Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road
movie plot follows a family's trip in their Volkswagen T2 Microbus to a
children's beauty pageant. Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial
film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie
Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt.
It stars Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail
Breslin, and Alan Arkin, and was produced by Big Beach Films on a
budget of US$8 million. Filming began on June 6, 2005 and took place
over 30 days in Arizona and Southern California. The film premiered at
the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2006, and its distribution
rights were bought by Fox Searchlight Pictures for one of the biggest
deals made in the history of the festival. Little Miss Sunshine
received critical acclaim, and had an international box office gross of
$100.5 million. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, and won two: Best Original Screenplay for
Michael Arndt and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. It also won the
Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature, and received multiple other
accolades.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Miss_Sunshine>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1156:
According to legend, freeholder Lalli slew Bishop Henry of Finland with
an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Köyliö, Finland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_%28Bishop_of_Finland%29>
1843:
Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná became the de facto first
prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o%2C_Marquis_of_…>
1946:
Favoring stronger executive power than the draft constitution for the
French Fourth Republic provided, Charles de Gaulle resigned as
President of the Provisional Government.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle>
1969:
Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and killed by
East Pakistani police, one of the casus belli that led to the
Bangladesh Liberation War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanullah_Asaduzzaman>
2009:
In Washington, D.C., over 1 million people attended the inauguration of
Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United
States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_Barack_Obama>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
derring-do (n):
[[valiant
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/derring-do>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those
who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have
wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved
once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might
of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of
our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
--Barack Obama
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
Sacrifice is a video game published by Interplay Entertainment in 2000
for the Windows 98 platform. Developed by Shiny Entertainment, it is a
real-time strategy game, featuring elements of action and other genres.
Players control wizards who fight each other with spells and summoned
creatures. Sacrifice was the first commercial video game to take
advantage of video graphics cards that can process transform, clipping,
and lighting instructions. Unlike many contemporary real-time strategy
games, Sacrifice does not heavily focus on resource gathering and
management. There is no system of workers; the players' wizards collect
souls to summon creatures, and their mana—energy for casting
spells—constantly regenerates. Players customize their attacks by
choosing from spells and creatures aligned to five gods. To defeat an
opponent, the player's wizard sacrifices a friendly unit at the
opposing wizard's altar, thereby desecrating it and banishing the enemy
wizard. Aside from a single-player campaign, Sacrifice offers a
multiplayer mode, in which up to four players can play against each
other over computer networks. Sacrifice was praised by reviewers for
the novel designs of its creatures and for its humorous content. The
high level of attention needed to manage its frenetic combat was
mentioned as a flaw. Despite winning several awards, Sacrifice was not
a commercial success, and no sequels are planned.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice_%28video_game%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1607:
San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest church in the Philippines, was
completed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agustin_Church%2C_Manila>
1795:
A day after William V, Prince of Orange , fled the Dutch Republic as a
result of the Batavian Revolution, the Batavian Republic was
established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavian_Republic>
1862:
American Civil War: In their first significant victory, Union forces
defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Mill Springs in Wayne and
Pulaski counties, near current Nancy, Kentucky.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mill_Springs>
1917:
Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in
Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing over 70
people and injuring over 400 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion>
1935:
In Chicago, Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs, a new style of
men's undergarment.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/undergarment>
2007:
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated by a Turkish
nationalist for his statements on the Armenian Genocide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrant_Dink>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dysphoria (n):
A state of feeling unwell or unhappy; a feeling of emotional and mental
discomfort and suffering from restlessness, malaise, depression or
anxiety
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dysphoria>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things.
You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.
--Robert E. Lee
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee>
The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively
integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the
Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German
states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm
of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the
Franco-Prussian War. Unofficially, the transition of most of the
German-speaking populations into a federated organization of states
occurred over nearly a century of experimentation. Unification exposed
several glaring religious, linguistic, and cultural differences between
and among the inhabitants of the new nation, suggesting that 1871
really only represents one moment in a continuum of the larger
unification processes.
Historians debate whether or not Otto von Bismarck, the Minister
President of Prussia, had a master-plan to expand the North German
Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German
states into a single entity, or whether he simply sought to expand the
power of the Kingdom of Prussia. They conclude that factors in addition
to the strength of Bismarck's Realpolitik led a collection of early
modern polities to reorganize political, economic, military and
diplomatic relationships in the 19th century. By establishing a Germany
without Austria, the political and administrative unification in 1871
at least temporarily solved the problem of German dualism.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1126:
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China abdicated the throne in
favour of his son Qinzong.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Huizong_of_Song>
1884:
Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate
his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial,
which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Price_%28physician%29>
1943:
As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the Siege of
Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra>
1958:
African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first
game in the National Hockey League, breaking the color barrier in
professional ice hockey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree>
1991:
In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C.,
Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
septempartite (adj):
[[divide
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/septempartite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear
like a fool but be wise.
--Charles de Montesquieu
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Montesquieu>
Wintjiya Napaltjarri (born c. 1923) is a Pintupi-speaking indigenous
artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She is the sister of
artist Tjunkiya Napaltjarri; both were married to Toba Tjakamarra, with
whom Wintjiya had five children. Wintjiya's involvement in contemporary
Indigenous Australian art began in 1994 at Haasts Bluff, when she
participated in a group painting project and in the creation of batik
fabrics. She has also been a printmaker, using drypoint etching. Her
paintings typically use an iconography that represents the eggs of the
flying ant (waturnuma) and hair-string skirts (nyimparra). Her palette
generally involves strong red or black against a white background. A
finalist in the 2007 and 2008 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait
Islander Art Awards, Wintjiya's work is held in several of Australia's
public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the National Gallery
of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintjiya_Napaltjarri>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1524:
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail westward from Madeira
to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_da_Verrazzano>
1781:
American Revolutionary War: American forces won a surprising victory
over the British at the Battle of Cowpens, one of the most pivotal
battles of the war.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cowpens>
1946:
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of Jews from
the Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary, and was
never publicly seen again.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg>
1961:
Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was murdered in
circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments
of Belgium and the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba>
1981:
President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifted martial law, eight
years and five months after declaring it.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abecedarian (n):
1. One who is learning the alphabet.
2. One who is a beginner in some field
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abecedarian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I somehow see what's beautiful
In things that are ephemeral.
I'm my only friend of mine,
And
love is just a piece of time
In the world
In the world.
And I couldn't help but fall in love
again.
--Zooey Deschanel
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zooey_Deschanel>
I. M. Pei (born 1917) is a Chinese American architect, often called a
master of modern architecture. Born in Guangzhou, in 1935 he moved to
the United States. While enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, he became unhappy with the school's focus Beaux-Arts
architecture, and spent his free time researching the emerging
architects, especially Le Corbusier. After graduating, he joined the
Harvard Graduate School of Design and formed a friendship with the
Bauhaus architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Pei spent ten
years working with New York real estate magnate William Zeckendorf
before establishing his own independent design firm that eventually
became Pei Cobb Freed Partners. Among the early projects on which Pei
took the lead were the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC, and the
Green Building at MIT. His first major recognition came with the
National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado; his new stature
led to his selection as chief architect for the John F. Kennedy Library
in Massachusetts. He went on to design Dallas City Hall and the East
Building of the National Gallery of Art. In the early 1980s, Pei was
the focus of controversy when he designed a glass-and-steel pyramid for
the Louvre museum in Paris. Pei has won a wide variety of prizes and
awards in the field of architecture, including the 1983 Pritzker Prize,
sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture. He married Eileen Loo
in 1939, with whom he has six children.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1547:
Ivan the Terrible was crowned the first Tsar of Russia at the age of
16.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_IV_of_Russia>
1605:
Book One of Don Quixote, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha
by Miguel de Cervantes, was first published in Madrid, Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote>
1917:
World War I: The German Empire sent the Zimmermann Telegram, a
diplomatic proposal to Mexico to make war against the United States,
which led in part to a U.S. declaration of war.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram>
1945:
World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker,
where he would eventually commit suicide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrerbunker>
2008:
Five days after proposing lyrics for the wordless La Marcha Real, the
Spanish national anthem, the Spanish Olympic Committee withdrew the
proposal due to widespread criticism.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcha_Real>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
twenty-five/eight (adv):
(colloquial, hyperbolic) [[unceasingly
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twenty-five/eight>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ours is an age which consciously pursues health, and yet only believes
in the reality of sickness. The truths we respect are those born of
affliction. We measure truth in terms of the cost to the writer in
suffering — rather than by the standard of an objective truth to which
a writer's words correspond. Each of our truths must have a martyr.
--Susan Sontag
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag>
Wikipedia is celebrating its tenth anniversary!
To mark the occasion, Wikipedia is showcasing content not normally
featured.
Today's featured list:
The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny
moonlets less than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) across to the enormous Titan,
which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has sixty-two moons
with confirmed orbits, fifty-three of which have names, and only
thirteen of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers (31 mi).
Saturn has seven moons that are large enough to become spherical, and
dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.
Read the rest of this list:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Saturn>
_______________________________
Today's featured topic:
The Guadalcanal Campaign was fought between August 1942 and February
1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of
World War II. Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the
islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon
Islands, overwhelming the Japanese defenders and capturing an airfield
(later named Henderson Field). The Japanese made several attempts to
retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, five large naval
battles, and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the
decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942. The
Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory
by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre.
See all the articles in this topic:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Guadalcanal_Campaign>
_______________________________
Today's featured sound:
The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.
Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and
is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each
concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. Performed
by John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber Players.
Hear it at:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:01_-_Vivaldi_Spring_mvt_1_Allegro_-_John_…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore
Stephen Decatur, was captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_President_(1800)>
1885:
American photographer Wilson Bentley took the first known photograph
of a snowflake by attaching a bellows camera to a microscope.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bentley>
1991:
Elizabeth II, as Queen of Australia, signed letters patent allowing
Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own
separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross_for_Australia>
1999:
Yugoslav forces massacred 45 Kosovo Albanians in the village of
Račak, one of the main causes for the subsequent NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C4%8Dak_massacre>
2009:
After US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of Canada Geese during its
initial climb out from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, Captain
Chesley Sullenberger successfully made an emergency landing in the
Hudson River.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
go hand in hand (v):
(idiomatic) Of two things, to be closely related or to go together
well.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/go_hand_in_hand>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Those whose conduct gives room for talk
Are always the first to attack their neighbors.
--Molière
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moli%C3%A8re>
The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Western Hockey League. They
play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Their name is
derived from local-born professional wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart, a
founding owner. Established in 1994, the team has been owned by the
Calgary Flames hockey club since 1997. They are the third WHL team to
represent Calgary, preceded by the Centennials and Wranglers. The
Hitmen have had the best record in the WHL four times, and have
qualified for the playoffs every season since 1998. In 1999, they
became the first Calgary team to win the President's Cup as league
champions, and the first to represent Calgary in the Memorial Cup since
the Calgary Canadians won the national junior title in 1926. The Hitmen
hold numerous WHL attendance records, and in 2004–05 became the first
team in the Canadian Hockey League to average 10,000 fans per game.
Thirty-two former Hitmen players have gone on to play in the National
Hockey League. The Hitmen are the defending league champions, winning
their second title in 2009–10.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Hitmen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1301:
The Árpád dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th century,
ended with the death of King Andrew III.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d_dynasty>
1814:
Sweden and Denmark–Norway signed the Treaty of Kiel, whereby
Frederick VI of Denmark, a loser in the Napoleonic Wars, ceded Norway
to Sweden in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kiel>
1907:
A 6.5 MW earthquake struck Kingston, Jamaica, resulting in at least 800
deaths, which was at the time considered one of the world's deadliest
earthquakes recorded in history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_Kingston_earthquake>
1933:
Cricketer Harold Larwood of England, employing the controversial tactic
known as Bodyline, bowled a ball into Australian captain Bill
Woodfull's chest, an image that became one of the defining symbols of
the series.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline>
1978:
Austrian logician Kurt Gödel , who suffered from an obsessive fear of
being poisoned, died of starvation after his wife was hospitalized and
unable to cook for him.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
go hand in hand (v):
(idiomatic) Of two things, to be closely related or to go together well
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/go_hand_in_hand>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never
gets used up. That is possible for him who never argues and strives
with men and facts, but in all experience retires upon himself, and
looks for the ultimate cause of things in himself.
--Albert Schweitzer
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer>
The Forksville Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over
Loyalsock Creek in the borough of Forksville, Sullivan County, in the
U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1850 and is 152 feet
11 inches (46.6 m) in length. The bridge was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1980. The Forksville bridge is named for
the borough it is in, which is named for its location at the confluence
or "forks" of the Little Loyalsock and Loyalsock Creeks. The Forksville
bridge is a Burr arch truss type, with a load-bearing arch sandwiching
multiple vertical king posts, for strength and rigidity. The building
of the Forksville bridge was supervised by the 18-year-old Sadler
Rogers, who used his hand-carved model of the structure. It served as
the site of a stream gauge from 1908 to 1913 and is still an official
Pennsylvania state highway bridge. The United States Department of
Transportation Federal Highway Administration uses it as the model of a
covered bridge "classic gable roof", and it serves as the logo of a
Pennsylvania insurance company. The bridge was restored in 1970 and
2004 and is still in use, with average daily traffic of 224 vehicles in
2009. Despite the restorations, as of 2009 the bridge structure's
sufficiency rating on the National Bridge Inventory was only
17.7 percent and its condition was deemed "basically intolerable
requiring high priority of corrective action".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forksville_Covered_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1797:
French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle off the coast of Brittany
between two British frigates and a French ship of the line ended with
over 900 deaths when the latter ran aground.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_13_January_1797>
1898:
The Paris newspaper L'Aurore published "J'accuse...!", an open letter
by French writer Émile Zola to Félix Faure, the President of the
Republic, exposing the Dreyfus affair.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%27accuse>
1910:
The first public radio broadcast, a live performance of the opera
Cavalleria rusticana, was sent out over the airwaves from the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_of_public_radio_broadcasting>
1953:
An article published in Pravda accused some of the most prestigious
doctors in the Soviet Union, mostly Jews, of taking part in a vast plot
to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors%27_plot>
1972:
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup d'état to overthrow Prime Minister
Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_Kutu_Acheampong>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antepenultimate (adj):
Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate,
in a series
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antepenultimate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Conscious faith is freedom.
Emotional faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is foolishness.
--G. I. Gurdjieff
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff>
William Longchamp (died 1197) was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief
Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in
Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although
contemporary writers accused Longchamp of being the son of a peasant,
his father held land as a knight. Longchamp first served an
illegitimate son of Henry II of England, but quickly transferred to the
service of Richard I, King Henry's eldest surviving son. When Richard
became King of England in 1189, Longchamp paid £3,000 for the office of
Chancellor, and was soon named to the see, or bishopric, of Ely and
appointed legate by the pope. Longchamp governed England while Richard
was on the Third Crusade, but his authority was challenged by Richard's
brother, John, who eventually succeeded in driving Longchamp from power
and from England. Longchamp's relations with the other leading English
nobles were also strained, which contributed to the demands for his
exile. Soon after Longchamp's departure from England, Richard was
captured on his journey back to England from the crusade and held for
ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Longchamp travelled to Germany to
help negotiate Richard's release. Although Longchamp regained the
office of Chancellor after Richard's return to England, he lost much of
his former power. He did, however, retain Richard's trust, and was
employed by the king until the bishop's death in 1197. Longchamp wrote
a treatise on the law, which remained well known throughout the later
Middle Ages, but he aroused much hostility among his contemporaries.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Longchamp>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
In order to avoid persecution by anti-Mormons, Latter Day Saint
movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and his followers fled Kirtland,
Ohio, for Far West, Missouri.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.>
1911:
The University of the Philippines College of Law was founded,
eventually graduating many of the leading Filipino political figures
since then.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Law>
1945:
World War II: The Soviet Union's Red Army crossed the Vistula River in
Poland on their way to invade Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vistula%E2%80%93Oder_Offensive>
1964:
Rebels led by John Okello overthrew Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah, ending
200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Revolution>
2010:
A 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti, affecting an estimated three million
people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fiduciary (n):
{{context
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fiduciary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in
my opinion, is safe.
--Edmund Burke
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke>
Changeling is a 2008 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and
written by J. Michael Straczynski. Based on real life events in 1928
Los Angeles, the film stars Angelina Jolie as a woman who is reunited
with her missing son—only to realize he is an impostor. After she
confronts the city authorities, they vilify her as an unfit mother and
brand her delusional. The film explores the political fallout and the
episode's connection to the "Wineville Chicken Coop" kidnapping and
murder case. Principal photography took place in 2007 in Southern
California; in post-production, scenes were supplemented with CGI
skylines, backgrounds, vehicles and people. Changeling premiered at the
2008 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. Its October 2008
theatrical release met with a more mixed reaction; the acting and story
were generally praised, while criticism focused on the conventional
staging and lack of nuance. The film performed modestly at the North
American box office, but better internationally, earning $113 million
worldwide. Changeling received nominations in three Academy Award and
eight BAFTA Award categories.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling_%28film%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1055:
Theodora, the daughter of Constantine VIII and Helena, daughter of
Alypius, became Byzantine Empress.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_%2811th_century%29>
1787:
German-born British astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered
the Uranian moons Oberon and Titania, named by his son John after
characters from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_%28moon%29>
1943:
Italian American journalist and union activist Carlo Tresca , a leading
public opponent of Mafia infiltration of unions, was assassinated by a
Mafia gunman.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Tresca>
1960:
Henry Lee Lucas, once listed as America's most prolific serial killer,
committed his only confirmed murder, although he confessed to killing
about 600 and was convicted of eleven homicides.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lee_Lucas>
2007:
In her room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, British author J. K.
Rowling left a signed statement on a marble bust of Hermes which read,
"J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in
this room", her seventh and final Harry Potter novel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rictus (n):
1. A bird's gaping mouth.
2. Any open-mouthed expression
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rictus>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I should esteem it the extreme of imprudence to prolong the precarious
state of our national affairs, and to expose the union to the jeopardy
of successive experiments, in the chimerical pursuit of a perfect plan.
I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man. The result of
the deliberations of all collective bodies must necessarily be a
compound as well of the errors and prejudices, as of the good sense and
wisdom of the individuals of whom they are composed.
--Alexander Hamilton
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton>