The 2008 ACC Championship Game was a college football game between the
Virginia Tech Hokies and the Boston College Eagles to determine the
winners of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football championship.
Virginia Tech (representing the Coastal Division) defeated Boston
College (representing the Atlantic Division) by 30 to 12. The game was
held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on December 6, 2008,
and was also the final regular-season contest of the 2008 college
football season in the ACC. Neither team clinched a spot in the game
until the final week before the championship, and both had to rely on
conference tie-breaking rules to earn a spot. Virginia Tech took the
lead in the first quarter with a five-yard touchdown run by Tech
quarterback Tyrod Taylor (pictured in the quarterback position on the
right). Tech extended its lead in the second quarter, but Boston College
managed to narrow Tech's lead by halftime. In the second half, Virginia
Tech scored over twice as many points as the Eagles. Taylor was named
the game's most valuable player. The game was a rematch of the previous
year's contest, which Virginia Tech also won.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_ACC_Championship_Game>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1060:
Béla I the Champion (bust pictured) was crowned king of
Hungary.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary>
1865:
Slavery in the United States was officially abolished when the
Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Con…>
1907:
At least 362 miners were killed when an explosion destroyed a
mine in Monongah, West Virginia, leading to the establishment of the
United States Bureau of Mines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongah_Mining_disaster>
1956:
At the Melbourne Olympics, 14-year-old swimmer Sandra Morgan
became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Morgan>
1989:
Claiming that he was "fighting feminism", 25-year-old Marc
Lépine killed fourteen women before committing suicide at École
Polytechnique in Montreal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre>
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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>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If there is one thing which a comparative study of
religions places in the clearest light, it is the inevitable decay to
which every religion is exposed. It may seem almost like a truism, that
no religion can continue to be what it was during the lifetime of its
founder and its first apostles.
--Max Müller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller>
"Irreplaceable" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé
(pictured) for her second studio album, B'Day (2006). The lyrics, about
the breakdown of a relationship with an unfaithful man, have a message
about empowerment. "Irreplaceable" was originally a country record; it
was re-arranged as a mid-tempo ballad with pop and R&B; influences by
modifying the vocal arrangements and instrumentation. It was the third
single from the album in the United States and the second single
elsewhere. It was well received by contemporary music critics, who cited
its distinctive production compared with most songs featured on the
album, and complimented its hook, "To the left, to the left". The song
won Best R&B;/Soul Single at the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards and was
nominated for the Record of the Year award at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Beyoncé's fourth number-one in the US, the single remained at the top
of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks and was the
best-selling US single of 2007. The single's award-winning music video
was directed by Anthony Mandler and served as the debut performance of
Beyoncé's all-female band, Suga Mama.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreplaceable>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit
authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus>
1876:
Fire engulfed the Brooklyn Theater (damage pictured) in
Brooklyn, New York, killing at least 278 people, mostly due to smoke
inhalation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Theater_Fire>
1916:
British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith resigned due to his lack
of vigour over the conduct of the Great War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Asquith>
1939:
The remains of Pedro II of Brazil, who was ousted and exiled
in a republican coup, were buried after being repatriated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Pedro_II_of_Brazil>
1974:
The Birmingham Americans won the only World Bowl in World
Football League history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Americans>
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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>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my
opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk
— especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to
keep it going, pioneering an adventurous spirit to blaze new ways,
often, in our land of opportunity.
--Walt Disney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>
Greed is a 1924 American silent film, written and directed by Erich von
Stroheim and based on Frank Norris's novel McTeague. The film depicts
three protagonists who succumb to their darker nature over a mutual
desire for a lottery prize of $5,000 in gold (screenshot pictured). Von
Stroheim shot more than 85 hours of footage, using sophisticated
techniques such as deep-focus cinematography and montage editing, and
obsessed over accuracy during production. Greed was one of the few films
of its time to be shot entirely on location. Two months were spent
shooting in Death Valley for the final sequence and many of the cast and
crew became ill. Originally almost eight hours long, Greed was edited
against von Stroheim's wishes to about two-and-a-half hours by Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer studio heads Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer. The cut
footage is lost, and still sought after by film archivists and
historians. Numerous false claims of the original version's discovery
have been made over the years. In 1999, a reconstructed four-hour
version was released using surviving stills from the lost footage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greed_(film)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
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.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)>
1893:
First Matabele War: A patrol of British South Africa Company
soldiers was ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele
warriors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangani_Patrol>
1909:
The Montreal Canadiens, the oldest professional ice hockey club
in the world, was founded as a charter member of the National Hockey
Association.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Montreal_Canadiens>
1954:
The global hamburger fast food chain Burger King, known for its
signature item the Whopper (pictured), was founded in Miami, Florida,
US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_King>
1971:
The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force, an Ulster loyalist
paramilitary group, exploded a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, killing 15 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGurk%27s_Bar_bombing>
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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>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is love that alone gives life, and the truest life is that
which we live not in ourselves but vicariously in others, and with which
we have no concern. Our concern is so to order ourselves that we may be
of the number of them that enter into life — although we know it not.
--Samuel Butler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler>
The tammar wallaby is a small macropod native to South and Western
Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since
European colonisation, the tammar is common within its reduced range and
is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature. It has been introduced to New Zealand and
reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously
eradicated. Skull differences distinguish tammars from Western
Australia, Kangaroo Island and mainland South Australia, making them
distinct populations groups or possibly different subspecies. Around the
size of a rabbit, the tammar is among the smallest of the wallabies. Its
coat is largely grey. It has colour vision, can drink seawater, and can
hop efficiently using tendons that act like springs. A nocturnal
species, it spends nighttime in grassland habitat and daytime in shrub.
It is very gregarious and has a seasonal, promiscuous mating pattern. A
female tammar can nurse a joey in her pouch while keeping an embryo in
her uterus. The tammar is a model species for research on marsupials,
and on mammals in general. It is one of many organisms whose genome has
been sequenced.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammar_wallaby>
_______________________________
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>
1834:
The German Customs Union instituted the first regular census in
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_Germany>
1904:
Himalia, the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter, was
discovered by astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory
in San Jose, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalia_(moon)>
1984:
Methyl isocyanate and other toxic chemicals were accidentally
released from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal,
India, causing the world's worst industrial disaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster>
1992:
During extreme weather conditions, the oil tanker Aegean Sea
ran aground off the coast of Galicia, Spain, spilling 67,000 tonnes of
light crude oil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Sea_oil_spill>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fleeting:
Passing quickly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleeting>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is
in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all?
Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valour, rage — who can tell? — but
truth — truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and
shudder — the man knows, and can look on without a wink.
--Heart of Darkness
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness>
Sir John Barbirolli, CH (1899–1970) was a British conductor and
cellist. He helped save the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester from
dissolution in 1943 and was its music director for the rest of his life.
He was also Arturo Toscanini's successor as music director of the New
York Philharmonic (1936–43), chief conductor of the Houston Symphony
(1961–67), and a guest conductor of many other orchestras. Born in
London of Italian and French parentage, Barbirolli grew up in a family
of professional musicians. After starting out as a cellist, he was given
the chance to conduct, from 1926 with the British National Opera
Company, and then with Covent Garden's touring company. Although he had
less opportunity to work in the opera house after 1943, he conducted
productions of works by Verdi, Wagner, Gluck, and Puccini at Covent
Garden in the 1950s with such success that he was invited to become its
permanent musical director, an invitation he declined. Both in the
concert hall and on record, Barbirolli was particularly associated with
the music of English composers such as Elgar, Delius and Vaughan
Williams. His interpretations of composers such as Mahler, Sibelius, and
Schubert are also still admired.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barbirolli>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1804:
The coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France was held at
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Napoleon_I>
1848:
Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria>
1899:
Philippine–American War: A 60-man Filipino rear guard was
defeated in the Battle of Tirad Pass, but delayed the American advance
long enough to ensure Emilio Aguinaldo's escape.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tirad_Pass>
1956:
Cuban Revolution: The yacht Granma, carrying Fidel Castro, Che
Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement, reached the
shores of Cuba.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granma_(yacht)>
2001:
Less than two months after disclosing accounting violations,
Texas-based energy firm Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
evaporating nearly $11 billion in shareholder wealth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
bowk:
1. (Geordie) To belch, to burp.
2. (UK) To vomit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bowk>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes because — I'm
Jewish — but my boyfriend is Catholic. It was cute, the way he gave it
to me. He said if it doesn't burn through my skin, it will protect me.
Who cares? Different religions. The only time it's an issue, I suppose,
would be like if you're having a baby and you've got to figure out how
you want to raise it. Which still wouldn't be an issue for us, because
we'd be … honest, and just say, you know, like, "Mommy is one of the
chosen people … and daddy believes that Jesus is magic!"
--Sarah Silverman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarah_Silverman>
Carsten Borchgrevink (1864–1934) was an Anglo-Norwegian polar explorer
and a pioneer of modern Antarctic travel. He was the precursor of Robert
Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and others associated
with the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He began his exploring
career in 1894 by joining a Norwegian whaling expedition, from which he
brought back a collection of the first specimens of vegetable life
within the Antarctic Circle. From 1898 to 1900 Borchgrevink led the
British-financed Southern Cross Expedition, which in 1899 became the
first to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland and the first to visit the
Great Ice Barrier since the expedition of Sir James Ross nearly sixty
years previously. Borchgrevink landed on the Barrier with two companions
and made the first sledge journey on its surface, setting a new Farthest
South record at 78°50'S. He was one of three scientists sent to the
Caribbean in 1902 by the National Geographic Society to report on the
aftermath of the Mount Pelée disaster. His pioneering work was
recognised and honoured by several countries, and in 1912 he received a
handsome tribute from Roald Amundsen, conqueror of the South Pole.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsten_Borchgrevink>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1828:
Juan Lavalle (pictured), returning to Buenos Aires with troops
that fought in the Cisplatine War, deposed the provincial governor
Manuel Dorrego, reigniting the Argentine Civil Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolution_(Argentina)>
1913:
Ford Motor Company began operating the world's first moving
assembly line for the mass production of automobiles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line>
1941:
The Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the United
States Air Force, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Air_Patrol>
1959:
Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, the first arms
control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military
activity in the Antarctic and setting the continent aside as a
scientific preserve.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System>
1990:
Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France met
40 metres (131 ft) beneath the English Channel seabed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
glogg:
A Scandinavian version of vin chaud or mulled wine; a hot punch made of
red wine, brandy and sherry flavoured with almonds, raisins and orange
peel.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glogg>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Labels are for the things men make, not for men. The most
primitive man is too complex to be labeled.
--Rex Stout
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rex_Stout>