100px|Liberty head nickle, observe side, showing Liberty wearing a
coronet and wreath
The Liberty Head nickel was an American five-cent piece. It was
struck for circulation from 1883 until 1912, with at least five pieces
being surreptitiously struck dated 1913. The original copper–nickel
five-cent piece, the Shield nickel, had longstanding production
problems, and in the early 1880s, the United States Mint was looking to
replace it. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber was instructed to
prepare designs for proposed one-, three-, and five-cent pieces, which
were to bear similar designs. Only the new five-cent piece was
approved, and went into production in 1883. For almost thirty years
large quantities of coin of this design were produced to meet
commercial demand, especially as coin-operated machines became
increasingly popular. Beginning in 1911, the Mint began work to replace
the Liberty head design, and a new design, which became known as the
Buffalo nickel, went into production in February 1913. Although no 1913
Liberty head nickels were officially struck, five are known to exist.
While it is uncertain how these pieces originated, they have come to be
among the most expensive coins in the world, with one selling in 2010
for $3,737,500. (more...)
Recently featured: Cyathus – Battle of Rennell Island – Otto Julius
Zobel
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Head_nickel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1747:
The London Lock Hospital, the first clinic specialising in the
treatment of venereal diseases, opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Lock_Hospital>
1919:
Intense rioting over labour conditions broke out in Glasgow, Scotland,
and was only quelled when the British government sent tanks to restore
order.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_George_Square>
1942:
Second World War: Allied forces retreated from British Malaya to
Singapore, ceding control of the country to Japan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_Campaign>
1961:
Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham the Chimp became the first
hominid launched into outer space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_the_Chimp>
1996:
Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake discovered Comet Hyakutake,
which was one of the closest cometary approaches of the previous 200
years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hyakutake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avant-garde (n):
Any group of people who invent or promote new techniques or concepts,
especially in the arts
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avant-garde>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Attunement could occur through any of the great religions, but would be
tied exclusively to none of them. A person could be attuned to an
"integral spirituality" while still be a practicing Christian,
Buddhist, New-Age advocate, or Neopagan. This would be something added
to one's religion, not subtracted from it. The only thing it would
subtract (and there's no way around this) is the belief that one's own
path is the only true path to salvation.
--Ken Wilber
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber>
100px|Cyathus striatus
Cyathus is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, a family
collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name
since they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs". The "eggs",
or peridioles, are firmly attached to the inner surface of this
fruiting body by an elastic cord of mycelia known as a funiculus. The
45 species are widely distributed throughout the world and some are
found in most countries, although a few exist in only one or two
locales. Cyathus stercoreus is considered endangered in a number of
European countries. The internal and external surfaces of this cup may
be ridged longitudinally; this is one example of a taxonomic
characteristic that has traditionally served to distinguish between
species. Generally considered inedible, Cyathus species are saprobic,
since they obtain nutrients from decomposing organic matter. They
usually grow on decaying wood or woody debris, on cow and horse dung,
or directly on humus-rich soil. The life cycle of this genus allows it
to reproduce both sexually, with meiosis, and asexually via spores.
Phylogenetic analysis is providing new insights into the evolutionary
relationships between the various species in Cyathus. (more...)
Recently featured: Battle of Rennell Island – Otto Julius Zobel –
Nebula Science Fiction
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyathus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1649:
English Civil War: King Charles I , who was defeated in both the First
and the Second Civil Wars, was beheaded for high treason in front of
the Banqueting House in London.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England>
1930:
Soviet meteorologist Pavel Molchanov launched one of the world's first
radiosondes, a device attached to weather balloons to measure various
atmospheric parameters.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/radiosonde>
1945:
World War II: Allied forces liberated over 500 prisoners of war from a
Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Cabanatuan>
1959:
On the return leg of her maiden voyage, the "unsinkable" Danish ocean
liner Hans Hedtoft struck an iceberg and sank with all hands lost.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Hans_Hedtoft>
2000:
Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Côte
d'Ivoire shortly after takeoff, killing 169 on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_Airways_Flight_431>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hungry ghost (n):
(Buddhism, Chinese folk religion) A type of being condemned to desire
more than it can consume
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hungry_ghost>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have marched in many a battle host, but I have also planted seeds and
reaped the harvest with my own hands. And I have learned there is
greater honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood.
--Lloyd Alexander
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander>
100px|USS Chicago low in the water on the morning of 30 January 1943,
from torpedo damage inflicted the night before
The Battle of Rennell Island took place on 29–30 January 1943, and
was the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and
the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal campaign of World
War II. The battle took place in the South Pacific between Rennell
Island and Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. In the battle,
Japanese naval land-based torpedo bombers, seeking to provide
protection for the impending evacuation of Japanese forces from
Guadalcanal, made several attacks over two days on United States'
warships operating as a task force south of Guadalcanal. In addition to
approaching Guadalcanal with the objective of engaging any Japanese
ships that might come into range, the U.S. task force was protecting an
Allied transport ship convoy that was carrying replacement troops to
Guadalcanal. As a result of the Japanese air attacks on the task force,
one U.S. heavy cruiser was sunk, a destroyer was heavily damaged, and
the rest of the U.S. task force was forced to retreat from the southern
Solomons area. Partly because of their success in turning back the U.S.
task force in this battle, the Japanese were successful in evacuating
their remaining troops from Guadalcanal by 7 February 1943, leaving
Guadalcanal in the hands of the Allies and ending the battle for the
island. (more...)
Recently featured: Otto Julius Zobel – Nebula Science Fiction –
Australian Cattle Dog
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1845:
American poet Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" appeared in the New York
Evening Mirror, the first publication attributed to Poe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven>
1886:
German engine designer and engineer Karl Benz filed a patent for the
Motorwagen, the first purpose-built, gasoline-driven automobile.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Benz>
1944:
World War II: At least 38 people were killed and about a dozen injured
when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania)
was attacked by Soviet partisan units.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koniuchy_massacre>
1967:
The Mantra-Rock Dance, called the "ultimate high" of the hippie era,
took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami Bhaktivedanta, Janis
Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance>
2009:
The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt ruled that people who did not
adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions are also
eligible to receive government identity documents.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_identification_card_controversy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
expedite (v):
1. (transitive) To accelerate the progress of.
2. (transitive) To perform (a task) fast and efficiently
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/expedite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is to change
his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth or any
principle so irresistibly obvious that all men believed it at once.
Time and reason must cooperate with each other to the final
establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to
be first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom
conviction operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is
to instruct, not to destroy.
--Thomas Paine
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine>
Otto Julius Zobel (1887–1970) was a design engineer who worked for the
American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in the early part of the
20th century. Zobel's work on filter design was revolutionary and led,
in conjunction with the work of John R. Carson, to significant
commercial advances for AT&T in the field of frequency division
multiplex (FDM) telephone transmissions. Although much of Zobel's work
has been superseded by more modern filter designs, it remains the basis
of filter theory and his papers are still referenced today. Zobel
invented the m-derived filter and the constant-resistance filter, which
remains in use. Zobel and Carson helped to establish the nature of
noise in electric circuits, concluding that—contrary to mainstream
belief—it is not even theoretically possible to filter out noise
entirely and that noise will always be a limiting factor in what it is
possible to transmit. Thus, they anticipated the later work of Claude
Shannon, who showed how the theoretical information rate of a channel
is related to the noise of the channel. (more...)
Recently featured: Nebula Science Fiction – Australian Cattle Dog –
Warkworth Castle
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Julius_Zobel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
98:
Trajan, namesake of a forum, a market and a column in Rome, succeeded
his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan>
1813:
The novel Pride and Prejudice by English author Jane Austen was
published, using material from an unpublished manuscript that she
originally wrote between 1796 and 1797.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice>
1933:
Choudhry Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet entitled "Now or Never" in
which he called for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India
that he termed "Pakstan".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choudhry_Rahmat_Ali>
1964:
An unarmed US Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission was shot
down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19, killing all three
aboard.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_T-39_shootdown_incident>
1984:
Tropical Storm Domoina made landfall in southern Mozambique, causing
some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Domoina>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stoically (adv):
1. In a manner that endures pain and hardship without outwardly showing
suffering or expressing complaint.
2. In an unfeeling manner that inwardly is unaffected by pain or
distress
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stoically>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Perhaps the only misplaced curiosity is that which persists in trying
to find out here, on this side of death, what lies beyond the grave.
--Colette
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Colette>
Nebula Science Fiction was the first Scottish science fiction magazine.
It was published from 1952 to 1959, and was edited by Peter Hamilton, a
young Scot who was able to take advantage of spare capacity at his
parents' printing company, Crownpoint, to launch the magazine. Nebula's
circulation was international, with only a quarter of the sales in the
United Kingdom: this led to disaster when both South Africa and
Australia imposed import controls on foreign periodicals at the end of
the 1950s. Excise duties imposed in the UK added to Hamilton's
financial burdens, and he was rapidly forced to close the magazine
down. The last issue was dated June 1959. The magazine was popular with
writers, partly because Hamilton went to great lengths to encourage new
writers, and partly because he paid better rates per word than much of
his competition. Initially he could not compete with the American
market, but he offered a bonus for the most popular story in the issue,
and eventually was able to match the leading American magazines. He
published the first stories of several well-known writers, including
Robert Silverberg, Brian Aldiss, and Bob Shaw. Nebula was also a fan
favourite: author Ken Bulmer recalls that it became "what many fans
regard as the best-loved British SF magazine". (more...)
Recently featured: Australian Cattle Dog – Warkworth Castle –
Thurisind
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Science_Fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
447:
An earthquake destroyed large sections of the Walls of Constantinople .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople>
1868:
Boshin War: The Battle of Toba-Fushimi, where pro-Imperial forces
defeated those of the Tokugawa shogunate and which was a catalyst for
the Meiji Restoration, began in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Toba-Fushimi>
1888:
Two weeks after a group of over thirty explorers and scientists met in
Washington, D.C., to organize "a society for the increase and diffusion
of geographical knowledge," the National Geographic Society, publisher
of the National Geographic Magazine, was incorporated.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society>
1980:
With the assistance of Canadian government officials, six American
diplomats who had avoided capture in the Iran hostage crisis escaped to
Zurich, Switzerland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Caper>
2002:
An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, killed
at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_Armoury_Explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dubitation (n):
1. The process of doubting or the state of being in doubt; hesitation,
uncertainty.
2. A pang or expression of doubt
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dubitation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I suppose every child has a world of his own — and every man, too, for
the matter of that. I wonder if that's the cause for all the
misunderstanding there is in Life?
--Lewis Carroll
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll>
100px|A blue Australian Cattle Dog with black mask
The Australian Cattle Dog is a breed of herding dog originally
developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across
rough terrain. Crossbred in the 19th century from Australian dingoes
and dogs from Northumberland, the Australian Cattle Dog is a
medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two main colour forms:
with either brown or black hair distributed through a white coat,
termed a "red" or a "blue" dog. It has been nicknamed a "Red Heeler" or
"Blue Heeler" on the basis of this colouring and its practice of moving
reluctant cattle by nipping at their heels. As with dogs from other
working breeds, the Australian Cattle Dog has a high level of energy, a
quick intelligence, and an independent streak. A robust breed, it has a
lifespan of 12 to 14 years. It responds well to structured training and
forms a strong attachment with its owners. Australian Cattle Dogs now
participate in a range of activities beyond the herding they were bred
to do, including competing with their owners in dog sporting events and
working as assistance dogs. (more...)
Recently featured: Warkworth Castle – Thurisind – American Livestock
Breeds Conservancy
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Cattle_Dog>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Commodore Sir James Bremer raised the Union Jack at Possession Point
and formally claimed Hong Kong as a colony for the British Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hong_Kong_%281800s%E2%80%931930s%29>
1907:
The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III, the second oldest military rifle
still in official use, was introduced into British military service.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield>
1950:
Indian independence movement: India officially became a republic under
a new constitution, with Rajendra Prasad as its first president.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajendra_Prasad>
1998:
In a nationally televised press conference, US President Bill Clinton
denied having "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal>
2009:
Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political
crisis that led to deposing of President Marc Ravalomanana.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Malagasy_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
heterogeneous (adj):
Diverse in kind or nature; composed of diverse parts
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heterogeneous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Yes, we hope to seed a new, rich earth.
We hope to breed a race of men whose power
Dwells in hearts as open
as all Space
Itself, who ask for nothing but the light
That rinses the heart of
hate so that the stars
Above will be below when man has Love.
--Philip José Farmer
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Jos%C3%A9_Farmer>
100px|Warkworth Castle, 2007
Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval building in the town of the
same name in the English county of Northumberland. When the castle was
founded is uncertain, but traditionally it has been ascribed to Prince
Henry of Scotland in the mid 12th century, although it may have been
built by King Henry II of England when he took control of England's
northern counties. Warkworth Castle was first documented in a charter
of 1157–1164 when Henry II granted it to Roger fitz Richard. The timber
castle was considered "feeble", and was left undefended when the Scots
invaded in 1173. Roger's son Robert inherited and improved the castle.
With the outbreak of the Anglo-Scottish Wars, Edward II invested in
castles including Warkworth where he funded the strengthening of the
garrison in 1319. Twice in 1327 the Scots besieged the castle without
success. In the late 19th century, the dukes refurbished Warkworth
Castle and Anthony Salvin was commissioned to restore the keep. Alan
Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland, gave custody of the castle to the
Office of Works in 1922. Since 1984 English Heritage has cared for the
site which is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient
Monument. (more...)
Recently featured: Thurisind – American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
– James Nesbitt
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1554:
Jesuit missionaries José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbrega established
a mission at São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, which grew to become
São Paulo, Brazil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo>
1890:
Inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, American
journalist Nellie Bly completed a circumnavigation of the globe in a
then-record 72 days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly>
1971:
Idi Amin Dada seized power in a military coup d'état from President
Milton Obote, beginning eight years of military rule in Uganda.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin>
1993:
Five people were shot outside the Central Intelligence Agency
headquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two deaths.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_shootings_at_CIA_Headquarters>
2011:
The first wave of the Egyptian revolution began , eventually leading to
the removal of Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years of rule.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2011_Egyptian_revolution_under…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quacksalver (n):
One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one
who dispenses potions, ointments, etc. supposedly having curative
powers
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quacksalver>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but
still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is
scarcely perceptible; Shakespeare's plays, for instance, seem to hang
there complete by themselves. But when the web is pulled askew, hooked
up at the edge, torn in the middle, one remembers that these webs are
not spun in midair by incorporeal creatures, but are the work of
suffering human beings, and are attached to the grossly material
things, like health and money and the houses we live in.
--Virginia Woolf
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf_>
Thurisind was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from
c. 548 to 560. He was the penultimate Gepid king, and succeeded King
Elemund by staging a coup d'état and forcing the king's son into exile.
Thurisind's kingdom, known as Gepidia, was located in Central Europe
and had its centre in Sirmium, a former Roman city on the Danube River.
His reign was marked by multiple wars with the Lombards, a Germanic
people who had arrived in the former Roman province of Pannonia under
the leadership of their king, Audoin. Thurisind also had to face the
hostility of the Byzantine Empire, which was resentful of the Gepid
takeover of Sirmium and anxious to diminish Gepid power in the
Pannonian Basin, a plain covering most of modern Hungary and partly
including the bordering states. The Byzantines' plans to reduce the
Gepids' power took effect when Audoin decisively defeated Thurisind in
551 or 552. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian forced a peace accord on
both leaders so that equilibrium in the Pannonian Basin could be
sustained. Thurisind lost his eldest son, Turismod, in the Battle of
Asfeld, where the prince was killed by Alboin, son of Audoin. In about
560, Thurisind died and was succeeded by his remaining son Cunimund,
who was killed by Alboin in 567. Cunimund's death marked the end of the
Gepid Kingdom and the beginning of the conquest of their territories by
the Lombards' allies, the Avars, a nomadic people migrating from the
Eurasian Steppe. (more...)
Recently featured: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy – James
Nesbitt – Variegated Fairywren
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurisind>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma,
California, leading to the California Gold Rush.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush>
1900:
Second Boer War: Boer forces stopped a British attempt to break the
Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop>
1961:
A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear weapons broke
up in mid-air near Goldsboro, North Carolina; one bomb was recovered
intact, the other disintegrated.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash>
1972:
Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was found hiding in a Guam jungle, where
he had been since the end of World War II.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi>
1993:
Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu was assassinated by a car bomb
outside his home in Ankara.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C4%9Fur_Mumcu>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
baby fat (n):
1. The natural fat on the body of a child or young animal that normally
disappears at adolescence.
2. The bodyfat gained by a woman during pregnancy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baby_fat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Defer not till tomorrow to be wise,
Tomorrow's sun to thee may never rise.
--William Congreve
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Congreve>
100px|James Nesbitt in July 2008
James Nesbitt (born 1965) is a Northern Irish actor. Nesbitt got his
breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in the romantic
comedy-drama Cold Feet (1998–2003), which won him a British Comedy
Award, a Television and Radio Industries Club Award, and a National
Television Award. His first significant film role came when he appeared
as pig farmer "Pig" Finn in Waking Ned (1998). With the rest of the
starring cast, Nesbitt was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In Lucky Break (2001), he made his debut as a film lead playing
prisoner Jimmy Hands. The next year, he played Ivan Cooper in the
television film Bloody Sunday, about the 1972 shootings in Derry.
Nesbitt has also starred in Murphy's Law (2001–2007) as undercover
detective Tommy Murphy, in a role that was created for him by writer
Colin Bateman. Nesbitt has since appeared in several more dramatic
roles; he starred alongside Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven
(2009), and was one of three lead actors in the television miniseries
Occupation (2009) and The Deep (2010). He also starred in the movies
Outcast (2010) and Emilio Estevez's The Way (2011), and has been cast
in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (2012/13). (more...)
Recently featured: Variegated Fairywren – Henry Cornelius Burnett –
Nick Drake
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nesbitt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
565:
Justinian the Great deposed Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople,
after he refused the Byzantine Emperor's order to adopt the tenets of
the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of Monophysites.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_Eutychius_of_Constantinople>
1689:
The Convention Parliament convened to justify the overthrow of James
II, the last Roman Catholic king of England, who had vacated the throne
when he fled to France in 1688.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_Parliament_%281689%29>
1944:
World War II: The Allies commenced Operation Shingle, an amphibious
landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shingle>
1946:
Iran Crisis: The Republic of Mahabad declared its independence, seeking
autonomy for the Kurds within Iran.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Mahabad>
1987:
After being convicted of receiving bribes, Pennsylvania Treasurer R.
Budd Dwyer committed suicide during a televised press conference.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xenodochium (n):
A room (or separate guesthouse) in a monastery for the temporary
accommodation of guests or pilgrims
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xenodochium>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in
passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon.
--Francis Bacon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>
100px|Bird, Variegated Fairy-wren, Malurus lamberti
The Variegated Fairywren is a fairywren that lives in diverse
habitats spread across most of Australia. Four subspecies are
recognised. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the brightly
coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and blue crown and ear
coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have
predominantly grey-brown plumage. Notably, females of the two
subspecies rogersi and dulcis have mainly blue-grey plumage. Like other
fairywrens, the Variegated Fairywren is a cooperative breeding species,
with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories
year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several
helper birds who assist in raising the young. Male wrens pluck yellow
petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display.
These birds are primarily insectivorous and forage and live in the
shelter of scrubby vegetation across 90% of continental Australia,
which is a wider range than that of any other fairywren. (more...)
Recently featured: Henry Cornelius Burnett – Nick Drake – Mauna
Kea
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegated_Fairywren>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be
the first American novel, was published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1931:
Sir Isaac Isaacs became the first Australian-born Governor-General of
Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs>
1941:
Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania, the
day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and
pogrom, killing 125 Jews.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_rebellion_and_Bucharest_pogrom>
1968:
Vietnam War: The Vietnam People's Army attacked Khe Sanh Combat Base, a
U.S. Marines outpost in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, starting the
Battle of Khe Sanh.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh>
2008:
The Eyak language in Alaska became extinct after Marie Smith Jones, the
language's last native speaker, died, an event that became a symbol in
the fight against language extinction.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyak_language>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bacchanal (adj):
1. Relating to Bacchus or his festival.
2. Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bacchanal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The gods of the valley are not the gods of the hills, and you shall
understand it.
--Ethan Allen
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>