The sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912, with the loss of over
1,500 lives, was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in
history. Four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York,
Titanic – at the time the world's largest ship – struck an iceberg in
the North Atlantic off Newfoundland. Five of her watertight
compartments were holed, causing the ship to flood deck by deck. She
carried too few lifeboats for her 2,223 passengers and crew, and many
seats were left empty due to a poorly managed evacuation. Titanic's
officers loaded the lifeboats "women and children first", leaving most
of the men aboard the ship. Two hours and forty minutes after the
collision, Titanic sank with over a thousand people still aboard.
Almost all those who jumped or fell into the freezing water soon died
of hypothermia or drowned. The RMS Carpathia rescued the survivors from
the lifeboats a few hours later. Public outrage at the loss of life led
to tougher maritime safety regulations. Titanic's wreck was not found
until 1985. The disaster has inspired a wealth of popular culture
including many films, most notably James Cameron's Titanic in 1997.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
A rebellion by Catholic Japanese peasants in Shimabara over increased
taxes was put down by the Tokugawa shogunate, resulting in greater
enforcement of the policy of national seclusion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion>
1802:
English poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came upon a
"long belt" of daffodils, inspiring him to pen his most famous work, "I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth>
1927:
Torrential rains caused the Mississippi River to break out of its levee
system in 145 places, causing the worst flooding in the history of the
United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mississippi_Flood_of_1927>
1952:
The B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic
bomber operated by the United States Air Force for most of the
aircraft's history, made its first flight.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress>
1989:
The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a
series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Yaobang>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eschatology (n):
1. (countable) System of doctrines concerning final matters, such as
death.
2. (uncountable) The study of the end times — the end of the world,
notably in Christian theology the second coming of Christ, the
Apocalypse or the Last Judgment
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eschatology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
8px
44px
I am a being of Heaven and Earth,
of thunder and lightning,
of rain and wind,
of the galaxies,
of the suns and the stars
and the void through which they travel.
The essence of nature,
eternal, divine that all men seek to know to
hear,
known as the great illusion time,
and the all-prevailing
atmosphere.
And now you know my background.
--Eden Ahbez
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eden_Ahbez>
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a first-person shooter video game developed
by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64
console and personal computer platforms. It was released in 1997 in
North America and Europe. Turok is an adaptation of the Acclaim Comics
comic book series of the same name. The player controls a Native
American warrior, Turok, who must stop the evil Campaigner from
conquering the universe with an ancient and powerful weapon. As
Acclaim's first exclusive title for the Nintendo 64, Turok was part of
a strategy to develop games internally and license merchandise; Acclaim
acquired the rights to Turok when it purchased Acclaim Comics (né
Valiant) in 1994. Suffering from cash flow problems and falling sales,
Turok became Acclaim's best hope for a financial turnaround. Iguana
pushed the Nintendo 64's graphics capabilities to its limits, and were
forced to compress or cut elements to fit the game on its 8-megabyte
cartridge. Bugs delayed the game's release from holiday 1996 to 1997.
Critical reception of Turok was highly positive. Becoming one of the
most popular games for the console on release, Turok won praise for its
graphics and evolution of the genre. Complaints centered on graphical
slowdowns caused by multiple enemies appearing onscreen and
occasionally awkward controls. The game sold 1.5 million copies and
boosted sales of the Nintendo 64. Turok spawned a video game franchise
that currently includes six sequels.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turok%3A_Dinosaur_Hunter>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1742:
Messiah, an oratorio by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel ,
premiered in Dublin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_%28Handel%29>
1873:
In the wake of a disputed election for local offices in Colfax,
Louisiana, US, armed white supremacists overpowered freedmen and the
African American state militia trying to control the parish courthouse,
killing over 100 of them.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colfax_massacre>
1956:
The Vietnamese National Army captured Ba Cut, military commander of the
Hoa Hao religious sect, which ran a de facto state in southern Vietnam
in opposition to Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Cut>
1984:
Indian forces launched Operation Meghdoot, a preemptive attack on the
disputed Siachen Glacier region of Kashmir, triggering a military
conflict with Pakistan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen_conflict>
1997:
In golf, twenty-one-year-old Tiger Woods became the youngest player to
win the 1997 U.S. Masters, breaking the tournament's record for the
lowest four-round score (270 strokes, 18 under par).
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pink slime (n):
1. (paper manufacture) An undesirable pink-colored microbial mass
occurring in the slurry used in making paper.
2. (informal) A meat byproduct produced from otherwise unusable
material such as skin and connective tissue, spinal bones, and
digestive tissue by heating and then mixing with ammonia in a
centrifuge to produce a food additive
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pink_slime>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
77px
There is no act, however virtuous, for which ingenuity may not find
some bad motive.
--Thomas Jefferson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson>
Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of
Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original
Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United
States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It
is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states. It has been
declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and
a Wetland of International Importance, only one of three locations in
the world to appear on all three lists. Unlike most U.S. national
parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect a fragile
ecosystem instead of safeguarding a unique geographic feature.
Thirty-six species designated as threatened or protected live in the
park, including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the
West Indian manatee. All of South Florida's fresh water, which is
stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is recharged in the park. In the 20th
century the natural water flow from Lake Okeechobee was controlled and
diverted to the explosive growth of the South Florida metropolitan
area. The park was established in 1934 to protect the quickly vanishing
Everglades. The ecosystems in Everglades National Park have suffered
significantly from human activity, and the repair and restoration of
the Everglades is a politically charged issue in South Florida.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades_National_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1204:
Alexios V Doukas fled Constantinople as forces under Boniface the
Marquess of Montferrat and Enrico Dandolo the Doge of Venice entered
and sacked the Byzantine capital, effectively ending the Fourth
Crusade.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_%281204%29>
1831:
The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, collapsed,
reportedly owing to a mechanical resonance induced by troops marching
over the bridge in step.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge>
1980:
Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St.
John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and began running his "Marathon of
Hope" towards the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia, to
raise funds across Canada for cancer research.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox>
1990:
Jim Gary became the only living sculptor to present a solo show at the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in
Washington, D.C., featuring his trademark dinosaur sculptures made of
automobile parts.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Gary>
1992:
Disneyland Paris, the first Walt Disney Park in Europe, opened in the
Paris suburb of Marne-la-Vallée.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Paris>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ungulate (adj):
Having hooves
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ungulate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
11px
I don't know what God is, or what God had in mind when the universe
was set in motion. In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I
confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or
despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty. There are
some ten thousand religious sects — each with its own cosmology, each
with its own answer for the meaning of life and death. Most assert that
the other 9,999 not only have it completely wrong but are instruments
of evil, besides. None of the ten thousand has yet persuaded me to make
the requisite leap of faith. In the absence of conviction, I've come to
terms with the fact that uncertainty is an inescapable corollary of
life. An abundance of mystery is simply part of the bargain — which
doesn't strike me as something to lament. Accepting the essential
inscrutability of existence, in any case, is surely preferable to its
opposite: capitulating to the tyranny of intransigent belief. And if I
remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity,
I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few modest truths:
Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here,
and why — which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our
creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long
as we happen to be alive.
--Jon Krakauer
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer>
Black Francis (born 1965) is an American singer, songwriter and
guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential
alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he
embarked on a solo career. After releasing two albums with 4AD, he left
the label and formed a backing band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He
reformed the Pixies in 2004 and continues to release solo records and
tour as a solo artist. His vocal style has varied from a screaming,
yowling delivery as lead vocalist of the Pixies to a more measured and
melodical style in his solo career. His cryptic lyrics mostly explore
unconventional subjects, such as surrealism, incest and biblical
violence, along with science fiction and surf culture. His use of
atypical meter signatures, loud–quiet dynamics and distinct preference
for live-to-two-track recording in his career as a solo artist give him
a distinct style within alternative rock. As frontman of the Pixies,
his songs (such as "Where Is My Mind?" and "Debaser") received praise
and citations from contemporaries, including Radiohead's Thom Yorke and
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Cobain once said that "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
was his attempt at trying to "rip off the Pixies". However, in his solo
work and records with the Catholics, he received fewer popular and
critical accolades.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Francis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1544:
Italian War of 1542–1546: French and Spanish forces fought a massive
pitched battle in the Piedmont region of Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ceresole>
1814:
The Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed, ending the War of the Sixth
Coalition, and forcing Napoleon to abdicate as ruler of France and
sending him into exile on Elba.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fontainebleau_%281814%29>
1908:
SMS Blücher , the last armored cruiser to be built by the German
Imperial Navy, launched.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Bl%C3%BCcher>
1921:
Emir Abdullah established the first centralized government in the
recently created British protectorate of Transjordan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transjordan>
1996:
While attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an
airplane across the United States, the plane flown by seven-year-old
Jessica Dubroff crashed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing her and two
others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Dubroff>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
covenstead (n):
1. (Wicca) A permanent circle or temple used to meet for rituals and to
store religious items, often a mundane location.
2. (Wicca) A Wiccan congregation
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/covenstead>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
55px
I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is
to be expected only from the strong.
--Leo Rosten
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Rosten>
Sideshow Bob is a recurring character in the animated television series
The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly
in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who
is a graduate of Yale, a member of the Republican Party, and a champion
of high culture. He began his career as a sidekick on Krusty the
Clown's television show, but after enduring constant abuse, Bob
attempted to frame his employer for armed robbery in "Krusty Gets
Busted". The plan was foiled by Bart Simpson, and Sideshow Bob was sent
to prison. Bob made his second major appearance in season three's
"Black Widower". In each appearance thereafter, Bob has assumed the
role on The Simpsons of an evil genius. Episodes in which he is a
central character typically involve Sideshow Bob being released from
prison and executing an elaborate revenge plan, usually foiled by Bart
and Lisa. His plans often involve murder and destruction, usually
targeted at Bart or, less often, Krusty, though these plans often
involve targeting the entire Simpson family. Sideshow Bob shares some
personality traits of Grammer's character Frasier Crane from the
sitcoms Cheers and Frasier, and has been described as "Frasier pickled
in arsenic". As of 2012, Bob has had speaking appearances in thirteen
episodes and been featured in eleven; the most recent of the latter,
"The Bob Next Door", aired during the twenty-first season.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow_Bob>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Mount Tambora in Indonesia began one of the most violent volcanic
eruptions in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people, and
affecting worldwide temperatures for the next two years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora>
1858:
Big Ben, the bell in the Palace of Westminster's clock tower in London,
was cast after the original bell had cracked during testing.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben>
1919:
Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was shot to death near
Ciudad Ayala, Morelos.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata>
1941:
World War II: The Independent State of Croatia was established, with
Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić as head of the puppet government of the Axis
powers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_State_of_Croatia>
2009:
Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced that he had suspended the
constitution and assumed all governance in the country after it was
ruled that the government of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama was
illegal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Fijian_constitutional_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
popliteal (adj):
(anatomy) Of the area behind the knee
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/popliteal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
11px
Oh Master of the Beautiful,
Creating us from hour to hour,
Give
me this vision to the full
To see in lightest things thy power!
This vision give, no heaven
afar,
No throne, and yet I will rejoice,
Knowing beneath my feet a star,
Thy word in every wandering voice.
--George William Russell
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Russell>
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a First World War battle in the
Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between four divisions of the
Canadian Corps and three divisions of the German Sixth Army. It lasted
from 9 to 12 April 1917, as part of the opening phase of the
British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French
Nivelle Offensive. The Canadian objective was to take the German-held
high ground along an escarpment at the northern end of the offensive.
Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadians captured most of the
ridge on 9 April. The town of Thélus fell on the 10th, as did the crest
of the ridge once the Canadians overcame a salient of considerable
German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll near
Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadians on 12 April, and the Germans
retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line. Canadian success is attributed to
technical and tactical innovations, meticulous planning and training,
and powerful artillery support, and the failure of the Germans to
properly apply their new defensive doctrine. For the first time all
four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and
the battle remains a Canadian symbol of achievement and sacrifice; the
battleground now contains the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1413:
Henry V, who is featured in three plays by William Shakespeare, was
crowned King of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England>
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made
the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, when he recorded
himself singing the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>
1939:
After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the
Daughters of the American Revolution, African American singer Marian
Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson>
1942:
World War II: Japanese forces defeated Allied troops at the Battle of
Bataan on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines before beginning to
forcibly transfer more than 90,000 prisoners of war to prison camps in
the Bataan Death March.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March>
1967:
The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the
most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the
world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unheralded (v):
Without prior warning; unexpected or unannounced
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unheralded>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wisdom entereth not into a malicious mind, and science without
conscience is but the ruin of the soul.
--François Rabelais
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Rabelais>
The Biddenden Maids, Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, were conjoined twins
supposedly born in the village of Biddenden, Kent, in the year 1100. It
is claimed that they were joined at both the shoulder and the hip, and
that on their death they bequeathed land to the village. The income
from this land was used to pay for a gift of food and drink to the poor
every Easter. Since at least 1775 this has included hard biscuits
imprinted with an image of two conjoined women, known as "Biddenden
Cakes". Some historians dismissed the story as a folk myth, claiming
that the image on the cakes had originally represented two poor women
and that the story of the conjoined twins was invented to account for
it. Despite doubts as to its authenticity, in the 19th century the
legend became increasingly popular and the village of Biddenden was
thronged with rowdy visitors every Easter. In 1907 the land supposedly
bequeathed by the twins was sold. The income from the sale allowed the
annual distribution of gifts to expand in scale, providing the widows
and pensioners of Biddenden with cheese, bread and tea at Easter and
with cash payments at Christmas. Biddenden cakes continue to be given
to the poor of Biddenden each Easter Monday, and are sold as souvenirs
to visitors.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddenden_Maids>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1341:
Italian scholar and poet Petrarch took the title poet laureate at a
ceremony in Rome.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch>
1820:
A Greek peasant discovered a statue of a woman with its arms
missing—the Venus de Milo—on the Aegean island of Milos.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo>
1886:
British Prime Minister William Gladstone introduced the first Irish
Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Ireland_Bill_1886>
1904:
Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, was renamed Times
Square after The New York Times building.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square>
1992:
American tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had contracted HIV
from blood transfusions; he would spend the remainder of his life as an
AIDS activist.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cross swords (v):
(idiomatic) To quarrel or argue with someone, to have a dispute with
someone
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cross_swords>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life by life and love by love
We passed through the cycles strange,
And breath by breath and
death by death
We followed the chain of change.
Till there came a time in the law
of life
When o’er the nursing sod,
The shadows broke and soul awoke
In a
strange, dim dream of God.
--Langdon Smith
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Langdon_Smith>
The Madagascan sunset moth is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae
family. It is considered to be one of the most impressive and beautiful
Lepidoptera. Famous worldwide, it is featured in most coffee table
books on the Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors. It is
very colourful, though the iridescent parts of the wings do not have
pigment; rather the colours originate from optical interference. The
moth was considered to be a butterfly by Dru Drury, who described it in
1773 and placed it in the genus Papilio. Jacob Hübner placed it in the
moth genus Chrysiridia in 1823. Later redescriptions led to junior
synonyms such as Chrysiridia madagascariensis. At first the moth was
thought to be from China or Bengal, but was later found to be endemic
to Madagascar. It is found throughout the year in most parts of the
island, with peak populations between March and August, and smallest
numbers between October and December. Females lay about 80 eggs under
the leaves of Omphalea spp. The caterpillars are whitish-yellow with
black spots and red feet and are covered in club-ended black setae.
Silk spun from the mouth helps the caterpillars hold onto smooth leaves
and climb back to the plant when they fall.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysiridia_rhipheus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1724:
Johann Sebastian Bach debuted the St John Passion, a musical
representation of the Passion, at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Passion>
1767:
Troops of the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty sacked the Siamese city of
Ayutthaya to end the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767), bringing the
four-century-old Ayutthaya Kingdom to an end.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese%E2%80%93Siamese_War_%281765%E2%80%9317…>
1947:
The Arab Ba'th Party was founded in Damascus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%27ath_Party>
1994:
A FedEx employee tried to hijack Federal Express Flight 705 in a failed
suicide attempt.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705>
2001:
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey , currently the longest-surviving continually
active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched
from Cape Canaveral.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Mars_Odyssey>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lollapalooza (n):
(informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lollapalooza>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
88px
When I die, I want to die in a Utopia that I have helped to build.
--Henry Kuttner
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner>
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The
son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne
after a period of civil war. In the early years of Offa's reign it is
likely that he consolidated his control of midland peoples such as the
Hwicce and the Magonsæte. Taking advantage of instability in the
kingdom of Kent to establish himself as overlord, Offa was also in
control of Sussex by 771, though his authority did not remain
unchallenged in either territory. He extended Mercian supremacy over
most of southern England and regained complete control of the
southeast. Offa was a Christian king but came into conflict with the
Church, and had long-running disputes with both the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Bishop of Worcester. Many historians regard Offa as
the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king before Alfred the Great. His reign
was once seen by historians as part of a process leading to a unified
England, but this is no longer the majority view. Offa died in 796 and
was succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith, who reigned for less than five
months before Coenwulf of Mercia took the throne.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1250:
Seventh Crusade: Egyptian Ayyubids annihilated the crusader army and
captured King Louis IX of France as a hostage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fariskur>
1320:
The Declaration of Arbroath, a declaration of Scottish independence,
was adopted.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath>
1812:
Peninsular War: After a three-week siege, the Anglo-Portuguese Army,
under the Earl of Wellington , captured Badajoz, Spain and forced the
surrender of the French garrison.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Badajoz_%281812%29>
1947:
The first Tony Awards, recognizing achievement in live American
theatre, were handed out at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award>
2008:
Egyptian workers staged an illegal general strike, two days before key
municipal elections.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Egyptian_general_strike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lek (n):
(biology) An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship
and display
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
11px
44px
I believe neither in what I touch nor what I see. I only
believe in what I do not see, and solely in what I feel.
--Gustave Moreau
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Moreau>
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David
Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same
name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. joint production stars
Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr. Zodiac tells the
story of the hunt for a notorious serial killer known as "Zodiac" who
killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s
and early 1970s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting
police with letters and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains
one of San Francisco's most infamous unsolved crimes. Fincher,
screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and producer Brad Fischer spent 18
months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac
murders. During filming, Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper
Filmstream camera to shoot the film. Contrary to popular belief, Zodiac
was not shot entirely digitally; traditional high-speed film cameras
were used for slow-motion murder sequences. Reviews for the film were
highly positive; however, it did not perform strongly at the North
American box office. It performed better in other parts of the world,
earning $84 million, with a budget of $65 million spent on its
production.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_%28film%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1081:
The Komnenian dynasty came to full power when Alexios I Komnenos was
crowned Byzantine Emperor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos>
1566:
A covenant of nobles in the Habsburg Netherlands presented Governor
Margaret of Parma a petition to suspend the Spanish Inquisition in the
Netherlands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_Nobles>
1942:
Second World War: Carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy
conduct the Easter Sunday Raid to disrupt the war effort of
Commonwealth nations and force the British Eastern Fleet to leave Asian
waters.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Sunday_Raid>
1992:
Bosnian War: Unidentified gunmen killed two people while firing upon a
large crowd of anti-war protesters in Sarajevo, marking the start of
the four-year-long Siege of Sarajevo.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sarajevo>
2010:
An explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed 29 miners in the
United States' worst mining disaster in 40 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Big_Branch_Mine_disaster>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
reptilianness (n):
The quality of the embodiment of reptile characteristics
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reptilianness>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
At the door of life, by the gate of breath,
There are worse things waiting for men than death;
Death could not
sever my soul and you,
As these have severed your soul from me.
--Algernon Charles Swinburne
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Algernon_Charles_Swinburne>