Stephen Trigg (c. 1744 – August 19, 1782) was an American pioneer and
soldier from Virginia. He was killed ten months after the surrender of
Cornwallis at Yorktown in one of the last battles of the American
Revolution while leading the Lincoln County, Virginia, militia unit at
the Battle of Blue Licks in present-day Kentucky. Trigg, who mainly
worked as a public servant and militia officer, was one of the
wealthiest men on the frontier at the time. He was a delegate to the
first Virginia Revolutionary conventions and was a member of the
Fincastle Committee of Safety that drafted the Fincastle Resolutions,
which was the precursor for the Declaration of Independence. He was also
elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1782, Shawnee Indians led
by British officers attacked Bryan Station, Kentucky, but were driven
off. Kentucky militia companies joined forces to pursue the hostiles.
Trigg commanded one wing, Daniel Boone the other. Despite Boone's
warnings, the militiamen charged into an ambush at Blue Licks. Trigg and
many others, including Boone's youngest son Israel, were among those
killed. Trigg's body was later found cut into pieces. In recognition of
his role in the formation of Kentucky, Trigg County, Kentucky was named
in honor of Stephen Trigg.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Trigg>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1658:
Having defeating his brothers in a war of succession, Aurangzeb
was crowned the sixth Mughal Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangzeb>
1777:
The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing
French nobleman Marquis de Lafayette to enter the American revolutionary
forces as a Major General.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_marquis_de_Lafayette>
1954:
A team of Italian climbers led by Ardito Desio reaches the
summit of K2 (pictured), the world's second-highest mountain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2>
1972:
The Troubles: Free Derry, an autonomous self-declared area of
Derry, Northern Ireland, was brought to an end by the British Army's
Operation Motorman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Motorman>
2002:
Hamas detonated a bomb at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, killing nine students and injuring about 100
more.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_University_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
coppice:
A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain
times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth
and ensure a reliable supply of timber.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coppice>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In countries and epochs in which communication is impeded, soon all
other liberties wither; discussion dies by inanition, ignorance of the
opinion of others becomes rampant, imposed opinions triumph. …
Intolerance is inclined to censor, and censorship promotes ignorance of
the arguments of others and thus intolerance itself: a rigid, vicious
circle that is hard to break.
--Primo Levi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Primo_Levi>
Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac, located between Pisces
to the west and Taurus to the east. Its name is Latin for ram, and its
symbol is (Unicode ♈), representing a ram's horns. One of the 48
constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, Aries
remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. A mid-sized
constellation, it is ranked 39th overall with an area of 441 square
degrees (1.1% of the celestial sphere). Though it specifically came to
represent the ram whose fleece became the Golden Fleece in Ancient
Greece, it had represented a ram since late Babylonian times. Before
that, the stars of Aries formed a farmhand. Because Aries is zodiacal,
its stars were incorporated into different constellations in different
cultures, including twin inspectors in China and a porpoise in the
Marshall Islands. Aries is a relatively dim constellation, possessing
only three bright stars: Hamal (Alpha Arietis, second magnitude),
Sheratan (Beta Arietis, third magnitude), and Mesartim (Gamma Arietis,
fourth magnitude). The few deep-sky objects are quite faint and include
several pairs of interacting galaxies. Several meteor showers radiate
from Aries, including the Daytime Arietids and the Epsilon Arietids.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aries_(constellation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
762:
Al-Mansur, the Caliph of Islam, founded the city of Baghdad to
be the capital of the Islamic empire under the Abbasids.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Baghdad>
1619:
The first representative assembly in the Americas, Virginia's
House of Burgesses, convened for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Burgesses>
1811:
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, an early leader of the Mexican War
of Independence, was executed by Spanish authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla>
1912:
Japan's Emperor Meiji died and was succeeded by his son
Yoshihito, who is now known as the Emperor Taishō (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Taish%C5%8D>
1975:
American labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa mysteriously
disappeared after last being seen outside a restaurant near Detroit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa>
2006:
Lebanon War: The Israeli Air Force attacked a three-story
building near the South Lebanese village of Qana, killing at least 28
civilians, including 16 children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qana_airstrike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiropterologist:
Someone who studies bats (the flying mammal).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiropterologist>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nobody knows about my man. They think he's lost on some horizon. And
suddenly I find myself Listening to a man I've never known before,
Telling me about the sea, All his love, 'til Eternity. Ooh, he's here
again, The man with the child in his eyes.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>
Jovan Vladimir (died 1016) was ruler of Duklja, the most powerful
Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled
during the protracted war between the Byzantine Empire and the First
Bulgarian Empire. His close relationship with Byzantium did not save
Duklja from the expansionist Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who conquered the
principality in around 1010 and took Jovan Vladimir prisoner. A medieval
chronicle asserts that Samuel's daughter, Theodora Kosara, fell in love
with Vladimir and begged her father for his hand. The tsar allowed the
marriage and returned Duklja to Vladimir, who ruled as his vassal.
Vladimir was acknowledged as a pious, just, and peaceful ruler. He took
no part in his father-in-law's war efforts. The warfare culminated with
Samuel's defeat by the Byzantines in 1014; the tsar died soon afterward.
In 1016 Vladimir fell victim to a plot by Ivan Vladislav, the last ruler
of the First Bulgarian Empire. He was beheaded in front of a church in
Prespa, the empire's capital, and was buried there. He was soon
recognized as a martyr and saint; his feast day is celebrated on 22 May.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovan_Vladimir>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1014:
Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Forces of the Byzantine Empire
defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the
Belasica Mountains near present-day Klyuch, Bulgaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kleidion>
1836:
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, commemorating those who fought
and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars,
was formally inaugurated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe>
1947:
ENIAC (pictured), the world's first general-purpose electronic
digital computer, was turned on in its new home at the Ballistic
Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC>
1950:
Korean War: U.S. Army 7th Cavalry Regiment troops concluded
four days of shootings of civilians, sparked by fears that columns of
refugees might contain North Korean spies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Gun_Ri_Massacre>
1981:
A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people
watched the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana Spencer at St
Paul's Cathedral in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Charles,_Prince_of_Wales,_and_Lady…>
2010:
An overloaded passenger ferry capsized on the Kasai River in
Bandundu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, resulting in at
least 80 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasai_River_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shipwrecky:
1. Characteristic of a shipwreck.
2. (figuratively) Weak, feeble; shaky.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shipwrecky>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The isness of things is well worth studying; but it is their whyness
that makes life worth living.
--William Beebe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Beebe>
Hurricane Vince was an unusual hurricane that developed in the
northeastern Atlantic basin. Forming in October during the 2005 Atlantic
hurricane season, the waters over which it developed were considered too
cold for tropical development. Vince was the twentieth named tropical
cyclone and twelfth hurricane of the extremely active season. Vince
developed from an extratropical system on October 8, becoming a
subtropical storm southeast of the Azores. The National Hurricane Center
(NHC) did not officially name the storm until the next day, shortly
before Vince became a hurricane. The storm weakened at sea and, on
October 11, made landfall on the Iberian Peninsula as a tropical
depression. Vince was the first tropical system to do so since the 1842
Spain hurricane. It dissipated over Spain, bringing much needed rain to
the region, and its remnants passed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Vince>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1540:
King Henry VIII of England had his chief minister Thomas
Cromwell executed for treason and heresy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cromwell>
1932:
U.S. President Herbert Hoover ordered the eviction of the
"Bonus Army"—a group of veterans who were occupying government
property to demand immediate payment for money owed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army>
1935:
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber aircraft, which
dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II, made
its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-17_Flying_Fortress>
1976:
An earthquake measuring at least 8.2 on the Richter magnitude
scale, one of the deadliest in history, flattened Tangshan, China,
killing at least 240,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tangshan_earthquake>
1996:
The remains of the prehistoric Kennewick Man were discovered on
a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennewick_Man>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
doula:
A support person, usually female, who may not have medical or midwifery
training, who provides emotional assistance to a mother or pregnant
couple before, during or after childbirth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/doula>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you
cannot be misunderstood: there will always be some who misunderstand
you.
--Karl Popper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper>
Nick Adenhart (1986–2009) was an American right-handed baseball
starting pitcher who played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB)
for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In four career games, Adenhart
pitched 18 innings and posted a win-loss record of 1–0, with nine
strikeouts and a 6.00 earned run average (ERA). A graduate of
Williamsport High School, Adenhart was highly touted as a high school
prospect until an injury in his final game required Tommy John surgery.
He was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round of the 2004 Major League
Baseball Draft, and began playing in their minor league system after the
surgery was a success. He spent three full years in the minor leagues
before making his major league debut on May 1, 2008. After appearing in
three games, Adenhart spent the rest of 2008 in the minor leagues
developing his skills, and in 2009 he earned a spot in the Angels'
starting rotation. Just after pitching his first start of 2009, Adenhart
was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. Both the Angels and the
Salt Lake Bees, for whom Adenhart played in 2008, suspended their next
games. There were many tributes to him over the course of the season,
including his former teammates spraying champagne and beer on one of his
jerseys after they clinched the 2009 American League West division
championship.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Adenhart>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
American Revolutionary War: French and British fleets fought to
a standoff west of Ushant, which led to political disputes in both
countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ushant_(1778)>
1916 - British mariner Charles Fryatt was executed at Bruges, Belgium
after a court-martial found him to be a franc-tireur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fryatt>
1919:
Red Summer: Race riots erupted in Chicago after a racial
incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and
537 injuries over a five-day period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Race_Riot_of_1919>
1949:
The de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet
airliner to reach production, made its maiden flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet>
1953:
An armistice was signed to end hostilities in the Korean War,
officially making the Division of Korea indefinite by creating an
approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide demilitarized zone running across the
Korean Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
portend:
1. (transitive) To serve as a warning or omen.
2. (transitive) To signify; to denote.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/portend>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Write as the wind blows and command all words like an army!
--Hilaire Belloc
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hilaire_Belloc>
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living
terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. Its specific name refers to
its camel-like face and the patches of color on its fur, which bear a
vague resemblance to a leopard's spots. The giraffe is noted for its
extremely long neck and legs, as well as its horn-like ossicones. It is
classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant
relative, the okapi. The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in
the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to
Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and
open woodlands. Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they
can browse at heights that most other herbivores cannot reach. Giraffes
are preyed on by lions, and calves are also targeted by leopards,
spotted hyenas and wild dogs. Adult giraffes do not have strong social
bonds, though they do gather in loose aggregations if they happen to be
moving in the same general direction. The giraffe has intrigued various
cultures, both ancient and modern, for its peculiar appearance, and has
often been featured in paintings, books and cartoons. It is classified
by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Least
Concern, but has been extirpated from many parts of its former range,
and some subspecies are classified as Endangered.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1882:
Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal, loosely based on Wolfram von
Eschenbach's epic poem Parzival about Arthurian knight Percival and his
quest for the Holy Grail, officially premiered at the Festspielhaus in
Bayreuth, Bavaria (present-day Germany).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsifal>
1887:
L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to
describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto>
1936:
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial (pictured), a memorial site
near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France, dedicated to the memory of Canadian
Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was
unveiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial>
1953:
Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately
160 rebels in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus
beginning the Cuban Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moncada_Barracks>
2007:
After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black
Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was
slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lethargy:
A condition of extreme drowsiness or apathy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lethargy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All great truths begin as blasphemies.
--George Bernard Shaw
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw>
Georg Solti (1912–1997) was an orchestral and operatic conductor, best
known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and
London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State
Opera and worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini. His
career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis. After conducting a
season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House he found
refuge in Switzerland, where he remained during the Second World War.
After the war, he was appointed musical director of the Bavarian State
Opera in 1946, the Frankfurt Opera in 1952, and the Covent Garden Opera
Company in London in 1961. In 1969 Solti was appointed music director of
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for 22 years. He restored
the orchestra's reputation after it had been in decline for most of the
previous decade. Known in his early years for the intensity of his music
making, Solti was widely considered to have mellowed as a conductor in
later years. He recorded many works two or three times at various stages
of his career, and was a prolific recording artist, making more than 250
recordings, including 45 complete opera sets. The most famous of his
recordings is probably Decca's complete set of Wagner's Der Ring des
Nibelungen, made between 1958 and 1965.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Solti>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1139:
Prince Afonso Henriques led Portuguese troops to victory over
the Almoravid Moors at the Battle of Ourique.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ourique>
1609:
The crew of British sailing ship Sea Venture grounded her on
the reefs of Bermuda, which is widely believed to have inspired
Shakepeare's The Tempest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Venture>
1814:
War of 1812: In present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario, the United
States and Great Britain engaged in one of the deadliest battles ever
fought on Canadian soil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lundy%27s_Lane>
1909:
French aviator Louis Blériot crossed the English Channel in a
heavier-than-air flying machine, flying from near Calais, France, to
Dover, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bl%C3%A9riot>
1978:
Louise Brown, the world's first baby conceived through in vitro
fertilisation, was born in Oldham, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eviscerate:
1. (transitive) To disembowel, to remove the viscera.
2. (transitive) To destroy or make ineffectual or meaningless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eviscerate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and
they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect. They
know that basic human problems can have no final solutions, that our
freedom, justice, equality, etc. are far from absolute, and that the
good life is compounded of half measures, compromises, lesser evils, and
gropings toward the perfect. The rejection of approximations and the
insistence on absolutes are the manifestation of a nihilism that loathes
freedom, tolerance, and equity.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
Phạm Ngọc Thảo (1922–1965), a major provincial leader in South
Vietnam and infiltrator of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN),
was a communist agent of the Vietminh and later the Vietnam People's
Army. As the overseer of Ngo Dinh Nhu’s Strategic Hamlet Program in
the early 1960s, he deliberately forced the program forward at
unsustainable speeds, constructing poorly equipped and poorly defended
villages, in order to foster rural resentment against the regime of
President Ngo Dinh Diem, Nhu's elder brother. Thao was posthumously
promoted by the ARVN to the rank of one-star general and awarded the
title of Heroic war dead (Vietnamese: Liệt sĩ). After the Fall of
Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, the communist government awarded
him the same title and paid war pensions to his family, claiming him as
one of their own.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BA%A1m_Ng%E1%BB%8Dc_Th%E1%BA%A3o>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër to put down the
Albanian Revolt of 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_Revolt_of_1910>
1938:
A combined German–Austrian team became the first team to
climb the north face of the Eiger, one of the six great north faces of
the Alps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiger>
1959:
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. Vice President
Richard Nixon held an impromptu debate at the opening of the American
National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Debate>
1980:
At the Moscow Olympics, Australia's Quietly Confident Quartet
swimming team won the gold medal in the men's 4 x 100 metre medley
relay, the only time that the United States, who were boycotting these
games, has not won the event at Olympic level.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_1980_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%9…>
2009:
The MV Arctic Sea, reportedly carrying timber, was allegedly
boarded by hijackers off the coast of Sweden, but much speculation
remains as to the actual cargo and events.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Arctic_Sea>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sagacity:
The quality of being sage, wise, or able to make good decisions; wisdom.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sagacity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That sav'd a wretch like me! I once
was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
--John Newton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Newton>
Ed, Edd n Eddy is an animated television series created by Danny
Antonucci and produced by Canada-based a.k.a. Cartoon. It premiered on
Cartoon Network on January 4, 1999, and ended on November 8, 2009 with
the premiere of the series' TV movie finale, Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big
Picture Show. Designed to resemble classic cartoons from the 1940s to
the 1970s, the series revolves around three adolescent boys known as
"the Eds", who constantly invent schemes to make money from their peers
to purchase jawbreakers. Their plans usually fail, leaving them in
various predicaments. Before signing a contract with Cartoon Network,
Antonucci approached Nickelodeon, but the channel demanded creative
control of the show, which Antonucci did not agree to. Several specials,
shorts, and video games either based on the series or featuring the
series' characters have been produced. Viewed from 31 million households
in 29 countries by both children and adults, Ed, Edd n Eddy received
positive reviews and several awards and nominations. It remains the
longest-running original Cartoon Network series and Canadian-made
animated series to date.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed,_Edd_n_Eddy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1881:
The International Federation of Gymnastics, the world's oldest
international sport federation, was founded in Liège, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_Internationale_de_Gymnas…>
1914:
Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum to allow
them to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, that
Serbia would ultimately reject, leading to World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis>
1942:
The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp
began operation, killing 6,500 Jews that had been transported from the
Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treblinka_extermination_camp>
1983:
The Sri Lankan Civil War began after members of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam ambushed a convoy of Sri Lanka Army soldiers in
northern Sri Lanka, which was followed by large-scale riots carried out
by Sinhalese against Tamils that became known as Black July.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War>
1986:
Sarah Ferguson married Prince Andrew, Duke of York at
Westminster Abbey, joining the British Royal Family as the Duchess of
York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah,_Duchess_of_York>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
levity:
1. Lightness of manner or speech, frivolity.
2. The state or quality of being light, buoyancy.
3. (countable) A lighthearted or frivolous act.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/levity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.
--Raymond Chandler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>
1
0
July 22: Pi
by English Wikipedia Article of the Day
22 Jul '12
22 Jul '12
π (or pi) is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's
circumference to its diameter. It is approximately equal to 3.14159. π
is an irrational number, which means that it cannot be expressed exactly
as a ratio of two integers, although it is roughly approximated by 22/7.
It is a transcendental number – a number that cannot be produced with
a finite sequence of algebraic operations (sums, products, powers, and
roots). The transcendence of π implies that it is impossible to solve
the ancient challenge of squaring the circle with a compass and ruler.
The digits in the decimal representation of π appear to be random.
Because its definition relates to the circle, π is found in many
formulae in trigonometry and geometry, such as Euler's identity,
eiπ + 1 = 0. It is also found in formulae from other branches of
science, such as cosmology, number theory, statistics, fractals,
thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
Two days after becoming the first recorded European to complete
a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico, Scottish-
Canadian explorer Alexander Mackenzie reached the westernmost point of
his journey and inscribed his name on a rock.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_(explorer)>
1802:
Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam, which
had experienced centuries of feudal warfare.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gia_Long>
1934:
Bank robber John Dillinger (pictured), whose exploits were
sensationalized across the United States, was shot dead by police in an
ambush outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger>
1991:
American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after police discovered human remains in his
apartment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer>
2002:
The Israeli Defense Forces dropped a bomb on the home of Salah
Shehade, the leader of the military arm of Hamas, killing him and his
family.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_Shehade>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
roundelay:
(music) A poem or song having a line or phrase repeated at regular
intervals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roundelay>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned
that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too
fast. Nevertheless, we make a beginning. It is not for the metal alone
we go to the Dead Places now — there are the books and the writings.
They are hard to learn. And the magic tools are broken — but we can
look at them and wonder. At least, we make a beginning. And, when I am
chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go to the
Place of the Gods — the place newyork — not one man but a company.
We shall look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the
others — the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men
who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the
dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build
again.
--Stephen Vincent Benét
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Vincent_Ben%C3%A9t>