Tropical Storm Marco was the smallest tropical cyclone on record. The
thirteenth named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Marco
developed out of a broad area of low pressure over the northwestern
Caribbean during late September 2008. Influenced by a tropical wave on
October 4, a small low-level circulation center developed over Belize.
After crossing the southern end of the Yucatán Peninsula, the low was
declared Tropical Depression Thirteen early on October 6. The
depression quickly intensified into a tropical storm (pictured) and was
given the name Marco later that day. Marco reached its peak intensity
with winds of 65 miles per hour (100 km/h) early on October 7. Around
this time, tropical storm force winds extended 11.5 miles (18.5 km)
from the center of the storm, making Marco the smallest tropical cyclone
on record. Around 1200 UTC, Marco made landfall near Misantla,
Veracruz. The storm rapidly weakened after landfall, dissipating later
that day. Because of its small size, Marco caused minimal damage.
However, the storm's heavy rains led to floods up to 10 feet (3.0 m)
deep that covered highways and damaged homes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Marco_(2008)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
404:
Aelia Eudoxia, empress consort of Byzantine emperor Arcadius,
died from complications of childbirth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelia_Eudoxia>
1683:
German immigrants to the Pennsylvania Colony founded
Germantown, the first permanent German settlement in North America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American>
1908:
Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, causing a crisis that permanently damaged their relations
with Russia and the Kingdom of Serbia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_crisis>
1973:
Egypt, under the leadership of President Anwar Sadat, launched
Operation Badr in co-ordination with Syria, crossing the Suez Canal and
attacking the fortified Israeli Bar Lev Line, starting the Yom Kippur
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War>
1998:
University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was attacked and
fatally wounded for being gay near Laramie, Wyoming, US, dying six days
later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wizened:
Withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wizened>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need
just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.
--Le Corbusier
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier>
Anodyne is the fourth and final studio album by American alternative
country band Uncle Tupelo, released on October 5, 1993. The recording
of the album was preceded by the departure of the original drummer Mike
Heidorn and the addition of three new band members: bassist John
Stirratt, drummer Ken Coomer, and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston.
The band signed with Sire Records shortly before recording the album;
Anodyne was Uncle Tupelo's only major label release until 89/93: An
Anthology in 2002. Recorded in Austin, Texas, Anodyne featured a split
in songwriting credits between singers Jay Farrar (pictured in 2007) and
Jeff Tweedy, plus a cover version of the Doug Sahm song "Give Back the
Key to My Heart", with Sahm on vocals. The lyrical themes were
influenced by country music and—more than their preceding
releases—touched on interpersonal relationships. After two promotional
tours for the album, which sold over 150,000 copies, tensions between
Farrar and Tweedy culminated in the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. Well-
received upon its initial release, Anodyne was re-mastered and re-
released in 2003 by Rhino Entertainment including five bonus tracks.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodyne_(album)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
French Revolution: Upset about the high price and scarcity of
bread, thousands of Parisian women and their various allies marched on
the royal palace at Versailles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_March_on_Versailles>
1910:
The Portuguese Republican Party organised a coup d'etat,
deposed the constitutional monarchy and implanted a republican regime in
Portugal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_October_1910_revolution>
1963:
The U.S. suspended the Commercial Import Program, its main
economic support for South Vietnam, in response to oppression of
Buddhism by President Ngo Dinh Diem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Import_Program>
1973:
Seven nations signed the European Patent Convention, providing
an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are
granted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Patent_Convention>
2011:
Two Chinese cargo ships were attacked on a stretch of the
Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area of Southeast Asia, and their
crew murdered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
amber:
1. Translucent fossilized tree resin, generally yellow or orange but
sometimes blue, often used as jewelry.
2. (in British English) The middle light in a set of three traffic lights,
between the red and the green lights.
3. (in biology, biochemistry and genetics) The RNA codon UAG, which stops
the third stage of protein production, translation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amber>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No man has received from nature the right to give orders to
others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same
species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his
reason.
--Denis Diderot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denis_Diderot>
Terry-Thomas (1911–90) was an English comedian and character actor,
known to a world-wide audience through his portrayals of upper class
cads, toffs and bounders. His dress sense and style were striking, as
was the gap of a third of an inch between his two front teeth. He worked
his way through uncredited film parts in the 1930s before wartime
service with Entertainments National Service Association and Stars in
Battledress led to a post-war career on stage and then into How Do You
View? (1949), the first comedy series on British television. He appeared
in British films such as Private's Progress (1956), Blue Murder at St
Trinian's (1957), and Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959). During the
early 1960s he worked extensively in Hollywood, providing a coarser
version of his screen persona in films such as Bachelor Flat (1962),
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and How to Murder Your Wife
(1965). After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1971, he spent
much of his fortune on medical treatments. He lived in poverty towards
the end of his life, existing on charitable hand-outs, before a
1989 charity gala in his honour brought him financial comfort for the
remaining months before his death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry-Thomas>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1824:
Mexico enacted its first constitution, defining the nation as a
federal republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1824_Constitution_of_Mexico>
1957:
Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to
orbit the Earth, was launched by an R-7 rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1>
1963:
Flora (radar image pictured), one of the wettest and deadliest
hurricanes in history, made landfall in Cuba, after having previously
struck Tobago and Hispaniola.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Flora>
1993:
Russian Constitutional Crisis: Tanks bombarded the White House
in Moscow while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rallied
outside.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis>
2003:
A suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured more than 50
others inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_restaurant_suicide_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
catloaf:
The loaflike form of a domestic cat sitting with paws tucked underneath
the body.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catloaf>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
General education is the best preventive of the evils now most
dreaded. In the civilized countries of the world, the question is how to
distribute most generally and equally the property of the world. As a
rule, where education is most general the distribution of property is
most general.... As knowledge spreads, wealth spreads. To diffuse
knowledge is to diffuse wealth. To give all an equal chance to acquire
knowledge is the best and surest way to give all an equal chance to
acquire property.
--Rutherford B. Hayes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes>
USS Lexington (CV-2) was an early aircraft carrier built for the
United States Navy during the 1920s. Originally designed as a
battlecruiser, she was converted into an aircraft carrier during
construction to comply with the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval
Treaty. Lexington was at sea when the Pacific War began in 1941,
ferrying fighter aircraft to Midway Island. She was sent to the Coral
Sea in February 1942 to block any Japanese advances into the area.
Together with the carrier Yorktown, she successfully attacked Japanese
shipping off the east coast of New Guinea in early March. Lexington
rendezvoused with Yorktown in the Coral Sea in early May. A few days
later the Japanese began Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea, and the two American carriers attempted to stop the
invasion. Aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown succeeded in badly
damaging the carrier Shōkaku, but Japanese aircraft crippled Lexington.
Vapors from leaking aviation gasoline tanks sparked a series of
explosions and fires that could not be controlled, and the carrier had
to be scuttled by an American destroyer during the evening of 8 May to
prevent her capture.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(CV-2)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1918:
World War I: Following his armed forces' defeat to the Allied
Powers, Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I abdicated in favor of his son
Boris III (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_III_of_Bulgaria>
1935:
Italian forces under General Emilio De Bono invaded Abyssinia
during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bono%27s_invasion_of_Abyssinia>
1963:
Oswaldo López Arellano replaced Honduran President Ramón
Villeda Morales in a violent coup and initiated two decades of military
rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Honduran_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1993:
American armed forces attempted to capture officials of
Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization at the Battle of
Mogadishu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu_(1993)>
2003:
Roy Horn of the American entertainment duo of Siegfried & Roy
was mauled by a tiger during a performance at The Mirage hotel and
casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_%26_Roy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unitive:
Causing or characterized by unity or union.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unitive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have one, so
I address you with no greater authority than that with which liberty
itself always speaks. I declare the global social space we are building
to be naturally independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us.
You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess any methods of
enforcement we have true reason to fear. Governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor
received ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you
know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders.
--John Perry Barlow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow>
Pride & Prejudice is a 2005 British romance film directed by Joe
Wright, based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name. The film depicts
five sisters from an English family of landed gentry as they deal with
issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions. Keira Knightley
(pictured) stars as Elizabeth Bennet, while Matthew Macfadyen plays her
romantic interest Mr. Darcy. The film avoided depicting a "perfectly
clean Regency world", presenting instead a "muddy hem version" of the
time. It was marketed to a younger, mainstream audience; promotional
items noted that it came from the producers of 2001 romantic comedy
Bridget Jones's Diary before acknowledging its provenance as an Austen
novel. Pride & Prejudice earned a worldwide gross of approximately
$121 million, which was considered a commercial success. It earned a
rating of 82 percent from review aggregator Metacritic, labelling it
universally acclaimed. The film earned four nominations at the
78th Academy Awards, including one for Knightley as Best Actress. Pride
& Prejudice has failed to match the cultural impact of the British
1995 television series, though Knightley has become associated with her
character among younger viewers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_%26_Prejudice_(2005_film)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1263:
Scottish–Norwegian War: The armies of Norway and Scotland
fought at the Battle of Largs, an inconclusive engagement near the
present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Largs>
1835:
Mexican dragoons dispatched to disarm settlers at Gonzales,
Texas, encountered stiff resistance from a Texian militia in the Battle
of Gonzales, the first armed engagement of the Texas Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales>
1925:
Scottish inventor John Logie Baird (bust pictured) successfully
transmitted the first television picture with a greyscale image.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird>
1941:
World War II: Nazi German forces began Operation Typhoon, an
all-out offensive against Moscow, starting the three-month long Battle
of Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moscow>
1996:
A maintenance worker's failure to remove tape covering the
static ports of the aircraft caused Aeroperú Flight 603 to crash into
the ocean near Lima, Peru, due to instrument failure.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroper%C3%BA_Flight_603>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
splurge:
1. To gush, to flow or move in a rush.
2. To spend (usually money) lavishly or extravagantly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/splurge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is
momentary.
--Mahatma Gandhi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi>
Ramaria botrytis is an edible species of coral fungus in the family
Gomphaceae. It is commonly known as the clustered coral, the pink-tipped
coral mushroom, or the cauliflower coral. Its robust fruit body can grow
up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter and 20 cm (8 in) tall, and resembles
some marine coral. Its dense branches, which originate from a stout,
massive base, are swollen at the tips and divided into several small
branchlets. The branches are initially whitish but age to buff or tan,
with tips that are pink to reddish. The flesh is thick and white. The
type species of the genus Ramaria, R. botrytis was first described
scientifically in 1797 by mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon. A
widely distributed species, it is found in North America, North Africa,
central and eastern Europe, Australia, and Asia. Fruit bodies of Ramaria
botrytis are edible, and young specimens have a mild, fruity taste. Some
authors warn of laxative effects in susceptible individuals. The fungus
contains several bioactive compounds, and fruit bodies have
antimicrobial activity against several species and strains of drug-
resistant bacteria that cause disease in humans.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramaria_botrytis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1903:
The first modern World Series, the annual championship series
of Major League Baseball, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1903_World_Series>
1946:
Mensa, the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world, was
formed in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_International>
1961:
Despite strong resistance from the U.S. Armed Forces, the
Defense Intelligence Agency (seal pictured) was formed, becoming the
country's main global military espionage organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Intelligence_Agency>
1987:
Denmark became the first country to legalise civil unions
between same-sex couples.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Denmark>
2005:
Terrorist suicide bombs exploded at two sites in Bali,
Indonesia, killing twenty people and injuring over 120 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Bali_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wherenot:
Other related places, wherever; as in, to Bagdad, China, and wherenot.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wherenot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Jefferson refused to pin his hopes on the occasional success of
honest and unambitious men; on the contrary, the great danger was that
philosophers would be lulled into complacence by the accidental rise of
a Franklin or a Washington. Any government which made the welfare of men
depend on the character of their governors was an illusion.
--Daniel J. Boorstin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Boorstin>