L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppaea) is an Italian
opera by Claudio Monteverdi (pictured), with a libretto by Giovanni
Francesco Busenello. It was first performed during the 1643 carnival
season in Venice. One of the first operas to use historical events and
people, it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero,
achieves her ambition to be crowned empress. The opera was revived in
1651, but was then neglected until the score was rediscovered in 1888.
Since the 1960s, the work has been performed and recorded many times.
The original manuscript of the score does not exist; two surviving
copies from the 1650s differ significantly. How much of the music is
actually Monteverdi's is disputed. Details of the original cast are
largely speculative, and there is no record of the opera's initial
public reception. Despite these uncertainties, it is generally accepted
as part of the Monteverdi operatic canon, his last and perhaps his
greatest work. Written when the genre of opera was only a few decades
old, the music for L'incoronazione di Poppea has been praised for its
originality and melody, and it helped to redefine the boundaries of
theatrical music.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27incoronazione_di_Poppea>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1766:
A mutiny by captive Malagasy began at sea on the slave ship
Meermin, leading to the ship's destruction on Cape Agulhas in present-
day South Africa and the recapture of the instigators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meermin_slave_mutiny>
1878:
Competition between two merchants in Lincoln County, New Mexico
Territory, US, turned into a range war when a member of one faction was
murdered by the other.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_County_War>
1957:
Kenyan independence leader Dedan Kimathi (statue pictured), who
spearheaded the Mau Mau Uprising, was executed by British authorities,
who saw him as a terrorist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedan_Kimathi>
1970:
An American jury acquitted the "Chicago Seven" of conspiracy
and inciting riots stemming from protests during the 1968 Democratic
National Convention.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Seven>
2007:
Terrorist bombs exploded on the Samjhauta Express train in
Panipat, Haryana, India, killing 68 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Samjhauta_Express_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
artisanal:
1. Of or pertaining to artisans or the work of artisans.
2. Involving skilled work, with comparatively little reliance on machinery.
3. (of an item, especially a foodstuff) Made by an artisan (skilled
worker).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/artisanal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We have seen the highest circle of spiraling powers. We have
named this circle God. We might have given it any other name we wished:
Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit,
Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Despair, Silence. But we have named it God
because only this name, for primordial reasons, can stir our hearts
profoundly. And this deeply felt emotion is indispensable if we are to
touch, body with body, the dread essence beyond logic. Within this
gigantic circle of divinity we are in duty bound to separate and
perceive clearly the small, burning arc of our epoch.
--Nikos Kazantzakis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis>
Cave Story is a freeware platform-adventure video game released in 2004
for the PC. It was developed over five years by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
(pictured) in his free time. Cave Story features 2D platform mechanics
and pays homage to the classic games that the author played in his
youth, such as Metroid. The game focuses on an amnesiac protagonist who
awakens in a cave. Through his explorations, he discovers a plot by the
Doctor, a megalomaniac who intends to force the inhabitants of the cave
to fight for him in his bid to conquer the world. The protagonist is
thrust into the position of savior as he endeavours to defeat the
Doctor. After its initial self-published release, Cave Story slowly
gained popularity on the Internet. It received wide critical acclaim for
its compelling story and gameplay. Independent developer Nicalis worked
with Amaya to port the game to WiiWare and DSiWare in 2010. An enhanced
version, Cave Story+, was released for Steam in November 2011, with a
Nintendo 3DS release in October 2012. A 3D remake of the game, titled
Cave Story 3D, was developed by Nicalis and published by NIS America for
the Nintendo 3DS in November 2011.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Story>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1400:
Having died in Pontefract Castle after he was deposed, the body
of Richard II was put on display in London's Old St Paul's Cathedral.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England>
1621:
Myles Standish was elected as the first commander of the
Plymouth Colony militia, a position he would hold for the rest of his
life.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Standish>
1904:
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly (Geraldine
Farrar in the title role pictured) premiered at La Scala in Milan,
generating negative reviews that forced him to rewrite the opera.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly>
1949:
Chaim Weizmann began his term as the first President of Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Weizmann>
1964:
Gabonese military officers overthrew President Léon M'ba, but
France, honoring a 1960 treaty, forcibly reinstated M'ba the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Gabon_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bebother:
To bring trouble upon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bebother>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We recognize a noble image, a marvellous conception, a supreme
figure, an exalted shadow, an infinite representation of the represented
infinity, a spectacle worthy of the excellence and supremacy of Him who
transcendeth understanding, comprehension or grasp. Thus is the
excellence of God magnified and the greatness of his kingdom made
manifest; He is glorified not in one, but in countless suns; not in a
single earth, a single world, but in a thousand thousand, I say in an
infinity of worlds.
--Giordano Bruno
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno>
Cabbage is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual
vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is closely related to
other cole crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts.
Cabbage heads generally range from 1 to 8 pounds (0.5 to 4 kg), and can
be green, purple and white. Smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are
the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy
cabbages of both colors seen more rarely. Although the exact history of
cabbage is uncertain, it had become a prominent part of European cuisine
by the Middle Ages. Cabbages are prepared in many different ways for
eating. They can be pickled for dishes such as sauerkraut, steamed,
stewed, sautéed, braised, or eaten raw. Cabbage is a good source of
beta-carotene, vitamin C and fiber. Cabbage is prone to several nutrient
deficiencies, as well as multiple pests, bacteria and fungal diseases.
World production of cabbage and other brassicas for 2011 was almost
69 million metric tons (68 million long tons; 75 million short tons).
Almost half of these crops were grown in China, where Chinese cabbage is
the most popular Brassica vegetable.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1270:
Livonian Crusade: In the Battle of Karuse, the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over the Livonian Order on the
frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karuse>
1804:
United States Navy Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a raid to
destroy the captured USS Philadelphia in Tripoli, denying her use to the
Barbary States in the First Barbary War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Philadelphia_(1799)>
1943:
Second World War: Norwegian commandos trained by the British
Special Operations Executive destroyed a factory to prevent the German
nuclear energy project from acquiring heavy water.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage>
1977:
Archbishop Janani Luwum of the Church of Uganda, a leading
voice against the regime of Idi Amin, was arrested for treason and
murdered the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janani_Luwum>
2005:
The Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the international treaty on
climate change, entered into force.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
treknobabble:
A kind of technobabble particular to the Star Trek universe, with a
particularly heavy emphasis on configurations of pseudoscientific
particles and waves.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/treknobabble>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether
he is read by five hundred readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he
can select the five hundred, he reaches the five hundred thousand.
--Henry Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Adams>
Mark Hanna (1837–1904) was a Republican United States Senator from
Ohio and the friend and political manager of President William McKinley.
Born in New Lisbon (today Lisbon), Ohio, in 1837, he moved to Cleveland
with his family in his teenage years and attended high school with John
D. Rockefeller. Hanna made millions as a businessman by his
40th birthday, and turned his attention to politics. Despite Hanna's
efforts on his behalf, Ohio Senator John Sherman failed to gain the
Republican nomination for president in 1884 and 1888. With Sherman too
old to be considered a contender, Hanna used his money and business
skills to successfully manage McKinley's presidential campaign in 1896.
Declining a Cabinet position, Hanna secured appointment as senator from
Ohio after Sherman was made Secretary of State; the Ohio General
Assembly re-elected Hanna in 1898 and 1904. He managed McKinley's
successful re-election campaign in 1900. Savage cartoons by such
illustrators as Homer Davenport lampooned him as McKinley's political
master. After McKinley's assassination in 1901, Hanna worked for the
building of a canal in Panama, rather than elsewhere in Central America.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hanna>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1898:
The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank
in Havana, Cuba (wreckage pictured), killing more than 260 people and
precipitating the Spanish–American War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_(ACR-1)>
1954:
The Canadian and American governments agreed to jointly build
the Distant Early Warning Line, a line of radar stations running across
the high Arctic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_Early_Warning_Line>
1989:
The Soviet Union officially announced that all of its troops
had withdrawn from Afghanistan after a nine-year conflict.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan>
1996:
A Long March 3B rocket carrying the communications satellite
Intelsat 708 crashed immediately after launch from the Xichang Satellite
Launch Center, China, destroying a nearby town and killing an unknown
number of inhabitants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708>
2013:
A previously-undetected meteor exploded in mid-air over
Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, with the resulting shock wave injuring more
than 1,500 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bridge the gap:
(idiomatic) To serve as or create a connection between two disconnected
or disparate things.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bridge_the_gap>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is really
worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each
person's face as you pass them on the street: those faces are for you.
And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of
fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as
much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake
up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the
east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under
the sky. It's okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise.
--Miranda July
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miranda_July>
Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the
German Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the
primary force behind German unification in 1871, the ship was launched
on 14 February 1939 and commissioned in August 1940. Bismarck and her
sister ship Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany,
and two of the largest built by any European power. Bismarck conducted
only one offensive operation, in May 1941. The ship, along with the
heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was to raid Allied shipping from North
America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off
Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block them. At the
Battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck destroyed the battlecruiser
HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, and forced the battleship
HMS Prince of Wales to retreat. After two days of relentless pursuit by
the Royal Navy, she was attacked by torpedo bombers from the aircraft
carrier HMS Ark Royal and her steering gear was rendered inoperable. In
her final battle the following morning, Bismarck was neutralised by a
sustained bombardment, was scuttled by her crew, and sank with heavy
loss of life.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
Inventor Alexander Graham Bell and electrical engineer Elisha
Gray each filed a patent for the telephone, starting a controversy about
who invented it first.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Gray_and_Alexander_Bell_telephone_cont…>
1924:
The Computing Tabulating Recording Company renamed itself to
International Business Machines, one of the world's largest companies by
market capitalization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM>
1961:
Lawrencium, the metallic radioactive synthetic element with
atomic number 103, was first made at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory
on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrencium>
1989:
A fatwa was issued for the execution of Salman Rushdie for
authoring The Satanic Verses, a novel Islamic fundamentalists considered
blasphemous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy>
2005:
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated
when explosives were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St.
George Hotel in Beirut, sparking the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Revolution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
elope:
(intransitive, of an unmarried person) To run away secretly for the
purpose of getting married with one's intended spouse; to marry in a
quick or private fashion, especially without a public period of
engagement.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elope>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Love all God's creation, the whole of it and every grain of
sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals,
love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will
perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you have perceived it, you
will begin to comprehend it better every day, and you will come at last
to love the world with an all-embracing love.
--Fyodor Dostoevsky
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky>
Rambles in Germany and Italy is a travel narrative by the British
Romantic author Mary Shelley (pictured). Issued in 1844, it describes
two European trips that she took with her son and some of his friends.
She had lived in Italy with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, between
1818 and 1823 and it was associated with joy and grief: she had written
much there but had also lost her husband and two children. Shelley
presented her material from what she describes as "a political point of
view", challenging the convention that it was improper for women to
write about politics. Her aim was to arouse English sympathy for Italian
revolutionaries, having associated herself with the "Young Italy"
movement when in Paris on her second trip. Although Shelley herself
thought the work "poor", it found favour with reviewers who praised its
independence of thought, wit, and feeling, and her political commentary
on Italy. However, for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Shelley was
usually known only for Frankenstein and her husband. Rambles was not
reprinted until the rise of feminist literary criticism in the 1970s
provoked a wider interest in her entire corpus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambles_in_Germany_and_Italy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
Glorious Revolution: Mary Stuart and her husband William III
of Orange were proclaimed co-rulers of England and Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England>
1931:
New Delhi (India Gate pictured) was inaugurated as the new
capital of British India by Viceroy Lord Irwin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Delhi>
1960:
African American college students staged the first of the
Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee, part
of a nonviolent direct action campaign to end racial segregation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_sit-ins>
1970:
The English rock band Black Sabbath released their eponymous
debut album, which is recognised as the first major album to be credited
with the development of the heavy metal genre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath_(album)>
2008:
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to Indigenous
Australians and the Stolen Generations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
troika:
1. A Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses abreast.
2. A party or group of three.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troika>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Mine is the sunlight, Mine is the morning Born of the one light
Eden saw play. Praise with elation, Praise every morning, God's re-
creation Of the new day!
--Eleanor Farjeon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Farjeon>
Bill Russell (born 1934) is an American retired professional basketball
player, widely considered one of the best in National Basketball
Association (NBA) history. Playing center for the Boston Celtics, he was
the centerpiece of their dynasty and his shot-blocking and man-to-man
defense were major reasons for the team's success. A five-time NBA Most
Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, he won 11 NBA championships
during his 13-year career, and jointly holds the record for the most
championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. He
led the NBA in rebounds four times, and remains second all-time in both
total rebounds and rebounds per game. Russell was the first African
American player to achieve superstar status in the NBA and the first
African American NBA coach. For his accomplishments in the Civil Rights
Movement on and off the court, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 2011. Russell is a member of three basketball Halls of Fame
(Naismith Memorial, National Collegiate, and FIBA) and the NBA Finals
Most Valuable Player Award is named in his honor. He also won a
1956 Olympics gold medal as captain of the U.S. national basketball
team.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1818:
On the first anniversary of its victory in the Battle of
Chacabuco, Chile formally declared its independence from Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Declaration_of_Independence>
1912:
Xinhai Revolution: Puyi, the last Emperor of China, abdicated
under a deal brokered by military official and politician Yuan Shikai,
formally replacing the Qing Dynasty with a new republic in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi>
1947:
French designer Christian Dior unveiled a "New Look" that
revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of
the fashion world after World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Dior>
1974:
Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested and
subsequently deported from the Soviet Union for writing The Gulag
Archipelago, an exposé of the Soviet forced labour camp system.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn>
1994:
Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream was stolen from the
National Gallery of Norway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snappish:
Exhibiting irritation or impatience; curt; irascible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snappish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is
wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel.
--Abraham Lincoln
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln>
Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky named after the Greek
mythological hero Perseus. It was one of 48 listed by the 2nd-century
astronomer Ptolemy and is among the 88 modern constellations defined by
the International Astronomical Union. It is located in the northern
celestial hemisphere near several other constellations named after
legends surrounding Perseus, including Andromeda and Cassiopeia. The
galactic plane of the Milky Way passes through Perseus but is mostly
obscured by molecular clouds. The constellation's brightest star is the
yellow-white supergiant Alpha Persei, which shines at magnitude 1.79. It
and many surrounding stars are members of the Alpha Persei Cluster. The
best-known star is Algol, an eclipsing binary linked with ominous
legends because of its variability, which is noticeable to the naked
eye. Other notable features in Perseus include X Persei (a binary system
containing a neutron star), GK Persei (a nova that peaked at magnitude
0.2 in 1901), the Double Cluster (comprised of two open clusters near
each other in the sky), and the Perseus Cluster (a massive galaxy
cluster). Perseus also hosts the radiant of the annual Perseids meteor
shower.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
660 BC:
According to tradition, Emperor Jimmu founded Japan and
established his capital in Yamato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmu>
1826:
University College London (Main Building pictured) was founded
as the first secular university in England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_London>
1929:
To help settle the "Roman Question", Italy and the Holy See of
the Roman Catholic Church signed the Lateran Treaty to establish Vatican
City as an independent sovereign enclave within Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty>
1968:
After two black employees were killed on the job, about 1,300
black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, US, began a strike that
lasted over two months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Sanitation_Strike>
1990:
Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner
for 27 years, was released from Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, South
Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gourmandise:
To eat food in a gluttonous manner; to gorge; to make a pig of oneself.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gourmandise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Even in times of war, you can see current events in their
historical perspective, provided that your passion for the truth
prevails over your bias in favor of your own nation.
--Leó Szilárd
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3_Szil%C3%A1rd>
Operation Kita was conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during
the Pacific War in February 1945 to return both Ise-class hybrid
battleship-aircraft carriers (Ise pictured) and their escorts to Japan
from Singapore, where they had been based since November 1944. Before
departing, the Japanese ships (designated the Completion Force) were
loaded with oil and other raw materials to help bring supplies through
the Allied blockade of Japan. The Completion Force sailed on
10 February 1945 and was sighted leaving port by a Royal Navy
submarine. The Allies, who had learned of the Completion Force's
composition and goals from decrypting Japanese radio signals, planned
coordinated attacks by U.S. submarines and aircraft. All attempts failed
and the Completion Force reached its destination of Kure, Japan, on
20 February without suffering any casualties. Due to the intensifying
Allied blockade, the Ise-class ships and their escorts were among the
last IJN warships to reach Japan safely from the Southwest Pacific. All
the ships of the Completion Force were sunk in or near Japanese home
waters before the end of the war.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kita>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1258:
Hulagu Khan and the Mongols sacked and burned Baghdad, a
cultural and commercial centre of the Islamic world at the time, ending
the rule of the Abbasid caliphate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad_(1258)>
1763:
Britain, France, and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris to end
the Seven Years' War, significantly reducing the size of the French
colonial empire while at the same time marking the beginning of an
extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763)>
1840:
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married Queen Victoria of
the United Kingdom at the Chapel Royal, becoming prince-consort.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert,_Prince_Consort>
1962:
"Rudolf Abel", a Soviet spy arrested by the FBI, was exchanged
for Gary Powers, the pilot of the CIA spy plane that had been shot down
over Soviet airspace two years earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilyam_Genrikhovich_Fisher>
1964:
The Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne
collided with and sank the destroyer HMAS Voyager in Jervis Bay,
Australia, killing 82 of Voyager's personnel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne%E2%80%93Voyager_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ophidian:
Of or pertaining to the suborder Serpentes; of, related to, or
characteristic of a snake or serpent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ophidian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it
is split into warring factions.
--Bertolt Brecht
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht>
The Boulonnais is a heavy draft horse breed from France. It is known for
its large but elegant appearance and is usually gray, although chestnut
and black are also allowed by the French breed registry. Its origins
trace to a period before the Crusades; Spanish Barb, Arabian and
Andalusian blood were added during the 17th century to create the modern
type. Originally there were several sub-types, but they were crossbred
until only one is seen today. The smallest type was used to pull carts
of fresh fish from Boulogne to Paris, while the larger varieties
performed heavy draft work on farms and in the cities. During the early
1900s, the Boulonnais were exported in large numbers to the United
States. Wars in the 20th century nearly led to the breed's extinction,
but it revived in France in the 1970s as a popular choice for horse
meat. From an estimated population of over 600,000 in the early 1900s,
there are thought to be fewer than 1,000 Boulonnais presently in
Europe, mostly in France. Studies as early as 1983 indicated a danger of
inbreeding within the Boulonnais population, and a 2009 report suggested
that the breed should be a priority for conservation within France.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulonnais_horse>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
After no presidential candidate received a majority of
electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy
Adams president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams>
1920:
The Svalbard Treaty was signed, recognizing Norwegian
sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, but all signatories
were also given equal rights to engage in commercial activities on the
islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard>
1945:
World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully
attacked a German destroyer in Førdefjorden, Norway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1945)>
1964:
English rock band The Beatles made their first appearance on
American variety show The Ed Sullivan Show before a record-breaking
audience, beginning a musical phenomenon known as the British Invasion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Invasion>
2001:
The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally collided
with the Ehime Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima
Fishery High School.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehime_Maru_and_USS_Greeneville_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
set the Thames on fire:
(idiomatic) To achieve something amazing; to do something which brings
great public acclaim.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/set_the_Thames_on_fire>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come
runnin' to see you again Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, All you have to
do is call And I'll be there You've got a friend.
--Carole King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carole_King>