Banksia violacea is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus
Banksia (family Proteaceae). It generally grows as a small shrub to
1.5 m (5 ft) high with fine narrow leaves, and is best known for its
unusually coloured dark purple-violet inflorescences. The colour of the
inflorescences, short leaves, and flattened follicles which are sticky
when young, help identify this species from others in the field. It is
found in low shrubland in southern regions of Western Australia from
Esperance in the east to Narrogin in the west, growing exclusively in
sandy soils. First described in 1927 by West Australian botanist Charles
Gardner, the species was at one stage considered a variety of
B. sphaerocarpa. Although there are no recognised subspecies or
varieties, both lignotuberous and nonlignotuberous forms exist for
Banksia violacea. Wasps, ants and flies have been recorded visiting
flower spikes. Banksia violacea is classified as Not Threatened under
the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia. Regarded as of
little value to floriculture, it is rarely cultivated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_violacea>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia,
US; it was suppressed about 48 hours later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner%27s_slave_rebellion>
1911:
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a
museum employee and was not recovered until two years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa>
1963:
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces raided and
vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and
leaving an estimated hundreds dead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C3%A1_L%E1%BB%A3i_Pagoda_raids>
1969:
An Australian tourist set the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire, a major
catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Mosque>
1993:
NASA lost contact with its Mars Observer spacecraft, three days
before orbital insertion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Observer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
accismus:
(rhetoric) Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accismus>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everything was okay, as long as I could dream. Its amazing,
really, the difference between having a dream and not having any left
that can come true. It's the difference between living and dying.
--Alicia Witt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alicia_Witt>
The Sack of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one
of the major events in the Arab–Byzantine Wars. In retaliation for
Byzantine attacks the previous year, the Caliph al-Mu'tasim targeted
Amorium in central Anatolia, one of the Byzantine Empire's most
important cities. The Abbasid army launched a two-pronged offensive,
defeated the Byzantine emperor Theophilos and his forces at Anzen, and
sacked the city of Ancyra on their way to Amorium. Faced with intrigues
at Constantinople and an army rebellion, Theophilos was unable to aid
the city. Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but after two
weeks of siege (siege depicted), a traitor revealed a weak spot in the
wall, where the Abbasids effected a breach. The commander of the
breached section left his post to try to negotiate privately with the
Caliph, allowing the Arabs to capture the city. Amorium was
systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity. Many
of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainder driven off as
slaves. The conquest of Amorium not only was a major military disaster
and a heavy personal blow for Theophilos, but also a traumatic event for
the Byzantines, its impact resonating in later literature.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Amorium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
917:
Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Bulgarians led by Tsar Simeon I
drove the Byzantines out of Thrace with a decisive victory in the Battle
of Achelous (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Achelous_(917)>
1707:
The first Siege of Pensacola came to an end with the British
abandoning their attempt to capture Pensacola in Spanish Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Pensacola_(1707)>
1910:
Hurricane-force winds combined hundreds of small fires in the
U.S. states of Washington and Idaho into the Devil's Broom fire, which
burned about three million acres (12,140 km²), the largest fire in
recorded U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_1910>
1940:
In the midst of the Battle of Britain, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill delivered a speech thanking the Royal Air Force,
declaring, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_was_so_much_owed_by_so_many_to_so_few>
1988:
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed a
bus carrying British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland, killing eight of
them and wounding another 28.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballygawley_bus_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
transhumance:
The moving of cattle or other grazing animals to new pastures, often
quite distant, according to the change in season.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transhumance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We're beginning to learn the hard way that today's global ills
are not cured by more and more science and technology.
--Roger Wolcott Sperry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry>
SMS Prinzregent Luitpold was the fifth and final vessel of the
Kaiser class of battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Prinzregent
Luitpold's keel was laid in October 1910 at the Germaniawerft dockyard
in Kiel. She was launched on 17 February 1912 and was commissioned into
the navy on 19 August 1913. Prinzregent Luitpold was assigned to the
III Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her
career; in December 1916, she was transferred to the IV Battle
Squadron. Along with her four sister ships, Kaiser, Friedrich der
Grosse, Kaiserin, and König Albert, Prinzregent Luitpold participated
in all of the major fleet operations of World War I, including the
Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. The ship was also
involved in Operation Albion, an amphibious assault on the Russian-held
islands in the Gulf of Riga, in late 1917. After Germany's defeat in the
war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Prinzregent
Luitpold and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were
interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow. Prinzregent Luitpold was
raised in July 1931 and subsequently broken up for scrap in 1933.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Prinzregent_Luitpold>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
295 BC:
The oldest known temple to Venus (pictured), the Roman
goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_(mythology)>
1745:
Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard at
Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands to begin the Second Jacobite
Rising.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_rising_of_1745>
1942:
Second World War: Allied forces suffered over 3,000 casualties
when they unsuccessfully raided the German-occupied port of Dieppe,
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieppe_Raid>
1981:
Two American F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan Su-22 Fitters
while the U.S. Navy conducted military exercises in the Gulf of Sidra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Sidra_incident_(1981)>
2003:
A Hamas suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded over 130
others on a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in
Jerusalem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_HaNavi_bus_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clemency:
1. The gentle or kind exercise of power; leniency, mercy; compassion in
judging or punishing.
2. (now rare) Mildness of weather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clemency>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Vast is the field of Science ... the more a man knows, the more
he will find he has to know.
--Samuel Richardson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Richardson>
The social history of viruses describes the influence of viruses and
viral infections on human history. Epidemics caused by viruses began
during the Neolithic period. Having been hunter-gatherers, humans
developed more densely populated agricultural communities, which allowed
viruses to spread rapidly and subsequently to become endemic. Smallpox
and measles viruses are among the oldest that infect humans. Having
evolved from viruses that infected animals, they first appeared in
humans in Europe and North Africa thousands of years ago. Louis Pasteur
and Edward Jenner were the first to develop vaccines to protect against
viral infections. The nature of viruses remained unknown until the
invention of the electron microscope in the 1930s, when the science of
virology gained momentum. In the 20th century many diseases both old and
new were found to be caused by viruses. HIV is the most pathogenic new
virus to have emerged in centuries. Although scientific interest in
viruses arose because of the diseases they cause, most viruses are
beneficial. They drive evolution by transferring genes across species,
play important roles in ecosystems and are essential to life.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_history_of_viruses>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
684:
Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Ibn
al-Zubayr and cemented Umayyad control of Syria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marj_Rahit_(684)>
1487:
Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs
conquered the city of Málaga from the Muslims.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_M%C3%A1laga_(1487)>
1877:
Asaph Hall discovered Phobos (pictured), the larger of Mars'
two moons, six days after discovering Deimos, the other one.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_(moon)>
1948:
Australia completed a 4–0 Ashes series win, earning them the
nickname of "The Invincibles" for being the first Test cricket match
side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Test,_1948_Ashes_series>
1983:
Hurricane Alicia made landfall near Galveston, Texas, US,
causing $2.6 billion in damages and 21 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Alicia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
social contract:
(philosophy, politics) An implicit agreement or contract among members
of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to
rule of law and acceptable conduct.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_contract>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In Balder's hand Christ placed His own, And it was golden
weather, And on that berg as on a throne The Brethren stood together!
And countless voices far and wide Sang sweet beneath the sky — "All
that is beautiful shall abide, All that is base shall die."
--Robert Williams Buchanan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_Buchanan>
Auriga is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century
astronomer Ptolemy and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Its
name is the Latin word for "charioteer", associating it with various
mythological charioteers including Erichthonius and Myrtilus. Auriga is
most prominent during winter evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, along
with the five other constellations that have stars in the Winter Hexagon
asterism. Because of its northern declination, Auriga is only entirely
visible as far as 34° south. A large constellation, with an area of 657
square degrees, it is half the size of the largest constellation, Hydra.
Its brightest star, Capella, is an unusual multiple star system among
the brightest stars in the night sky. The resultant of its position near
the winter Milky Way, Auriga has many bright open clusters in its
borders, including M36, M37, and M38, popular targets for amateur
astronomers. In addition, it has one prominent nebula, the Flaming Star
Nebula. In Chinese mythology, Auriga's stars were incorporated into
several constellations, including the celestial emperors' chariots, made
up of the modern constellation's brightest stars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriga_(constellation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
986:
Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: The Bulgarians defeated the
Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan near present-day Ihtiman, with
Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Gates_of_Trajan>
1807:
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first
commercially successful paddle steamer, went into service on the Hudson
River in New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_River_Steamboat>
1945:
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed the independence of
Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_National_Revolution>
1980:
Two-month-old Australian Azaria Chamberlain was taken from her
family's campsite at Uluru by a dingo, for which her mother would be
convicted of murder.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Azaria_Chamberlain>
1999:
A 7.5 Mw earthquake struck northwestern Turkey (damage
pictured), killing over 17,000 people and leaving approximately half a
million people homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_%C4%B0zmit_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
remuneration:
1. Something given in exchange for goods or services rendered.
2. A payment for work done; wages, salary, emolument.
3. A recompense for a loss; compensation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/remuneration>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life doesn't have a neat beginning and a tidy end, life is always
going on. You should begin in the middle and end in the middle, and it
should be all there.
--V. S. Naipaul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V._S._Naipaul>
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and
is recognised worldwide as an iconic symbol of the country because of
its distinctive appearance. It is the only extant representative of the
family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats.
It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body, round, fluffy
ears and large, spoon-shaped nose. It is popularly known as the koala
bear because of its bear-like appearance. The koala has a body length of
60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (9–33 lb). Pelage
colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas typically
inhabit open Eucalyptus woodlands, and the leaves of these trees make up
most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet provides them with only
low nutrition and energy, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep for up
to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding only exists
between mothers and dependent offspring. They have few natural predators
and parasites but are threatened by various pathogens, as well as by
bushfires and droughts. The biggest threat to their existence is habitat
destruction due to agriculture and urbanisation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1819:
Fifteen people were killed and 400–700 others were injured
when cavalry charged into a crowd of about 60–80,000 who were gathered
at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, to demand the reform of
parliamentary representation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre>
1863:
After Spain had annexed the Dominican Republic, rebels raised
the Dominican flag in Santiago de los Caballeros to begin the War of
Restoration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Restoration_War>
1929:
A long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to
the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into a week-long period of
violent riots throughout Palestine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Palestine_riots>
1960:
Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at
102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting records for high-altitude jump, free-
fall height, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger>
1977:
Elvis Presley, "The King of Rock and Roll", was officially
pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee,
after he was found unresponsive on the floor of his Graceland bathroom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nowise:
(In) no way, (in) no manner, definitely not.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nowise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts
well timed.
--Jean de La Bruyère
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Bruy%C3%A8re>
George Lansbury (1859–1940) was a British socialist, editor and
campaigner who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Throughout his
political life he fought for equality, social justice, women's rights
and world disarmament. Before entering the national scene he served in
the East End of London in numerous local government posts. Elected to
parliament in 1910, he resigned his seat two years later on the issue of
women's suffrage, and was briefly imprisoned after publicly supporting
militant action. Lansbury became editor of the Daily Herald newspaper,
which maintained a strong pacifist stance during the First World War and
supported the 1917 Russian Revolution. Although he returned to
parliament in 1922 he was excluded from the brief Labour government of
1924, but served as First Commissioner of Works in the Labour government
of 1929–31. After the economic crisis of August 1931 Lansbury refused
to join the National Government under Ramsay MacDonald and became leader
of the Labour Party in opposition. His pacifism in the face of rising
European fascism put him at odds with his party, and in 1935 he resigned
the leadership. He spent his final years travelling in the United States
and Europe in the cause of peace and disarmament.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lansbury>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
295 BC:
The oldest known temple to Venus (Venus Anadyomene by Titian
pictured), the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was
dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_(mythology)>
1534:
In Montmartre, near Paris, Ignatius of Loyola and six others
took the vows that led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus>
1907:
Jamaican American Raphael Morgan was ordained as the first
Black Orthodox clergyman in America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Morgan>
1945:
The Gyokuon-hōsō was broadcast in Japan, announcing the
unconditional surrender of the Japanese army and naval forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan>
1963:
President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of
Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trois_Glorieuses_(1963)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avail:
1. (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
2. (transitive) To be of service to.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Spirituality is much wider than any particular religion, and in
the larger ideas of it that are now coming on us even the greatest
religion becomes no more than a broad sect or branch of the one
universal religion, by which we shall understand in the future man's
seeking for the eternal, the divine, the greater self, the source of
unity and his attempt to arrive at some equation, some increasing
approximation of the values of human life with the eternal and the
divine values.
--Sri Aurobindo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo>
Priyanka Chopra (born 1982) is an Indian film actress and singer, and
was the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000. She has become one of
Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular
celebrities in India. She has won a National Film Award for Best Actress
and Filmfare Awards in four categories. She made her acting debut in the
Tamil film Thamizhan in 2002. The following year, she starred in The
Hero, her first Hindi film release, and followed it with the box-office
hit Andaaz. She subsequently earned critical recognition as a seductress
in the 2004 thriller Aitraaz. By 2006, Chopra had established herself
as a leading actress of Hindi cinema with starring roles in the highly
successful films Krrish and Don. After receiving mixed reviews for a
series of unsuccessful films, she received critical acclaim for her
portrayal of unconventional characters, including a troubled model in
the 2008 drama Fashion, a feisty Marathi woman in the 2009 caper
thriller Kaminey, a serial killer in the 2011 neo-noir 7 Khoon Maaf, and
an autistic woman in the 2012 romantic comedy Barfi! She released her
first music single "In My City" in 2012, and her second single "Exotic"
in 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priyanka_Chopra>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The United Kingdom formally annexed the Tristan da Cunha
archipelago, ruling them from the Cape Colony in South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_Cunha>
1880:
Construction of the Cologne Cathedral—Germany's most visited
landmark—was completed, 632 years after it had begun.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral>
1941:
After a secret meeting aboard warships, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (both
pictured) issued the Atlantic Charter, establishing a vision for a post-
World War II world despite the fact that the United States had yet to
enter the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter>
1975:
The film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is still in
limited release today, making it the longest-running theatrical release
in film history, premiered in Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show>
2006:
The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in the Lebanon War
between Lebanon and Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
teenybopper:
A person, especially a female, in her early teens who follows popular
clothing fashions, music trends, and the like.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teenybopper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Perfection, cosmically, was nothing but perfect Equanimity and
Harmony; and in human relations, nothing but perfect Love and Justice.
And Perfection began to glow before the eyes of the Western world like a
new star, whose light touched with glamour all things as they came forth
from Mystery, till to Mystery they were ready to return. This — I
thought is surely what the Western world has dimly been rediscovering.
There has crept into our minds once more the feeling that the Universe
is all of a piece, Equipoise supreme; and all things equally wonderful,
and mysterious, and valuable. We have begun, in fact, to have a
glimmering of the artist's creed, that nothing may we despise or neglect
— that everything is worth the doing well, the making fair — that
our God, Perfection, is implicit everywhere, and the revelation of Him
the business of our Art.
--John Galsworthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy>
Barton Fink is a 1991 American film, written, directed, and produced by
the Coen brothers (pictured). Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the
title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write
scripts for a movie studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie,
the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle.
The Coens wrote the screenplay in three weeks while experiencing
difficulty during the writing of another film, Miller's Crossing.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1991, Barton Fink won the
Palme d'Or, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Actor
(Turturro). Although it was celebrated almost universally by critics and
nominated for three Academy Awards, the movie grossed only $6,000,000 at
the box office, two-thirds of its estimated budget. The process of
writing and the culture of entertainment production are two prominent
themes of Barton Fink. The worlds of Hollywood and Broadway are
contrasted, and the film analyzes superficial distinctions between high
and low culture. Barton Fink has defied efforts at genre classification.
It has been variously referred to as a film noir, a horror film, a
Künstlerroman, and a buddy film.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_Fink>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1521:
After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés captured Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquered the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Tenochtitlan>
1704:
War of the Spanish Succession: The Duke of Marlborough led
Allied forces to a crucial victory in the Battle of Blenheim.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim>
1898:
Spanish–American War: After a mock battle for Manila, the
Spanish commander surrendered to the U.S. in order to keep the city out
of Filipino rebel hands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manila_(1898)>
1954:
The complete version of "Qaumī Tarāna", the national anthem
of Pakistan, was broadcast for the first time on Radio Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaum%C4%AB_Tar%C4%81na>
2010:
After having been boarded by Canadian authorities, the MV Sun
Sea docked and the 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugee claimants on board were
placed into detention.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sun_Sea_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
erratic:
(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a
glacier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erratic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Too much has already been said and written about "women's
sphere". Leave women, then, to find their sphere.
--Lucy Stone
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucy_Stone>
California State Route 52 (SR 52) is a state highway in San Diego
County, California, that extends from La Jolla Parkway at Interstate 5
(I-5) in La Jolla, San Diego, to SR 67 in Santee. A freeway for its
entire length, it serves as a major east–west route through the
northern part of the city of San Diego and connects the major
north–south freeways of the county. SR 52 passes north of the Rose
Canyon Fault before traversing Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS
Miramar). East of Santo Road and west of SR 125, the highway goes
through Mission Trails Regional Park, a large open preserve. Plans for a
route between La Jolla and Santee date from 1959, and SR 52 was
officially designated in the 1964 state highway renumbering.
Construction of the freeway east of Santo Road encountered delays from
environmentalists over the endangered Least Bell's Vireo songbird, which
faced habitat destruction, as well as those concerned with the
destruction of homes and businesses. The extension to Mission Gorge Road
opened in 1993, but funding issues delayed the completion of the entire
route to Santee until 2011, more than fifty years after construction
began.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_52>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1676:
Puritans and their Native American allies killed Wampanoag
sachem Metacomet (known as "King Philip"), essentially ending King
Philip's War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip%27s_War>
1883:
The last known quagga (pictured), a subspecies of the plains
zebra, died at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga>
1952:
Thirteen Jewish poets in Moscow were executed for espionage
based on false confessions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Murdered_Poets>
1969:
Riots erupted in the Bogside area of Derry and spread across
much of Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bogside>
2000:
The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy
exploded and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Kursk_explosion>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
repechage:
(sports) A heat (as in rowing or fencing) in which the best competitors
who have lost in a previous round compete for a place or places yet left
in the next round.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repechage>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Great literature, past or present, is the expression of great
knowledge of the human heart; great art is the expression of a solution
of the conflict between the demands of the world without and that
within.
--Edith Hamilton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Hamilton>