigmatic images invoke so many
mysteries that they are often unable to be explained by artists
themselves.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Bad_Art>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1293:
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by the Pope,
only to find that there was none.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winchelsey>
1572:
Spanish general and governor Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of
Alba lost his glasses in the town of Brielle, enabling sea beggars to
gain the first foothold on what would become the Dutch Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brielle>
1918:
The British Armed Forces started to grant personnel the power to fly.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force>
1970:
The first of over 670,000 gremlins were released into North America to
crush foreign imported machines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin>
1979:
The people of Iran overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to
renovate their government buildings.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution>
2002:
Exactly one year after recognising same-sex marriage, the Netherlands
thought it would be best to also legalize euthanasia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_Netherlands>
2006:
As mandated by a 2005 Act of the British Parliament, several British
policing agencies joined together to become very serious.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Organised_Crime_Agency>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
meh (adj):
1. Mediocre; lackluster; unexceptional; uninspiring.
2. Apathetic; unenthusiastic
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meh>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What is unique about the "I" hides itself exactly in what is
unimaginable about a person. All we are able to imagine is what makes
everyone like everyone else, what people have in common. The individual
"I" is what differs from the common stock, that is, what cannot be
guessed at or calculated, what must be unveiled, uncovered, conquered.
--Milan Kundera
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Milan_Kundera>