Sir Richard Williams (1890–1980) is regarded as the "father" of the
Royal Australian Air Force. He was the first military pilot trained in
Australia, and commanded fighter units in World War I. A proponent of
independent air power, Williams played a leading role in the
establishment of the RAAF and became its first and longest-serving
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). Born into a working class family, he was
an Army Lieutenant when he learned to fly in 1914. As a pilot with the
Australian Flying Corps in World War I, Williams commanded No. 1
Squadron and later 40th Wing RAF, earning the Distinguished Service
Order. Afterwards he campaigned for an Australian Air Force separate
from the Army and Navy, and this came into being on 31 March 1921. The
fledgling RAAF faced challenges to its existence for the next decade,
and Williams was credited with maintaining its independence. However an
adverse report on flying safety saw him dismissed as CAS prior to World
War II. Despite promotion to Air Marshal in 1940, he never again
commanded the RAAF. After the war he was forcibly retired and took up
the position of Director-General of Civil Aviation. He was knighted
shortly before his retirement in 1955.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Williams_%28RAAF_officer%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1146:
French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux made a sermon to a crowd at Vézelay,
with King Louis VII in attendance, urging the necessity of a Second
Crusade.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux>
1822:
Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began the massacre of over
20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_Massacre>
1854:
U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the Tokugawa shogunate signed
the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to
American trade.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_Kanagawa>
1910:
The six English towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley,
Fenton and Longton, amalgamated to form a single county borough.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Stoke-on-Trent>
1942:
World War II: Because of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against their
British officers, Japanese troops captured Christmas Island without any
resistance.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Christmas_Island>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
even Homer nods (proverb):
Not even the most vigilant and expert are immune from erring
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/even_Homer_nods>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
History will judge societies and governments — and their institutions —
not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the
powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor
and the helpless.
--Cesar Chavez
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez>
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons is a 1960s British science-fiction
television series created by Gerry Anderson (pictured) and produced by
Century 21 Productions for Associated Television. In keeping with
Anderson's earlier productions such as Thunderbirds, it mixes
marionette puppet characters and scale-model special effects in a
filming technique dubbed "Supermarionation". The plot of the 32-episode
series, set in 2068, centres on an interplanetary war between Earth and
a race of Martians known as the Mysterons. Captain Scarlet, top agent
of Spectrum, an international security organisation, acquires
"retro-metabolism" (a Mysteron healing power that enables him to
recover from normally fatal injuries), making him Earth's
"indestructible" ultimate weapon against the threat from Mars.
Reception to the series has acknowledged a "dark" tone and a large
amount of depicted violence, although the programme has a target
audience of children. A computer-animated reboot series, Gerry
Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, commenced broadcast in 2005.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Scarlet_and_the_Mysterons>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1282:
Sicilians began to rebel against the rule of the Angevin King Charles I
of Naples, starting the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Vespers>
1822:
The United States merged East Florida and West Florida to create the
Florida Territory.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Territory>
1940:
Second Sino-Japanese War: Wang Jingwei was officially installed by
Japan as head of a puppet state in China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei>
1972:
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an
attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the
South Vietnamese Army as possible.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Offensive>
1981:
Trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, obsessed fan John Hinckley, Jr.
shot and wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three others outside
the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_assassination_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pepo (n):
1. A kind of fruit possessing a hard rind and producing many seeds in a
single, central, pulpy chamber; a melon, gourd.
2. A plant producing such a fruit
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pepo>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Laughter is wine for the soul – laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged
through with seriousness. Comedy and tragedy step through life
together, arm in arm, all along, out along, down along lea. A laugh is
a great natural stimulator, a pushful entry into life; and once we can
laugh, we can live. It is the hilarious declaration made by man that
life is worth living.
--Seán O'Casey
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_O%27Casey>
The Battle of Towton was the "largest and bloodiest battle ever fought
on English soil". The engagement took place on 29 March 1461, a Palm
Sunday, near a village of the same name in Yorkshire. It was part of
the series of civil wars—the Wars of the Roses—fought between the
Houses of Lancaster and York. More than 50,000 supporters were mustered
for this battle. The reigning king of England, Henry VI, headed the
Lancastrians, while the Yorkists were led by Edward IV, who had
declared himself king and was using this battle to affirm his claim.
Their armies met on a plateau near Towton amidst a snowstorm. The
Lancastrians, superior in numbers, were lured out of their defensive
positions by the Yorkist archers, who took advantage of the strong wind
to outrange their counterparts and inflict casualties without suffering
any in return. The ensuing melee raged for hours, and the Yorkists
finally gained victory after the arrival of their reinforcements. Many
Lancastrians were killed in their panicked flight from the battlefield,
and the heralds reported a count of 28,000 dead. Henry fled to
Scotland, leaving Edward free to start the Yorkist dynasty.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Towton>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Yorkist troops defeated Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Towton in
Yorkshire, England, the largest battle in the Wars of the Roses up
until that time with approximately 20,000 casualties.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Towton>
1882:
The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service
organization, was founded by Michael J. McGivney in New Haven,
Connecticut, US.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Columbus>
1942:
World War II: The British Royal Air Force completed a bombing raid of
Lübeck, the first major success for RAF Bomber Command against a German
city.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_L%C3%BCbeck_in_World_War_II>
1946:
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, one of Mexico's leading
universities, was founded.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instituto_Tecnol%C3%B3gico_Aut%C3%B3nomo_de_M%…>
1982:
Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Assent to the Canada Act 1982, which
ended all remaining dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom by a
process known as "patriation".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Act_1982>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
one fell swoop (n):
(idiomatic) One stroke; one action or event with many results
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/one_fell_swoop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
She is young. Have I the right
Even to name her? Child,
It is not love I offer
Your quick limbs,
your eyes;
Only the barren homage
Of an old man whom time
Crucifies.
--R. S. Thomas
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas>
Rhodocene is a chemical compound with the formula Rh(C5H5)2. Each
molecule contains an atom of rhodium bound between two planar systems
of five carbon atoms known as cyclopentadienyl rings in a sandwich
arrangement. It is an organometallic compound as it has covalent
rhodium–carbon bonds. Biomedical researchers have examined the
applications of rhodium compounds and their derivatives in medicine and
reported one potential application for a rhodocene derivative as a
radiopharmaceutical to treat small cancers. Rhodocene derivatives are
also used to synthesise linked metallocenes so that metal–metal
interactions can be studied; potential applications of these
derivatives include molecular electronics and research into the
mechanisms of catalysis. The value of rhodocenes tend to be in the
insights they provide into the bonding and dynamics of novel chemical
systems, rather than their direct use in applications.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodocene>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
193:
Praetorian Guards assassinated Roman Emperor Pertinax and sold the
throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinax>
1802:
German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 2 Pallas,
the second asteroid known to man.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Pallas>
1942:
World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces successfully
disabled the key port of Saint-Nazaire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid>
1979:
A partial core meltdown of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating
Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US, resulted in the release of
an estimated 43,000 curies (1.59 PBq) of radioactive krypton to the
environment.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_Nuclear_Generating_Station>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: In a friendly fire incident, two members of the
United States Air Force attacked the United Kingdom's Blues and Royals
of the Household Cavalry, killing one and injuring five British
soldiers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron%2C_Blues_and_Royals_fri…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tenacious (adj):
1. Clinging to an object or surface; adhesive.
2. Unwilling to yield from a point of view; dogged.
3. Holding
together; cohesive
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tenacious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I perceive the world in fragments. It is somewhat like being on a very
fast train and getting glimpses of things in strange scales as you pass
by. A person can be very, very tiny. And a billboard can make a person
very large. You see the corner of a house or you see a bird fly by, and
it's all fragmented. Somehow, in painting I try to make some logic out
of the world that has been given to me in chaos. I have a very
pretentious idea that I want to make life, I want to make sense out of
it. The fact that I am doomed to failure — that doesn't deter me in the
least.
--Grace Hartigan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grace_Hartigan>
Drapier's Letters is the collective name for a series of seven
pamphlets written between 1724 and 1725 by Jonathan Swift to arouse
public opinion in Ireland against the imposition of a privately minted
copper coinage which Swift believed to be of inferior quality. William
Wood was granted a letters patent to mint the coin, and Swift saw the
licensing of the patent as corrupt. In response, Swift represented
Ireland as constitutionally and financially independent in the
Drapier's Letters. Since the subject was politically sensitive, Swift
wrote under the pseudonym M. B. Drapier to hide from retaliation.
Although the letters were condemned by the Irish government, with
prompting from the British government, they were still able to inspire
popular sentiment against Wood and his patent. The popular sentiment
turned into a nationwide boycott, which forced the patent to be
withdrawn; Swift was later honoured for this service to the people of
Ireland. The first complete collection of the Drapier's Letters
appeared in the 1735 George Faulkner edition of the Works of Jonathan
Swift along with an allegorical frontispiece offering praise and thanks
from the Irish people. Today, the Drapier's Letters are an important
part of Swift's political writings, along with Gulliver's Travels
(1726), A Tale of a Tub (1704), and A Modest Proposal (1729).
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapier%27s_Letters>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, a leading British
Whig Party statesman, began his second non-consecutive term as Prime
Minister of Great Britain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Watson-Wentworth%2C_2nd_Marquess_of_Ro…>
1958:
Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union following the
death of Joseph Stalin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev>
1975:
Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, an oil pipeline
spanning the breadth of the U.S. state of Alaska, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_the_Trans-Alaska_Pipeline_Syst…>
1981:
The Solidarity movement in Poland staged a warning strike, the biggest
strike in the history of the Eastern Bloc, in which at least 12 million
Poles walked off their jobs for four hours.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_warning_strike_in_Poland>
2009:
The dam holding Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Tangerang District,
Indonesia, failed, releasing floods that killed at least 100 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situ_Gintung>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bilious (adj):
1. Suffering from real or supposed liver disorder.
2. Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.
3.
Irritable or bad tempered; irascible
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bilious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Non-evaluative insight into history does not inevitably lead to
relativism, but rather to relationism. Knowledge, as seen in the light
of the total conception of ideology, is by no means an illusory
experience, for ideology in its relational concept is not at all
identical with illusion. Knowledge arising out of our experience in
actual life situations, though not absolute, is knowledge none the
less.
--Karl Mannheim
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim>
Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what
is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the
Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains
only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found
mainly in the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas, although teeth
attributed to Acrocanthosaurus have been found as far east as Maryland.
Acrocanthosaurus was a bipedal predator, best known for the high neural
spines on many of its vertebrae, which most likely supported a ridge of
muscle over the animal's neck, back and hips. Approaching 12 meters
(40 ft) in length, and weighing up to 6.17 metric tons (6.8 short
tons), it was the largest theropod in its ecosystem and likely an apex
predator, possibly preying on large sauropods and ornithopods.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrocanthosaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
The Book of Mormon, the defining sacred text of the Latter Day Saint
movement, was first published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon>
1953:
Jonas Salk announced the successful test of his polio vaccine on a
small group of adults and children.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/polio_vaccine>
1974:
A group of peasant women in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, used
their bodies to surround trees in order to prevent loggers from felling
them, giving rise to the Chipko movement.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement>
1979:
By signing the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, Egypt became the first Arab
country to officially recognize Israel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Israel_Peace_Treaty>
2010:
An explosion allegedly caused by a North Korean torpedo sank the South
Korean warship ROKS Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROKS_Cheonan_sinking>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
seam allowance (n):
(sewing) That part of the material or fabric added to the dimensions of
a sewing pattern outside the seam
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/seam_allowance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have kept hidden in the instep arch
Of an old cedar at the waterside
A broken drinking goblet like the
Grail
Under a spell so the wrong ones can't find it,
So can't get saved,
as Saint Mark says they mustn't.
(I stole the goblet from the children's playhouse.)
Here are your
waters and your watering place.
Drink and be whole again beyond confusion.
--Robert Frost
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost>
Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon,
Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals,
guitars, piano), Jonny Greenwood (guitars, keyboards, other
instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitars, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood
(bass, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion). Radiohead
released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. The song was initially
unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the
release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's third
album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international
fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK
Computer is often acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s. Kid A
(2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical
style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music,
Krautrock and jazz influences. Radiohead's work has appeared in a large
number of listener polls and critics' lists. While the band's earlier
albums were influential on British rock and pop music, musicians in a
wide variety of genres have been influenced by their later work.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
421:
According to legend, the city of Venice (in modern Italy) was founded
exactly at the stroke of noon with the dedication of the first church,
that of San Giacomo at the islet of Rialto.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice>
1821:
Metropolitan Germanos of Patras raised the Greek flag in the Monastery
of Agia Lavra to symbolically mark the beginning of the Greek War of
Independence.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_Independence>
1911:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed more than
140 garment workers, many of whom could not escape the burning building
because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire>
1949:
The Soviet Union began mass deportations of over 90,000 people from the
Baltic states to Siberia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Priboi>
1975:
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew Faisal
bin Musa'id.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
double act (n):
A comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship
between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin
and profession, but often with drastically different personalities or
behavior
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/double_act>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have come more and more under the dominance of mechanics and
sacrificed living humanity to the dead rhythm of the machine without
most of us even being conscious of the monstrosity of the procedure.
Hence we frequently deal with such matters with indifference and in
cold blood as if we handled dead things and not the destinies of men.
--Rudolf Rocker
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker>
Joseph Barbera (1911–2006) was an influential American animator,
director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist. Born in New
York City, after working odd jobs and as a banker, Barbera joined Van
Beuren Studios in 1932 and subsequently Terrytoons in 1936. He met his
lifelong collaborator William Hanna while working for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1937 and soon began producing animated shorts
such as the Tom and Jerry series. In 1957, after MGM dissolved their
animation department, they co-founded Hanna–Barbera, which became the
most successful television animation studio in the business, producing
programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat,
The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Smurfs, Wacky
Races and Yogi Bear. Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and
eight Emmy Awards and their shows have a global audience of over
300 million people, with translations in more than 20 languages.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barbera>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1603:
After Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace, King James VI of
Scotland acceded to the throne of England, Wales and Ireland, becoming
James I of England and unifying the crowns of the four kingdoms for the
first time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England>
1869:
The last of Māori leader Titokowaru's forces surrendered to the New
Zealand government, ending his uprising.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titokowaru%27s_War>
1882:
German physician Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis , a bacterium that causes tuberculosis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tuberculosis>
1980:
One day after giving a sermon in which he made a plea to Salvadoran
soldiers to stop carrying out the government's repression and
violations of basic human rights, Archbishop Óscar Romero was
assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero>
2008:
The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, led by Jigme Thinley, won 45 out
of 47 seats in the National Assembly of Bhutan in the country's
first-ever general election.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutanese_general_election%2C_2008>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nidify (v):
To make a nest
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nidify>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Love is enough: though the World be a-waning
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though
the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the
hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
Yet their
hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and
these eyes of the loved and the lover.
--William Morris
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Morris>
Jimmy McAleer (1864–1931) was an American center fielder, manager, and
stockholder in Major League Baseball who helped establish the American
League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the
Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis
Browns, and Washington Senators. Shortly before his retirement, he
became a major shareholder in the Boston Red Sox. His career ended
abruptly. During his brief tenure as co-owner of the Red Sox, McAleer
quarreled with longtime friend and colleague Ban Johnson, president of
the American League. McAleer's rift with Johnson, along with his sudden
retirement, damaged his professional reputation, and he received little
recognition for his contributions to baseball. Today, he is most often
remembered for initiating the customary request that the President of
the United States throw out the first ball of the season.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_McAleer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1879:
Fighting in the War of the Pacific between Chile and a
Peruvian–Bolivian alliance, opened with the Battle of Topáter.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific>
1905:
1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos , met at the village of
Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the
Theriso revolt.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theriso_revolt>
1931:
Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian
independence movement, and two others were executed by British
authorities.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh>
1991:
The Sierra Leone Civil War began when the Revolutionary United Front,
with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National
Patriotic Front of Liberia, invaded Sierra Leone in an attempt to
overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Civil_War>
2001:
The Russian Federal Space Agency forced the space station Mir to
deorbit and crash into the Pacific Ocean.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
couch potato (n):
A person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching
television, eating snacks, and drinking alcohol
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/couch_potato>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Society must be organized in such a way that man's social, loving
nature is not separated from his social existence, but becomes one with
it. If it is true, as I have tried to show, that love is the only sane
and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence, then any
society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in
the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities
of human nature.
--Erich Fromm
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm>
The Pied Currawong is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to
eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species
in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and
Australian Magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are
recognised. It is a robust crow-like bird averaging around 48 cm
(19 in) in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white
undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male
and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls,
the species' name currawong is of indigenous origin. Within its range,
the Pied Currawong is generally sedentary, although populations at
higher altitudes relocate to lower areas during the cooler months. It
is omnivorous, with a diet that includes a wide variety of berries and
seeds, invertebrates, bird eggs and juvenile birds. It is a predator
which has adapted well to urbanization and can be found in parks and
gardens as well as rural woodland. The habitat includes all kinds of
forested areas, although mature forests are preferred for breeding.
Roosting, nesting and the bulk of foraging take place in trees, in
contrast with the ground foraging behaviour of its relative the
Australian Magpie.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Currawong>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
The Massachusetts Bay Colony expelled Anne Hutchinson from its ranks
for dissenting from Puritan orthodoxy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson>
1736:
Under orders from Shah of Iran Nader Shah to plunder Delhi, India,
Persian troops killed at least 20,000 Indians, forcing Mughal Emperor
Muhammad Shah to beg for mercy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nader_Shah>
1913:
Phan Xich Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, was arrested
for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina,
which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the following day.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Xich_Long>
1984:
In what would be the longest and costliest criminal trial in United
States history, teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach,
California, were falsely charged with satanic ritual abuse of
schoolchildren.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial>
1995:
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov of the Soyuz programme returned from
the Mir space station after 437 days in space, setting a record for the
longest spaceflight.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeri_Polyakov>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
jiggery-pokery (n):
Trickery or misrepresentation; hanky panky or skulduggery
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jiggery-pokery>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To communicate through silence is a link between the thoughts of man.
--Marcel Marceau
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau>