100px|The two Northrop YF-23s
The Northrop YF-23 was a single-seat, twin-engine fighter aircraft
designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). In the 1980s, the USAF
began looking for a replacement for its fighter aircraft, especially to
counter the USSR's advanced Su-27 and MiG-29. Several companies
submitted design proposals; the USAF selected proposals from Northrop
and Lockheed. Northrop teamed with McDonnell Douglas to develop the
YF-23, while Lockheed, Boeing and General Dynamics developed the YF-22.
The YF-23 was stealthier and faster, but less agile than the
competition. After a four-year development and evaluation process, the
YF-22 was announced the winner in 1991 and entered production as the
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The U.S. Navy considered using one of the
ATF aircraft types to replace the F-14, but later canceled these plans.
The two YF-23 prototypes were on exhibit in museums as of 2009.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1399:
Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, deposed Richard II to become
Henry IV of England, merging the Duchy of Lancaster with the crown.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_England>
1975:
The AH-64 Apache, the primary attack helicopter for a number of
countries, made its first flight.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_AH-64_Apache>
1979:
Construction of the Kwun Tong Line, the first line of Hong Kong's MTR
rapid transit system, was completed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR>
1980:
Xerox, Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation published the first
Ethernet specifications , currently the most widespread wired local
area network (LAN) technology.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet>
2004:
The first photographs of a live giant squid in its natural habitat were
taken by Japanese researchers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/giant_squid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cutify (verb):
1. (from the Latin word for skin, "cutis") To form skin, as, the wound
area was left to cutify.
2. (from "cute" + "-ify", perhaps modeled on "beautify") To make cute,
as, she cutified her room
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cutify>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Observe the wonders as they occur around you.
Don't claim them. Feel the artistry
moving through, and be silent.
--Rumi
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
100px|A sky filled with many types of cirrus clouds
Cirrus clouds are atmospheric clouds characterized by thin, wispy
strands, often bunched into tufts. They range in color from white to a
faint gray and form when water vapor undergoes deposition at altitudes
above 5,000 m (16,500 ft) in temperate regions and above 6,100 m
(20,000 ft) in tropical regions. They also form from the outflow of
tropical cyclones or the anvils of cumulonimbus clouds. Since these
cirrus clouds arrive in advance of the frontal system or tropical
cyclone, it indicates that the weather conditions may soon deteriorate.
While they indicate the arrival of precipitation, cirrus clouds
themselves produce only fall streaks (falling ice crystals that
evaporate before landing on the ground). Jet stream-powered cirrus
clouds can grow long enough to stretch across continents, but they
remain only a few kilometers deep. When visible light interacts with
the ice crystals in cirrus clouds, it produces glories, sundogs, and
fire rainbows. Cirrus clouds raise the temperature of the air beneath
them by an average of 10 °C (18 °F). (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, originally headquartered in
Great Scotland Yard, Westminster, was founded.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Service>
1962:
Alouette 1, Canada's first satellite, and the first satellite operated
by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States, was
launched.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_1>
1963:
The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich, England, after
talk of establishing such a university in the city began as early as
the 19th century.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_East_Anglia>
2006:
Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collided in mid-air with an Embraer
Legacy business jet near Peixoto de Azevedo, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
killing 154 total people, and triggering a Brazilian aviation crisis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Transportes_A%C3%A9reos_Flight_1907>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abnegate (verb):
1. To deny oneself (something), to renounce or give up (a right, power,
claim, privilege or convenience).
2. To deny, to reject (something, for example a truth or a
commonly-held belief)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abnegate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The truth is that my work — I was going to say my mission — is to
shatter the faith of men here, there, and everywhere, faith in
affirmation, faith in negation, and faith in abstention in faith, and
this for the sake of faith in faith itself; it is to war against all
those who submit, whether it be to Catholicism, or to rationalism, or
to agnosticism; it is to make all men live the life of inquietude and
passionate desire.
--Miguel de Unamuno
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno>
100px|Monument dedicated to the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry on the Gettysburg battlefield
The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry
regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd
Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson and was therefore
known as "Henry Wilson's Regiment". It was formed in Boston,
Massachusetts and established on September 28, 1861 for a term of three
years. It became part of the Army of the Potomac, with which it would
be associated for its entire term of service. The regiment saw its
first action during the Siege of Yorktown in April 1862. It was
involved in the Peninsular Campaign, particularly the Battle of Gaines'
Mill during which it suffered its worst casualties of the war. The 22nd
Massachusetts was present for virtually all of the major battles in
which the Army of the Potomac fought, including the Second Battle of
Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the
Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg and Lt. Gen.
Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign. During the Siege of Petersburg in
October 1864, the 22nd Massachusetts was removed from the lines and
sent home to Massachusetts. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1891:
Railway workers in Montevideo, Uruguay, founded the Central Uruguay
Railway Cricket Club, which later became officially known as C.A.
Peñarol.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.A._Pe%C3%B1arol>
1901:
Philippine-American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty
American soldiers in a surprise attack in the town of Balangiga on
Samar Island.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangiga_massacre>
1928:
Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming noticed a
bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory, discovering what
became known as penicillin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/penicillin>
2008:
SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket achieved orbit on its fourth attempt to become
the first successful fully liquid-propelled orbital launch vehicle
developed with private funding.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1>
2009:
A protest held by 50,000 people in Conakry, Guinea, was forcefully
disrupted by the military junta, resulting in at least 157 deaths and
over 1,200 injuries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Guinea_protest>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
buoyancy (n):
The ability of an object to stay afloat in a fluid
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/buoyancy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the way of the superior man to prefer the concealment of his
virtue, while it daily becomes more illustrious, and it is the way of
the mean man to seek notoriety, while he daily goes more and more to
ruin. It is characteristic of the superior man, appearing insipid, yet
never to produce satiety; while showing a simple negligence, yet to
have his accomplishments recognized; while seemingly plain, yet to be
discriminating. He knows how what is distant lies in what is near. He
knows where the wind proceeds from. He knows how what is minute becomes
manifested. Such a one, we may be sure, will enter into virtue.
--Confucius
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
The 2007–2008 Nazko earthquakes were a series of small earthquakes
measuring less than 4.0 on the Richter magnitude scale. They took place
in the sparsely populated Nazko area of the Central Interior of British
Columbia, Canada, starting on Tuesday, October 9, 2007. They occurred
just west of Nazko Cone, a small tree-covered cinder cone that last
erupted about 7,200 years ago. No damages or casualties resulted from
the Nazko earthquakes, which were too small to be felt by people, but
local seismographs recorded them. The earthquake swarm occurred at the
eastern end of a known volcanic zone called the Anahim Volcanic Belt.
This is an east–west trending line of volcanic formations extending
from the Central Coast to the Central Interior of British Columbia.
(more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%932008_Nazko_earthquakes>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1422:
The Treaty of Melno was signed between the Teutonic Knights, the
Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, establishing the
Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for
about 500 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Melno>
1916:
Lij Iyasu , the emperor-designate of Ethiopia, was deposed in favor of
his aunt, Zewditu.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyasu_V_of_Ethiopia>
1988:
Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the political party
National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi>
1996:
The Taliban drove Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul and
established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban>
2008:
During the Shenzhou 7 mission, Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese
citizen to carry out a spacewalk.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_7>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hallux (n):
The big toe
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hallux>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions
thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever
practised, and, both by precept and example, inculcated on mankind.
--Samuel Adams
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>
110px|Rudolf Caracciola (left) and his riding mechanic Eugen Salzer
celebrate after winning the first German Grand Prix in 1926.
Rudolf Caracciola (1901–1959) was a German racing driver who won the
European Drivers' Championship (the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern
Formula One World Championship) an unsurpassed three times, and the
European Hillclimbing Championship three times. Caracciola raced for
Mercedes-Benz during their original dominating Silver Arrows period,
and set speed records for the firm. In 1933, he established the
privateer team Scuderia C.C. with Louis Chiron, but a crash in practice
for the Monaco Grand Prix left him with multiple fractures of his right
thigh, which prevented him from racing for more than a year. He
returned to the newly reformed Mercedes-Benz racing team in 1934, with
whom he won three European Championships, in 1935, 1937 and 1938. Like
most German racing drivers in the 1930s, Caracciola was a member of the
Nazi paramilitary group NSKK, but never a member of the Nazi Party. He
returned to racing after the Second World War, but crashed in
qualifying for the 1946 Indianapolis 500. A second comeback in 1952 was
halted by another crash, in a race in Switzerland. After he retired
Caracciola worked as a Mercedes-Benz salesman targeting NATO troops
stationed in Europe. He is remembered as one of the greatest pre-1939
Grand Prix drivers, a perfectionist who excelled in all conditions.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1580:
The Golden Hind sailed into Plymouth, England, as explorer Francis
Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind>
1687:
The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed during an armed
conflict between the Venetians under Francesco Morosini and Ottoman
forces.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
1957:
West Side Story, a musical written by Arthur Laurents, Leonard
Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo
and Juliet, made its debut on Broadway.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story>
1983:
The racing yacht Australia II, captained by John Bertrand, won the
America's Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defense of the
trophy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_II>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
exanimate (adj):
1. Lifeless, not or no longer living.
2. Spiritless, dispirited
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exanimate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.
And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered.
Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where
And I
cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
--T. S. Eliot
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot>
95px|Henry Edwards
Henry Edwards (1827–1891) was an English-born stage actor, writer and
expert in the science of insects who gained fame in Australia, San
Francisco, and New York City for his theatre work. Edwards was drawn to
the theatre early in life, and he appeared in amateur productions in
London. After sailing to Australia, Edwards appeared professionally in
Shakespearean plays and light comedies, primarily in Melbourne and
Sydney. Throughout his childhood in England and his acting career in
Australia, he was greatly interested in collecting insects, and the
National Museum of Victoria used the results of his Australian
fieldwork as part of the genesis of their collection. After writing a
series of influential studies on butterflies and moths on the West
Coast of the United States, he was elected a life member of the
California Academy of Sciences. Relocating eastward, a brief time spent
in Boston theatre led to a connection to Wallack's Theatre and further
renown in New York City. There, Edwards edited three volumes of the
leading insect journal Papilio and published a major work on the life
of the butterfly. His large collection of insect specimens served as
the foundation of the American Museum of Natural History's butterfly
and moth studies. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Edwards_%28entomologist%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1396:
Ottoman wars in Europe: Ottoman forces under Bayezid I defeated a
Christian alliance led by Sigismund of Hungary in the Battle of
Nicopolis near present-day Nikopol, Bulgaria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nicopolis>
1868:
The Russian frigate Alexander Nevsky wrecked off northwestern Jutland,
nearly drowning Grand Duke Alexei.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_frigate_Alexander_Nevsky>
1977:
About 4,200 people took part in the first running of the Chicago
Marathon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Marathon>
1983:
In one of the largest prison escapes in British history, 38 Provisional
Irish Republican Army prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and
smashed their way out of HM Prison Maze in County Antrim, Northern
Ireland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_Prison_escape>
1996:
The last Magdalene asylum, an Irish institution to rehabilitate
so-called "fallen" women, was </ul>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_asylum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lampoon (v):
To satirize or poke fun at
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lampoon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one is without Christianity, if we agree on what we mean by that
word. It is every individual’s individual code of behavior by means of
which he makes himself a better human being than his nature wants to
be, if he followed his nature only. Whatever its symbol — cross or
crescent or whatever — that symbol is man’s reminder of his duty inside
the human race.
--William Faulkner
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner>
95px|Rivers Cuomo, frontman of Weezer
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American alternative rock
band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996. After finishing tours in
promotion of their 1994 album Weezer, the band originally planned to
record a space-themed rock opera entitled Songs from the Black Hole.
However, this project was eventually abandoned, and the group used some
of the songs from the discarded album on Pinkerton. Much of the album
was written while frontman Rivers Cuomo (pictured) was studying at
Harvard University, which influenced the themes addressed on the
record. The album was seen as a departure from the band's original
power pop sound for a darker and more abrasive sound. On its release in
1996, the album was initially considered a critical and commercial
failure; Pinkerton has since risen in stature to become one of the most
highly regarded albums of the 1990s, receiving much critical acclaim,
and is now considered one of the most important albums of the decade.
The album was certified gold in the United States in 2001. As of August
2009, Pinkerton has amassed US sales of 852,000, and went gold in
Canada with sales of over 50,000. It was the last Weezer album to
feature bassist Matt Sharp. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1645:
English Civil War: Royalists under the personal command of King
Charles I suffered a significant defeat in the Battle of Rowton Heath.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rowton_Heath>
1890:
Wilford Woodruff, President of the Mormon Church, wrote the first draft
of a manifesto which officially disavowed the continuing practice of
plural marriage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890_Manifesto>
1946:
Clark Clifford and George Elsey, military advisers to U.S. President
Harry S. Truman, present him with a top-secret report on the Soviet
Union that would form the basis of the U.S. policy of containment.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/containment>
1957:
Barcelona's Camp Nou , currently the largest stadium in Europe with a
seating capacity of 99,354, opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Nou>
1996:
Representatives from 71 nations signed the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which has not yet come into force because not
enough signatories have ratified it.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Nuclear-Test-Ban_Treaty>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
heretofore (adverb):
Prior to now, until now, up to the present time
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heretofore>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Once one is caught up into the material world not one person in ten
thousand finds the time to form literary taste, to examine the validity
of philosophic concepts for himself, or to form what, for lack of a
better phrase, I might call the wise and tragic sense of life.
--F. Scott Fitzgerald
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald>
110px|ARA Moreno
ARA Moreno was a dreadnought battleship designed by the American Fore
River Shipbuilding Company for the Argentine Navy. Named after Mariano
Moreno, a key member of the first independent government of Argentina,
the First Assembly (Primera Junta), Moreno was the second ship in the
Rivadavia class. Argentina placed orders for Moreno and her only sister
ship, Rivadavia, in response to a Brazilian naval building program and
border disputes, particularly in the River Plate area. During their
construction, the two dreadnoughts were subject to numerous rumors
involving Argentina selling the two battleships to a country engaged in
the First World War, but these proved to be false. After Moreno was
completed in March 1915, a series of engine problems occurred during
her sea trials, which delayed her delivery to Argentina to May 1915.
The next decade saw the ship based in Puerto Belgrano as part of the
Argentine Navy's First Division before sailing to the United States for
an extensive refit in 1924 and 1925. During the 1930s the ship was
occupied with diplomatic cruises to Brazil, Uruguay, and Europe until
the Second World War broke out. Decommissioned in 1949, Moreno was
scrapped in Japan from 1957. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1123:
Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agreed to the Concordat
of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_Worms>
1780:
American Revolutionary War: British officer John André was captured by
Patriot forces, thereby revealing the plot hatched by Continental Army
General Benedict Arnold to hand over West Point, New York, in return
for cash and a commission in the British Army.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Andr%C3%A9>
1803:
Maratha troops were beaten by British forces at the Battle of Assaye,
one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt against
Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1932:
Hejaz and Nejd merged and to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Ibn
Saud as the first monarch and Riyadh as the capital city.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Saudi_Arabia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
redact (v):
1. To edit, to prepare (a text) for publication.
2. To censor, to black out portions of (a text)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/redact>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge
authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind
faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot be otherwise, for every
great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection
of authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, the
annihilation of the spirit of blind faith; and the most ardent votary
of science holds his firmest convictions, not because the men he most
venerates hold them; not because their verity is testified by portents
and wonders; but because his experience teaches him that whenever he
chooses to bring these convictions into contact with their primary
source, Nature — whenever he thinks fit to test them by appealing to
experiment and to observation — Nature will confirm them. The man of
science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by
verification.
--Thomas Henry Huxley
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley>
115x100px|Parade to mark the 40th anniversary of the Zanzibar
Revolution
The Zanzibar
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Revolution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: One day after the National Convention voted to
abolish the monarchy, the French First Republic came into being.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_First_Republic>
1914:
World War I: German naval forces bombarded Papeete in French Polynesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Papeete>
1922:
After nine days, the Great Fire of Smyrna was extinguished, having
caused tens of thousands of deaths.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Smyrna>
1961:
The U.S. Congress authorized President John F. Kennedy's executive
order to establish the Peace Corps .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps>
1994:
The Nordhordland Bridge, which crosses Salhusfjorden between
Klauvaneset and Flatøy in Hordaland, and is the second-longest bridge
in Norway, was officially opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordhordland_Bridge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
promontory (noun):
A high point of land extending into a body of water, a headland; a
cliff
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/promontory>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have far more confidence in the one man who works mentally and bodily
at a matter than in the six who merely talk about it … Nature is our
kindest friend and best critic in experimental science if we only allow
her intimations to fall unbiased on our minds. Nothing is so good as an
experiment which, whilst it sets an error right, gives us (as a reward
for our humility in being reproved) an absolute advancement in
knowledge.
--Michael Faraday
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday>
70px|Statue of Hubert Walter
Hubert Walter (c. 1160 – 1205) was an influential royal adviser in
the late 12th and early 13th centuries in the positions of chief
justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As
chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of
all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his
holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the
most outstanding government ministers in English history. Walter served
King Henry II of England in many ways, including diplomatic and
judicial efforts. After an unsuccessful candidacy to the see of York,
Walter was elected Bishop of Salisbury shortly after the accession of
King Henry's son Richard I to the throne of England. Walter accompanied
King Richard on the Third Crusade, and was one of the principals
involved in raising Richard's ransom after the king was captured in
Germany on his return from the Holy Land. As a reward for his faithful
service, Walter was selected to become Archbishop of Canterbury in
1193. Walter set up a system which was the precursor for the modern
justices of the peace. Following Richard's death in 1199, Walter helped
assure the elevation of Richard's brother John to the throne. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1745:
Jacobite Risings: Jacobite troops led by Charles Edward Stuart defeated
the Hanoverians in Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Prestonpans>
1827:
Joseph Smith, Jr. claimed to have been visited by the angel Moroni, who
would guide him to the golden plates that became the basis of the Book
of Mormon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Moroni>
1897:
The New York Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper, published an
editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church stating, "Yes, Virginia, there
is a Santa Claus", that become a part of popular Christmas lore.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes%2C_Virginia%2C_there_is_a_Santa_Claus>
1953:
North Korean No Kum-Sok defected with his MiG-15, inadvertently making
Operation Moolah, an American effort to bribe Communist pilots, a
success.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moolah>
1976:
Chilean political figure Orlando Letelier was assassinated in
Washington, D.C., by DINA agents.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letelier_case>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
infanticide (n):
The murder of an infant
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/infanticide>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the
things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink
things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more
than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that,
isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your
secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would
love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly
only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what
you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you
almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When
the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want
of an understanding ear.
--Stephen King
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_King>