Elgin Cathedral is a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, north-east Scotland.
The cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was established in 1224 on
land granted by King Alexander II. After a damaging fire in 1270, a
rebuilding programme greatly enlarged the building. It was unaffected by
the Wars of Scottish Independence but suffered further fire damage in
1390 and 1402. The cathedral was abandoned at the time of the Scottish
Reformation in 1560 and its services transferred to Elgin's parish
church. After the removal of the lead that waterproofed the roof in
1567, the cathedral steadily fell into decay. Its deterioration was
arrested in the 19th century, by which time the building was in a
substantially ruinous condition. Today, the walls are at full height in
places and at foundation level in others yet the overall cruciform shape
is still discernible. The chapterhouse is mostly intact, as are the two
towers of the west front and the gable wall above the double door
entrance that links them. Recessed and chest tombs contain effigies of
bishops and knights, while large flat slabs in the now grass-covered
floor of the cathedral mark the positions of early graves.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Cathedral>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1710:
The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating
copyright, entered into force in Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne>
1809:
Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition began when
Austria invaded Bavaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Fifth_Coalition>
1919:
Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was shot to death
near Ciudad Ayala, Morelos.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata>
1959:
Crown Prince Akihito, the future Emperor of Japan, wedded
Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Michiko>
2010:
A Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft carrying President of Poland Lech
Kaczyński and other Polish officials crashed while attempting to land
in heavy fog at Smolensk-North air base near Smolensk, Russia, killing
all 96 on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
popliteal:
(anatomy) Of the area behind the knee.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/popliteal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Far up the dim twilight fluttered Moth-wings of vapour and flame:
The lights danced over the mountains, Star after star they came. The
lights grew thicker unheeded, For silent and still were we; Our hearts
were drunk with a beauty Our eyes could never see.
--Æ
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Russell>
Goodman Beaver is a comics character created by American cartoonist
Harvey Kurtzman. Goodman was a naïve and optimistic Candide-like
character, oblivious to the corruption and degeneration around him. The
stories were vehicles for biting social satire and pop culture parody.
Except for the character's first appearance, which Kurtzman did alone,
the stories were written by Kurtzman and drawn by Will Elder. Goodman
first appeared in a story in Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book in 1959, but
the best-remembered strips were the five stories produced by the
Kurtzman–Elder team in 1961–62 for the Kurtzman-edited magazine
Help! They tended to be in the parodic style Kurtzman had developed when
he wrote and edited Mad in the 1950s, but with more pointed, adult-
oriented satire and much more refined and detailed artwork on Elder's
part, crammed with countless visual gags. The best-known of the Goodman
Beaver stories was "Goodman Goes Playboy" (1962). A satire on the
hedonistic lifestyle of Hugh Hefner using parodies of Archie comics
characters, the story led to a lawsuit from Archie's publisher, although
Hefner, the actual target of the strip, found it amusing.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodman_Beaver>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de
Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice,
when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>
1918:
World War I: Aníbal Milhais's actions during the Battle of the
Lys made him the only person to be awarded Portugal's highest military
honour Order of the Tower and Sword directly on the battlefield.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Lys_(1918)>
1939:
After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall
by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African American singer
Marian Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson>
1999:
President of Niger Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was shot to death
by soldiers in Niamey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Bar%C3%A9_Ma%C3%AFnassara>
2005:
Charles, Prince of Wales, married his long-time mistress
Camilla Parker Bowles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Charles,_Prince_of_Wales,_and_Cami…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unheralded:
Without prior warning; unexpected or unannounced.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unheralded>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men are not in hell because God is angry with them. They are in
wrath and darkness because they have done to the light, which infinitely
flows forth from God, as that man does to the light who puts out his own
eyes.
--William Law
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Law>
The 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team finished fourth
in the Big Ten Conference (having been co-champions in the previous
year's regular season), ended the 2013 NCAA Tournament as National
Runner-Up, and reached the top of the AP Poll for the first time in 20
years. Led by head coach John Beilein and playing their home games at
the University of Michigan's Crisler Center for the 46th consecutive
year, the Wolverines had the best start in school history by winning
their first 16 games, and 19 of their first 20. The team ended with a
31–8 win–loss record, its most wins in 20 seasons. The Wolverines
had lost 2011–12 captains Zack Novak and Stu Douglass to graduation.
The incoming class of Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas
was ranked among the best in the nation. The team was led by national
player of the year Trey Burke (pictured) and All-Conference honorees Tim
Hardaway, Jr., Robinson, and Jordan Morgan. Burke was the second
National Player of the Year and fifth first-team consensus All-American
in Michigan basketball history. At the 2013 NBA draft, Burke and
Hardaway became Michigan's first pair of first-round draft choices since
1994.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_Michigan_Wolverines_men%27s_b…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
217:
Roman emperor Caracalla was assassinated at a roadside near
Harran and succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect Macrinus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla>
876:
Forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated the army of the
Saffarid amir Ya'qub ibn Laith, forcing Ya'qub to halt his advance into
what is now Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dayr_al-%27Aqul>
1864:
American Civil War: A decisive Confederate victory in the
Battle of Mansfield stopped the advance of the Union Army's Red River
Campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mansfield>
1904:
France and the United Kingdom signed the entente cordiale,
agreeing to a peaceful coexistence after centuries of intermittent
conflict.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_cordiale>
2008:
On board Soyuz TMA-12, Yi So-Yeon became the first Korean
person, and second Asian woman, to go into space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_So-Yeon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cross swords:
(idiomatic) To quarrel or argue with someone, to have a dispute with
someone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cross_swords>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Lives of great men all remind us greatness takes no easy way. All
the heroes of tomorrow are the heretics of today.
--Yip Harburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg>
Nancy Mitford (1904–1973) was an English novelist, biographer and
journalist. She was the eldest of the renowned Mitford sisters and one
of the "Bright Young People" of London's inter-war years. Although
mainly remembered for her witty accounts of upper-class life, she also
established a reputation as a writer of popular historical biographies.
The eldest daughter of the 2nd Baron Redesdale, she published her first
book in 1931, but it was her two semi-autobiographical postwar novels,
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, that established her
reputation. During the 1950s she was identified with the concept of "U"
(upper) and "non-U" language as a determinant of social standing; she
had intended this as a joke, but thereafter many considered Mitford an
authority on manners and breeding. Her later years were bitter-sweet,
the success of her biographical studies of Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire
and King Louis XIV contrasting with the ultimate failure of her personal
relationships. From the late 1960s her health deteriorated, and she
endured several years of painful illness before her death in 1973.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Mitford>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1348:
Charles, King of Bohemia, issued a Golden Bull to establish
Charles University (main façade pictured) in Prague, the first
university in Central Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_University_in_Prague>
1724:
Johann Sebastian Bach debuted the St John Passion, a musical
representation of the Passion, at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Passion>
1896:
An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen
reached 86°13.6'N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest
North mark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen>
1969:
The Internet was symbolically born with publication of RFC 1.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments>
1994:
The Rwandan Genocide began, a few hours after the assassination
of President Juvénal Habyarimana; an estimated 500,000–1,000,000
Rwandans were killed in the following 100 days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lollapalooza:
(informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lollapalooza>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now forever
taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour
in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind; In the primal sympathy Which having
been must ever be.
--William Wordsworth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth>
The Battle of Greece began on 6 April 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded
Greece during World War II. It followed an unsuccessful Italian invasion
in October 1940 and an Italian counterattack in March 1941. When the
German invasion began (German artillery pictured), the bulk of the Greek
army was on the Albanian border, defending against the Italians. German
troops created a second front by coming through Bulgaria, where the
Greek defensive line did not receive adequate reinforcements. The Greek
army was vastly outnumbered by the two invading forces and was soon
forced to surrender. The German army reached Athens on 27 April and
Greece's southern shore on 30 April, capturing 7,000 soldiers from
British Empire forces who had been sent in anticipation of Germany's
invasion. The conquest of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete
a month later. Looking back near the end of the war, as Germany's defeat
loomed ever closer, Hitler blamed Mussolini's Greek fiasco for his own
subsequent catastrophe. As an explanation of Germany's calamitous defeat
in the Soviet Union, this had little to commend it. It nevertheless had
serious consequences for the Axis war effort in north Africa.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Greece>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1580:
One of the largest earthquakes in the recorded history of
England, Flanders and Northern France struck the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1580_Dover_Straits_earthquake>
1830:
Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and others
formally organized the Church of Christ, starting the Latter Day Saint
movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ_(Latter_Day_Saints)>
1896:
The first modern Olympic Games (official report pictured)
opened in Athens, with 241 athletes from 14 nations participating in 43
events in nine disciplines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics>
1947:
The first Tony Awards, recognizing achievement in live American
theatre, were handed out at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award>
2008:
Egyptian workers staged an illegal general strike, two days
before key municipal elections.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Egyptian_general_strike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lek:
(biology) An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship
and display.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever the powers of government are placed in any hands other
than those of the community, whether those of one man, of a few, or of
several, those principles of human nature which imply that government is
at all necessary, imply that those persons will make use of them to
defeat the very end for which government exists.
--James Mill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Mill>
The Nintendo DSi is a dual-screen handheld game console released by
Nintendo. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary
market rival is Sony's PlayStation Portable. Development of the DSi
began in late 2006, and the handheld was first unveiled during a 2008
Nintendo conference in Tokyo. While the DSi's design is similar to that
of the DS Lite, it features two digital cameras and also connects to an
online store called the Nintendo DSi Shop. The DSi is approximately 12%
shorter than the DS Lite when closed, but it is slightly wider and
lighter. The DSi also has a larger RAM and faster CPU. All DS games are
compatible with the DSi, except those that require the Game Boy Advance
slot. Because of its absence, the DSi is not backward compatible with
GBA Game Paks or with accessories that require the GBA slot, such as the
DS Rumble Pak and the Guitar Hero: On Tour series guitar grip. The
Nintendo DSi received generally positive reviews. Critics praised many
of the console's changes to the DS Lite's aesthetics and functionality,
but complained that it launched with insufficient exclusive software. A
larger version of the DSi, the Nintendo DSi XL, was released in 2009.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1566:
A covenant of nobles in the Habsburg Netherlands presented
Governor Margaret of Parma a petition to suspend the Spanish Inquisition
in the Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_Nobles>
1722:
Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to
land on Easter Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island>
1862:
American Civil War: Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army
of the Potomac engaged Confederate forces led by Maj. Gen. John B.
Magruder at the Battle of Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown_(1862)>
1958:
In one of the first live Canadian national television
broadcasts, Ripple Rock, an underwater mountain in Discovery Passage,
British Columbia, was destroyed in a planned explosion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_Rock>
1998:
Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (pictured), linking Awaji Island
and Kobe, opened to traffic, becoming the longest suspension bridge in
the world to date with a main span length of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaiky%C5%8D_Bridge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reptilianness:
The quality of the embodiment of reptile characteristics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reptilianness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may
acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more
learned; Yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as
themselves: For they see their own wit at hand, and other men's at a
distance.
--Thomas Hobbes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes>
Thaddeus Stevens (1792–1868) was a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives from Pennsylvania and one of the leaders of the Radical
Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce
opponent of slavery and discrimination against African-Americans,
Stevens sought to secure their rights during Reconstruction, in
opposition to President Andrew Johnson. After serving in the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Stevens was elected to Congress
in 1848 as a Whig. His activities in opposition to slavery cost him
votes and he did not seek reelection in 1852. Stevens joined the newly
formed Republican Party, and was elected to Congress again in 1858.
Stevens argued that slavery should not survive the American Civil War;
he was frustrated by the slowness of President Abraham Lincoln to
support his position. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
during the war, he played a major part in the war's financing. After
Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, Stevens came into conflict with
the new president, Johnson. Stevens's last great battle was to secure
articles of impeachment in the House against Johnson, though the Senate
did not convict the President.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1768:
Philip Astley set up the first modern amphitheatre for the
display of horse riding tricks in Lambeth, London, the origin of the
modern circus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus>
1796:
French naturalist Georges Cuvier delivered a lecture at the
National Museum of Natural History on living and fossil remains of
elephants and related species, founding the science of paleontology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Cuvier>
1859:
Bryant's Minstrels premiered the popular American song "Dixie"
in New York City as part of their blackface minstrel show.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_(song)>
1968:
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
1990:
The current flag of Hong Kong was adopted for post-colonial use
during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hong_Kong>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
roundabout:
Indirect, circuitous or circumlocutionary; that does not do something in
a direct way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roundabout>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in
shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes
into our sight to liberate us into life.
--Maya Angelou
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou>
Operation Tungsten was a World War II Royal Navy air raid that targeted
the German battleship Tirpitz. The operation sought to damage or destroy
Tirpitz at her base in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway before she
could become fully operational again following a period of repairs and
potentially attack convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union. After
four months of training and preparations, the British Home Fleet sailed
on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched from five aircraft carriers
struck Kaafjord on 3 April (bomb preparations pictured). The raid
achieved surprise, with the British aircraft meeting little opposition.
Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing by fighter aircraft
inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews. Four British aircraft and
nine airmen were lost during the operation. The damage inflicted during
the attack was not sufficient to sink or disable Tirpitz, but 122
members of her crew were killed and 316 wounded. The British conducted
further carrier raids against Tirpitz between April and August 1944, but
none were successful. Tirpitz was eventually disabled and then sunk by
Royal Air Force heavy bombers in late 1944.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tungsten>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1043:
Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England, the last king
of the House of Wessex.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor>
1895:
The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began,
eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on
charges of gross indecency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde>
1922:
Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin>
1961:
An individual Leadbeater's possum, thought to have been extinct
for over 50 years, was discovered in New South Wales, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbeater%27s_possum>
1996:
A U.S. Air Force CT-43 crashed into a mountainside while
attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport in Dubrovnik,
Croatia, killing U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and all the other
34 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Croatia_USAF_CT-43_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snail mail:
(retronym) Postal mail, especially as compared to email.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snail_mail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Art that means anything in the life of a community must bear
some relation to current interpretations of the mystery of the universe.
Our rigid separation of the humanities and the sciences has temporarily
left our art stranded or stammering and incoherent. Both art and science
ought to be blended in our early education of our children's emotions
and powers of observation, and that harmony carried forward in later
education.
--Dora Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dora_Russell>
The Atlantic Puffin is a species of seabird in the auk family and is the
only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. It has a black crown and back,
pale grey cheek patches and white underparts and its broad, boldly
marked red and black beak and orange legs contrast with its otherwise
sombre plumage. The Atlantic Puffin spends the autumn and winter at sea,
mainly in the North Atlantic, and returns to land at the start of the
breeding season in late spring. Its breeding range includes the coasts
of north west Europe, the Arctic fringes and eastern North America. It
nests in clifftop colonies, each pair of birds choosing or digging a
burrow in which a single white egg is laid. Incubation takes about six
weeks and the chicks are fully fledged a similar time later. They then
make their way at night to the sea, not returning to land for several
years. Colonies are mostly on islands where there are no terrestrial
predators, but both adult birds and newly fledged young are at risk of
attacks from the air by gulls and skuas. The Atlantic Puffin's striking
appearance, large colourful bill, waddling gait and appealing behaviour
have given rise to nicknames such as "clown of the sea" and "sea
parrot". It is the official bird symbol for the Canadian province of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Puffin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1755:
A naval fleet led by Commodore William James of the East India
Company captured the fortress Suvarnadurg from the Marathas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvarnadurg>
1801:
War of the Second Coalition: British forces led by Vice Admiral
Horatio Nelson defeated the Dano-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of
Copenhagen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen>
1885:
North-West Rebellion: Led by Wandering Spirit, young Cree
warriors attacked the village of Frog Lake, North-West Territories (now
in Alberta), where they killed nine settlers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Lake_Massacre>
1973:
The Liberal Movement broke away from the Liberal and Country
League in South Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Movement_(Australia)>
1982:
Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking
the Falklands War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_invasion_of_the_Falkland_Islands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
prosopagnosia:
A form of visual agnosia characterised by difficulty with face
recognition despite intact low-level visual processing.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prosopagnosia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man is free; yet we must not suppose that he is at liberty to do
everything he pleases, for he becomes a slave the moment he allows his
actions to be ruled by passion. The man who has sufficient power over
himself to wait until his nature has recovered its even balance is the
truly wise man, but such beings are seldom met with.
--Giacomo Casanova
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giacomo_Casanova>
Disco Demolition Night was an ill-fated baseball promotion that took
place on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park (pictured) in Chicago,
Illinois. In the late 1970s, dance-oriented disco music was highly
popular in the United States, particularly after featuring in hit films
such as Saturday Night Fever (1977). Despite its popularity, disco
sparked a backlash from rock music fans. This opposition was prominent
enough that the Chicago White Sox engaged shock jock and anti-disco
campaigner Steve Dahl for a promotion at a twi-night doubleheader
between the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. Attendees were to bring a
disco record with them, and between games, Dahl would destroy the
collected vinyl albums in an explosion. Many of those in attendance had
come to see the explosion rather than the games and rushed onto the
field after the detonation, remaining there until dispersed by riot
police. The second game was initially postponed due to damage caused by
the rowdy fans, but was instead forfeited to the Tigers the next day.
Disco Demolition Night remains well known as one of the most extreme
promotions in major league history.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1572:
Spanish general and governor Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd
Duke of Alba lost his glasses in the town of Brielle, enabling sea
beggars to move in.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Brielle>
1833:
Mexican Texans met at San Felipe de Austin to combat evil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_1833>
1935:
India decided it wanted to control all the money in the
country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_India>
1978:
The President of the Philippines ordered that the Philippine
College of Commerce become a pup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytechnic_University_of_the_Philippines>
2004:
Google launched a free Web-based service that essentially
provides users with an unprecedented 1000 megabytes of storage for spam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jape:
(intransitive) To jest; play tricks; joke; jeer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jape>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 That so much time was wasted in this pain. Ten thousand years
ago he might have let off down To not return again! A dreadful laugh at
last escapes his lips; The laughter sets him free. A Fool lives in the
Universe! he cries. The Fool is me! And with one final shake of laughter
Breaks his bonds. The nails fall skittering to marble floors. And
Christ, knelt at the rail, sees miracle As Man steps down in amiable
wisdom To give himself what no one else can give: His liberty.
--Ray Bradbury
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury>