HMS New Zealand was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers
built for the defence of the British Empire. The ship was funded by the
government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned
into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China
Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request
of the Admiralty for service in British waters. After a tour of the
British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation,
she was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and
operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the
German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated
in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger
Bank, and Jutland. New Zealand contributed to the destruction of two
cruisers during her wartime service, but was hit by enemy fire only once
and sustained no casualties; her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed
by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and tiki (pendant) worn
by the ship's captain during battle. After the war, New Zealand was
broken up for scrap in 1922 in compliance with Britain's tonnage limit
in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_New_Zealand_(1911)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in
Poland, was established as Congress Poland found itself a territory
without a university.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw>
1942:
World War II: Soviet troops launched Operation Uranus at the
Battle of Stalingrad, with the goal of encircling Axis forces, turning
the tide of the battle in the Soviet Union's favour.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus>
1969:
Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazilian footballer Pelé scored his 1000th goal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9>
1985:
Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President
Ronald Reagan held the first of five summit meetings between them in
Geneva.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Summit_(1985)>
2010:
The first of four explosions took place at the Pike River Mine
in the West Coast Region of New Zealand in the nation's worst mining
disaster in nearly a century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pace:
The collective noun for donkeys.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pace>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Arrogance is a killer, and wearing ambition on one's sleeve can have the
same effect. There is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence.
Legitimate self-confidence is a winner. The true test of self-confidence
is the courage to be open — to welcome change and new ideas regardless
of their source. Self-confident people aren't afraid to have their views
challenged. They relish the intellectual combat that enriches ideas.
--Jack Welch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Welch>
Luke P. Blackburn (1816–1887) was a physician, philanthropist and
politician from Kentucky. Early in his career, he gained national fame
for effecting the first successful quarantine against yellow fever in
the Mississippi River valley and was regarded as an expert on the
disease. During the Civil War, he aided Confederate blockade runners in
Canada and traveled to Bermuda to combat a yellow fever outbreak
threatening Confederate blockade-running operations. A Confederate
double agent accused him of collecting linens and garments used by the
yellow fever patients and smuggling them into the North to start a
yellow fever epidemic to hamper the Union war effort. (It was not yet
known that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos.) He was acquitted, and
historians disagree regarding the evidence against him. In 1868,
Blackburn returned to the U.S. and rehabilitated his public image by
rendering aid in yellow fever outbreaks in Tennessee, Florida, and
Kentucky, propelling him to the governorship of Kentucky in 1879. His
signature accomplishments were in penal reform, and he is known as "the
father of prison reform in Kentucky".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_P._Blackburn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
Napoleonic Wars: During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Marshal
Michel Ney's leadership in the Battle of Krasnoi earned him the nickname
"the bravest of the brave" despite the overwhelming French defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Krasnoi>
1865:
American author Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County", his first great success as a writer, was
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celebrated_Jumping_Frog_of_Calaveras_Coun…>
1872:
American suffragette Susan B. Anthony was arrested and fined
$100 for having voted in the U.S. presidential election in Rochester,
New York, two weeks prior.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony>
1987:
In London, an underground fire killed 31 people at King's Cross
St Pancras.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Cross_fire>
1991:
Croatian War of Independence: Yugoslav People's Army forces
captured the Croatian city of Vukovar, ending an 87-day siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vukovar>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
coherent:
1. Unified; sticking together; making up a whole.
2. Orderly, logical and consistent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coherent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A love thought: I love you so much that I could wish I had been born
your brother, or had brought you into the world myself.
--Cesare Pavese
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cesare_Pavese>
Metroid Prime is a video game developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo
for the Nintendo GameCube, released in North America in 2002 and in
Japan and Europe the following year. It is the first 3D game in the
Metroid series, the fifth main installment, and is classified by
Nintendo as a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter,
due to the large exploration component of the game and its precedence
over combat. Like previous games in the series, Metroid Prime has a
science fiction setting, in which players control the bounty hunter
Samus Aran. The story follows Samus as she battles the Space Pirates and
their biological experiments on the planet Tallon IV. The game was a
collaborative effort between Retro's staff in Austin, Texas, and
Japanese Nintendo employees, including producer Shigeru Miyamoto, who
was the one who suggested the project after visiting Retro's
headquarters in 2000. Despite initial backlash from fans due to the
first-person perspective, the game was released to both universal
acclaim and commercial success, selling more than a million units in
North America alone.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Prime>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1558:
Elizabeth I became Queen of England and Ireland, marking the
beginning of the Elizabethan era.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England>
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: French forces defeated the Austrians
at the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole in a manoeuvre to cut the latter's
line of retreat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bridge_of_Arcole>
1855:
Explorer David Livingstone became the first European to see
Victoria Falls (pictured), one of the largest waterfalls in the world,
on what is now the Zambia–Zimbabwe border.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls>
1905:
Influenced by the result of the Russo-Japanese War, the Empire
of Japan and the Korean Empire signed the Eulsa Treaty, effectively
depriving Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Korea_Treaty_of_1905>
1968:
NBC controversially cut away from the American football game
between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets to broadcast Heidi,
denying viewers in the Eastern United States from seeing the game's
dramatic ending.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
maraud:
1. (intransitive) To move about in roving fashion looking for plunder.
2. (transitive) To raid and pillage
3. To act aggressively.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maraud>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Miss Goldman is a communist; I am an individualist. She wishes to
destroy the right of property, I wish to assert it. I make my war upon
privilege and authority, whereby the right of property, the true right
in that which is proper to the individual, is annihilated. She believes
that co-operation would entirely supplant competition; I hold that
competition in one form or another will always exist, and that it is
highly desirable it should. But whether she or I be right, or both of us
be wrong, of one thing I am sure; the spirit which animates Emma Goldman
is the only one which will emancipate the slave from his slavery, the
tyrant from his tyranny — the spirit which is willing to dare and
suffer.
--Voltairine de Cleyre
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltairine_de_Cleyre>
Hoodwinked! is a 2005 computer-animated film that retells the folktale
Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using flashbacks to
show multiple characters' points of view. It was directed and written by
Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech and was among the earliest
computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. Due to
its small budget, the animation was produced in the Philippines with a
less realistic design inspired by stop motion films. Its structure was
inspired by the Japanese film Rashomon and it is part of the fairy tale
parody genre. Released shortly after the first two installments in the
successful Shrek series, Hoodwinked! intentionally deviated from that
series in its style of humor and in certain plot elements. The Weinstein
Company signed on as the distributor near the end of production, and
while the company recast many roles, it otherwise made few changes.
Critical reception to the film was varied; although its script and cast
were praised by many reviews, its animation quality was heavily
criticized. It was a commercial success, earning over ten times its
budget. A sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, was released in 2011.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodwinked!>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1272:
While en route to Sicily during the Ninth Crusade, Edward I
became King of England, upon the death of his father Henry III, but did
not return to England for nearly two years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England>
1885:
After a five-day trial following the North-West Rebellion,
Louis Riel (pictured), Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father
of Manitoba", was executed by hanging for high treason.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel>
1938:
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized the psychedelic
drug LSD at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide>
1989:
Eight employees of Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón
Cañas" in San Salvador, including six Catholic priests, were murdered
by a Salvadoran Army "death squad".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murdered_scholars_of_UCA>
1992:
In Suffolk, England, an amateur metal detectorist found the
largest hoard of Roman gold, silver and bronze coins from the late
fourth and early fifth centuries ever discovered within the former Roman
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoxne_Hoard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
blobbily:
In a blobby manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blobbily>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Utopia is a meta-utopia: the environment in which Utopian experiments
may be tried out; the environment in which people are free to do their
own thing; the environment which must, to a great extent, be realized
first if more particular Utopian visions are to be realized stably.
--Robert Nozick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Nozick>
David Suzuki: The Autobiography is the 2006 autobiography of Canadian
science writer and broadcaster David Suzuki (pictured). The book focuses
mostly on his life since the 1987 publication of his first
autobiography, Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life. It begins with a
chronological account of his childhood, academic years, and broadcasting
career. In later chapters, Suzuki adopts a memoir style, writing about
themes such as his relationship with Australia, his experiences in
Brazil and Papua New Guinea, the founding of the David Suzuki
Foundation, and his thoughts on climate change, celebrity status,
technology, and death. Throughout, Suzuki highlights the continuing
impact of events from his childhood. Critics have called the book
candid, sincere, and charming, with insightful commentary if
occasionally flat stories. Suzuki's scientific background is reflected
in the writing's rational and analytic style. Suzuki's autobiography
spent four weeks atop the Maclean's list of non-fiction best-sellers and
six weeks at number 6 on the Globe and Mail's list. The book won two
awards in 2007: the Canadian Booksellers' Association's Libris Award for
Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the British Columbia Booksellers'
Choice Award.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Suzuki:_The_Autobiography>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1688:
Prince William of Orange landed at Brixham in Devon, on his way
to depose his father-in-law King James II, the last Catholic monarch of
England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution>
1864:
American Civil War: Union Army General William T. Sherman began
his "March to the Sea", inflicting significant damage to property and
infrastructure on his way from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman>
1968:
Vietnam War: American forces launched Operation Commando Hunt,
a large-scale bombing campaign to prevent the People's Army of (North)
Vietnam from transporting personnel and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh
trail.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Commando_Hunt>
1988:
The Soviet Buran spacecraft, a reusable vehicle built in
response to NASA's Space Shuttle program, was launched, unmanned, on her
first and only space flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)>
1988:
PLO leader Yasser Arafat proclaimed the creation of the State
of Palestine as "the state of Palestinians wherever they may be".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Declaration_of_Independence>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
batman:
(military) A servant or valet to an army officer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/batman>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely
because it comes late.
--Felix Frankfurter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Frankfurter>
Thomas Baker (1897–1918) was an Australian soldier, aviator and flying
ace of the First World War. He was employed as a clerk with the Bank of
New South Wales before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in
July 1915, for service in the First World War. Posted to an artillery
unit on the Western Front, he was awarded the Military Medal for
carrying out numerous repairs on a communications line while subject to
severe artillery fire. In June 1917, Baker was awarded a bar to his
decoration, for his part in quelling a fire in one of the artillery gun
pits that was endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high
explosive. In September 1917, Baker applied for a position as a mechanic
in the Australian Flying Corps. He was instead selected for flight
training, and was posted to courses in the United Kingdom. He graduated
as a pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant in March 1918.
Posted for active duty in France that June, Baker joined the ranks of
No. 4 Squadron AFC. Over the next four months, he rose to the rank of
captain and was credited with bringing down twelve German aircraft. He
was shot down and killed on 4 November 1918. In February 1919, he was
posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Baker_(aviator)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
Second World War: After suffering torpedo damage the previous
day, the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (91) sank as it was
being towed to Gibraltar for repair.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(91)>
1952:
Al Martino's "Here in My Heart" became the first song to be
listed at the top of the UK Singles Chart.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart>
1970:
Southern Airways Flight 932, chartered by the Marshall
University football team, crashed into a hill near Ceredo, West
Virginia, US, killing all 75 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Airways_Flight_932>
1995:
As a result of budget conflicts between President Bill Clinton
and the United States Congress led by Newt Gingrich, the federal
government was forced to shut down non-essential services.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_…>
2003:
Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L.
Rabinowitz discovered the trans-Neptunian object 90377 Sedna (artist's
impression pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rhubarb rhubarb:
1. (chiefly UK, film) Background noise of several "conversations," none of
which are decipherable since all the actors are actually just repeating
the word rhubarb (chosen because it contains no very sharp or
recognisable phonemes), or other words with similar attributes.
2. (chiefly UK) Blah blah; etc, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rhubarb_rhubarb>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Where freedom is menaced or justice threatened or where aggression takes
place, we cannot be and shall not be neutral.
--Jawaharlal Nehru
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru>
Horseshoe Curve is a 3,485-foot (1,062 m), triple-tracked railroad
curve on the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line in Logan
Township, Blair County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is close
to 1,300 feet (400 m) in diameter and has a grade of almost
two percent. As a train travels west from Altoona, it ascends almost 60
feet (20 m) in the 0.66-mile (1.06 km) segment that makes up the curve
and rotates 220 degrees. The curve was completed in 1854 by the
Pennsylvania Railroad as a means of lessening the grade to the summit of
the Allegheny Mountains by increasing the distance. It was built as
alternative to the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, the only
other method of traversing the mountains. It has formed an important
part of the region's transportation infrastructure since its opening,
and during World War II was targeted by Nazi Germany in 1942 as a part
of Operation Pastorius. Horseshoe Curve was added to the National
Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Civil Engineering
Landmark in 2004.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Curve_(Pennsylvania)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1954:
Great Britain defeated France at the Parc des Princes in Paris
to win the first Rugby League World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_World_Cup>
1982:
South Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim suffered fatal brain injuries
during a match with American Ray Mancini near Las Vegas' Caesars Palace,
leading to significant rule changes in the sport.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duk_Koo_Kim>
1985:
The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted, causing a volcanic
mudslide that buried the town of Armero, Colombia, and killed
approximately 23,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armero_tragedy>
1990:
A man began shooting people indiscriminately in Aramoana, New
Zealand, killing thirteen people in the country's deadliest criminal
shooting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramoana_massacre>
2007:
An explosion hit the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City,
the Philippines, killing Congressman Wahab Akbar and at least four
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batasang_Pambansa_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Streisand effect:
A phenomenon in which attempting to suppress an item of information
attracts additional unwanted attention to it, thus furthering the
spreading of the information.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Streisand_effect>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do not fear but that He will go on to supply what is yet wanting when
once I have begun to use what He has already given. For a possession
which is not diminished by being shared with there, if it is possessed
and not shared, is not yet possessed as it ought to be possessed.
--Augustine of Hippo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo>
Edmund Sharpe (1809–1877) was an English architect, architectural
historian, railway engineer, and sanitary reformer. Sharpe's main focus
was on churches, and he was a pioneer in the use of terracotta as a
structural material in church building, designing what were known as
"pot" churches. He also designed secular buildings, including domestic
properties and schools, and worked on the development of railways in
Northwest England, designing bridges and planning new lines. In 1851 he
resigned from his architectural practice, and in 1856 he moved from
Lancaster, spending the remainder of his career mainly as a railway
engineer. Sharpe was involved in Lancaster's civic affairs. He was an
elected town councillor and served as mayor in 1848–49. Concerned
about the town's poor water supply and sanitation, he championed the
construction of new sewers and a waterworks. Sharpe achieved national
recognition as an architectural historian. He published books of
detailed architectural drawings, wrote a number of articles on
architecture, devised a scheme for the classification of English Gothic
architectural styles, and in 1875 was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of
the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Sharpe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
William Heffelfinger was paid $525 by the Allegheny Athletic
Association, becoming the first professional American football player on
record.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Heffelfinger>
1912:
The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were
discovered, roughly eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated
British Antarctic Expedition 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott>
1928:
Approximately 111 people, mostly women and children, died after
the British ocean liner SS Vestris was abandoned as it sank in the
western Atlantic Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Vestris>
1991:
In Dili, East Timor, Indonesian forces opened fire on student
demonstrators protesting the occupation of East Timor, killing at least
250 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_massacre>
2001:
American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into residential buildings
five minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in
New York, killing a total of 265 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hobbledehoy:
An awkward adolescent boy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hobbledehoy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
An idea or institution may arise for one reason and be maintained for
quite a different reason.
--Joseph McCabe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_McCabe>
In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran for President of the United States.
The former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, who gained his party's
presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the
Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech, was
defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former
Ohio governor William McKinley. Born in 1860, Bryan grew up in rural
Illinois and in 1887 moved to Nebraska, where he practiced law and
entered politics. He won election to the House of Representatives in
1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful Senate
campaign. Despite the loss, he set his sights on higher office,
believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained
a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. In anticipation of a
presidential run, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches
across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his
popularity in his party. After gaining the nomination, he undertook an
extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people, speaking
some 600 times, to an estimated 5,000,000 listeners. His campaign
focused on prosperity through bimetallism (or free silver), an issue
which failed to appeal to the urban voter.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan_presidential_campaign,…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Seneca
allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York,
killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Valley_massacre>
1889:
Washington, named in honor of the first U.S. president, was
admitted to the United States as the 42nd state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(state)>
1934:
The Shrine of Remembrance, a memorial to all Australians who
have served in war, opened in Melbourne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_of_Remembrance>
1942:
World War II: The Allies (Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
pictured) defeated the Axis at the Second Battle of El Alamein, Egypt,
turning the tide in the North African Campaign by ending Axis hopes of
taking control of the Suez Canal and thus gaining access east to the
Middle Eastern oil fields.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_El_Alamein>
1965:
Southern Rhodesia, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith,
unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom to become
Rhodesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Smith>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
papaverous:
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the poppy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/papaverous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I didn't learn until I was in college about all the other cultures, and
I should have learned that in the first grade. A first grader should
understand that his or her culture isn't a rational invention; that
there are thousands of other cultures and they all work pretty well;
that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there are
lots of alternatives to our own society. Cultural relativism is
defensible and attractive. It's also a source of hope. It means we don't
have to continue this way if we don't like it.
--Kurt Vonnegut
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut>
The history of Sesame Street began with its conception in 1966 during
discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie
Corporation vice president Lloyd Morrisett. Their goal was to create a
children's television show that would "master the addictive qualities of
television and do something good with them", such as helping young
children prepare for school. After two years of research, the newly
formed Children's Television Workshop (CTW) received a combined grant of
$8 million from the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, and the
U.S. federal government to create and produce a new children's
television show. Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969. Featuring
animation, live shorts, humor, celebrity appearances, and Jim Henson's
Muppets such as Big Bird (star pictured), it was the first television
program of its kind to base its contents and production values on
laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum
"detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes". Initial responses
to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high
ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in
over 120 countries, and 20 independent international versions had been
produced.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sesame_Street>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
The United States Marine Corps was founded as the Continental
Marines by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress during the
American Revolutionary War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps>
1945:
Indonesian National Revolution: Following the killing of the
British officer Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby a few weeks prior, British
forces began their retaliation by attacking Surabaya, Indonesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Surabaya>
1958:
Merchant Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond, the "most
famous diamond in the world", to the Smithsonian Institution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Diamond>
1975:
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald (pictured), the largest boat on North
America's Great Lakes, sank in Lake Superior with the loss of 29 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald>
2006:
Prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politician and human rights lawyer
Nadarajah Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadarajah_Raviraj>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ooze:
1. To secrete or slowly leak.
2. (figuratively) To give off a sense of (something).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ooze>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's no such thing as chance; And what to us seems merest accident
Springs from the deepest source of destiny.
--Friedrich Schiller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller>