The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago. Regions of the
city, referred to as sides, are divided by the Chicago River and its
branches. The South Side of Chicago was originally defined as all of the
city south of the main branch of the Chicago River, but it now excludes
the Loop. The South Side has a varied ethnic composition, and it has
great disparity in income and other demographic measures. The South Side
covers 60% of the city's land area, with a higher ratio of single-family
homes and larger sections zoned for industry than the rest of the city.
Neighborhoods such as Armour Square, Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, and
Pullman tend to be composed of more blue collar residents, while Hyde
Park, the Jackson Park Highlands District, Kenwood, and Beverly tend to
have middle, upper-middle class, and affluent residents. The South Side
boasts a broad array of cultural and social offerings, such as
professional sports teams, landmark buildings, nationally renowned
museums, elite educational institutions, world class medical
institutions, and major parts of the city's elaborate parks system.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Side,_Chicago>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
3114 BC:
The epoch of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, a non-
repeating, vigesimal calendar used by the Maya civilization and several
other Mesoamerican cultures, occurred.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calendar>
106:
The region of Dacia, comprising regions of modern Romania,
became a province of the Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Dacia>
1492:
The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected
Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave,_1492>
1952:
King Talal of Jordan abdicated due to health reasons and was
succeeded by his eldest son Hussein (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_of_Jordan>
1965:
Violent race riots began in Watts, Los Angeles, California,
lasting for six days and leaving 34 people dead and 1,032 others
injured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riots>
1973:
At a party in the recreation room of a New York City apartment
building, DJ Kool Herc began rapping during an extended break, laying
the foundation for hip-hop music.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Kool_Herc>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bevy:
1. A group of animals, in particular quails.
2. A large group or collection.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bevy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Lo! We revealed it on
the Night of Predestination. Ah, what will convey unto thee what the
Night of Power is! The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their
Lord, with all decrees. (The night is) Peace until the rising of the
dawn. as translated by
--M. M. Pickthall
<https://en.wikiquote.org//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaduke_Pickthall>
The Gregorian mission was the missionary endeavour sent by Pope Gregory
I (1620s portrait pictured) to the Anglo-Saxons in 596 AD. Headed by
Augustine of Canterbury, its goal was to convert the Anglo-Saxons to
Christianity. Along with Irish and Frankish missionaries, they converted
Britain and helped influence the Hiberno-Scottish missionaries on the
continent. In the late 6th century, Pope Gregory sent a group of
missionaries to Kent to convert Æthelberht, King of Kent, whose wife,
Bertha, was a Frankish princess and practising Christian. Augustine was
the prior of Gregory's own monastery in Rome, and Gregory prepared the
way for the mission by soliciting aid from the Frankish rulers along
Augustine's route. In 597, the forty missionaries arrived in Kent and
were permitted by Æthelberht to preach freely in his capital of
Canterbury. Soon the missionaries wrote to Gregory, telling him of their
success and that conversions were taking place. A second group of monks
and clergy was dispatched in 601, bearing books and other items for the
new foundation. The exact date of Æthelberht's conversion is unknown,
but it occurred before 601. Before Æthelberht's death in 616, a number
of other bishoprics had been established. Although the missionaries
could not remain in all of the places they had evangelised, by the time
the last of them died in 653, they had established Christianity in Kent
and the surrounding countryside and contributed a Roman tradition to the
practice of Christianity in Britain.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_mission>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1512:
War of the League of Cambrai: England and a combined Franco-
Breton fleet engaged in the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, during which an
explosion destroyed each navy's most powerful ship (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint-Mathieu>
1755:
The first wave of the Expulsion of the Acadians from the
present-day Canadian Maritime provinces by the British began with the
Bay of Fundy Campaign at Chignecto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fundy_Campaign_(1755)>
1793:
The Louvre, the most visited art museum in the world,
officially opened with an exhibition of 537 paintings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_du_Louvre>
1904:
Russo-Japanese War: The first major confrontation between
modern steel battleship fleets took place in the Battle of the Yellow
Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Yellow_Sea>
1944:
The German Army Detachment "Narwa" prevented the Soviet
Leningrad Front from capturing the strategically important Narva Isthmus
in Estonia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tannenberg_Line>
1981:
The severed head of kidnapped six-year-old Adam Walsh was found
in a canal in Vero Beach, Florida, prompting his father John to become
an advocate for victims' rights, helping to spur the formation of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh>
1990:
NASA's Magellan space probe reached Venus, fifteen months after
its launch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(spacecraft)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
leeward:
Away from the direction from which the wind is blowing. Downwind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leeward>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Being a politician is a poor profession. Being a public servant is a
noble one.
--Herbert Hoover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover>
The Western Ganga Dynasty was an important ruling dynasty of ancient
Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are
known as Western Gangas to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who
in later centuries ruled over modern Orissa. Though territorially a
small kingdom, the Western Ganga contribution to polity, culture and
literature of the modern south Karnataka region is considered important.
The Western Ganga kings showed benevolent tolerance to all faiths but
are most famous for their patronage towards Jainism resulting in the
construction of monuments in places such as Shravanabelagola and
Kambadahalli. The kings of this dynasty encouraged the fine arts due to
which literature in Kannada and Sanskrit flourished. Chavundaraya's
writing, Chavundaraya Purana of 978 CE, is an important work in Kannada
prose. Many classics were written on various subjects ranging from
religion to elephant management.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ganga_Dynasty>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1173:
The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become
the Leaning Tower of Pisa, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa>
1862:
American Civil War: After nearly being driven from the field in
the early part of the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Confederate troops
counterattacked and achieved a victory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Mountain>
1945:
World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb
named "Fat Man", devastating Nagasaki, Japan (mushroom cloud pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man>
1965:
Malaysia expelled the state of Singapore from its federation
due to heated ideological conflict between their respective ruling
parties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore>
1988:
Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los
Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in
ice hockey history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky>
2006:
British police arrested 24 people for conspiring to detonate
liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from
the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pankration:
An Ancient Greek martial art combining aspects of boxing and wrestling,
introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pankration>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This darkness will not last forever. There will some day come a Fifth of
November — or another date, it doesn't matter — when fires will burn
in a chain of brightness from Land's End to John O' Groats. The children
will dance and leap about them as they did in the times before. They
will take each other by the hand and watch the rockets breaking, and
afterwards they will go home singing to the houses full of light...
--P. L. Travers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers>
CenturyLink Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington,
United States. The stadium was designed for both American football and
soccer. It serves as the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the
National Football League (NFL) and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League
Soccer (MLS). Sounders FC have hosted and won two U.S. Open Cup
championship matches at CenturyLink in 2010 and 2011, setting an
attendance record for the tournament final each time. The venue also
hosts concerts, trade shows, and consumer shows along with sporting
events. Located within a mile (1.6 km) of Seattle's central business
district, it is accessible by multiple freeways and forms of mass
transit. It was built between 2000 and 2002 after voters approved
funding for the construction in a statewide election. This vote created
the Washington State Public Stadium Authority to oversee public
ownership of the venue. CenturyLink Field is a modern facility with
views of the skyline of Downtown Seattle and can seat 67,000 people.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CenturyLink_Field>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1786:
Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat completed the first
recorded ascent of Mont Blanc in the Alps, an act considered to be the
birth of modern mountaineering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc>
1942:
Following a speech by Mohandas K. Gandhi, the All India
Congress Committee passed the Quit India Resolution, calling for the
immediate independence of India from the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quit_India_Movement>
1969:
At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan took
the photo that was used for the cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road,
one of the most famous album covers in recording history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road>
1988:
The 8888 Uprising, a series of marches, demonstrations,
protests, and riots against the one-party state of the Burma Socialist
Programme Party in Burma, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8888_Uprising>
2010:
A massive mudslide of 1.8 million cubic metres (2,400,000
cu yd) of mud and rocks in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China,
killed 1,471 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Gansu_mudslide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shuttlecock:
(badminton) A lightweight object that is conical in shape with a cork or
rubber-covered nose, used in badminton as a ball is used in other
racquet games; a birdie.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shuttlecock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have to be reminded over and over again that Nature is full of
paradoxes.
--Henry Fairfield Osborn
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Fairfield_Osborn>
Peveril Castle is a medieval building overlooking the village of
Castleton in the English county of Derbyshire. Its site provides views
across the Hope Valley and Cave Dale. The castle is named after its
founder, William Peveril, who held lands in Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire on behalf of the king. It was built some time between the
Norman Conquest in 1066 and its first recorded mention in 1086, in the
Domesday Survey. Nearby Castleton benefited from the presence of the
castle, which acted as the administrative centre of an independent
lordship called Peak. In the 13th century there were periods of
building work at the castle, and by 1300 Peveril's final form had been
established. Towards the end of the 14th century, the lordship was
granted to John of Gaunt. Having little use for the castle, he ordered
some of its material to be stripped out for reuse, marking the beginning
of its decline. Since the time of John of Gaunt, the castle has been
administered by the Duchy of Lancaster. Peveril Castle became less
important administratively and by 1609 it was "very ruinous and serveth
for no use". In the 19th century, Sir Walter Scott featured the castle
in his novel Peveril of the Peak. The site is cared for by English
Heritage and situated in a national park. Peveril Castle is protected as
a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peveril_Castle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the
Tianshun Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>
1938:
The Holocaust: Prisoners from Dachau concentration camp were
sent to begin construction of Mauthausen-Gusen (entrance pictured), one
of the largest labour camp complexes in German-occupied Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen-Gusen_concentration_camp>
1942:
World War II: U.S. Marines initiated the first American
offensive of the Guadalcanal campaign with landings on Guadalcanal and
Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tulagi_and_Gavutu%E2%80%93Tanambogo>
1978:
Two years after the discovery of toxic waste that had been
negligently disposed of, U.S. President Jimmy Carter declared a federal
health emergency in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New
York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal>
1999:
The Chechnya-based Islamist militia group Islamic International
Brigade invaded the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan in support
of the Shura of Dagestan separatist movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Dagestan_(1999)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dressage:
An equestrian sport in which the horse and rider perform a test of
specific movements in an arena, and are judged on the horse's obedience,
acceptance of the bridle and of the rider's aids, gaits, impulsion, and
the harmony between horse and rider.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dressage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It turns out a lot of people don’t get it. Wikipedia is like
rock’n’roll; it’s a cultural shift.
--Jimmy Wales
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales>
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios.
Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game
is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's
critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. A Microsoft Windows version
of the game, developed by Microsoft Game Studios, was released on May
31, 2007. The player alternately assumes the roles of the human Master
Chief, voiced by Steve Downes (pictured), and the alien Arbiter in a
26th-century conflict between the human United Nations Space Command and
genocidal Covenant. Time constraints forced a series of cutbacks in the
size and scope of the game, including the campaign mode's cliffhanger
ending, which drew widespread criticism. On release, Halo 2 was the most
popular video game on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of
Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. Halo 2 is the
best-selling first-generation Xbox game, with at least 6.3 million
copies sold in the United States alone. Critical reception was generally
positive, with most publications lauding the strong multiplayer
component.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_2>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
achieved one of the greatest Lithuanian victories against the Tatars in
the Battle of Kletsk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kletsk>
1930:
New York City judge Joseph Force Crater mysteriously
disappeared, eventually earning him the title of "The Missingest Man in
New York".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Force_Crater>
1956:
DuMont, one of the world's first television networks, aired its
last program.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuMont_Television_Network>
1962:
Jamaica gained full independence from the United Kingdom, more
than 300 years after the English captured it from Spanish colonists in
1655.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica>
1991:
British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee first posted files
describing his ideas for a system of interlinked, hypertext documents
accessible via the Internet, to be called a "World Wide Web".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee>
2008:
Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was
ousted from power by a group of high-ranking generals that he had
dismissed from office several hours earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mauritanian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Olympiad:
1. (historical) A period of four years, by which the ancient Greeks
reckoned time, being the interval from one celebration of the Olympic
games to another, beginning with the victory of Corbus in the foot race,
which took place in the year 776 b.c.; as, the era of the olympiads.
2. An occurrence of the Olympic games.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Olympiad>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nine tithes of times Face-flatterer and backbiter are the same. And
they, sweet soul, that most impute a crime Are pronest to it, and impute
themselves, Wanting the mental range; or low desire Not to feel lowest
makes them level all; Yea, they would pare the mountain to the plain, To
leave an equal baseness; and in this Are harlots like the crowd, that if
they find Some stain or blemish in a name of note, Not grieving that
their greatest are so small, Inflate themselves with some insane
delight, And judge all nature from her feet of clay, Without the will to
lift their eyes, and see Her godlike head crowned with spiritual fire,
And touching other worlds. in
--Idylls of the King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Idylls_of_the_King>
Stamata Revithi was a Greek woman who ran the 40-kilometre marathon
during the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Games excluded women from
competition, but Revithi insisted that she be allowed to run. Revithi
ran one day after the men had completed the official race, and although
she finished the marathon in approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes and
found witnesses to sign their names and verify the running time, she was
not allowed to enter the Panathinaiko Stadium at the end of the race.
She intended to present her documentation to the Hellenic Olympic
Committee in the hopes that they would recognize her achievement, but it
is not known whether or not she did so. No known record survives of
Revithi's life after her run. According to contemporary sources, a
second woman, Melpomene, also ran the 1896 marathon race. There is
debate among Olympic historians as to whether or not Revithi and
Melpomene are the same person.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamata_Revithi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
641 or 642:
King Penda of Mercia defeated and killed King Oswald of
Northumbria at the Battle of Maserfield, traditionally believed to have
been fought in Oswestry, Shropshire, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Maserfield>
1888:
Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, going
106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-
Motorwagen (pictured), returning the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz>
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine
campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani>
1949:
A magnitude 6.8 ML earthquake struck near Ambato, Ecuador,
killing 5,050 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Ambato_earthquake>
1962:
Actress and model Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in
Brentwood, Los Angeles, an event that has become the center of one of
the most debated conspiracy theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dog days:
1. The days between early July and early September when Sirius (the Dog
Star) rises and sets with the Sun.
2. Hot, lazy days
3. A period of inactivity, laziness, or stagnation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dog_days>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given
by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to
cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but
because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the
earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and
meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until
"retirement," but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the
life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the
world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know
they can never compass with their understanding or desire.
--Wendell Berry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry>
The Song Thrush is a thrush that breeds across much of Eurasia. It has
brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has
three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which has repeated
musical phrases, has frequently been referred to in poetry. The Song
Thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially migratory
with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East; it has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia.
Although it is not threatened globally, there have been serious
population declines in parts of Europe, possibly due to changes in
farming practices. The Song Thrush builds a neat mud-lined cup nest in a
bush or tree and lays four or five dark-spotted blue eggs. It is
omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "anvil" on
which to smash snails. Like other perching birds (passerines), it is
affected by external and internal parasites and is vulnerable to
predation by cats and birds of prey.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Thrush>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1265:
Second Barons' War: Royal forces under Prince Edward defeated
Baronial forces under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester at the
Battle of Evesham near Evesham, Worcestershire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evesham>
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: The French Army of Italy under
Napoleon crushed an Austrian brigade in the Battle of Lonato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lonato>
1974:
A bomb placed by a neo-fascist group exploded on a train of the
Ferrovie dello Stato while on the Bologna–Florence railway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italicus_Express_bombing_1974>
1984:
Exactly a year after he came to power in the Republic of Upper
Volta through a military coup, President Thomas Sankara changed its name
to Burkina Faso (flag pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso>
1991:
An explosion on the Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos ruptured its
hull and it sank off the east coast of South Africa, but all 571 on
board were saved.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
yarl:
A deep, guttural vocal style with affected pronunciation, characteristic
of male grunge and postgrunge singers of the 1990s and early 2000s.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yarl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its
defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror
and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is
stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat
you. For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus —
and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn
from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter
swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter
stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old
hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve;
that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal
itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of
peace.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
Melville Island is a small peninsula in Nova Scotia, Canada, located in
the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour, west of Deadman's Island. It is
part of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The land is rocky, with thin,
acidic soil, but supports a limited woodland habitat. The site was
discovered by Europeans in the 1600s, though it was likely earlier
explored by aboriginals. It was initially used for storehouses before
being purchased by the British, who built a prisoner-of-war camp to hold
captives from the Napoleonic Wars and later the War of 1812. The burial
ground for the prisoners was on the adjacent Deadman's Island. Melville
Island was used as a receiving depot for slaves escaping the United
States, then as a quarantine hospital for immigrants arriving from
Europe (particularly Ireland). It briefly served as a recruitment centre
for the British Foreign Legion during the Crimean War and was then sold
to the British for use as a military prison. The land was granted to the
Canadian government in 1907, which used it to detain German and Austro-
Hungarian nationals during the First World War. During the Second World
War, prisoners were sent to McNabs Island instead, and ammunition depots
were kept on Melville Island. The peninsula now houses the clubhouse and
marina of the Armdale Yacht Club. Melville Island has been the subject
of a number of cultural works, most of which concern its use as a
prison.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_Island_(Nova_Scotia)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
The first Harvard–Yale Regatta—the first intercollegiate
sports event in the United States—was held on Lake Winnipesaukee, New
Hampshire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard%E2%80%93Yale_Regatta>
1916:
Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement was hanged at London's
Pentonville Prison for treason for his role in the Easter Rising, a
rebellion to win Irish independence from Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement>
1929:
Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed to likely be the messianic "World
Teacher", shocked the Theosophy movement by dissolving the Order of the
Star, the organisation established to support him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_in_the_East>
1936:
African American athlete Jesse Owens won the first of his four
gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes
of Aryan domination.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens>
1948:
Before the House Un-American Activities Committee of the United
States House of Representatives, former spy turned government informer
Whittaker Chambers accused U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss of
being a communist and a Soviet spy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alger_Hiss>
2005:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Mayor of Tehran, began his term
as the sixth President of Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
bowdlerize:
To remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or
otherwise unseemly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bowdlerize>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We came into a homeless frontier, a place where we were not welcome,
where nothing that lived was welcome, where thought and logic were
abhorrent and we were frightened, but we went into this place because
the universe lay before us, and if we were to know ourselves, we must
know the universe...
--Clifford D. Simak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak>
Brunette Coleman was a pseudonym used by the poet and writer Philip
Larkin (1922–1985). In 1943, towards the end of his time as an
undergraduate at St John's College, Oxford, he wrote several works of
fiction, verse and critical commentary under that name. The style he
adopted parodies that of popular writers of contemporary girls' school
fiction, but the extent of the stories' homoerotic content suggests they
were written primarily for adult male titillation. The Coleman oeuvre
consists of a completed novella, Trouble at Willow Gables, set in a
girls' boarding school; an incomplete sequel, Michaelmas Term at St
Brides, set in a women's college at Oxford; seven short poems with a
girls' school ambience; a fragment of pseudo-autobiography; and a
critical essay purporting to be Coleman's literary apologia. The
manuscripts were stored in the Brynmor Jones Library at the University
of Hull, where Larkin was chief librarian between 1955 and 1985. Their
existence was revealed to the public when Larkin's Selected Letters and
Andrew Motion's biography were published in 1992 and 1993 respectively.
The Coleman works themselves were finally published, with other Larkin
drafts and oddments, in 2002. Larkin's Oxford years were for him a
period of confused sexuality and limited literary output. The adoption
of a female persona released him from his creative inhibitions; the
three years following the Coleman phase saw the publication, under
Larkin's own name, of two novels and his first poetry collection.
Thereafter his career as a prose writer declined, and despite several
attempts he completed no further novels. Critical reaction to the
publication of the Coleman material was divided.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunette_Coleman>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
416:
Unpopular among the senate aristocracy for his reform efforts,
Roman emperor Majorian was deposed and executed five days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorian>
1830:
His hand forced by the recent July Revolution, Charles X of
France was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his grandson Henry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_X_of_France>
1876:
American lawman Wild Bill Hickok was murdered during a poker
game in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok>
1980:
A terrorist bomb exploded at the Central Station of Bologna,
Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_massacre>
1990:
Iraq invaded Kuwait, overrunning the Kuwaiti military within
two days, and eventually sparking the outbreak of the Gulf War seven
months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
dolorous:
Solemnly or ponderously sad.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dolorous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Words like "freedom," "justice," "democracy" are not common concepts; on
the contrary, they are rare. People are not born knowing what these are.
It takes enormous and, above all, individual effort to arrive at the
respect for other people that these words imply.
--James Baldwin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Baldwin>