Resurrectionists (depicted in action) were commonly employed by
anatomists in the United Kingdom during the 18th and 19th centuries to
disinter the bodies of the recently deceased for anatomical research.
Between 1506 and 1752 only a very few cadavers were available each year.
The supply was increased when, in an attempt to intensify the deterrent
effect of the death penalty, the Murder Act 1752 allowed executed
criminals to be dissected—a fate generally viewed with horror—in
place of gibbeting. The change was insufficient to meet the needs of
hospitals and teaching centres. Corpses and their component parts became
a commodity, but although the practice of disinterment was hated by the
general public, bodies were not legally anyone's property.
Resurrectionists caught plying their trade ran the risk of attack.
Measures taken to stop them included increased security at graveyards,
secure coffins, and physical barriers. Matters came to a head following
the Burke and Hare murders of 1828. Although it did not make body
snatching illegal, the Anatomy Act 1832 effectively put an end to the
work of the resurrectionists by allowing anatomists access to the
workhouse dead.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrectionists_in_the_United_Kingdom>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
475:
Romulus Augustulus took the throne as the last ruling emperor of
the Western Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus>
1517:
According to traditional accounts, Martin Luther first posted
his Ninety-Five Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
present-day Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninety-Five_Theses>
1822:
Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of the First Mexican Empire
dissolved the Mexican Congress and replaced it with a military junta
answerable only to him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agust%C3%ADn_de_Iturbide>
1984:
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of
her own Sikh bodyguards, sparking anti-Sikh riots throughout the
country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots>
1999:
All 217 people on board EgyptAir Flight 990 were killed when
the aircraft suddenly plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cauldron:
A large bowl-shaped pot used for boiling over an open flame.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cauldron>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin
patch, then flies through the air to bring toys to all the good little
children everywhere. Wouldn't you like to sit with me in the pumpkin
patch on Halloween night and wait for the Great Pumpkin?
--It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/It%27s_the_Great_Pumpkin,_Charlie_Brown>
Peter Warlock was the pseudonym of Philip Heseltine (1894–1930), a
British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects
Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published
musical works. Best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music,
he also achieved notoriety through his unconventional and often
scandalous lifestyle. As a schoolboy at Eton College, Heseltine came
under the spell of the British composer Frederick Delius, with whom he
formed a close friendship. After a failed student career in Oxford and
London, he turned to musical journalism, while developing interests in
folk-song and Elizabethan music. His first serious compositions date
from around 1915. A lasting influence arose from his meeting in 1916
with the Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren. Heseltine composed songs in
a distinctive, original style, and built a reputation as a combative and
controversial music critic. He made a pioneering contribution to the
scholarship of early music, published under his own name, and produced a
full-length biography of Delius. He died in his London flat of coal gas
poisoning in 1930, probably by his own hand.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Warlock>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
War of the Fourth Coalition: Believing they were massively
outnumbered, the 5,300-man German garrison at Stettin, Prussia (now
Szczecin, Poland), surrendered to a much smaller French force without a
fight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitulation_of_Stettin>
1863:
Seventeen-year-old Danish Prince Vilhelm arrived in Athens to
become George I (pictured), King of Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Greece>
1888:
King Lobengula of Matabeleland granted the Rudd Concession to
agents of Cecil Rhodes, setting in motion the creation of the British
South Africa Company.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudd_Concession>
1961:
The Soviet hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon
ever detonated, was set off over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic
Ocean as a test.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba>
1991:
The Madrid Conference, an attempt by the international
community to start a peace process through negotiations involving Israel
and the Arab countries, convened in Madrid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Conference_of_1991>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trainiac:
(informal) A railway enthusiast.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trainiac>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is no such thing as a normal period of history. Normality
is a fiction of economic textbooks.
--Joan Robinson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joan_Robinson>
Sonic: After the Sequel is a 2013 platform video game created by
Brazilian student Felipe Daneluz (LakeFeperd). It is an unofficial work
based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series' canon and set between the
official games Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. Daneluz's second Sonic game, it
follows Sonic: Before the Sequel, which was set after the original Sonic
the Hedgehog. Like its predecessor, After the Sequel stars Sonic the
Hedgehog and his sidekick Tails in a quest to retrieve Chaos Emeralds
from Doctor Eggman. After the Sequel was inspired by Sonic Heroes and
other games both inside and outside the Sonic series, and it was
developed with Sonic Worlds, an engine that does not require expertise
in computer programming. It was released as a free download for Windows
personal computers. The game was very well received by video game
journalists, who lauded its preservation of retro Sonic gameplay and its
eclectic, 1990s-style soundtrack. The trilogy of Before the Sequel,
After the Sequel, and their successor Sonic Chrono Adventure performed
unusually well for fangames, having been downloaded 120,000 times by
March 2014. Sega has not sent Daneluz a cease and desist order for the
game.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic:_After_the_Sequel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
539 BC:
Cyrus the Great captured Babylon, incorporating the Neo-
Babylonian Empire and making the Achaemenid Empire the largest in the
history of the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great>
1792:
Lt. William Broughton, a member of Captain George Vancouver's
discovery expedition, observed a peak in what is now Oregon, US, and
named it Mount Hood after British admiral Samuel Hood.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood>
1929:
About 16 million shares were traded on the New York Stock
Exchange on "Black Tuesday", a record that stood for almost 40 years,
making a total of $30 billion that had been lost over two days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929>
1986:
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opened the last
segment of the M25 motorway, an orbital road encircling London that is
one of the world's longest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M25_motorway>
2004:
Representatives of the member states of the European Union
signed the European Constitution in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_establishing_a_Constitution_for_Europe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
peri-urban:
Immediately adjoining an urban area; between the suburbs and the
countryside.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peri-urban>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I saw a Divine Being. I'm afraid I'm going to have to revise all
my various books and opinions.
--Alfred Jules Ayer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Jules_Ayer>
Ruma Maida (released internationally as Maida's House) is a 2009
Indonesian film written by Ayu Utami (pictured), directed by Teddy
Soeriaatmadja and starring Atiqah Hasiholan, Yama Carlos, Nino
Fernandez, and Frans Tumbuan. It follows a woman's struggle to save an
historic house from a developer, while showing the life of the house's
original owner. Work on the film began in 2008, when Utami was
approached by Lamp Pictures and asked to write a script with nationalist
themes. Over six months, with input from Soeriaatmadja, she completed
the story and later wrote a song for the soundtrack, which was provided
by Naif. Shooting took place in Semarang, Central Java, and Kota,
Jakarta, and different visual styles were used for scenes in the past
and present. After three months of editing, the film premiered on the
anniversary of the 1928 Youth Pledge. It was later shown in film
festivals in Singapore, Australia, and Italy. Critical reception was
mixed; reviewers praised the visuals but disapproved of the plot and
dialogue. Ruma Maida was nominated for twelve Citra Awards at the 2009
Indonesian Film Festival, winning one.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruma_Maida>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1420:
Beijing was officially designated the capital of the Ming
Dynasty on the same year that the Forbidden City (pictured), the seat of
government, was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing>
1835:
Māori chiefs signed the Declaration of the Independence of New
Zealand and established the United Tribes of New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Tribes_of_New_Zealand>
1891:
The Nōbi Earthquake, Japan's largest known inland earthquake,
struck the former provinces of Mino and Owari.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1891_Mino-Owari_earthquake>
1919:
The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act over President
Woodrow Wilson's veto, reinforcing Prohibition in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act>
2009:
The detonation of a car bomb by an unidentified party in
Peshawar, Pakistan, killed 137 people and injured more than 200 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_October_2009_Peshawar_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mulct:
(law) A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mulct>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do what I feel impelled to do, as an artist would. Scientists
function in the same way. I see all these as creative activities, as all
part of the process of discovery. Perhaps that's one of the
characteristics of what I call the evolvers, any subset of the
population who keep things moving in a positive, creative, constructive
way, revealing the truth and beauty that exists in life and in nature.
--Jonas Salk
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk>
Æthelstan (died 939) is regarded by historians as one of the greatest
Anglo-Saxon monarchs and the first king of England. The grandson of
Alfred the Great, he succeeded as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 924. In
927 he conquered Viking-ruled York and thus became the first king to
rule the whole of England. In 934 he invaded Scotland, and in 937 the
Scots and the Vikings united to launch an invasion of England, but
Æthelstan won a crucial victory at the Battle of Brunanburh. This gave
him great prestige both in England and on the Continent. Æthelstan
centralised government and summoned leading figures from distant areas
to his councils, including Welsh kings, who acknowledged his lordship by
their attendance. He was one of the most pious West Saxon kings
(depicted presenting a book to St Cuthbert), and was known for
collecting relics and founding churches. His household was the centre of
English learning during his reign, and it laid the foundation for the
English Benedictine Reform later in the century. No other West Saxon
king played as important a role in European politics, and he arranged
the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelstan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1275:
The earliest recorded usage of the name "Amsterdam" was made on
a certificate by Count Floris V of Holland that granted the
inhabitants, who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel
(pictured), an exemption from paying the bridge's tolls.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam>
1644:
English Civil War: The combined armies of Parliament inflicted
a tactical defeat on the Royalists, but failed to gain any strategic
advantage in the Second Battle of Newbury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Newbury>
1916:
Supporters of deposed Ethiopian Emperor-designate Iyasu V were
defeated at the Battle of Segale, ending their attempt to restore him to
the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Segale>
1944:
World War II: German forces captured Banská Bystrica, the
center of anti-Nazi opposition in Slovakia, bringing the Slovak National
Uprising to an end.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bansk%C3%A1_Bystrica>
2004:
The Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals
to win the World Series, the club's first championship in 86 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_World_Series>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wife-beating question:
A question which presupposes some controversial premise, such that it
cannot be directly answered without incriminating oneself; a loaded
question.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wife-beating_question>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Light breaks where no sun shines; Where no sea runs, the waters
of the heart Push in their tides; And, broken ghosts with glow-worms in
their heads, The things of light File through the flesh where no flesh
decks the bones.
--Dylan Thomas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas>
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 broke out after the death of
Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (pictured). As his chief aide and
closest friend, John VI Kantakouzenos became regent for the Emperor's
young son and heir, John V Palaiologos. While Kantakouzenos was absent
from Constantinople, a new regency was established with support from
Empress-Dowager Anna of Savoy, which launched a persecution of
Kantakouzenos' family and supporters. In response, Kantakouzenos was
proclaimed co-emperor at Demotika on 26 October 1341. During the first
years of the war, the forces of the new regency prevailed. Most of the
cities in Thrace and Macedonia came under regency control, but
Kantakouzenos reversed these gains with assistance from the neighbouring
rulers of Serbia and the Turkish beyliks. Kantakouzenos was crowned in
1346, and entered Constantinople on 3 February 1347. By agreement, he
was to rule for ten years as the senior emperor and regent for John V,
until the boy came of age. Despite this apparent victory, a subsequent
resumption of the civil war forced Kantakouzenos to retire to become a
monk in 1354. The conflict proved disastrous for the Empire, as seven
years of warfare, marauding armies, social turmoil, the loss of
territory to neighbouring rulers, and the Black Death devastated
Byzantium, reducing it to a rump state.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_civil_war_of_1341%E2%80%9347>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1708:
The final stone of St Paul's Cathedral (pictured), rebuilt
after the original burned down in the 1666 Great Fire of London, was
laid by the son of its architect, Christopher Wren.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral>
1921:
The Chicago Theatre, which is the oldest surviving Neo-Baroque
French-revival grand movie palace, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Theatre>
1944:
World War II: In one of the largest naval battles in modern
history, Allied forces defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle
of Leyte Gulf in the seas surrounding the Philippine island of Leyte.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf>
1977:
Somalian hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying
symptoms in the last known case of naturally occurring smallpox.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin>
1994:
Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty settling relations
between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its
territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third
country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_peace_treaty>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antihero:
(literature) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as
by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antihero>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
these days you might feel a shaft of light make its way across
your face and when you do you'll know how it was meant to be see the
signs and know their meaning
--Natalie Merchant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant>
Katy Perry (born 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.
She pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager, releasing her debut
album in 2001, then moved to Los Angeles to venture into secular music.
After signing to Capitol Records in 2007, she rose to fame in 2008 with
the release of the single "I Kissed a Girl" from her second album, One
of the Boys. Perry's third album, Teenage Dream (2010), became the first
by a female artist to produce five number-one Billboard Hot 100 songs.
Her fourth album, Prism, was released in 2013 and included the number-
one singles "Roar" and "Dark Horse". Perry has received many awards and
nominations, and been included in the Forbes list of "Top-Earning Women
In Music" for 2011, 2012, and 2013. She has sold 11 million albums and
81 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists
of all time. She made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs in
2011, and released a documentary film in 2012, which concentrated on her
life as a touring artist and the dissolution of her brief marriage to
English actor and comedian Russell Brand in the early 2010s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Perry>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1616:
The Dutch sailing ship Eendracht reached Shark Bay on the
western coastline of Australia, as documented on the Hartog Plate etched
by explorer Dirk Hartog.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartog_Plate>
1854:
Crimean War: Lord Cardigan led his cavalry to disaster in the
Battle of Balaclava.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Balaclava>
1924:
The Zinoviev letter, later found to be a forgery, was published
in the Daily Mail, helping to ensure the British Labour Party's defeat
in the UK general election four days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinoviev_letter>
1944:
Heinrich Himmler ordered a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates,
a nonconformist youth group that assisted army deserters and others
hiding from the Nazis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_Pirates>
2001:
Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of
the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
verily:
1. Truly, doubtlessly, in truth.
2. Confidently, certainly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verily>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: "To
every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die
better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the
temples of his gods, And for the tender mother Who dandled him to rest,
And for the wife who nurses His baby at her breast, And for the holy
maidens Who feed the eternal flame, To save them from false Sextus That
wrought the deed of shame?"
--Thomas Babington Macaulay
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Babington_Macaulay,_1st_Baron_Macaulay>
The woolly mammoth was one of the last in a line of mammoth species. Its
appearance and behaviour are among the best studied of any prehistoric
animal due to the discovery of frozen carcasses (example pictured) in
Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung,
and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings. The animal was
only identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in
1796. Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. The woolly
mammoth was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice
age, and had long, curved tusks. Its habitat was the mammoth steppe,
which stretched across northern Eurasia and North America. The woolly
mammoth coexisted with early humans, who used its bones and tusks for
making art, tools, and dwellings, and the species was also hunted for
food. It disappeared from its mainland range at the end of the
Pleistocene 10,000 years ago, most likely through a combination of
climate change, consequent disappearance of its habitat, and hunting by
humans. Recreation through cloning has been proposed, but this is as yet
infeasible; the ethics of this have also been questioned.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1648:
The second treaty of the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of
Münster, was signed, ending both the Thirty Years' War and the Dutch
Revolt, and officially recognizing the Republic of the Seven United
Netherlands and Swiss Confederation as independent states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia>
1851:
William Lassell discovered the Uranian moons Umbriel and Ariel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(moon)>
1912:
First Balkan War: Serbian forces defeated the Ottoman army at
the Battle of Kumanovo in Vardar Macedonia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kumanovo>
1944:
World War II: The Imperial Japanese battleship Musashi, one of
the heaviest and most powerfully armed ever constructed, was sunk in the
Battle of Leyte Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Musashi>
1964:
The military court of South Vietnamese junta chief Nguyen Khanh
acquitted Generals Dương Văn Đức and Lâm Văn Phát of leading a
coup attempt against Khanh, despite the pair's proclamation of his
overthrow during their military action.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A2m_V%C4%83n_Ph%C3%A1t>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
miniver:
A light gray or white fur used to trim the robes of judges or state
executives, used since medieval times.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miniver>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Perhaps he will not return.
But what we have lived comes back to us.
We see more.
We feel, as our rings
increase, something that lifts our branches, that stretches our furthest
leaf-tips further.
--Denise Levertov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denise_Levertov>
The Conte di Cavour-class battleships were a group of three dreadnoughts
built for the Royal Italian Navy. The ships were completed during World
War I, but did not see action. Leonardo da Vinci was sunk by a magazine
explosion in 1916 and later sold for scrap. Conte di Cavour (pictured)
and Giulio Cesare supported operations during the Corfu Incident in 1923
and were extensively reconstructed between 1933 and 1937 to add more
powerful guns, armor and speed. Both ships participated in the Battle of
Calabria in July 1940, when Giulio Cesare was lightly damaged. They were
both present when British torpedo bombers attacked the fleet at Taranto
in November 1940, and Conte di Cavour was torpedoed; repairs were not
completed before the Italian surrender in September 1943, and she was
scrapped in 1946. Giulio Cesare escorted convoys and participated in the
Battle of Cape Spartivento in late 1940 and the First Battle of Sirte in
late 1941. She was designated as a training ship in early 1942, and
escaped to Malta after Italy surrendered. The ship was transferred to
the Soviet Union in 1949 and used for training until she was sunk by a
mine in 1955 and scrapped.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conte_di_Cavour-class_battleship>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1641:
Irish Catholic gentry in Ulster tried to seize control of
Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland to force concessions
to Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Rebellion_of_1641>
1850:
The first National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis (pictured), was held in Worcester,
Massachusetts, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Rights_Convention>
1956:
The Hungarian Revolution began as a peaceful student
demonstration which attracted thousands as it marched through central
Budapest to the Parliament building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956>
1989:
A massive explosion and fire ripped through the Phillips 66
Houston Chemical Complex, killing 23 employees and injuring 314 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Disaster_of_1989>
2001:
The iPod, the line of portable media players designed and
marketed by Apple, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
palatal:
1. (anatomy) Pertaining to the palate.
2. (dentistry, not comparable) Of an upper tooth, on the side facing the
palate.
3. (phonetics) Articulated at the hard palate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palatal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is always darkest before the dawn.
--Anonymous
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anonymous>
Chorioactis is a genus of fungus that contains the single species
Chorioactis geaster, an extremely rare mushroom found only in select
locales in Texas and Japan. In the former, it is commonly known as the
"devil's cigar" or the "Texas star"; in Japan it is called kirinomitake.
It is notable for its unusual appearance. The fruit body, which grows on
the stumps or dead roots of cedar elms (in Texas) or dead oaks (in
Japan), somewhat resembles a dark brown or black cigar before it splits
open radially into a starlike arrangement of four to seven leathery
rays. The interior surface of the fruit body bears the spore-bearing
tissue, and is colored white to brown, depending on its age. Fruit body
opening can be accompanied by a distinct hissing sound and the release
of a smoky cloud of spores. Fruit bodies were first collected in Austin,
Texas, and the species was named Urnula geaster in 1893; it was later
found in Kyushu in 1937, but the mushroom was not reported again in
Japan until 1973. Although the new genus Chorioactis was proposed to
accommodate the unique species a few years after its original discovery,
it was not until 1968 that it was accepted as a valid genus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorioactis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1633:
Ming Chinese naval forces defeated a Dutch East India Company
fleet in the Taiwan Strait, the largest naval encounter between Chinese
and European forces before the First Opium War two hundred years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Liaoluo_Bay>
1707:
In one of the worst maritime disasters in the history of the
British Isles, more than 1,400 sailors on four Royal Navy ships were
lost in stormy weather off the Isles of Scilly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707>
1879:
Thomas Edison performed a successful test using a carbon
filament thread in an incandescent light bulb (pictured), which would
become the most successful version of the product.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb>
1962:
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet
nuclear weapons had been discovered in Cuba and that he had ordered a
naval "quarantine" of the island nation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_missile_crisis>
1999:
Vichy France official Maurice Papon was jailed for crimes
against humanity committed during World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Papon>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
subduct:
1. (transitive) To draw or push under or below.
2. (intransitive) To move downwards underneath something.
3. (rare) To remove; to deduct; to take away; to disregard.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/subduct>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Diwali is celebrated on the darkest night of the year when the
necessity and the beauty of lights can be truly appreciated. Light is a
symbol in the world's religions for God, truth and wisdom. Given the
antiquity of India, the diversity of its religious traditions and the
interaction among these, it should not surprise us to know that many
religious communities celebrate Diwali. Each one offers a distinctive
reason for the celebration that enriches its meaning. For every
community, however, Diwali celebrates and affirms hope, and the triumph
of goodness and justice over evil and injustice. These values define the
meaning of Diwali.
--Anantanand Rambachan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anantanand_Rambachan>