A virus is a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of living
hosts. When infected, a host cell is forced to produce many thousands of
identical copies of the original virus, at an extraordinary rate. Unlike
most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide; new viruses
are assembled in the infected host cell. Over 2,000 species of viruses
have been discovered. A virus consists of two or three parts: genes,
made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry the genetic
information; a protein coat that protects the genes; and in some, an
envelope of fat that surrounds and protects them when they are not
contained within a host cell. Viruses vary in shape from the simple
helical and icosahedral to more complex structures. They spread in many
different ways. Whereas viruses such as influenza are spread through the
air by people when they cough or sneeze, others such as norovirus, which
are transmitted by the faecal-oral route, contaminate hands, food and
water. Rotavirus is often spread by direct contact with infected
children. The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, is one of several major
viruses that are transmitted during sex. Viral infections often cause
disease in humans and animals; however, they are usually eliminated by
the immune system, conferring lifetime immunity to the host for that
virus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_viruses>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (modern city of Saint-
Pierre pictured) were discovered by Portuguese explorer João Álvares
Fagundes near Canada, who named them "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon>
1854:
Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to
Turkey to help treat wounded British soldiers fighting in the Crimean
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale>
1867:
The first of the Medicine Lodge Treaties was signed between the
United States and several Native American tribes in the Great Plains,
requiring them to relocate to areas in present-day western Oklahoma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Lodge_Treaty>
1950:
Korean War: British and Australian troops of the 27th British
Commonwealth Brigade engaged in heavy fighting with North Korean forces
in the Battle of Yongju.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yongju>
1987:
Sri Lankan Civil War: Indian Army soldiers, belonging to the
Indian Peace Keeping Force, entered the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in
Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and began killing about 68–70 patients, nurses,
doctors and other staff members.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_hospital_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gleek:
1. (archaic) To jest, ridicule, or mock; to make sport of.
2. (informal) To discharge a thin stream of liquid through the teeth or
from under the tongue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gleek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake
of loving is angelic.
--Alphonse de Lamartine
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alphonse_de_Lamartine>
Andjar Asmara (1902–1961) was a dramatist and filmmaker active in the
cinema of the Dutch East Indies. Born in West Sumatra, he first found
employment as a reporter in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) before becoming
a writer for the Padangsche Opera in Padang. In Padang he developed a
new, dialogue-centric style which later spread throughout the region.
After returning to Batavia in 1929 he spent several years as a theatre
and film critic before joining the Dardanella touring troupe. He left
Dardanella in 1936 to establish his own troupe and subsequently worked
at a publisher, writing serials based on successful films. In 1940 he
was asked to join The Teng Chun's company, Java Industrial Film, helping
with marketing and working as a director for two productions. Andjar
directed three films in the late 1940s and wrote four screenplays before
spending the remainder of his life writing serials based on local films
and publishing film criticism. Historians recognise him as a pioneer of
theatre and one of the first native Indonesian film directors.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andjar_Asmara>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1572:
Eighty Years' War: Soldiers of the Spanish Tercios waded across
the river Scheldt at its mouth, walking overnight in water to chest
height, to relieve the siege of Goes in the Spanish Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_of_Goes>
1917:
The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet,
in charge of preparing for and carrying out the Russian Revolution, held
its first meeting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Revolutionary_Committee>
1951:
African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the
victim of an on-field assault that eventually provoked changes in NCAA
football rules and mandated the use of more protective helmets with face
guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Bright_Incident>
1961:
The Soviet Union performed the first armed test of a submarine-
launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 (monument pictured) from a
Golf class submarine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine-launched_ballistic_missile>
1967:
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified
subject at Six Rivers National Forest in California who they claimed was
a Bigfoot.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unciform:
Of the shape of a hook; hook-shaped.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unciform>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the
distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its
members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability. Otherwise,
they will be overwhelmed by the changes in which they are caught and
whose significance or connections they do not perceive.
--John Dewey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dewey>
United States v. Wong Kim Ark is an 1898 United States Supreme Court
case in which the Court held that virtually everyone born in the United
States is a U.S. citizen. This decision established an important
precedent in its interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution. Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco
to Chinese parents around 1871, had been denied re-entry to the U.S.
after a trip abroad, under a law restricting Chinese immigration. He
challenged the government's refusal to recognize his citizenship, and
the Supreme Court ruled that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment encompassed essentially everyone born in the U.S.—even
children of foreigners. Attempts have been made in Congress to restrict
birthright citizenship, either via statutory redefinition of the term
jurisdiction or by overriding both the Wong Kim Ark ruling and the
Citizenship Clause itself through an amendment to the Constitution, but
no such proposal has been enacted.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Wong_Kim_Ark>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
202 BC:
Proconsul Scipio of the Roman Republic defeated Hannibal and
the Carthaginians in the Battle of Zama, concluding the Second Punic
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama>
1864:
American Civil War: Despite incurring nearly twice as many
casualties as the Confederates, the Union Army emerged victorious in the
Battle of Cedar Creek.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Creek>
1900:
German physicist Max Planck produced his law of black body
emission, a pioneer result of modern physics and quantum theory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_law>
1943:
Streptomycin (pictured), the first antibiotic remedy for
tuberculosis, was first isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptomycin>
1987:
Iran–Iraq War: United States Navy forces destroyed two
Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf in response to an Iranian
missile attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nimble_Archer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
insensate:
1. Having no sensation or consciousness; unconscious; inanimate.
2. Senseless; foolish; irrational.
3. Unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive.
4. (medicine, physiology) Not responsive to sensory stimuli.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insensate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man is a Noble Animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the Grave.
Solemnizing Nativities and Deaths with equal lustre. Nor ommiting
Ceremonies of Bravery in the infamy of his nature. Life is a pure flame
and we live by an invisible Sun within us. NewPP limit report
Preprocessor visited node count: 14/1000000 Preprocessor generated node
count: 64/1500000 Post-expand include size: 871/2048000 bytes Template
argument size: 350/2048000 bytes Highest expansion depth: 4/40 Expensive
parser function count: 1/500
--Thomas Browne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne>
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744) was one of the
most influential women in British history due to her close friendship
with Queen Anne of Great Britain. By the time Anne became queen in 1702,
Sarah had become a powerful friend and a dangerous enemy, the last in
the long line of Stuart favourites. A strong-willed woman who liked to
get her own way, Sarah tried the Queen's patience whenever she disagreed
with her on political, court or church appointments. Sarah enjoyed an
unusually close relationship with her husband, John Churchill, 1st Duke
of Marlborough, whom she married in 1677. When Anne came to the throne,
the Duke of Marlborough, together with Sidney Godolphin, rose to head
the government, partly due to his wife's friendship with the queen.
Sarah campaigned on behalf of the British Whig Party, while also
devoting time to building projects such as the construction of Blenheim
Palace. The money she inherited from the Marlborough trust made her one
of the richest women in Europe.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Churchill,_Duchess_of_Marlborough>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
320:
Pappus of Alexandria, one of the last great Greek mathematicians
of antiquity, observed an eclipse that allowed historians to calculate
the approximate dates of his life.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappus_of_Alexandria>
1081:
Byzantine–Norman wars: The Normans under Robert Guiscard,
Duke of Apulia and Calabria, defeated the Byzantines outside the city of
Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital of Illyria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dyrrhachium_(1081)>
1386:
A special Pontifical High Mass in the Church of the Holy Spirit
commemorated the opening of Heidelberg University.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_University>
1954:
The first commercial transistor radio, the Regency TR-1
(pictured), was introduced in Indianapolis, Indiana, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regency_TR-1>
2007:
A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Prime Minister
of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto in Karachi caused at least 139 deaths and 450
injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Karachi_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stipulate:
(botany; not comparable) Having stipules; that is, having outgrowths
borne on either side of the base of the leafstalk.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stipulate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Not one man in five cycles, who is wise, will expect appreciative
recognition from his fellows, or any one of them. Appreciation!
Recognition! Is Jove appreciated? Why, ever since Adam, who has got to
the meaning of his great allegory — the world? Then we pigmies must be
content to have our paper allegories but ill comprehended. in
--Moby-Dick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick>
The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin struck by the United States Mint
from 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman, it gained its common name
as the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged
Phrygian cap, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. The coin's
reverse depicts a fasces, symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive
branch, signifying peace. By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar
designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber had been struck for
25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury, of which the Mint is a
part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the
misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a
competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his
position for 36 years, also took part. Weinman's designs for the dime
and half dollar were selected. Although the new coin's design was
admired for its beauty, the Mint made modifications to it upon learning
that vending machine manufacturers were having difficulties making the
new dime work in their devices. The coin continued to be minted until
1945, when the Treasury ordered that a new design, featuring recently
deceased president Franklin Roosevelt, take its place.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_dime>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1931:
American gangster Al Capone was convicted on five counts of
income tax evasion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone>
1943:
The Holocaust: Three days after a successful revolt by inmates,
Sobibor extermination camp in eastern Poland was closed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobibor_extermination_camp>
1956:
Queen Elizabeth II opened the world's first commercial nuclear
power plant at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield#Calder_Hall_nuclear_power_station>
1964:
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opened the
artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Burley_Griffin>
1989:
The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake struck California's San
Francisco Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring 3,757, and leaving at
least 8,000 homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sine qua non:
An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sine_qua_non>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
By whatever means it is accomplished, the prime business of a play is to
arouse the passions of its audience so that by the route of passion may
be opened up new relationships between a man and men, and between men
and Man. Drama is akin to the other inventions of man in that it ought
to help us to know more, and not merely to spend our feelings.
--Arthur Miller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller>
The Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck that breeds in the
northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is migratory and
winters south of its breeding range to the equator. Unusual for a bird
with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the
possibly con-specific Eaton's Pintail is considered to be a separate
species. It is a fairly large duck, with a long pointed tail that gives
rise to the species' English and scientific names. The Northern
Pintail's many names describe the male's two long black tail feathers,
which in flight look like a single pin or twig. Hens make a coarse quack
and the drakes a flute-like whistle. The Northern Pintail is a bird of
open wetlands which nests on the ground, often some distance from water.
It feeds by dabbling for plant food and adds small invertebrates to its
diet during the nesting season. When not breeding, it is highly
gregarious, forming large mixed flocks with other species of duck.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pintail>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
The Church of Scotland established Queen's College in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_University>
1859:
Hoping to start an armed slave revolt, American abolitionist
John Brown led a raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory in Harpers Ferry, West
Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry>
1940:
World War II: Nazi Governor-General Hans Frank established the
Warsaw Ghetto, the largest Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto>
1978:
Karol Józef Wojtyła, a cardinal from Kraków, Poland, became
Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century
and the first ever from a Slavic country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II>
1996:
At least 83 people were killed and more than 140 injured when
an excessive number of fans attempted to squeeze into Guatemala City's
Estadio Mateo Flores to see the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match
between Guatemala and Costa Rica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estadio_Mateo_Flores>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sparge:
1. To sprinkle or spray
2. To introduce bubbles into a liquid.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sparge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft
falling.
--Hugh Latimer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hugh_Latimer>
SMS Friedrich der Grosse was the second vessel of the Kaiser class of
battleships of the German Imperial Navy. She was commissioned into the
fleet on 15 October 1912. Assigned to the III Squadron of the High Seas
Fleet for the majority of World War I, she served as fleet flagship
from her commissioning until 1917. The ship participated in all the
major fleet operations of World War I, including the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, from which she emerged unscathed. After
Germany's defeat and the signing of the armistice in November 1918,
Friedrich der Grosse and most of the capital ships of the High Seas
Fleet were interned by the British Royal Navy in Scapa Flow. On 21 June
1919, days before the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Rear Admiral
Ludwig von Reuter ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the
British could not seize the ships. Friedrich der Grosse was raised in
1936 and broken up for scrap metal.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Friedrich_der_Grosse_(1911)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1582:
Spain, Portugal, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and most
of the Italian states became the first countries to replace the Julian
calendar with the Gregorian calendar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar>
1764:
English historian Edward Gibbon observed friars singing Vespers
at Capitoline Hill in Rome, inspiring him to write The History of the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon>
1932:
Air India, the flag carrier airline of India, began operations
as Tata Airlines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India>
1945:
Pierre Laval, twice head of government of Vichy France, was
executed for high treason.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Laval>
1965:
Vietnam War protests: The Catholic Worker Movement staged an
anti-war rally in Manhattan, including the burning of draft cards, the
first such act to result in arrest under a new amendment to the
Selective Service Act.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft-card_burning>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
allomother:
A human or other animal that provides some maternal care for the young
born by another.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/allomother>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are no facts, only interpretations.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche>
The Southern Cross Expedition, officially known as the British Antarctic
Expedition 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age
of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated
journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. The brainchild of
the Norwegian-born, half-British explorer and schoolmaster Carsten
Borchgrevink, it was the first expedition to over-winter on the
Antarctic mainland, the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier since James
Clark Ross in 1839–43, and the first to successfully land on the
Barrier's surface. It also pioneered the use of dogs and sledges in
Antarctic travel. The expedition was privately financed by the British
magazine publisher Sir George Newnes. Taken south in the ship Southern
Cross in August 1898, Borchgrevink's party spent the winter of 1899 at
Cape Adare, the north-west extremity of the Ross Sea.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
War of the Third Coalition: French forces under Marshal Michel
Ney defeated Austrian forces in Elchingen, present-day Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elchingen>
1938:
One of the most-produced American fighter aircraft, the Curtiss
P-40 Warhawk (pictured), made its first flight in Buffalo, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-40_Warhawk>
1940:
Second World War: During the Blitz, a 1,400 kg (3,100 lb)
semi-armour piercing fragmentation bomb fell on the road above Balham
station, which was being used as an air-raid shelter, killing at least
64 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balham_station>
1969:
The British fifty pence coin was introduced to replace the ten
shilling note, but its size initially caused people to mistake it for
both the old half crown and the new ten pence piece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_pence_(British_coin)>
1981:
Hosni Mubarak was elected President of Egypt, one week after
Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
iatrogenic:
(of a medical condition) Induced by the words or actions of the
physician.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iatrogenic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
seeming's enough for slaves of space and time — ours is the now and
here of freedom. Come
--E. E. Cummings
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings>
Bernard Bosanquet (1877–1936) was an English cricketer best known for
inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. He
played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and
appeared in seven Test matches for England as an all-rounder. While
playing a tabletop game, Bosanquet devised a new technique for
delivering a ball, later named the "googly", which he practised while
attending Oriel College, Oxford. He first used it in cricket matches
around 1900, but it was not until 1903, when he had a successful season
as a bowler, that his new delivery began to attract attention. He was
selected in 1903–04 to tour Australia with England and made his Test
debut. Although his batting was unsuccessful, he performed well as a
bowler and troubled all the opposing batsmen. His career with the ball
peaked when he bowled England to victory in the first Test against
Australia in 1905, but he remained an inconsistent performer. In
subsequent years, he bowled infrequently and played little first-class
cricket.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Bosanquet_(cricketer)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
War of 1812: British troops and Mohawk warriors repelled an
American invasion from across the Niagara River at the Battle of
Queenston Heights near Queenston, Ontario.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Queenston_Heights>
1881:
Determined to bring about the revival of Hebrew as a spoken
language as a way of unifying Jews, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda had what is
believed to be the first modern conversation in Hebrew while living in
Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revival_of_the_Hebrew_language>
1911:
Prince Arthur, a son of Queen Victoria, became the only
Governor General of Canada of royal descent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Arthur,_Duke_of_Connaught_and_Strathea…>
1921:
The Soviet republics of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Georgia signed the Treaty of Kars with the Grand National Assembly of
Turkey to establish the contemporary borders between Turkey and the
South Caucasus states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kars>
1958:
The first book featuring the English children's literature
character Paddington Bear "from darkest Peru" was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington_Bear>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
purple prose:
Extravagant or flowery writing, especially in a literary work.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/purple_prose>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I write from instinct, from inexplicable sparkle. I don't know why I'm
writing what I'm writing. Usually, I sit and I let my hands wander on my
guitar. And I sing anything. I play anything. And I wait till I come
across a pleasing accident. Then I start to develop it. Once you take a
piece of musical information, there are certain implications that it
automatically contains — the implication of that phrase elongated,
contracted, or inverted or in another time signature. So you start with
an impulse and go to what your ear likes.
--Paul Simon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Simon>
Ruth Norman (1900–1993) was an American religious leader who co-
founded the Unarius Academy of Science with her husband Ernest Norman.
The couple discussed numerous details about their past lives and
spiritual visits to other planets, forming a mythology from these
accounts. Ernest died in 1971, prompting Ruth to serve as their group's
leader and primary channeler. In early 1974, she predicted that a space
fleet of benevolent extraterrestrials, the Space Brothers, would land on
Earth later that year. After the extraterrestrials' non-appearance,
Norman stated that trauma she had suffered in a past life had caused her
to make an inaccurate prediction. Undaunted, she rented a building for
Unarius' meetings and sought publicity for the movement, claiming to
have united the Earth with an interplanetary confederation. She revised
the Space Brothers' expected landing date several times, before finally
settling on 2001. Despite predicting that she would live to see the
extraterrestrials land, Norman died in 1993. Unarius continued to
operate and celebrate her leadership after her death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Norman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse became the first woman to make a
parachute jump (artwork pictured), when she descended 900 m (3,000 ft)
from a hot-air balloon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Genevi%C3%A8ve_Labrosse>
1892:
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States was first used in
public schools to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance>
1960:
Japan Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma was assassinated
on live television by a man using a samurai sword.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inejiro_Asanuma>
1984:
The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the
Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, in a failed attempt to assassinate
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and most of her cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_hotel_bombing>
1992:
A 5.8 MB earthquake struck south of Cairo, Egypt, killing 545
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Cairo_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jawan:
(India) An (Indian) infantryman; a soldier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jawan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The true Christian is not obliged to renounce the things of this world
or to lessen his natural abilities. On the contrary, inasmuch as he
incorporates them into his normal life in a disciplined manner, he
develops and perfects them; he thereby ennobles the natural life itself,
supplying efficacious values to it not only of the spiritual and eternal
world but also of the material and earthly world.
--Edith Stein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Stein>