100px|A disc of californium metal
Californium is the radioactive metallic chemical element with atomic
number 98. It was first produced in 1950 by bombarding curium with
alpha particles at the University of California, Berkeley. The element
was named for California and the University of California. Two
crystalline forms exist for californium under normal pressure, and a
third exists at high pressure. Compounds of californium are dominated
by a chemical form of the element, designated californium(III), that
can participate in three chemical bonds. The most stable of
californium's twenty known isotopes is californium-251, which has a
half-life of 898 years; this short half-life means the element is not
found in the Earth's crust. Californium-252, whose half-life is
2.645 years, is the most common isotope used. Californium can be used
to help start up nuclear reactors, and is employed as a source of
neutrons when studying materials with neutron diffraction and neutron
spectroscopy. It can also be used in nuclear synthesis of higher mass
elements; ununoctium was synthesized by bombarding californium-249
atoms with calcium-48 ions. Use of californium must take into account
radiological concerns and the element's ability to disrupt the
formation of red blood cells by bio-accumulating in skeletal tissue.
(more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
365:
A large earthquake that struck near Crete and its subsequent tsunami
caused widespread destruction throughout the eastern Mediterranean
region.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/365_Crete_earthquake>
1865:
In one of the few recorded instances of a "quick draw" gun duel in the
American Old West, Wild Bill Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt over a
poker debt.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok_%E2%80%93_Davis_Tutt_shootout>
1954:
First Indochina War: The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established
at the Geneva Conference, partitioning Vietnam along the 17th parallel
north into two zones: North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and South
Vietnam under Bao Dai.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_%281954%29>
1969:
During the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became
the first humans to walk on the Moon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong>
1970:
The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 11 years of
construction.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
charlady (n):
(chiefly archaic or historical) A woman whose professional occupation
is to clean houses; a cleaning-lady
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charlady>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will
happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do
today. It's been that way all this year. It's been that way so many
times. All of war is that way.
--Ernest Hemingway
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway>
The painted turtle is the only species of Chrysemys, one of the pond
turtles. It lives in slow-moving freshwaters, from southern Canada to
the Louisiana Gulf Coast and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to
the Pacific. Four U.S. states name the painted turtle as their official
reptile. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years
ago, but four regionally based subspecies (the eastern, midland,
southern, and western) evolved during the last ice age.
The turtle's skin is olive to black with distinctive red, orange, or
yellow stripes. Reliant on warmth from its surroundings, the painted
turtle can frequently be seen basking on logs. Crayfish and dragonflies
are among the turtle's preferred prey. Many predators eat the turtle
eggs or hatchlings, but the adult's shell protects it from most enemies
except for raccoons, alligators and humans. Turtles in the wild can
live for more than 55 years.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_turtle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent for their
Pyréolophore, one of the world's first internal combustion engines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore>
1922:
The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League of
Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>
1936:
The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits was
signed in Montreux, Switzerland, allowing Turkey to fortify the
Dardanelles and the Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of
all nations in peacetime.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux_Convention_Regarding_the_Regime_of_th…>
1940:
The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the United
States, opened to traffic, connecting Downtown Los Angeles with
Pasadena, California.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Seco_Parkway>
1976:
The Viking 1 lander became the first spacecraft to successfully land
on Mars and perform its mission.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Aristarch (n):
A severe critic
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aristarch>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hitherto your eyes have been darkened and you have looked too much,
yes, far too much, upon the things of earth. If these so much delight
you what shall be your rapture when you lift your gaze to things
eternal!
--Petrarch
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Petrarch>
120px|A hospital destroyed by the 1949 Ambato earthquake
The 1949 Ambato earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Western
Hemisphere in over a decade. On August 5, 1949, it struck Ecuador's
Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital, Ambato, and killed
5,050 people. Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, it originated from a
hypocenter 40 km (25 mi) beneath the surface. The earthquake initially
followed an intersection of several northwest–southeast-trending faults
in the Inter-Andean Valley, which were created by the subduction of the
Carnegie Ridge. Strata of rock cracked as the earthquake ruptured the
faults, sending out powerful shockwaves. The nearby villages of Guano,
Patate, Pelileo, and Pillaro were destroyed, and the city of Ambato
suffered heavy damage. The earthquake flattened entire buildings, and
subsequent landslides caused damage throughout the Tungurahua,
Chimborazo, and Cotopaxi Provinces. It disrupted water mains and
communication lines and opened a fissure into which the small town of
Libertad sank. Moderate shaking from the event extended as far away as
Quito and Guayaquil. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Ambato_earthquake>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
64:
The Great Fire of Rome started among the shops around the Circus
Maximus, eventually destroying three of fourteen Roman districts and
severely damaging seven others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Rome>
1545:
The English warship Mary Rose foundered and sank just outside
Portsmouth during the Battle of the Solent.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rose>
1553:
Lady Jane Grey was replaced by Mary I as Queen of England after
holding that title for just nine days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England>
1916:
World War I: Australian forces engaged the Germans at the Battle of
Fromelles in France, described as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's
entire history" since 5,533 Australian soldiers were eventually killed,
wounded or taken prisoner in the failed operation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fromelles>
1981:
In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French Prime
Minister François Mitterrand revealed the existence of the Farewell
Dossier, a collection of documents showing that the Soviets had been
stealing American technological research and development.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Dossier>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
putrescible (adj):
That can decay; capable of rotting
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/putrescible>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I should like to be famous and unknown.
--Edgar Degas
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas>
James Boyd (1906–1998) was an American physicist, mathematician, and
academic administrator. He was director of the Georgia Tech Research
Institute (GTRI) from 1957 to 1961, president of West Georgia College
from 1961 to 1971, and acting president of the Georgia Institute of
Technology from 1971 to 1972. Along with two fellow Georgia Tech
researchers, Boyd co-founded Scientific Atlanta, where he was a board
member for 25 years. As director of the Engineering Experiment Station
(now GTRI), Boyd was involved with the establishment of nuclear
research at Georgia Tech and the construction of the Neely Nuclear
Research Center. As president of West Georgia College, Boyd oversaw the
racial integration of the campus in 1963, unprompted by a court order.
In 1971, Boyd was assigned as interim president of Georgia Tech
following a brief tenure as a vice chancellor for the University System
of Georgia. At Georgia Tech, Boyd resolved issues involving the
attempted takeover of the Engineering Experiment Station by former
president Arthur G. Hansen and alumni calls to fire head football coach
Bud Carson.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._Boyd_%28scientist%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1290:
Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion>
1831:
Pedro II, the last Emperor of Brazil, was enthroned at the age of five
under a regency, starting a rule of 58 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_II_of_Brazil>
1870:
The First Vatican Council declared that the Pope is infallible when he
solemnly declares a dogmatic teaching on faith as being contained in
divine revelation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility>
1976:
At the Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci became the first
person to score a perfect 10 in a modern Olympics gymnastics event.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci>
1995:
After a long period of dormancy, the Soufrière Hills volcano began a
still-ongoing eruption, devastating the island of Montserrat.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soufri%C3%A8re_Hills>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
insipid (adj):
1. Unappetizingly flavorless.
2. Flat; lacking character or definition.
3. Cloyingly sweet or
sentimental
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insipid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he
is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not
truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely
as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and
the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the
oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved.
But I know that that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet
free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to
be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the
first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is
not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects
and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to
freedom is just beginning.
--Nelson Mandela
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela>
100px|Hurricane Danny at peak intensity
Hurricane Danny was the only hurricane to make landfall in the United
States during the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season. The system reached
tropical storm strength on July 17. Danny had a non-tropical origin,
after a trough spawned convection that entered the warm waters of the
Gulf of Mexico. It had an extended northeast track through the Gulf of
Mexico, caused by two high pressure systems. The storm moved across the
southeastern United States, after making landfall in the Gulf Coast,
and affected parts of Massachusetts with rain and wind. Danny is noted
for the extreme rainfall, tornadoes, and damage it produced on its
path, causing four direct fatalities and $100 million (1997 USD,
$137 million 2011 USD) in damage. The storm dropped a record amount of
rainfall for Alabama, as at least 36.71 inches (932 mm) fell on Dauphin
Island. Flooding, power outages, and erosion occurred in many areas of
the Gulf Coast, and rescues from flooded roads had to be performed.
Various tornadoes on the East Coast caused a great amount of damage.
Danny caused one death off the coast of Alabama, four deaths in
Georgia, two deaths in South Carolina, and two deaths in North
Carolina. (more...)
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dollar
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Danny_%281997%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1762:
Peter III was killed while in custody at Ropsha, a few days after he
was deposed as Emperor of Russia and replaced by his wife Catherine II.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia>
1899:
The Nippon Electric Company was founded as the first Japanese joint
venture with foreign capital.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEC>
1936:
Nationalist rebels attempted a coup d'état against the Second Spanish
Republic, sparking the Spanish Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_coup_of_July_1936>
1973:
Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, was ousted in a coup
by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye
surgery.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah>
1975:
East Timor was annexed and became the 27th province of Indonesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor>
1996:
A "streak of light" was seen immediately before TWA Flight 800 exploded
in mid-air off the coast of New York, leading to a number of
alternative theories that allege a government cover-up.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tovarish (n):
Comrade, especially with reference to the former USSR
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tovarish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
God, from a beautiful necessity, is Love in all he doeth,
Love, a brilliant fire, to gladden or consume:
The wicked work
their woe by looking upon love, and hating it:
The righteous find their joys in yearning on its loveliness for ever.
--Martin Farquhar Tupper
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Farquhar_Tupper>
80px|The Mantra-Rock Dance poster by Harvey W. Cohen
Mantra-Rock Dance was a musical countercultural event held on January
29, 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. It was organized by
followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as an
opportunity for its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to
address a wider public, and as a promotional and fundraising effort for
their first center on the West Coast of the United States. The
Mantra-Rock Dance featured American rock groups the Grateful Dead, Big
Brother and the Holding Company (for whom Janis Joplin was the lead
singer) and Moby Grape; these bands agreed to appear with Prabhupada
and to perform for free. The participation of countercultural leaders
considerably boosted the event's popularity; among them were the poet
Allen Ginsberg, who led the singing of the Hare Krishna mantra on stage
along with Prabhupada, and LSD promoters Timothy Leary and Stanley
Augustus Owsley III. The Mantra-Rock Dance concert was later called
"the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco
hippy era". It led to favorable media exposures for Prabhupada and his
followers, and brought the Hare Krishna movement to the wider attention
of the American public. (more...)
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Somerset
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
622:
The epoch of the Islamic calendar occurred, marking the year that
Muhammad began his Hijra from Mecca to Medina.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar>
1782:
Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail made its premiere, after
which Emperor Joseph II made the apocryphal complaint that it had "too
many notes".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail>
1931:
Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie signed the nation's first
constitution, the first time in history that an absolute ruler
voluntarily shared sovereignty with his subjects.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Constitution_of_Ethiopia>
1950:
Korean War: A Korean People's Army unit massacred twenty-one U.S. Army
prisoners of war.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplain-Medic_massacre>
1965:
South Vietnamese Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao—an undetected communist spy—was
hunted down and killed after being sentenced to death in absentia for a
February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyen Khanh.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pham_Ngoc_Thao>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
saccade (n):
A sudden movement of the eyes from one point to another, either
voluntary or involuntary
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saccade>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters
ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions
more than refusing to look at reality.
--Sheri S. Tepper
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper>
110px|Brigadier Neil Hamilton Fairley
Neil Hamilton Fairley (1891–1966) was an Australian physician and
soldier who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from
malaria and other diseases. A graduate of the University of Melbourne,
Fairley joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1915. In the
inter-war period he became renowned as an expert on tropical medicine.
Fairley returned to the Australian Army during the Second World War as
Director of Medicine. He played an important role in the planning for
the Battle of Greece, convincing the British Commander-in-Chief,
General Sir Archibald Wavell, to alter his campaign plan to reduce the
danger from malaria. In South West Pacific Area, Fairley became
responsible for coordinating the activities of all allied forces in the
fight against malaria and other tropical diseases. After the war
Fairley returned to London where he became a Consulting Physician to
the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Wellcome Professor of Tropical
Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A
serious illness in 1948 forced him to resign his professorship, but he
retained his practice and membership of numerous committees, becoming
an "elder statesman" of tropical medicine. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian port city
of Rashid.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone>
1910:
In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gave a name to
Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease>
1959:
Five hundred thousand American steelworkers went on strike, closing
nearly every steel mill in the country.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_strike_of_1959>
1966:
Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began Operation
Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese
Demilitarized Zone.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hastings>
1983:
Armenian militant organization ASALA bombed the Turkish Airlines
check-in counter at Orly Airport as part of its campaign for the
recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orly_Airport_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
volte-face (n):
1. An about-turn, a U-turn.
2. A complete reversal of attitude or opinion
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/volte-face>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a
document of barbarism.
--Walter Benjamin
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin>
The trade dollar was a United States dollar coin minted to compete with
other large silver coins that were already popular in the Orient. The
idea first came about in the 1860s, when the price of silver began to
decline due to increased mining efforts in the western United States.
The Coinage Act of 1873 made trade dollars legal tender up to five
dollars. The coins were first struck in 1873, and most of the
production was sent to China. Eventually, bullion producers began
converting large amounts of silver into trade dollars, causing the
coins to make their way into American commercial channels. This caused
frustration among those who were given them in payment, as the coins
were largely maligned and traded for less than one dollar each. In
response to their wide distribution in American commerce, the coins
were officially demonetized in 1876, but continued to circulate.
Production of business strikes ended in 1878, though the mintage of
proof coins continued until 1883. The trade dollar was remonetized when
the Coinage Act of 1965 was signed into law.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dollar_%28United_States_coin%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
The first ascent of the Matterhorn marked the end of the golden age of
alpinism.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_ascent_of_the_Matterhorn>
1950:
In an early battle of the Korean War, North Korean troops began
attacking the headquarters of the American 24th Infantry Division in
Taejon, South Korea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taejon>
1957:
Rawya Ateya took her seat in the National Assembly of Egypt to become
the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawya_Ateya>
1960:
English primatologist Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe Stream Chimpanzee
Reserve, Tanganyika, to begin her groundbreaking study of the social
and family interactions of wild chimpanzees.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall>
1987:
Over 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain fell in a two-and-a-half-hour period in
Montreal, causing severe flooding and over CA$220 million in damages.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Flood_of_1987>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bastille (n):
1. A castle tower; a reinforced tower, a small fortress.
2. A prison
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bastille>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Freedom is not an exchange — it is freedom.
--André Malraux
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux>
Somerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton,
which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset
borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the
east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is
partly bounded to the north and west by the coast of the Bristol
Channel and the estuary of the River Severn. Somerset is a rural county
of rolling hills such as the Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor
National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset
Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times,
and subsequent settlement in the Roman and Saxon periods. Farming of
sheep and cattle, including for wool and the county's famous cheeses
(most notably Cheddar), are traditional and contemporary, as is the
more unusual cultivation of willow for basketry. Apple orchards were
once plentiful, and to this day Somerset is known for the production of
strong cider.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1260:
The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th century in
the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Durbe>
1793:
Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the
French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday>
1863:
Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws
passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the
ongoing American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riots>
1923:
The Hollywoodland Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above
Hollywood, California. The last four letters of the sign were removed
in 1949.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign>
2008:
War in Afghanistan: Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops near the
village of Wanat in the Waygal district in Afghanistan's far eastern
province of Nuristan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wanat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bicameral (adj):
(politics) Having two legislative chambers
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bicameral>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a
civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion,
just as effectively as by bombs.
--Kenneth Clark
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark>
100px|Walter Bache
Walter Bache (1842–88) was an English pianist and conductor noted for
championing the music of Franz Liszt and other composers of the New
German School. He studied privately with Liszt in Italy from 1863 to
1865, and continued to attend Liszt's master classes in Weimar,
Germany, regularly until 1885. This led to a particularly close bond
between the two men. Bache's major accomplishment was the establishment
of Liszt's music in England at the height of the War of the Romantics,
when conservative and liberal musical factions openly argued about the
future of classical music and the merits of the compositions written in
their respective schools. Bache programmed several of Liszt's
orchestral and choral works through an annual series of concerts, which
he single-handedly funded, organized and promoted. He performed
two-piano arrangements of Liszt's orchestral works before the debuts of
the original versions, and programmed some of his symphonic poems
shortly after they had been premiered at the Crystal Palace. The
English musical press, while generally hostile to the music he
presented, noted and appreciated Bache's efforts. Liszt remained
grateful; without Bache, he acknowledged, his music might not have
gained the foothold it did. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article:
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
927:
Æthelstan, King of England, secured a pledge from Constantine II of
Scotland that the latter would not ally with Viking kings, beginning
the process of unifying Great Britain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelstan>
1843:
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, allegedly
received a revelation wherein Christ proclaimed that anyone who rejects
plural marriage will suffer damnation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamy>
1917:
Vigilantes forcibly deported about 1,300 striking mine workers, their
supporters, and innocent bystanders from Bisbee, Arizona, US, to New
Mexico.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered the
explusion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_exodus_from_Lydda_and_Ramle>
1971:
The Australian Aboriginal flag , one of the official flags of
Australia, was flown for the first time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_flag>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
oeillade (n):
A glance, especially an amorous one; an ogle
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oeillade>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
No human being is constituted to know the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth; and even the best of men must be content with
fragments, with partial glimpses, never the full fruition.
--William Osler
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Osler>