Samuel Merrill Woodbridge (1819–1905) was an American clergyman,
theologian, author, and college professor. A graduate of New York
University and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Woodbridge served
several congregations in New York and New Jersey for sixteen years as a
minister in the Reformed Church in America. He was the eleventh
generation in a large family of English and American clergymen dating
back to the late fifteenth century. After accepting a pastoral call in
New Brunswick, New Jersey, he was appointed professor of ecclesiastical
history and church government at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary,
where he taught for 44 years. He also taught for seven years as
professor of "metaphysics and philosophy of the human mind" at Rutgers
College (now Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey). Woodbridge
later led the New Brunswick seminary as Dean and President of the
Faculty from 1883 to 1901—both positions were equivalent to a seminary
president. He was the author of three books and several published
sermons and addresses covering various aspects of Christian faith,
theology, church history and governance.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Merrill_Woodbridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
220:
Emperor Xian abdicated the throne and the Han Dynasty broke
apart, beginning the Three Kingdoms period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms>
630:
Muslims led by Muhammad conquered Mecca from the Quraysh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_Mecca>
1886:
The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial
Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Arsenal_F.C._(1886%E2%80%931966)>
1946:
The United Nations General Assembly created UNICEF, originally
to help provide emergency food and health care to children in countries
that had been devastated by World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF>
1981:
Salvadoran Civil War: About 900 civilians were killed by the
Salvadoran armed forces in an anti-guerrilla campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mozote_massacre>
2008:
American stock broker Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged
with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest such in
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stigmatize:
(transitive) To characterize as disgraceful or ignominious; to mark with
a stigma or stigmata.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stigmatize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We shall not look at caste or religion. All human beings in this
land — whether they be those who preach the vedas or who belong to
other castes — are one.
--Subramanya Bharathi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Subramanya_Bharathi>
The Common Raven is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the
northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids.
There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance,
although there are significant genetic differences among populations
from various regions. It is possibly the heaviest passerine; at
maturity, the Common Raven averages 63 centimetres (25 inches) in
length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in mass. Common Ravens can live
up to 21 years in the wild, a lifespan exceeded among passerines by
only a few Australasian species. Young birds may travel in flocks but
later mate for life, with each pair defending a territory. The Common
Raven has coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas
is considered a pest. Part of its success comes from its omnivorous
diet; Common Ravens are extremely versatile in finding sources of
nutrition. Some notable feats of problem-solving have been observed in
the species, leading to the belief that it is intelligent. Over the
centuries, it has been the subject of mythology, folklore, art, and
literature. In many cultures, it has been revered as a spiritual figure
or god.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Raven>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
France became the first country to adopt the metric system as
its system for weights and measures.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system>
1884:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by American author Mark Twain
was first published in the United Kingdom and Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn>
1901:
The first Nobel Prizes were awarded, on the anniversary of the
1896 death of their founder, Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred
Nobel (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize>
1948:
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, representing the first global expression of
rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights>
1989:
At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia,
journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the
Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending
Communist rule four months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsakhiagiin_Elbegdorj>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
canary in a coal mine:
(idiomatic) Something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a
useful early indicator of such conditions; something which warns of the
coming of greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health or
welfare.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canary_in_a_coal_mine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing his
conscience, is — not to give him things to think about, but to wake
things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for himself.
--George MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_MacDonald>
Joseph Desha (1768–1842) was a U.S. Representative and the ninth
Governor of Kentucky. After serving in the Northwest Indian War, he
moved to Mason County, Kentucky and parlayed his military record into
several terms in the state legislature. In 1807, he was elected as a
Democratic-Republican to the first of six consecutive terms in the U.S.
House. He was a war hawk, supporting the War of 1812, and commanded a
division at the Battle of the Thames. Leaving the House in 1818, he lost
to John Adair in the 1820 gubernatorial election. In 1824, he made a
second campaign for governor based on promises of relief for the state's
debtor class. He was elected by a large majority, and debt relief
partisans captured both houses of the General Assembly. When the
Kentucky Court of Appeals struck down debt relief legislation he
favored, he lobbied the legislature to replace it with a new court. His
reputation was damaged when he issued a pardon for his son, who was
accused of murder. He also hastened the resignation of Transylvania
University president Horace Holley, whom he considered too liberal.
Desha retired from public life in 1828.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Desha>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: After their loss in the Battle of
Great Bridge, British authorities were forced to evacuate from the
Colony of Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Great_Bridge>
1917:
First World War: Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman mayor of
Jerusalem, surrendered the city to the British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jerusalem_(1917)>
1968:
Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All
Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse (pictured), hypertext, and
the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart>
1979:
A World Health Organization commission of scientists certified
the global eradication of smallpox, making it the only human infectious
disease to date to have been completely eradicated from nature.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox>
2008:
Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was arrested for a number
of corruption crimes, including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat
that was being vacated by then-U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pass muster:
1. (idiomatic) To meet or exceed a particular standard.
2. (idiomatic) To adequately pass a formal or informal inspection.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pass_muster>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I neither oblige the belief of other person, nor overhastily
subscribe mine own. Nor have I stood with others computing or collating
years and chronologies, lest I should be vainly curious about the time
and circumstance of things, whereof the substance is so much in doubt.
By this time, like one who had set out on his way by night, and
travelled through a region of smooth or idle dreams, our history now
arrives on the confines, where daylight and truth meet us with a clear
dawn, representing to our view, though at a far distance, true colours
and shapes.
--John Milton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Milton>
The anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence is a conjecture
in theoretical physics that relates two kinds of physical theories. On
one side of the correspondence are conformal field theories, including
theories similar to the Yang–Mills theories that describe elementary
particles. On the other side of the correspondence are anti-de Sitter
spaces (cross section depicted), which are used in theories of quantum
gravity, formulated in terms of string theory or M-theory. Proposed by
Juan Maldacena in late 1997, the AdS/CFT correspondence represents a
major advance in our understanding of string theory and quantum gravity.
This is because it provides a non-perturbative formulation of string
theory and because it is the most successful realization of the
holographic principle, an idea in quantum gravity originally proposed by
Gerard 't Hooft. In addition, it provides a powerful toolkit for
studying strongly coupled quantum field theories and has been used to
study many aspects of nuclear and condensed matter physics by
translating problems in those subjects into more mathematically
tractable problems in string theory.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdS/CFT_correspondence>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
In his apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX
proclaimed the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, which
holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception>
1941:
The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied
Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto
Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che%C5%82mno_extermination_camp>
1963:
After being hit by a lightning strike while in a holding
pattern, Pan Am Flight 214 crashed near Elkton, Maryland, US, killing
all 81 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_214>
1987:
Arab–Israeli conflict: An Israeli army tank transporter
killed four Palestinian refugees and injured seven others during a
traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border,
sparking the First Intifada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada>
2009:
Bombings carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq in Baghdad,
Iraq, killed 127 and injured 448.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2009_Baghdad_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
menorah:
(Judaism) A candelabrum with nine branches used in Jewish worship on
Hanukkah.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/menorah>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is difficult to speak of what is common in a way of your own.

--Horace
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace>
Akagi was the second aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy
(IJN) to enter service, and the first large or "fleet" carrier. She was
converted to an aircraft carrier while still under construction to
comply with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, and figured prominently
in the development of the IJN's revolutionary doctrine that grouped
carriers together, concentrating their air power. The ship and her
aircraft first saw combat during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the
late 1930s. During the Pacific War, she took part in the Attack on Pearl
Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in the Southwest
Pacific in January 1942 as flagship of the First Air Fleet. Over the
next several months her aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia, assisted in
the conquest of the Dutch East Indies, and helped sink a British heavy
cruiser and an Australian destroyer in the Indian Ocean Raid. After
bombarding American forces on Midway Atoll during the Battle of Midway
in June, Akagi and the other carriers were attacked by aircraft from
Midway and three American carriers. Akagi was severely damaged, and she
was scuttled by Japanese destroyers to prevent her from falling into
enemy hands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Akagi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
43 BC:
Cicero, widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and
prose stylists, was killed after having been proscribed as an enemy of
the state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero>
1869:
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank
robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>
1936:
Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to
score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fingleton>
1949:
Chinese Civil War: The government of the Republic of China
relocated from Mainland China to Taipei (Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
pictured) on the island of Taiwan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei>
1988:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia,
killing at least 25,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Spitak_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
blunderbuss:
An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a
distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle,
therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc.
at short range: Timothy was excited to find a toy blunderbuss waiting
under the Christmas tree.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blunderbuss>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In a three-minute stretch between commercials, or in seven
hundred words, it is impossible to present unfamiliar thoughts or
surprising conclusions with the argument and evidence required to afford
them credibility. Regurgitation of welcome pieties faces no such
problem.
--Noam Chomsky
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky>
The law school of Beirut was a center for the study of Roman law in
classical antiquity located in Beirut. It flourished under the patronage
of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent
center of jurisprudence until its destruction in 551 CE. The earliest
written mention of the school dates to 239 CE, when its reputation had
already been established. The school attracted young, affluent Roman
citizens, and its professors made major contributions to the Codex of
Justinian. The school achieved such wide recognition throughout the
Empire that Beirut was known as the "Mother of Laws". Beirut was one of
the few schools allowed to continue teaching jurisprudence when
Byzantine emperor Justinian I (pictured) shut down other provincial law
schools. The school's facilities were destroyed in the aftermath of a
massive earthquake that hit the Phoenician coastline. It was moved to
Sidon but did not survive the Arab conquest of 635 CE. Ancient texts
attest that the school was located next to the ancient Anastasis church,
vestiges of which lie beneath the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral
in Beirut's historic center.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_school_of_Beirut>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1060:
Béla I the Champion was crowned king of Hungary.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary>
1921:
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed and then came into force
exactly one year later, establishing the Irish Free State, the first
independent Irish state to be recognised by the British government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Treaty>
1953:
Vladimir Nabokov completed his controversial novel Lolita, five
years after starting it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita>
1988:
The Australian Capital Territory (flag pictured) was granted
self-government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Australian_Capital_Territory>
2005:
Members of the People's Armed Police shot and killed several
people in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China, who were protesting government
plans to build a new power plant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhou_protests>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Nicholine:
Created by, in the style of, or pertaining to (any of several people
named) Nicholas.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nicholine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells That the wind sways above
a ruined shrine. Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells Hunger that
craves immortal Bread and Wine. Light songs we breathe that perish with
our breath Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod. They shall not
live who have not tasted death. They only sing who are struck dumb by
God.
--Joyce Kilmer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer>
Ambohimanga is a hill and traditional fortified royal settlement (rova)
in Madagascar, located approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) northeast of
the capital city of Antananarivo. The hill and the rova are considered
the most significant symbol of the cultural identity of the Merina
people and the most important and best-preserved monument of the
precolonial Kingdom of Madagascar. The walled historic village includes
tombs of the Vazimba, the island's first inhabitants, and the residences
and burial sites of several key monarchs. It remains a place of worship
to which pilgrims come. Founded by King Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710)
as the capital of the Avaradrano region, Ambohimanga is one of the
twelve sacred hills of Imerina and contains the house of King
Andrianampoinimerina (1787–1810), who led the successful effort to
unify most of Madagascar under Merina rule. Ambohimanga was added to the
list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001. Its historic sister city,
the Rova of Antananarivo, was destroyed by fire in 1995. Numerous
governmental and civil society organizations support the conservation of
Ambohimanga by restoring damaged features and preventing further
degradation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambohimanga>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
Fire engulfed the Brooklyn Theater in Brooklyn, New York,
killing at least 278 people, mostly due to smoke inhalation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Theater_Fire>
1933:
Prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States
officially ended when the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution was ratified, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_C…>
1936:
The 1936 Soviet Constitution, also known as the "Stalin"
constitution, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution>
1972:
Gough Whitlam took office as the 21st Prime Minister of
Australia and formed a duumvirate with his deputy Lance Barnard, ending
23 years of Liberal-Country Party government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam>
2005:
The Civil Partnership Act came into force, granting civil
partnerships in the United Kingdom with rights and responsibilities
identical to civil marriage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Partnership_Act_2004>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
archeress:
A female archer, a woman who shoots an arrow from a bow: Elizabeth
deigned to show her skill as an archeress, to the detriment of the
dappled deer in the wide park beyond (John Berwick Harwood).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/archeress>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We're not trying to entertain the critics ... I'll take my
chances with the public.
--Walt Disney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>
Operation Crossroads was a series of two nuclear weapon tests conducted
by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946 to investigate the
effect of such weapons on naval ships. They were the first nuclear
detonations after World War II, and the first ever to be publicly
announced beforehand and observed by an invited audience, including a
large press corps. A fleet of 95 target ships was assembled in Bikini
Lagoon and hit with two detonations of Fat Man plutonium implosion-type
nuclear weapons of the type dropped on Nagasaki, each with a yield of
23 kt (96 TJ). The first test, Able, was an air burst that sank five
ships and demonstrated the survivability of ships located more than 1
kilometer (0.62 mi) from the explosion. The second test, Baker, was an
underwater explosion (pictured), which effectively destroyed the entire
target fleet with radioactive contamination. It was the first case of
immediate, concentrated radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion.
The fallout from Baker and subsequent Bikini tests still renders the
area uninhabitable. Glenn Seaborg, the longest-serving chairman of the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, called Baker "the world's first nuclear
disaster." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
771:
Austrasian King Carloman I died, leaving his brother Charlemagne
King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carloman_I>
1639:
English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation
of a transit of Venus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus>
1829:
Sati, the Hindu funeral custom of widows immolating themselves,
was prohibited in part of British India after years of campaigning by
Ram Mohan Roy (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)>
1909:
The first Grey Cup game, the championship game of the Canadian
Football League, was held.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Cup>
1980:
The English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbanded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin>
2006:
Six black youths in Jena, Louisiana, US, assaulted a white
teenager; the subsequent court case would become a cause célèbre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
intersperse:
1. To mix two things irregularly, placing things of one kind among things
of other; specifically:
2. To scatter or insert (something) into or among (other things), as Nature
interspersed dandelions among the petunias, or
3. To diversify (something) by placing or inserting other things among
(it), as Nature interspersed the petunias with dandelions.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intersperse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Words, words, words, are the stumbling-blocks in the way of
truth. Until you think of things as they are, and not of the words that
misrepresent them, you cannot think rightly. Words produce the
appearance of hard and fast lines where there are none. Words divide;
thus we call this a man, that an ape, that a monkey, while they are all
only differentiations of the same thing. To think of a thing they must
be got rid of: they are the clothes that thoughts wear — only the
clothes. I say this over and over again, for there is nothing of more
importance. Other men's words will stop you at the beginning of an
investigation. A man may play with words all his life, arranging them
and rearranging them like dominoes. If I could think to you without
words you would understand me better.
--Samuel Butler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(novelist)>
Julianne Moore (born 1960) is a British–American actress and
children's author. A prolific cinema actress for more than 20 years,
Moore's career has involved both art house and Hollywood films, and she
is known for her emotional portrayals of ordinary women. She began on
television in the 1980s, as a regular in As the World Turns, and then
played supporting roles in films throughout the early 1990s. Critically
acclaimed performances in Short Cuts (1993) and Safe (1995), followed by
starring roles in Nine Months (1995) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park
(1997), established her as a leading Hollywood actress. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, Moore earned four Academy Award nominations, for
Boogie Nights (1997), The End of the Affair (1999), Far from Heaven
(2002), and The Hours (2002). Other notable appearances include The Big
Lebowski (1998), Magnolia (1999), Hannibal (2001), and Children of Men
(2006). She has continued to work regularly in the 2010s, including
acclaimed performances in The Kids Are All Right (2010) and the
television film Game Change (2012), where she portrayed Sarah Palin.
Moore has also written a successful series of children's books.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julianne_Moore>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
War of the Second Coalition: French forces under General Jean
Moreau defeated the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John in
Hohenlinden, near Munich, forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hohenlinden>
1910:
Modern neon lighting was first seen publicly after installation
by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_lighting>
1959:
The current flag of Singapore was adopted, six months after
Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Singapore>
1967:
Cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first
successful human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky at Groote Schuur
Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Barnard>
1999:
NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander (artist's
impression pictured) moments before it reached the atmosphere of Mars
and disappeared.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Polar_Lander>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fleeting:
Passing quickly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleeting>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality. I have
been for many years a teacher of languages. It is an occupation which at
length becomes fatal to whatever share of imagination, observation, and
insight an ordinary person may be heir to. To a teacher of languages
there comes a time when the world is but a place of many words and man
appears a mere talking animal not much more wonderful than a parrot.
--The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Nigger_of_the_%27Narcissus%27>
William Burges (1827–81) was an English architect and designer, and
one of the greatest of the Victorian art-architects. He sought in his
work to escape from 19th-century industrialisation and the Neoclassical
architectural style and to re-establish the architectural and social
values of a utopian medieval England. He stands within the Gothic
Revival tradition, his works echoing the Pre-Raphaelites and heralding
the Arts and Crafts movement. His first major commission was Saint Fin
Barre's Cathedral, Cork, in 1863. Burges's most notable works are
Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, both for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd
Marquess of Bute. Other buildings include Gayhurst House, Knightshayes
Court, and St Mary's, Studley Royal. Many of his designs were never
executed or were subsequently demolished, and his plans for the
redecoration of the interior of St Paul's Cathedral were abandoned. He
also designed metalwork, sculpture, jewellery, furniture and stained
glass. Art Applied to Industry, a series of lectures he gave to the
Society of Arts in 1864, illustrates the breadth of his interests. The
revival of interest in Victorian art has led to a renewed appreciation
of Burges and his work.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Burges>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1823:
U.S. President James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, a
proclamation of opposition to European colonialism in the New World.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine>
1852:
On the one-year anniversary of his dissolution of the Second
French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of
the French and took the name Napoleon III.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III>
1943:
World War II: The Luftwaffe conducted a surprise air raid on
Allied ships in Bari, Italy, sinking 18 ships and releasing one ship's
secret cargo of mustard gas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_on_Bari>
1975:
The Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government in Vientiane,
forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate, and established the Lao
People's Democratic Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos>
1988:
Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first
woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bowk:
1. (Geordie) To belch, to burp.
2. (UK) To vomit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bowk>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We're just a conceited naked ape, but in our minds we're some
"divine legend" and we see ourselves as some sort of god, seeing we can
decide what will live and what will die, what will be saved and what
will be destroyed, but honestly we're just a bunch of primates out of
control.
--Paul Watson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Watson>