The Water Rail is a bird of the rail family found across Europe, Asia
and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but
this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding
range. It breeds in reed beds and other marshy sites with tall, dense
vegetation, building its nest a little above the water level from
whatever plants are available nearby. The adult is 23–28 cm
(9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened
laterally to allow it easier passage through reed beds. It has mainly
brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks,
long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. The off-white, blotched
eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and the precocial downy chicks
hatch in 19–22 days. Water Rails are omnivorous, although they feed
mainly on animals. They are territorial even after breeding, and will
aggressively defend feeding areas in winter. These rails are vulnerable
to flooding or freezing conditions, loss of habitat and predation by
mammals (such as the American mink) and large birds, but overall the
species' huge range and large numbers mean that it is not considered to
be threatened.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Rail>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1202:
The first major action of the Fourth Crusade and the first
attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders, the Siege of Zara,
began in Zadar, Croatia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Zara>
1766:
William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey, signed
the charter establishing Queen's College, now known as Rutgers
University.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutgers_University>
1871:
Journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley located missing
missionary and explorer David Livingstone (both pictured, left and right
respectively) in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone>
1969:
The first episode of the children's television series Sesame
Street premiered on public broadcasting television stations in the
United States, to adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street>
2007:
At the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, King Juan
Carlos I of Spain asked President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez "Why don't
you shut up?" after Chávez repeatedly interrupted a speech by Spanish
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%BFPor_qu%C3%A9_no_te_callas%3F>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xoanon:
(historical) A wooden statue, used as a cult image in Ancient Greece.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xoanon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Dare to be wise! Energy and spirit is needed to overcome the
obstacles which indolence of nature as well as cowardice of heart oppose
to our instruction. It is not without significance that the old myth
makes the goddess of Wisdom emerge fully armed from the head of Jupiter;
for her very first function is warlike. Even in her birth she has to
maintain a hard struggle with the senses, which do not want to be
dragged from their sweet repose. The greater part of humanity is too
much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself
for a new and sterner struggle with error. Content if they themselves
escape the hard labor of thought, men gladly resign to others the
guardianship of their ideas, and if it happens that higher needs are
stirred in them, they embrace with a eager faith the formulas which
State and priesthood hold in readiness for such an occasion.
--Friedrich Schiller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller>
A Child of Our Time is a secular oratorio by the British composer
Michael Tippett (1905–98). It was inspired by events in 1938 that had
affected Tippett profoundly: the assassination of a German diplomat by a
young Jewish refugee (Herschel Grynszpan, pictured) and the Nazi
government's reaction in the form of the so-called Kristallnacht—a
vicious pogrom against Germany's Jewish population on the night of
9–10 November. Tippett uses these incidents to represent the
experiences of all oppressed peoples, in the context of a pacifist
message of ultimate understanding and reconciliation. The text's
recurrent themes of shadow and light reflect the Jungian psychoanalysis
which Tippett underwent in the years immediately before writing the
work. The oratorio's most original feature is the use of African
American spirituals, which perform the function allocated in Bach's
Passions to chorales; Tippett believed that these songs of oppression
possess a universality absent from specifically Christian and other
hymns. A Child of Our Time was well received on its first performance in
1944 at the Adelphi Theatre, London, and has since been performed all
over the world in many languages.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Child_of_Our_Time>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
The coup of 18 Brumaire led by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and
Napoleon deposed the French government, replacing the Directory with the
Consulate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18_Brumaire>
1888:
Mary Jane Kelly was murdered in London, widely believed to be
the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer
Jack the Ripper.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Kelly>
1913:
The "Big Blow" storm reached its maximum intensity in the Great
Lakes Basin of North America, destroying 19 ships and 68,300 tons of
cargo, and killing over 250 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913>
1989:
East Germany announced the opening of the inner German border
and the Berlin Wall, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War, impending
collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of Soviet
communism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border>
1998:
With the passing of the Human Rights Act, the United Kingdom
abolished capital punishment for all criminal offences.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dematerialize:
1. (intransitive) to disappear by becoming immaterial.
2. (transitive) to cause something to disappear by becoming immaterial.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dematerialize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great
work of art, there is, written small, the artist's signature.
--Carl Sagan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan>
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is the debut album of American hip hop
group Wu-Tang Clan, released in November 1993 on Loud Records and
distributed through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took
place during 1992 and 1993 at Firehouse Studio in New York City, and it
was mastered at The Hit Factory. The album's title originates from the
martial arts film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). The group's de
facto leader RZA (pictured), produced the album, utilizing heavy, eerie
beats and a sound largely based on martial-arts movie clips and soul
music samples. The album's distinctive sound created a blueprint for
hardcore hip hop during the 1990s and helped return New York City hip
hop to national prominence. Its sound also became hugely influential in
modern hip hop production, while the group members' explicit, humorous,
and free-associative lyrics have served as a template for many
subsequent hip hop records. Receiving generally positive reviews from
contemporary critics, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is regarded by
music writers as one of the most significant albums of the 1990s, as
well as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_Wu-Tang_(36_Chambers)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty, was
enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty as the first
Qing emperor to rule over China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunzhi_Emperor>
1837:
In South Hadley, Massachusetts, US, Mary Lyon founded a
seminary for women that became Mount Holyoke College, the first of the
Seven Sisters group of colleges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Holyoke_College>
1895:
German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen produced and detected
electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known today as X-ray.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray>
1940:
The Italian invasion of Greece failed as outnumbered Greek
units repulsed the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elaia%E2%80%93Kalamas>
1965:
The United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius
and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches from the Seychelles
to form the British Indian Ocean Territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_Ocean_Territory>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
turlough:
(Ireland) A temporary lake in an area of limestone, filled by rising
groundwater during the rainy winter season.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turlough>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are not expecting Utopia here on this earth. But God meant
things to be much easier than we have made them. A man has a natural
right to food, clothing, and shelter. A certain amount of goods is
necessary to lead a good life. A family needs work as well as bread.
Property is proper to man. We must keep repeating these things. Eternal
life begins now. "All the way to heaven is heaven, because He said, "I
am the Way." The cross is there, of course, but "in the cross is joy of
spirit." And love makes all things easy.
--Dorothy Day
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day>
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the
territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of
southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory
substantially. By the end of Ine's reign the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex
and Essex were no longer under West Saxon domination; however, Ine
maintained control of what is now Hampshire, and consolidated and
extended Wessex's territory in the western peninsula. Ine is noted for
his code of laws (Ine’s laws or laws of Ine), which he issued in about
694 (12th-century copy pictured). These laws were the first issued by an
Anglo-Saxon king outside Kent. They shed much light on the history of
Anglo-Saxon society, and reveal Ine's Christian convictions. Trade
increased significantly during Ine's reign, with the town of Hamwic (now
Southampton) becoming prominent. It was probably during Ine's reign that
the West Saxons began to mint coins, though none have been found that
bear his name. Ine abdicated in 726 to go to Rome, leaving the kingdom
to "younger men", in the words of the contemporary chronicler Bede. He
was succeeded by Æthelheard.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ine_of_Wessex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1665:
The London Gazette, the oldest surviving English-language
newspaper, was first published as the Oxford Gazette.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_London_Gazette>
1811:
American forces led by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry
Harrison defeated the forces of Shawnee leader Tecumseh's growing
American Indian confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe near present-
day Battle Ground, Indiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tippecanoe>
1885:
Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first
transcontinental railroad across Canada, concluded with the driving of
the "last spike" in Craigellachie, British Columbia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Spike_(Canadian_Pacific_Railway)>
1929:
The Museum of Modern Art (pictured), often identified as the
most influential museum of modern art in the world, opened to the
public.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art>
1941:
World War II: German aircraft sank the Soviet hospital ship
Armenia while she was evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers from
Crimea, killing an estimated 5,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia_(Soviet_hospital_ship)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Cassandra:
A person who makes dire predictions, especially those which are not
believed but turn out to be true.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cassandra>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In that daily effort in which intelligence and passion mingle
and delight each other, the absurd man discovers a discipline that will
make up the greatest of his strengths. The required diligence and
doggedness and lucidity thus resemble the conqueror's attitude. To
create is likewise to give a shape to one's fate. For all these
characters, their work defines them at least as much as it is defined by
them. The actor taught us this: There is no frontier between being and
appearing.
--Albert Camus
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus>
The Blackwater fire was caused by a lightning strike on August 18, 1937,
in Shoshone National Forest, about 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody,
Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest
fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and
change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, trapping
some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine died during the fire and
six died afterwards from severe burns and respiratory complications;
38 others were injured. More U.S. wildland firefighters died in the
Blackwater fire than in any incident since the Great Fire of 1910; the
death-toll was not surpassed until 2013 when 19 firefighters died in
the Yarnell Hill Fire. Firefighters in the first half of the 20th
century used mostly hand tools to suppress wildfires, and all gear was
carried by the firefighters or by pack animals. Weather forecasting and
radio communication were generally poor or nonexistent. After the
Blackwater fire, better ways to respond to such fires were developed,
including the smokejumper program in 1939 and the Ten Standard
Firefighting Orders (a standardized set of wildland firefighting
principles) in 1957.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_fire_of_1937>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
Scenes of Clerical Life, the first work by English author
George Eliot (pictured), was submitted for publication.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_of_Clerical_Life>
1869:
In the first official American football game, Rutgers College
defeated the College of New Jersey, 6–4, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football>
1935:
The Hawker Hurricane, the aircraft responsible for 60% of the
Royal Air Force's air victories in the Battle of Britain, made its first
flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hurricane>
1977:
The Kelly Barnes Dam in Stephens County, Georgia, US,
collapsed, and the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused $2.8
million in damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Barnes_Dam>
1995:
Madagascar's Rova of Antananarivo, which served as the royal
palace from the 17th to 19th centuries, was destroyed by fire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rova_of_Antananarivo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
isomorphic:
1. (mathematics) Having a one-to-one correspondence.
2. (biology) Having a similar structure or function to something that is
not related genetically or through evolution.
3. Having identical relevant structure.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isomorphic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire
arsenal is integrity.
--Zig Ziglar
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zig_Ziglar>
Francis Tresham (c. 1567 – 1605) was one of the English provincial
Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to
assassinate King James I. Having previously been imprisoned for his
role in a failed rebellion and involved in missions to Spain that sought
support for persecuted English Catholics, Tresham joined the Gunpowder
Plot in October 1605. Its leader Robert Catesby asked him to provide a
large sum of money and the use of Rushton Hall, but Tresham apparently
provided neither, instead giving a small amount of money to fellow
plotter Thomas Wintour. Tresham also expressed his concern that two of
his brothers-in-law would be killed if the plot succeeded. An anonymous
letter delivered to one of them was handed to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of
Salisbury, and was decisive in foiling the conspiracy. Historians
suspect that Tresham wrote it, although this is unproven. Catesby and
Wintour thought that Tresham was the author and threatened to kill him,
but he convinced them otherwise. Tresham was arrested on 12 November
and confined in the Tower of London, where he died of natural causes the
following month; his confession did not mention the letter.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Tresham>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began
with Nicaragua seceding from the union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America>
1916:
An armed confrontation in Everett, Washington, US, between
local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World
resulted in seven deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre>
1950:
Korean War: The 27th British Commonwealth Brigade succeeded in
preventing a Chinese break-through at Pakchon in the Battle of Pakchon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pakchon>
1983:
Five workers on the Byford Dolphin semi-submersible oil rig
were killed in an explosive decompression while drilling in the Frigg
gas field in the North Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin>
2003:
American serial killer Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts
of first degree murder.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Ridgway>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unit:
1. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.
2. (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.
3. (commerce) An item which may be sold singly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to
the practical recognition of the old revolutionary maxim, that
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."
--Susan B. Anthony
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony>
"Lisa the Skeptic" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season,
first aired in November 1997. On an archaeological dig with her class,
Lisa discovers a skeleton that resembles an angel. All of the
townspeople believe that the skeleton actually came from an angel, but
skeptical Lisa attempts to persuade them that there must be a rational
scientific explanation, asking the American paleontologist Stephen Jay
Gould to test a sample. After Gould tells Lisa that the tests were
inconclusive, she compares the belief in angels to the belief in
unicorns and leprechauns and in response, Springfield's religious
zealots go on a rampage to destroy all scientific institutions. The
episode's writer David X. Cohen (pictured) developed the idea after
visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and decided to loosely
parallel themes from the Scopes Monkey Trial. The episode received
generally positive reviews. It has been discussed in the context of
virtual reality, ontology, existentialism, and skepticism; it has also
been used in Christian religious education classes to initiate
discussion about angels, skepticism, science, and faith.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_the_Skeptic>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1890:
London's City and South London Railway, the first deep-level
underground railway in the world, opened, running a distance of 5.1 km
(3.2 mi) between the City of London and Stockwell.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_and_South_London_Railway>
1921:
After a speech by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich,
members of the Sturmabteilung, known as "brownshirts", physically
assaulted his opposition, an event which assumed legendary proportions
over time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung>
1960:
At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Dr. Jane
Goodall (pictured in 2010) observed a chimpanzee using a grass stalk to
extract termites from a termite hill, the first recorded case of tool
use by animals.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasakela_Chimpanzee_Community>
1995:
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal
Amir while at a peace rally at the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin>
2008:
Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected
President of the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mara:
1. (folklore) A nightmare; a spectre or wraith-like creature in
Scandinavian folklore, especially one that causes terrifying visions or
dreams.
2. (Buddhism) A malicious or evil spirit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mara>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
--Augustus Toplady
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustus_Toplady>
Bob Feller (1918–2010) was an American baseball pitcher who played
18 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians. Feller
pitched from 1936 to 1941 and from 1945 to 1956, interrupted by wartime
service in the U.S. Navy. In a career spanning 570 games, Feller
pitched 3,827 innings and posted a win–loss record of 266–162, with
279 complete games, 44 shutouts, and a 3.25 earned run average. He
first played for the Indians aged 17 and was the first pitcher to win
24 games in a season before the age of 21. He threw no-hitters in 1940,
1946, and 1951 and also recorded 12 one-hitters; his no-hitters and one-
hitters were records at the time of his retirement. He helped the
Indians win a World Series title in 1948 and an American League-record
111 wins and the pennant in 1954. Feller led the American League in
wins six times and in strikeouts seven times. In 1946, he recorded
348 strikeouts, a total not exceeded for 27 years. An eight-time All-
Star, Feller was 36th on Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest
Baseball Players and was named the publication's "greatest pitcher of
his time". He was a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century
Team in 1999.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Feller>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
644:
Umar, the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death, was
fatally stabbed by Pirouz Nahavandi, a Persian slave.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar>
1838:
The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English-
language daily broadsheet newspaper, was founded as the The Bombay Times
and Journal of Commerce.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_India>
1948:
The Chicago Tribune published the erroneous headline "Dewey
Defeats Truman" in its early morning edition shortly after incumbent
U.S. President Harry S. Truman officially upset the heavily favored
Governor of New York Thomas Dewey in the U.S. presidential election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Defeats_Truman>
1956:
In the midst of the Suez Crisis, during an invasion of the Gaza
Strip, Israeli soldiers shot dead hundreds of Palestinian refugees and
local inhabitants in Khan Yunis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Yunis_massacre>
1979:
Five members of the U.S. Communist Workers Party were shot and
killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party while
in a protest in Greensboro, North Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
canine:
1. Of, or pertaining to, dogs.
2. Dog-like.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
History may clarify our understanding of the supreme work of
art, but can never account for it completely; for the Time of art is not
the same as the Time of history.
--André Malraux
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux>
The sea is the connected body of salty water that covers over
70 percent of the Earth's surface. It moderates the Earth's climate and
has important roles in the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. It has
been travelled since ancient times, while scientific oceanography dates
broadly from Captain James Cook's 18th-century voyages. Winds produce
waves and surface currents, and deep-sea currents carry cold water to
every ocean. Large events such as submarine earthquakes can cause
destructive tsunamis. Tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and
the gravitational effects of the Moon and the Sun. A variety of
organisms live in the sea's many habitats, from the sunlit surface to
the cold, dark abyssal zone, and from the Arctic to colourful tropical
coral reefs. Life itself may have started in the sea. The sea provides
humans with food including fish and shellfish, and enables trade,
travel, mineral extraction, power generation, naval warfare, and
leisure, though often at the cost of marine pollution. The sea has been
important in human culture since Homer's Odyssey, appearing in
literature, mythology, marine art, cinema, theatre, classical music and
dream interpretation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
619:
Emperor Gaozu allowed the assassination of a khagan of the
Western Turkic Khanate by Eastern Turkic rivals, one the earliest events
in the Tang campaigns against the Western Turks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_campaigns_against_the_Western_Turks>
1889:
The Dakota Territory, an organized incorporated territory of
the United States, was split and became the states of North and South
Dakota.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota>
1917:
British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour
Declaration, proclaiming British support for the establishment of a
Jewish homeland in Palestine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration>
1963:
President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was assassinated,
marking the culmination of a coup d'état led by Duong Van Minh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngo_Dinh_Diem>
2007:
In Tbilisi, Georgia, 50,000–100,000 people demonstrated
against the allegedly corrupt government of president Mikheil
Saakashvili.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Georgian_demonstrations>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tell it to the marines:
(idiomatic) I do not believe what you said.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tell_it_to_the_marines>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you
know about yourself. … Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall
where it will. And outlive the bastards.
--Lois McMaster Bujold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold>
Lie Kim Hok (1853–1912) was a peranakan Chinese teacher, writer, and
social worker active in the Dutch East Indies. Born in Buitenzorg, Lie
studied in missionary schools. In the 1870s he began working as the
editor of two periodicals published by his teacher, leaving the position
in 1880. Lie's first books, including the critically acclaimed poem Sair
Tjerita Siti Akbari and grammar book Malajoe Batawi, were published in
1884; Lie published a further 23 books before his death, including Tjhit
Liap Seng (1886), considered the first Chinese Malay novel. Lie also
acquired printing rights for the newspaper Pembrita Betawi, helped
establish the Chinese organisation Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan, and wrote
numerous articles in newspapers. Styled the "father of Chinese Malay
literature", Lie is also considered influential to the colony's
journalism and linguistics. However, he has also drawn criticism for
adapting other writers' works without giving credit, a tendency first
discovered after his death of typhus. As a result of the language
politics in the Indies and independent Indonesia, his work has become
marginalised.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_Kim_Hok>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1141:
The Anarchy: Matilda's brief reign as the first female ruler of
England came to an end when her cousin Stephen of Blois regained the
throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen,_King_of_England>
1876:
The Colony of New Zealand dissolved its nine provinces and
replaced them with 63 counties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_New_Zealand>
1928:
Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced the current
29-letter Turkish alphabet to replace the Ottoman Turkish alphabet as
the official writing system of the Turkish language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_alphabet>
1954:
The Front de Libération Nationale began the Algerian War of
Independence against French rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War>
1963:
The Arecibo Observatory (pictured), with the world's largest
single-dish radio telescope, officially opened in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
auton:
(science fiction) A machine or robot, usually in the form of a living
being, designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auton>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When we survey the whole field of religion, we find a great
variety in the thoughts that have prevailed there; but the feelings on
the one hand and the conduct on the other are almost always the same,
for Stoic, Christian, and Buddhist saints are practically
indistinguishable in their lives. The theories which Religion generates,
being thus variable, are secondary; and if you wish to grasp her
essence, you must look to the feelings and the conduct as being the more
constant elements.
--William James
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_James>