USS New Ironsides was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the
United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was
commissioned midway through the war on 21 August 1862. She spent most of
her career blockading the Confederate ports of Charleston, South
Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina in 1863–65, and bombarded the
fortifications defending Charleston during the First and Second Battles
of Charleston Harbor. At the end of 1864 and the beginning of 1865 New
Ironsides bombarded the defenses of Wilmington in the First and Second
Battles of Fort Fisher. Although she was struck many times by
Confederate shells, gunfire never significantly damaged the ship or
injured the crew. Her only casualty in combat occurred when she was
struck by a spar torpedo carried by the Confederate torpedo boat David.
Eight crewmen were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during
the Second Battle of Fort Fisher in 1865. The ship was placed in reserve
after the war but was destroyed by fire in 1866.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_Ironsides>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
Jacobite risings: Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king
James VII of Scotland clashed with a government regiment of Covenanters
supporting William of Orange, in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral,
Dunkeld, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkeld>
1858:
The first of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen
A. Douglas, candidates for an Illinois seat in the United States Senate,
was held in Ottawa, Illinois.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Douglas_debates>
1942:
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army lost the Battle of the
Tenaru, the first of its three major land offensives during the
Guadalcanal Campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru>
1986:
A limnic eruption of a cloud of carbon dioxide from Lake Nyos
in Cameroon killed up to 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby
villages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos>
1992:
United States Marshals engaged a fugitive in a shootout at Ruby
Ridge, Idaho, beginning a twelve-day siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eunoia:
1. (rhetoric) Goodwill towards an audience, either perceived or real; the
perception that the speaker has the audience's interest at heart.
2. (medicine, psychology) A state of normal adult mental health.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eunoia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have no respect for people who deliberately try to be weird to attract
attention, but if that's who you honestly are, you shouldn't try to
"normalize yourself".
--Alicia Witt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alicia_Witt>
The Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders were a series of trials
held from 1949 to 1958 in which leaders of the Communist Party of the
United States (CPUSA) were accused of violating the Smith Act, a 1940
statute that set penalties for advocating the violent overthrow of the
government. The prosecution argued that the CPUSA's policies promoted
violent revolution; the defendants countered that they advocated a
peaceful transition to socialism, and that the First Amendment's
guarantee of free speech and association protected their membership in a
political party. The first trial in 1949 prosecuted the top leaders of
the party and was featured in the national headlines. After a ten month
trial, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to five year
prison terms. The judge also sent all five defense attorneys to jail for
contempt of court. Prosecutors then tried over 100 additional CPUSA
officers for violating the Smith Act. Some were tried solely because
they were members of the CPUSA. Many defendants had difficulty finding
attorneys to represent them. Prosecutions came to an end following the
US Supreme Court's 1957 Yates v. United States decision, which held that
defendants could be prosecuted only for their actions, not for their
beliefs. Membership in the CPUSA plummeted due to the trials, and never
recovered.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act_trials_of_Communist_Party_leaders>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
636:
Rashidun forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid took control of Syria
and Palestine in the Battle of Yarmouk, marking the first great wave of
Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yarmouk>
1710:
War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish-Bourbon army
commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational
army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragossa>
1882:
The 1812 Overture by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
was first performed at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture>
1988:
Fires in the United States' Yellowstone National Park destroyed
more than 150,000 acres (610 km2), the single-worst day of the
conflagration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_fires_of_1988>
1989:
The final stage of the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South
Australia, was completed, becoming the world's longest and fastest
guided busway with buses travelling a total of 12 km (7.5 mi) at
maximum speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) (example pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway>
2008:
Spanair Flight 5022 crashed just after take off from Madrid's
Barajas Airport, killing 154 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanair_Flight_5022>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disembogue:
1. To come out into the open sea from a river etc.
2. (of a river or waters) To pour out, to debouch; to flow out through a
narrow opening into a larger space.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disembogue>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Futurists and common sense concur that a substantial change, worldwide,
in life style and moral guidelines will soon become an absolute
necessity.
--Roger Wolcott Sperry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry>
The Rus' Khaganate was a polity that flourished during a poorly
documented period in the history of Eastern Europe (roughly the late 8th
and early to mid-9th centuries AD). A predecessor to the Rurik Dynasty
and the Kievan Rus', the Rus' Khaganate was a state (or a cluster of
city-states) set up by a people called Rus', who might have been
Norsemen (Vikings, Varangians), in what is today northern Russia. The
region's population at that time was composed of Baltic, Slavic, Finnic,
Turkic and Norse peoples. The region was also a place of operations for
Varangians, eastern Scandinavian adventurers, merchants and pirates.
According to contemporaneous sources, the population centers of the
region, which may have included the proto-towns of Holmgard (Novgorod),
Aldeigja (Ladoga), Lyubsha, Alaborg, Sarskoye Gorodishche, and Timerevo,
were under the rule of a monarch or monarchs using the Old Turkic title
Khagan. The Rus' Khaganate period marked the genesis of a distinct Rus'
ethnos, and its successor states would include Kievan Rus' and later
states from which modern Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine evolved.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27_Khaganate>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1612:
The "Samlesbury witches", three women from the Lancashire
village of Samlesbury, were accused of practising witchcraft in one of
the most famous witch trials in English history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samlesbury_witches>
1812:
War of 1812: American Navy frigate USS Constitution defeated
British Royal Navy frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia,
Canada, earning her nickname "Old Ironsides".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution_vs_HMS_Guerriere>
1929:
The highly influential American radio comedy show Amos 'n' Andy
(stars Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll pictured) made its debut.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_%27n%27_Andy>
1942:
Second World War: Allied forces suffered over 3,000 casualties
when they unsuccessfully raided the German-occupied port of Dieppe,
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieppe_Raid>
2003:
A Hamas suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded over 130
others on a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in
Jerusalem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_HaNavi_bus_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clemency:
1. The gentle or kind exercise of power; leniency, mercy; compassion in
judging or punishing.
2. (now rare) Mildness of weather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clemency>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm not smart. I try to observe. Millions saw the apple fall but Newton
was the one who asked why.
--Bernard Baruch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Baruch>
Stanley Holloway (1890–1982) was an English stage and film actor,
comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and
character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P.
Doolittle in My Fair Lady. He was also renowned for his comic monologues
and songs, which he performed and recorded throughout most of his
70-year career. He had his first major theatre success in Kissing Time
in 1919. In 1921, he joined a concert party, The Co-Optimists, and his
career began to flourish. Characters from his monologues such as Sam
Small, invented by Holloway, and Albert Ramsbottom, created for him by
Marriott Edgar, were absorbed into popular British culture, and Holloway
developed a following for the recordings of his many monologues. At the
outbreak of World War II, Holloway made short propaganda films on behalf
of the British Film Institute and Pathé News and took character parts
in a series of war films including Major Barbara, The Way Ahead, This
Happy Breed and The Way to the Stars. In 1956 he was cast as the
irresponsible Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. The role brought him
international fame. In his later years, Holloway appeared in television
series in the US and the UK, toured in revues, and appeared in stage
plays in Britain, Canada, Australia and the US.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Holloway>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
An unusually bright meteor procession blazed across the night
sky over Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Meteor_of_August_18,_1783>
1864:
American Civil War: At the Battle of Globe Tavern, Union forces
attempted to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Globe_Tavern>
1920:
The Nineteenth Amendment (authors Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
Susan B. Anthony pictured) to the United States Constitution was
ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage in America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Con…>
1966:
Vietnam War: Members from D Company of the 6th Battalion of the
Royal Australian Regiment were surrounded and attacked on all sides by a
much larger Viet Cong unit at the Battle of Long Tan, but held them off
for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Battalion,_Royal_Australian_Regiment>
1989:
Leading Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán was
assassinated during a public demonstration in the town of Soacha,
Cundinamarca.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Carlos_Gal%C3%A1n>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
social contract:
(philosophy, politics) An implicit agreement or contract among members
of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to
rule of law and acceptable conduct.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_contract>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can't help believing that these things that come from the subconscious
mind have a sort of truth to them. It may not be a scientific truth, but
it's psychological truth.
--Brian Aldiss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_Aldiss>
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band
Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital
download self-released, that customers could order for whatever price
they saw fit, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during
the last week of 2007. The album was released in North America on 1
January 2008 on TBD Records. In Rainbows was Radiohead's first release
after the end of their contract with EMI and the end of the longest gap
between studio albums in their career. Recording with producer Nigel
Godrich, Radiohead worked on In Rainbows for more than two years,
beginning in early 2005. In between recording, the band toured Europe
and North America for three months in mid-2006. The songwriting on In
Rainbows was more personal than that on Radiohead's other albums, with
singer Thom Yorke describing most tracks as his versions of "seduction
songs". Radiohead incorporated a wide variety of musical styles and
instruments on the album, using not only electronic music and string
arrangements, but also pianos, celestes, and the ondes Martenot. The
album earned widespread critical acclaim, and was ranked as one of the
best albums of 2007 by several publications. In 2012, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked the album no. 336 on their updated version of The 500
Greatest Albums of All Time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Rainbows>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first
commercially successful paddle steamer, went into service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_River_Steamboat>
1945:
Animal Farm, British author George Orwell's satirical allegory
of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm>
1950:
Korean War: A North Korean Army unit massacred 42 American
prisoners of war so that they would not slow the North Koreans down
(memorial pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_303_massacre>
1959:
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, one of the best selling and most
critically acclaimed jazz recordings of all time, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_of_Blue>
1998:
U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted in taped testimony that he
had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal>
2009:
A turbine at Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia,
broke apart violently, flooding the power station, causing widespread
power failures, and killing 75 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sayano-Shushenskaya_hydro_accident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
remuneration:
1. Something given in exchange for goods or services rendered.
2. A payment for work done; wages, salary, emolument.
3. A recompense for a loss; compensation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/remuneration>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody
knows. Where did he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody
knows. Taller than a house the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff,
at the very brink, in the darkness.
--Ted Hughes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Hughes>
José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco (1819–1880) was a politician,
monarchist, diplomat, teacher and journalist of the Empire of Brazil. In
1871, Rio Branco became the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime
Minister) for the first time. He would become the Council's longest-
serving president, and his cabinet the second longest, in Brazilian
history. His government was marked by a time of economic prosperity and
the enactment of several necessary reforms—though they proved to be
seriously flawed. The most important of these initiatives was the Law of
Free Birth, which granted freeborn status to children born to slave
women. Having become one of the main leaders of the Conservative Party,
the passage of this law increased Rio Branco's popularity. However, his
government was plagued by a long crisis with the Catholic Church that
had resulted from the expulsion of Freemasons from its lay brotherhoods.
After more than four years heading the Cabinet, Rio Branco resigned in
1875. Following a long vacation in Europe, his health swiftly declined
and he was diagnosed with oral cancer. Rio Branco died in 1880 and was
widely mourned throughout the country. He is regarded by most historians
as one of Brazil's greatest statesmen.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Paranhos,_Viscount_of_Rio_Branco>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The Americans, led by General John
Stark, routed British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the
Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bennington>
1891:
The Basilica of San Sebastian in Manila, the only all-steel
church in Asia, was officially consecrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Sebastian,_Manila>
1896:
A group led by Skookum Jim Mason discovered gold near Dawson
City, Yukon, Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush>
1900:
Second Boer War: A 10,000-strong column of soldiers left by
Lord Kitchener broke a 13-day siege of a small garrison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elands_River_(1900)>
1987:
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after takeoff in Detroit,
Michigan, US, killing all of the crew and passengers except one.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_255>
2009:
Y. E. Yang won the 2009 PGA Championship to become the first
Asian-born golfer to win a men's major golf championship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Yong-eun>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nowise:
(In) no way, (in) no manner, definitely not.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nowise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Rebellion must have an unassailable base, something guarded not merely
from attack, but from the fear of it:
--T. E. Lawrence
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence>
Manhunter is a 1986 film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon.
Written and directed by Michael Mann (pictured), it stars William
Petersen as offender profiler Will Graham, Tom Noonan as serial killer
Francis Dollarhyde—"The Tooth Fairy"—and features Brian Cox as
Hannibal Lecktor. Manhunter focuses on the forensic work carried out by
the FBI to track down the killer and shows the long-term effects that
cases like this have on Graham, highlighting the similarities between
him and his quarry. The film features heavily stylized use of color to
convey this sense of duality, and the nature of the characters'
similarity has been explored in academic readings of the film. Opening
to mixed reviews, Manhunter fared poorly at the box office at the time
of its release, making only $8.6 million in the United States. However,
it has been reappraised in more recent reviews and now enjoys a more
favorable reception, as both the acting and the stylized visuals have
been appreciated better in later years. Its resurgent popularity has
seen it labelled as a cult film.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_(film)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
718:
Forces of the Umayyad Caliphate abandoned their year-long siege
of Constantinople, causing the caliphate to give up its goal of
conquering the Byzantine Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%93718)>
1511:
Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city of Malacca, giving
Portugal control over the Strait of Malacca, through which all sea-going
trade between China and India was concentrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Malacca_(1511)>
1812:
War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors destroyed the United States
Army's Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois, and captured the
survivors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Dearborn>
1942:
World War II: The tanker SS Ohio reached Malta, as part of an
operation to deliver much needed supplies during the Siege of Malta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pedestal>
1963:
President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of
Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trois_Glorieuses_(1963)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avail:
1. (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
2. (transitive) To be of service to.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The supreme truths are neither the rigid conclusions of logical
reasoning nor the affirmations of credal statement, but fruits of the
soul's inner experience. Intellectual truth is only one of the doors to
the outer precincts of the temple. And since intellectual truth turned
towards the Infinite must be in its very nature many-sided and not
narrowly one, the most varying intellectual beliefs can be equally true
because they mirror different facets of the Infinite. However separated
by intellectual distance, they still form so many side-entrances which
admit the mind to some faint ray from a supreme Light. There are no true
and false religions, but rather all religions are true in their own way
and degree. Each is one of the thousand paths to the One Eternal.
--Sri Aurobindo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo>
DNA nanotechnology is the design and manufacture of artificial nucleic
acid structures for technological uses. In this field, nucleic acids
such as DNA are used as non-biological engineering materials for
nanotechnology rather than as the carriers of genetic information in
living cells. Researchers in the field have created static structures
such as crystal lattices, nanotubes, polyhedra, and arbitrarily shaped
DNA origami; as well as functional structures including molecular
machines and DNA computers. The conceptual foundation for DNA
nanotechnology was first laid out in the early 1980s, and the field
began to attract widespread interest in the mid-2000s. The field is
beginning to be used as a tool to solve basic science problems in
structural biology and biophysics, such as protein structure
determination, and potential real-world applications in nanomedicine and
molecular scale electronics are under development.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_nanotechnology>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1842:
American Indian Wars: American general William J. Worth
declared the Second Seminole War to be over.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Seminole_War>
1888:
A recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost
Chord (audio clip right), one of the first recordings of music ever
made, was played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's
phonograph in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord>
1994:
International fugitive Carlos the Jackal, wanted for a number
of terrorist attacks in Europe, was handed over to French agents by
Sudanese officials.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_the_Jackal>
2005:
Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a mountain north of
Marathon and Varnava, Greece, killing all 121 on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522>
2010:
The inaugural Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore for
athletes between 14 and 18 years old.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Olympic_Games>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
teenybopper:
A person, especially a female, in her early teens who follows popular
clothing fashions, music trends, and the like.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teenybopper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Come! Let us lay a lance in rest, And tilt at windmills under a wild
sky! For who would live so petty and unblest That dare not tilt at
something ere he die; Rather than, screened by safe majority, Preserve
his little life to little end, And never raise a rebel cry!
--John Galsworthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy>
The gray mouse lemur is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate,
found only on the island of Madagascar. Nearly indistinguishable from
each other by appearance, the gray mouse lemur and all other mouse
lemurs are considered cryptic species. For this reason, the gray mouse
lemur was considered the only mouse lemur species for decades until more
recent studies began to distinguish between the species. Like all mouse
lemurs, this species is nocturnal and arboreal. It is very active, and
although it forages alone, groups of males and females will form
sleeping groups and share tree holes during the day. It exhibits a form
of dormancy called torpor during the cool, dry winter months, and in
some cases undergoes seasonal torpor (or hibernation), which is unusual
for primates. Its diet consists primarily of fruit, insects, flowers,
and nectar. In the wild, its natural predators include owls, snakes, and
endemic mammalian predators. Predation pressure is higher for this
species than among any other primate species, with one out of four
individuals taken by a predator each year. This is counterbalanced by
its high reproductive rate. Although threatened by deforestation,
habitat degradation, and live capture for the pet trade, it is
considered one of Madagascar's most abundant small native mammals.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_mouse_lemur>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1521:
After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés captured Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquered the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Tenochtitlan>
1868:
A major earthquake near Arica, Peru, caused an estimated 25,000
casualties, and the subsequent tsunami caused considerable damage as far
away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake>
1906:
The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry
Regiment were accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white
police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all
were later dishonorably discharged.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownsville_Affair>
2004:
Hurricane Charley struck the U.S. state of Florida (damage
pictured), just 22 hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie inflicted its own
damage to the state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley>
2010:
Canadian authorities boarded the MV Sun Sea and placed the 492
Sri Lankan Tamil refugees on board into detention, drawing criticism
from international civil rights groups.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sun_Sea_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
erratic:
(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a
glacier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erratic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe in the supreme excellence of righteousness; I believe that the
law of righteousness will triumph in the universe over all evil; I
believe that in the attempt to fulfil the law of righteousness, however
imperfect it must remain, are to be found the inspiration, the
consolation, and the sanctification of human existence.
--Felix Adler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler>
The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost sports
competition and more than 200 nations participate. The Games are held
biennially, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating, so that
each of these is held every four years. Originally, the ancient Olympic
Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th
century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) in 1894, which is still the governing body of the games.
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen several changes to the games, such
as the creation of the Winter Games for ice and winter sports, the
Paralympic Games for athletes with a physical disability, and the Youth
Olympic Games. The Olympics have shifted away from the pure amateurism
envisioned by Coubertin to allow participation of professional athletes.
The growing importance of the mass media has created issues around
corporate sponsorship and commercialization of the Games. World Wars led
to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts
during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
30 BC:
Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian
Ptolemaic dynasty, committed suicide, allegedly by means of an asp bite.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII>
1121:
Forces led by David the Builder decisively won the Battle of
Didgori, driving Ilghazi and the Seljuk Turks out of Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Didgori>
1877:
American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Deimos, the smaller
of the two moons of Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_(moon)>
1944:
After a week of indiscriminate killing of civilians in Wola,
Warsaw, Poland, SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski ordered that any
remaining Poles be sent to labour or concentration camps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wola_massacre>
1950:
Korean War: Members of the North Korean People's Army executed
75 captured U.S. Army prisoners of war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Gulch_massacre>
1990:
American paleontologist Sue Hendrickson found the most complete
skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus ever discovered near Faith, South Dakota,
US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_(dinosaur)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
repechage:
(sports) A heat (as in rowing or fencing) in which the best competitors
who have lost in a previous round compete for a place or places yet left
in the next round.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repechage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take
part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the
essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. To
spread these principles is to build up a strong and more valiant and,
above all, more scrupulous and more generous humanity.
--Pierre de Coubertin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Coubertin>