90px|Edward VII
Edward VII (1841–1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British
Dominions and Emperor of India from 1901 until his death. Before his
accession to the throne, he held the title of Prince of Wales for
longer than anyone else in British history. During the long reign of
his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political
power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. The
Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him,
coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant
changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the
rise of socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the
British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the
reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He
fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries,
but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor.
Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and
four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the
Edwardian way of life. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
Tokugawa Yoshinobu , the last shogun of Japan, tendered his resignation
to the Emperor Meiji.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Yoshinobu>
1938:
Kristallnacht began SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and
ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and
Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of over
25,000 others to concentration camps.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht>
1989:
East Germany announced the opening of the inner German border and the
Berlin Wall, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War, impending
collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of Soviet
communism.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inner_German_border>
1998:
With the passing of the Human Rights Act, the United Kingdom abolished
capital punishment for all criminal offences.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998>
2005:
Suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing a total
of about 60 people and injuring at least 115 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Amman_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
banner blindness (n):
(chiefly Internet) Desensitization to common means of attracting
attention
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banner_blindness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I had an experience... I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but
everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me
that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that
changed me forever... A vision of the universe that tells us,
undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how ... rare, and precious
we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is
greater than ourselves, that we are not — that none of us — are alone!
... I wish I could share that. I wish, that everyone, if only for one
moment, could feel that awe, and humility, and hope. But ... that
continues to be my wish.
--Contact (film)
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Contact_%28film%29>
80px|Tenskwatawa
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between U.S.
forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison and warriors of a Native
American confederation led by Shawnee brothers Tenskwatawa (pictured)
and Tecumseh. While Tecumseh was away recruiting allies, Harrison
marched with about 1,000 men to disperse the confederation's
headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and
Wabash Rivers in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana. The outnumbered
warriors from Prophetstown launched a surprise attack, but Harrison's
army prevailed. Public opinion in the United States blamed the conflict
on British interference, a suspicion that served as a catalyst to the
War of 1812. When the U.S. declared war on Great Britain in June 1812,
Tecumseh's confederacy, now allied with the British, initiated its own
war against the United States. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1665:
The London Gazette, the oldest surviving English-language newspaper,
was first published as the Oxford Gazette.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Gazette>
1811:
American forces led by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry
Harrison defeated the forces of Shawnee leader Tecumseh's growing
American Indian confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe near
present-day Battle Ground, Indiana.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tippecanoe>
1885:
Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first
transcontinental railroad across Canada, concluded with financier and
politician Sir Donald Smith driving in the "last spike" in
Craigellachie, British Columbia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Spike_%28Canadian_Pacific_Railway%29>
1917:
Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against the Provisional
Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the Bolshevik Revolution,
the second phase of the overall Russian Revolution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution>
1991:
Professional basketball player Magic Johnson announced his retirement
from the game because of his infection with HIV.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thunderous (adj):
Very loud; suggestive of thunder
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thunderous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All systems of morality are based on the idea that an action has
consequences that legitimize or cancel it. A mind imbued with the
absurd merely judges that those consequences must be considered calmly.
It is ready to pay up. In other words, there may be responsible
persons, but there are no guilty ones, in its opinion. At very most,
such a mind will consent to use past experience as a basis for its
future actions.
--Albert Camus
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus>
120px|Rova of Antananarivo
The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex in the central
highlands of Madagascar. It served as the former residence of the
sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina from the 17th to the 19th
centuries. The Rova occupies the peak of Analamanga hill in the capital
city of Antananarivo. Merina king Andrianjaka (ruled 1610 to 1630) is
believed to have captured the hill from a Vazimba king and erected the
site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina sovereigns
continued to rule from the Rova until the fall of the monarchy in 1896.
The largest palace within the complex, called Manjakamiadana, was built
from 1839 to 1841 for Queen Ranavalona I. A fire on the night of 6
November 1995 destroyed or damaged all the structures within the Rova
complex shortly before it was due to be inscribed on the list of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. Reconstruction of the Manjakamiadana exterior is
scheduled for completion in 2011. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
English author George Eliot's first work, Scenes of Clerical Life, was
submitted for publication.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_of_Clerical_Life>
1869:
In the first official American football game, Rutgers College defeated
the College of New Jersey, 6–4, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football>
1917:
World War I: Canadian forces captured Passendale, Belgium, after three
months of fighting against the Germans at the Third Battle of Ypres.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele>
1935:
Before the Institute of Radio Engineers in New York, American
electrical engineer and inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong presented his
study on using frequency modulation for radio broadcasting.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/frequency_modulation>
1995:
Madagascar's Rova of Antananarivo, which served as the royal palace
from the 17th to 19th centuries, was destroyed by fire .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rova_of_Antananarivo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antipodean (adj):
1. diametrically opposed
2. relating to the antipodes, or situated at opposite sides of the
Earth
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antipodean>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The appearance of a single great genius is more than equivalent to the
birth of a hundred mediocrities.
--Cesare Lombroso
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso>
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video
game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A
separate handheld game was made separately for the Nintendo DS. The
game was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in November
2007 for video game consoles and Windows. It was released for the Mac
in September 2008, then released for the Wii in November 2009, given
the name Reflex Edition. It is the fourth installment in the Call of
Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs, and is the first in
the Modern Warfare line of the franchise, followed by a direct sequel,
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first game in the series
to have a Mature rating. The game breaks away from the World War II
setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern
times. Call of Duty 4 was in development for two years, and it uses a
proprietary game engine. On September 10, 2009, it was re-released in
Japan by Square-Enix. (more...)
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Deinosuchus
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1605:
Thomas Knyvet arrested explosives expert Guy Fawkes and foiled Robert
Catesby's Gunpowder Plot to destroy the Houses of Parliament in London
during the State Opening.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes>
1838:
The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began with
Nicaragua seceding from the union.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America>
1950:
Korean War: The 27th British Commonwealth Brigade succeeded in
preventing a Chinese break-through at Pakchon in the Battle of Pakchon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pakchon>
1990:
Ultra-nationalist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York City
hotel by an Arab gunman.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane>
2009:
Major Nidal Malik Hasan of the United States Army went on a shooting
rampage at Fort Hood, the worst shooting ever to take place on an
American military base.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidal_Malik_Hasan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
swathe (n):
1. A bandage; a band;
2. (chiefly UK, usually in plural) A group of people.
3. Alternative
spelling of swath.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swathe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I may not be able to say all I think; but I am not going to say
anything that I do not think. I would rather a thousand times be a free
soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets.
--Eugene V. Debs
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs>
The Battle of Lipantitlán was fought along the Nueces River on November
4, 1835, between the Mexican Army and Texian insurgents, as part of the
Texas Revolution. After the Texian victory at the Battle of Goliad,
only two Mexican garrisons remained in Texas, Fort Lipantitlán near San
Patricio and the Alamo Mission at San Antonio de Béxar. The commander
of Fort Lipantitlán, Nicolás Rodríguez, had been ordered to harass the
Texian troops at Goliad. Rodríguez took the bulk of his men on an
expedition; while they were gone, Texian Captain Ira Westover's force
arrived in San Patricio. On November 3, a local man persuaded the
Mexican garrison to surrender, and the following day the Texians
dismantled the fort. Rodríguez returned as the Texians were crossing
the swollen Nueces River to return to Goliad. The Mexican soldiers
attacked, but the longer range of the Texians' rifles soon forced them
to retreat. The Texians now had full control of the Texas Gulf Coast,
which meant that the troops stationed at San Antonio de Béxar could
receive reinforcements and supplies only overland. Historian Bill
Groneman believes that this contributed to the eventual Mexican defeat
at the siege of Béxar, which expelled all Mexican troops from Texas.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
Menelik II , who would later introduce several technological and
administrative advances under his reign, was crowned Emperor of
Ethiopia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menelik_II_of_Ethiopia>
1921:
After a speech by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, members of
the Sturmabteilung, known as "brownshirts", physically assaulted his
opposition, an event which assumed legendary proportions over time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung>
1960:
At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Dr. Jane Goodall
observed a chimpanzee using a grass stalk to extract termites from a
termite hill, the first recorded case of tool use by animals.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasakela_Chimpanzee_Community>
1966:
The River Arno flooded Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 22 ft
(6.7 m), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of
masterpieces of art and rare books.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Flood_of_the_River_Arno>
1970:
Authorities in Temple City, California, discovered a 13-year-old feral
child known as "Genie", who had spent almost her entire life in social
isolation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_%28feral_child%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
amalgamate (v):
1. To merge, to combine, to blend, to join.
2. To make an alloy of a metal and mercury.
3. (mathematics) To
combine (free groups) by identifying respective isomorphic subgroups.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amalgamate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
People often ask me, "Will, where do you get your jokes?" I just tell
'em, 'Well, I watch the government and report the facts, that is all I
do, and I don't even find it necessary to exaggerate.
--Will Rogers
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Rogers>
70px|Gaetano Donizetti
L'ange de Nisida (The Angel of Nisida) is an opera semiseria in four
acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (pictured), from a libretto
by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz. Parts of the libretto are
considered analogous with the libretto for Giovanni Pacini's Adelaide e
Comingio, and the final scene is based on the François-Thomas-Marie de
Baculard d'Arnaud play Les Amants malheureux, ou le comte de Comminges.
Donizetti worked on the opera in the autumn of 1839—its final page is
dated 27 December 1839. Because the subject matter involved the
mistress of a Neapolitan king, and may thus have caused difficulties
with the Italian censors, Donizetti decided that the opera should be
presented in France. However, the theater company Donizetti contracted
went bankrupt. L'ange was never performed and was reworked as La
favorite in September 1840. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
644:
Umar, the Muslim Caliph who succeeded Muhammad, was fatally stabbed by
Pirouz Nahavandi, a Persian slave.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar>
1812:
French invasion of Russia: As Napoleon's Grande Armée began its
retreat, its rear guard was defeated at the Battle of Vyazma.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vyazma>
1935:
Almost 98% of the reported votes in a Greek plebiscite supported the
restoration of George II as King of the Hellenes.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_II_of_Greece>
1979:
Five members of the U.S. Communist Workers Party were shot and killed
by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party while in a
protest in Greensboro, North Carolina.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_massacre>
2007:
Pakistani President and Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf declared a
state of emergency across Pakistan, suspending the Pakistani
Constitution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_state_of_emergency%2C_2007>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
medium dead (adj):
(humorous) Unconscious and near death
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/medium_dead>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Follow the voice of your heart, even if it leads you off the path of
timid souls. Do not become hard and embittered, even if life tortures
you at times. There is only one thing that counts: to live one's life
well and happily...
--Wilhelm Reich
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich>
100px|Artist's rendering of Deinosuchus rugosus
Deinosuchus is an extinct relative of the alligator that lived 80 to
73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. The name is
derived from the Greek δεινός/deinos ("terrible") and σουχος/soukhos
("crocodile"). Although Deinosuchus was far larger than any modern
crocodile or alligator—measuring up to 12 m (40 ft) and weighing up to
8.5 metric tons (9.4 short tons)—its overall appearance was fairly
similar to its smaller relatives. It had large, robust teeth that were
built for crushing, and its back was covered with thick semispherical
osteoderms. One study indicates that Deinosuchus may have lived for up
to 50 years, growing at a similar rate to that of modern crocodilians,
but maintaining this growth over a much longer period of time.
Deinosuchus fossils have been found in ten U.S. states, as well as
northern Mexico. It lived on both sides of the Western Interior Seaway,
and was an opportunistic apex predator in the coastal regions of
eastern North America. Deinosuchus reached its largest size in its
western habitat, but the eastern populations were far more abundant.
Deinosuchus was probably capable of killing and eating large dinosaurs.
It may have also fed upon sea turtles, fish, and other aquatic and
terrestrial prey. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
The Dakota Territory, an organized incorporated territory of the United
States, was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and
South Dakota.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota>
1936:
The BBC Television Service launched as the world's first regular,
public all-electronic high-definition television service.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_One>
1949:
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the Netherlands
agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United
States of Indonesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch%E2%80%93Indonesian_Round_Table_Conference>
1960:
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales acquitted publisher
Penguin Books of obscenity in the publishing of Lady Chatterly's Lover
by D. H. Lawrence .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Chatterly%27s_Lover>
1963:
President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was assassinated, marking the
culmination of a coup d'état led by Duong Van Minh.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngo_Dinh_Diem>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unsub (n):
Abbreviation of unknown subject of an investigation
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unsub>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing
within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and
Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and
imprisonment, for not more than 10, nor less than five, years, to all
persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree.
--Joshua A. Norton
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joshua_A._Norton>
100px|Flooding from the storm in Ocean City, New Jersey
The 1991 Perfect Storm was a powerful storm that lashed the East
Coast of the United States for several days with 30 ft (9.1 m) waves.
The initial area of low pressure developed off Atlantic Canada on
October 28 and moved westward toward New England. It absorbed Hurricane
Grace to its south and intensified significantly. The center remained
offshore, although the high waves caused over $200 million in damage
(1991 USD) and 13 deaths. More than 38,000 people were left without
power, and along the coast high waves inundated roads and buildings. In
portions of New England, damage was worse than Hurricane Bob had caused
two months prior. Aside from tidal flooding along rivers, the storm's
effects were primarily concentrated along the coast. In the middle of
the storm, the Andrea Gail sank, killing its crew of six and inspiring
a book and later a movie. It later received the name "the Perfect
Storm" after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service
forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. After moving over
the Gulf Stream, the system evolved into a small hurricane that
dissipated after striking Nova Scotia. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
996:
Holy Roman Emperor Otto III issued a document that contained the
earliest known use of "Osterrîchi" the Old High German name of Austria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/name_of_Austria>
1611:
The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play The
Tempest was held at the Palace of Whitehall in London, exactly seven
years to the day after the first certainly known performance of his
tragedy Othello was held in the same building.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest>
1755:
A 9.0 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed Lisbon, an event
which led to the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake>
1928:
Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced the current
29-letter Turkish alphabet to replace the Ottoman Turkish alphabet as
the official writing system of the Turkish language.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_alphabet>
1998:
The European Court of Human Rights was instituted as a permanent court
with full-time judges to monitor compliance by the signatory parties of
the European Convention on Human Rights.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Court_of_Human_Rights>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
send-up (n):
A satirical imitation of a work of art or a genre.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/send-up>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's not too near for me
Like a flower I need the rain
Though it's not clear to me
Every
season has it's change
And I will see you
When the sun comes out again.
--Sophie B. Hawkins
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_B._Hawkins>