General aviation in the United Kingdom has been defined as a civil
aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport flight
operating to a schedule. Although the International Civil Aviation
Organization excludes any form of remunerated aviation from its
definition, some commercial operations are often included within the
scope of general aviation in the UK. The sector operates business jets,
rotorcraft, piston and jet-engined fixed-wing aircraft, gliders of all
descriptions, and lighter than air craft. Public transport operations
include business (or corporate) aviation and air taxi services, and
account for nearly half of the economic contribution made by the
sector. There are 28,000 Private Pilot Licence holders, and 10,000
certified glider pilots. Although GA operates from more than 1,800
aerodromes and landing sites, ranging in size from large regional
airports to farm strips, over 80 per cent of GA activity is conducted
at 134 of the larger aerodromes. GA is regulated by the Civil Aviation
Authority, although regulatory powers are being increasingly
transferred to the European Aviation Safety Agency. The main focus is
on standards of airworthiness and pilot licensing, and the objective is
to promote high standards of safety.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_aviation_in_the_United_Kingdom>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1378:
Papal Schism: Unhappy with Pope Urban VI , a group of cardinals started
a rival papacy with the election of Antipope Clement VII, throwing the
Roman Catholic Church into turmoil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism>
1854:
The Crimean War began with a Franco-British victory over Russian forces
at the Battle of Alma near the River Alma in Crimea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alma>
1870:
The Bersaglieri entered Rome, ending the temporal power of the Pope and
completing the unification of Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Rome>
1946:
The first Cannes Film Festival opened in Cannes, France, with eleven
films eventually sharing the Palme d'Or award, then known as the Grand
Prize of the Festival, that year.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannes_Film_Festival>
1979:
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Republic, was ousted
in a coup d'état backed by the French government.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-B%C3%A9del_Bokassa>
2001:
During a televised address to a joint session of the United States
Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush declared a "war on terror"
against Al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terrorism>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
needle (v):
1. To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.
2. (idiomatic) To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/needle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When you come right down to it, the secret of having it all is loving
it all.
--Joyce Brothers
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Brothers>
The Economy of the Han Dynasty of ancient China reflects a period of
fluctuation between periods of economic prosperity and decline. Major
features of the Han economy were population growth, increasing
urbanization, unprecedented growth of industry and trade and government
experimentation with nationalization. In this era, the levels of
minting and circulation of coin currency grew significantly, forming
the foundation of a stable monetary system. The Silk Road facilitated
the establishment of trade and tributary exchanges with foreign
countries across Eurasia, many of which were previously unknown to the
people of ancient China. The imperial capitals of both Western-Han
(Chang'an), and of Eastern-Han (Luoyang), were among the largest cities
in the world at the time, in both population and area. Here, government
workshops manufactured furnishings for the palaces of the emperor and
produced goods for the common people. The government oversaw the
construction of roads and bridges, which facilitated official
government business and encouraged commercial growth. Under Han rule,
industrialists, wholesalers and merchants—from minor shopkeepers to
wealthy businessmen—could engage in a wide range of enterprises and
trade in the domestic, public, and even military spheres.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Han_Dynasty>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1356:
Hundred Years' War: English forces led by Edward the Black Prince
decisively won the Battle of Poitiers and captured King Jean II of
France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poitiers_%281356%29>
1796:
George Washington's Farewell Address was published in many American
newspapers, warning citizens, among others, about the dangers of
political factionalism and to avoid permanent alliances with other
foreign powers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_Farewell_Address>
1893:
New Zealand became the first country to introduce universal suffrage,
following the women's suffrage movement led by Kate Sheppard.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_New_Zealand>
1944:
Finland and the Soviet Union signed the Moscow Armistice to end the
Continuation War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_War>
1985:
An 8.1 ML earthquake struck Mexico City, killing at least nine thousand
people and leaving up to 100,000 homeless.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake>
1995:
The Manifesto of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski was published in The
Washington Post and The New York Times, almost three months after it
was submitted.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kaczynski>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
crocodile tears (n):
(idiomatic) A display of tears that is forced or false
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crocodile_tears>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Basically I'm an optimist. Intellectually I can see man's balance is
about fifty-fifty, and his chances of blowing himself up are about one
to one. I can't see this any way but intellectually. I'm just
emotionally unable to believe that he will do this. This means that I
am by nature an optimist and by intellectual conviction a pessimist, I
suppose.
--William Golding
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Golding>
Samuel Johnson's early life was marked by great intelligence and an
eagerness for learning. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, the sickly
infant who grew up to become "arguably the most distinguished man of
letters in English history", soon began to exhibit the tics that would
colour how others viewed him in his later years. His early life was
dominated by his family's financial strain and his abortive efforts to
establish himself as a school teacher. Johnson spent a year studying at
Pembroke College, Oxford, but was unable to continue his education
there because of his lack of financial support. He tried to find
employment as a teacher, but found it impossible to secure a long-term
position. In 1735 he married Elizabeth "Tetty" Porter, a widow 20 years
his senior. The responsibilities of marriage made Johnson determined to
succeed as an educator, and encouraged him to establish his own school.
The venture was unsuccessful however, and so he decided to leave his
wife behind in Lichfield and move to London, where he spent the rest of
his life, and where his literary career began. Working initially as a
minor Grub Street hack writer, he started to write essays for The
Gentleman's Magazine, and authored the Life of Mr Richard Savage—his
first successful literary biography—the powerful poem London, an
18th-century version of Juvenal's Third Satire, and the unsuccessful
tragic drama Irene, not produced until 1749.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson%27s_early_life>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
96:
Following the assassination of Roman Emperor Domitian, the Roman Senate
appointed Nerva , the first of the Five Good Emperors, to succeed him.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerva>
324:
Constantine the Great decisively defeated Licinius in the Battle of
Chrysopolis, establishing Constantine's sole control over the Roman
Empire, and ultimately leading to the conversion of the whole empire to
Christianity.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chrysopolis>
1809:
The second theatre of the Royal Opera House in London opened after a
fire destroyed the original theatre one year earlier.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Opera_House>
1931:
The Mukden Incident: A section of the Japanese-built South Manchuria
Railway was destroyed, providing an excuse for the Japanese to blame
the act on Chinese dissidents, and thus giving a pretext for the
Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_Incident>
1998:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a
non-profit organization that manages the assignment of domain names and
IP addresses in the Internet, was established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
proselytize (v):
1. To encourage or induce people to join a religious movement,
political party or other cause or organization.
2. To convert (someone) to one’s own faith or beliefs
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proselytize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is
but an insect, and the other is a horse still.
--Samuel Johnson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson>
Harbhajan Singh (born 1980) is an Indian cricketer. A specialist
bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off
spinner behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Harbhajan made his
Test and One Day International debuts in early 1998. His career was
initially beset by investigations into the legality of his bowling
action and disciplinary incidents that raised the ire of cricket
authorities. However in 2001, with leading leg spinner Anil Kumble
injured, Harbhajan's career was resuscitated after Indian captain
Sourav Ganguly called for his inclusion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
team. In that series victory over Australia, Harbhajan established
himself as the team's leading spinner by taking 32 wickets, becoming
the first Indian bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket. Throughout
2006 and into early 2007, Harbhajan's accumulation of wickets fell and
his bowling average increased, and he was increasingly criticised for
bowling defensively with less loop. In early 2008, he was given a ban
by the International Cricket Council for racially vilifying Andrew
Symonds. The ban was revoked upon appeal, but in April, Harbhajan was
banned from the 2008 Indian Premier League and suspended from the ODI
team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for slapping
Sreesanth after a match.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbhajan_Singh>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1176:
Byzantine–Seljuk wars: The Seljuk Turks prevented the Byzantines from
taking the interior of Anatolia at the Battle of Myriokephalon in
Phrygia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Myriokephalon>
1787:
The text of the United States Constitution was finalized at the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution>
1859:
Disgruntled with the legal and political structures of the United
States, Joshua Norton distributed letters to various newspapers in San
Francisco, proclaiming himself Emperor Norton.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton>
1939:
World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, sixteen
days after Nazi Germany's attack on that country from the west.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland_%281939%29>
1978:
President Anwar Al Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of
Israel (pictured with U.S. President Jimmy Carter) signed the Camp
David Accords after twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
idiosyncrasy (n):
1. A behavior or way of thinking that is characteristic of a person.
2. A language or behaviour that is particular to an individual or
group.
3. A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/idiosyncrasy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The real crazies who are looking for a messiah... after an hour or so
they realise I'm not it and go off and look somewhere else.
--Ken Kesey
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey>
Stanford Memorial Church is located at the center of the Stanford
University campus in Stanford, California. It was built during the
American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband
Leland. Designed by architect Charles A. Coolidge, a protegé of Henry
Hobson Richardson, the church has been called "the University's
architectural crown jewel". The building is Romanesque in form and
Byzantine in its details, inspired by churches in the region of Venice
and, especially, Ravenna. Its stained glass windows and extensive
mosaics are based on religious paintings the Stanfords admired in
Europe. The church has four pipe organs, which allow musicians to
produce many styles of organ music. Stanford Memorial Church has
withstood two major earthquakes, in 1906 and 1989, and was extensively
renovated after each. Stanford Memorial Church was the earliest and has
been "among the most prominent" non-denominational churches on the West
Coast of the United States. Since its dedication in 1903, the church's
goal has been to serve the spiritual needs of the university in a
non-sectarian way.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Memorial_Church>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1701:
Prince James Francis Edward Stuart , more commonly referred to as the
"Old Pretender", became the Jacobite claimant of the thrones of England
and Scotland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: Infuriated by British troops sounding their
bugle horns like it was a fox hunt, the Americans held their ground en
route to a victory at the Battle of Harlem Heights in present-day New
York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlem_Heights>
1963:
Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (present-day Sabah), and Sarawak merged
to form Malaysia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia>
1982:
A Lebanese militia under the direct command of Elie Hobeika carried out
a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra and Shatila,
killing at least 700 civilians.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre>
1987:
The Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the
ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances
believed to be responsible for ozone depletion, opened for signature.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ductile (adj):
1. Capable of being pulled or stretched into thin wire by mechanical
force without breaking.
2. Molded easily into a new form.
3. (rare) Led easily; prone to
follow
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ductile>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the modest, not the presumptuous, inquirer who makes a real and
safe progress in the discovery of divine truths.
--Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_St_John%2C_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke>
A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of
matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the
best-known of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic
nuclei. Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are
never found in isolation; they can only be found within hadrons. For
this reason, much of what is known about quarks has been drawn from
observations of the hadrons themselves. There are six different types
of quarks, known as flavors: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
Up and down quarks are generally stable and the most common in the
universe, whereas charm, strange, top, and bottom quarks can only be
produced in high energy collisions (such as those involving cosmic rays
and in particle accelerators). Quarks are the only elementary particles
in the Standard Model of particle physics to experience all four
fundamental interactions.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
During the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , one of the
world's first intercity passenger railways in which all the trains were
timetabled and operated for most of the distance solely by steam
locomotives, British Member of Parliament William Huskisson was struck
and killed by the locomotive engine Rocket.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway>
1831:
The John Bull, currently the oldest operable steam locomotive in the
world, ran for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy
Railroad.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bull_%28locomotive%29>
1835:
During the second voyage of HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin reached the
Galápagos Islands, where he further developed his theories of
evolution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands>
1935:
Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws, which deprived German Jews of
citizenship, and adopted a new national flag emblazoned with a
swastika.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Laws>
2008:
The financial crisis of 2007–2009: The global financial-services firm
Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy while holding over US$600 billion
in assets, the largest such filing in U.S. history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_Lehman_Brothers>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wherewithal (n):
The ability and the financial means required to accomplish some task
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wherewithal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we had no faults we should not take so much pleasure in noting those
of others.
--François de La Rochefoucauld
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_La_Rochefoucauld>
Linezolid is a synthetic antibiotic used for the treatment of serious
infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to
several other antibiotics. A member of the oxazolidinone class of
drugs, linezolid is active against most Gram-positive bacteria that
cause disease, including streptococci, vancomycin-resistant
enterococci, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The main
indications of linezolid are infections of the skin and soft tissues
and pneumonia (particularly hospital-acquired pneumonia), although
off-label use for a variety of other infections is becoming popular.
Discovered in the late 1980s and first approved for use in 2000,
linezolid was the first commercially available oxazolidinone
antibiotic. As of 2009, it is the only marketed oxazolidinone, although
others are in development. As a protein synthesis inhibitor, it stops
the growth of bacteria by disrupting their production of proteins.
Resistance to linezolid has remained very low since it was first
detected in 1999, although it may be increasing. When administered for
short periods, linezolid is a relatively safe drug; it can be used in
patients of all ages and in people with liver disease or poor kidney
function.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linezolid>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
786:
Harun al-Rashid became the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother
al-Hadi.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid>
1752:
In adopting the Gregorian calendar under the terms of the Calendar (New
Style) Act 1750, the British Empire skipped eleven days (September 2
was followed directly by September 14).
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar>
1812:
The French invasion of Russia: Following the Battle of Borodino seven
days earlier, Napoleon and his Grande Armée captured Moscow, only to
find the city deserted and burning .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_of_Moscow_%281812%29>
1901:
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States, the youngest
person at the time to do so at age 42, eight days after William
McKinley was fatally wounded at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo,
New York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
1960:
At a conference held in Baghdad, the governments of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela founded OPEC to help unify and coordinate
their petroleum policies.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
grudging (adj):
Unwilling or with reluctance
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grudging>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its
deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other
countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism,
however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies,
while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It
wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest," but greatness
is not required of a country; only goodness is.
--Sydney J. Harris
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_J._Harris>
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in the Haymarket,
in the City of Westminster. The present building was designed by
Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert
Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the
theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century, Tree produced
spectacular productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and
the theatre hosted premières by major playwrights such as George
Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge, Noel Coward and J. B. Priestley. Since World
War I, the wide flat stage has made the theatre suitable for
large-scale musical productions, and the theatre has specialised in
hosting musicals. The theatre has been home to record-setting musical
theatre runs, notably the World War I sensation Chu Chin Chow and the
current production, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera,
which has played continuously at Her Majesty's since 1986. The
theatre's capacity is 1,216 seats, and the building was Grade II*
listed by English Heritage in January 1970. Really Useful Group
Theatres has owned the theatre since 2000.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty%27s_Theatre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1759:
Although General James Wolfe was fatally wounded at the Battle of the
Plains of Abraham near Quebec City, New France , his British forces
defeated the French in a decisive battle in the French and Indian War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham>
1814:
War of 1812: Fort McHenry was attacked by British forces during the
Battle of Baltimore, later inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The
Star-Spangled Banner," which later became the national anthem of the
United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baltimore>
1848:
American railroad worker Phineas Gage survived an accident in which a
large iron rod was driven completely through his head and destroyed
areas of his brain's frontal lobes.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage>
1987:
A radioactive item was scavenged from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia,
Brazil, resulting in four deaths and serious contamination in 249
others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident>
1993:
After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, PLO leader Yasser Arafat
and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin formally signed the Oslo Peace
Accords.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
corkscrew (v):
To wind or twist in the path of a corkscrew; to move with much
horizontal and vertical shifting
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corkscrew>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely
places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
--Roald Dahl
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl>
The Battle of Edson's Ridge was a land battle of the Pacific campaign
of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly
United States Marine Corps) ground forces. The battle took place
September 12–14, 1942 on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was
the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during
the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the
overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an
attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of
Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending
the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which
was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal
on August 7, 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response
to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and
driving the Allied forces from the island. The main Japanese assault
occurred around Lunga ridge south of Henderson Field that was manned by
troops from several U.S. Marine Corps units, primarily troops from the
1st Raider and 1st Parachute Battalions under U.S. Marine Corps
Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson. Although the Marine defenses were
almost overrun, Kawaguchi's attack was ultimately defeated with heavy
losses for the Japanese attackers.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Edson%27s_Ridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1609:
While sailing aboard the Halve Maen, English explorer Henry Hudson
began his exploration of the Hudson River, laying the foundation for
Dutch colonization of present-day New York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson>
1683:
Great Turkish War: Polish troops led by John III Sobieski joined
forces with a Habsburg army to defeat the Ottoman Empire at the Battle
of Vienna.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna>
1848:
Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new
constitution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland>
1940:
Four teenagers discovered the Lascaux caves near Montignac, in the
Dordogne département of France, containing cave paintings that are
estimated to be 16,000 years old.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux>
1974:
Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, considered to be the religious
symbol for God incarnate among the Rastafari movement, was deposed in a
coup d'état by the Derg, a military junta.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie_I_of_Ethiopia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tight as a tick (adj):
1. Drunk, inebriated.
2. Fully inflated; swollen near to bursting.
3. Unwilling to spend
money
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tight_as_a_tick>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If man had more of a sense of humor, things might have turned out
differently.
--Stanisław Lem
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem>
The Diocletianic Persecution was the last and most severe persecution
of Christians in the Roman empire. In 303, Emperor Diocletian and his
colleagues Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of
edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding they comply
with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy
and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice
to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the
empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was
applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. His son, Constantine,
on taking the imperial office in 306, restored Christians to full legal
equality and returned property confiscated during the persecution. The
persecution failed to check the rise of the church. By 324, Constantine
was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored
religion. Although the persecution resulted in the deaths of—according
to one modern estimate—3,000 Christians, and the torture, imprisonment,
or dislocation of many more, most Christians avoided punishment. The
persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those
who had complied with imperial authority (the traditores), and those
who had remained "pure". Modern historians have tended to downplay the
scale and depth of the Diocletianic persecution.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1297:
First War of Scottish Independence: The Scots defeated English troops
at the Battle of Stirling Bridge on the River Forth near Stirling.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge>
1709:
An allied British-Dutch-Austrian force defeated the French at the
Battle of Malplaquet, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of the
Spanish Succession.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malplaquet>
1789:
U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, co-writer of the Federalist
Papers, became the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton>
1857:
At Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, USA, a local brigade of the Mormon
militia led a massacre of about 120 California-bound pioneers from
Arkansas.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre>
2001:
September 11 attacks: Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger
airliners, intentionally crashing two of them into the World Trade
Center in New York City and one plane into the Pentagon near
Washington, D.C. The fourth aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania after its
passengers mounted an assault against their hijackers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
realm (n):
1. A sphere of real or imaginary influence.
2. The domain of a certain abstraction.
3. (formal or law) A
territory or state, as ruled by a specific power
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/realm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Although September 11 was horrible, it didn't threaten the survival of
the human race, like nuclear weapons do. ... I don't think the human
race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space.
There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet.
But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.
--Stephen Hawking
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking>