Jane Joseph (1894–1929) was an English composer, arranger and teacher
of music, whose potential was noticed by the composer Gustav Holst when
he taught her composition at St Paul's Girls' School. She acted as his
amanuensis from 1914, when he was composing The Planets, and thereafter
assisted him with transcriptions, arrangements and translations, and
with the organisation of music festivals. Many of her works were
composed for performance at these festivals, but most were not published
and have been lost. Two early short orchestral pieces were published and
critically praised, and two of her choral works were admired in her day
but have rarely been performed since. Her carol "A Little Childe There
is Ibore" was thought by Holst to be among the best of its kind. A
respected teacher of music, one of her pupils was Holst's daughter
Imogen. Joseph was also an active member of the Society of Women
Musicians. Her early, unexpected death was judged by her contemporaries
as a considerable loss to English music. As of 2014 there are no
commercial recordings of her music, but there have been occasional
broadcast performances.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Joseph>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1279 BC:
Ramesses II (statue pictured) became Pharaoh of Egypt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramesses_II>
1223:
Mongol invasions: Mongol forces defeated a combined army of
Kiev, Galich, and the Cumans at the Kalchik River in present-day
Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River>
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston
and G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan at the
Battle of Seven Pines outside Richmond, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines>
1941:
The United Kingdom completed its re-occupation of Iraq,
returning 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iraqi_War>
2010:
During an attempt to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza
Strip, the Israeli Navy engaged in armed conflict with the crew of the
MV Mavi Marmara, resulting in nine civilian deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Mavi_Marmara>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
omnishambles:
(UK, chiefly politics) A situation that is bad or mismanaged in every
way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/omnishambles>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 All this time and at all times wait the words of true
poems, The words of true poems do not merely please, The true poets are
not followers of beauty but the august masters of beauty; The greatness
of sons is the exuding of the greatness of mothers and fathers, The
words of true poems are the tuft and final applause of science.
--Song of the Answerer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#Song_of_the_Answerer_.281855.…>
The Derfflinger class was a class of three battlecruisers of the German
Imperial Navy. The ships were ordered for the 1912 to 1913 Naval
Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the Royal
Navy's three new Lion-class battlecruisers. The Derfflinger class ships
were larger and slightly slower than their predecessors, and had a
larger primary armament. The class comprised three ships: Derfflinger
(pictured), Lützow, and Hindenburg. All three saw active service with
the High Seas Fleet during World War I. Derfflinger was commissioned
shortly after the outbreak of war, and was present at most of the naval
actions in the North Sea, including the battles of Dogger Bank and
Jutland. Lützow was commissioned in August 1915, and only participated
in the raid on Yarmouth before being sunk at Jutland. Hindenburg,
commissioned in May 1917, saw no major action. Derfflinger and
Hindenburg were interned at Scapa Flow following the armistice in
November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, who was in command of the
interned High Seas Fleet, ordered the ships to be scuttled in an attempt
to prevent their possible seizure by the Royal Navy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derfflinger-class_battlecruiser>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1593:
English playwright Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death by
Ingram Frizer under mysterious circumstances.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe>
1899:
Female Old West outlaw Pearl Hart performed one of the last
recorded stagecoach robberies 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Globe,
Arizona.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Hart>
1911:
American race car driver Ray Harroun won the first running of
the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500>
1961:
Dominican strongman Rafael Trujillo was ambushed by a group of
generals and assassinated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo>
1998:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at
least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000
people homeless in the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_30,_1998_Afghanistan_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
have Van Gogh's ear for music:
(humorous) To be tone-deaf.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_Van_Gogh%27s_ear_for_music>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A person is strong only when he stands upon his own truth,
when he speaks and acts from his deepest convictions. Then, whatever the
situation he may be in, he always knows what he must say and do. He may
fall, but he cannot bring shame upon himself or his cause. If we seek
the liberation of the people by means of a lie, we will surely grow
confused, go astray, and lose sight of our objective, and if we have any
influence at all on the people we will lead them astray as well — in
other words, we will be acting in the spirit of reaction and to its
benefit.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
Sawtooth National Forest is a federally protected area that covers
2,102,461 acres (850,836 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent)
and Utah (~4 percent). A portion of it has been designated as the
Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which includes the Sawtooth
Wilderness. It is named for the Sawtooth Mountains, one of several
mountain ranges in the area, and contains land cover types which include
sagebrush steppe, spruce-fir forests, and alpine tundra. There are over
1,100 lakes and 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of rivers and streams. Plants
and animals that are found only in the Sawtooth National Forest and
adjacent lands include Christ's Indian paintbrush (pictured), Davis'
springparsley, the South Hills Crossbill, and the Wood River sculpin.
The area that is now Sawtooth National Forest was first occupied by
people as early as 8000 BC and by the Shoshone people after 1700 AD.
The first European descendants migrating from the eastern United States
arrived in the area around the 1820s and founded many of the current
towns around what later became the forest. Facilities are offered for
various recreation activities including skiing, boating, hunting,
camping, and walking.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawtooth_National_Forest>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1176:
Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines: The Lombard League
defeated the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in Legnano, Lombardy,
present-day Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Legnano>
1780:
American Revolutionary War: A mainly Loyalist force rejected
the Continental Army troops' surrender and continued killing the Patriot
soldiers, including men who were not resisting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waxhaws>
1914:
The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint
Lawrence River after colliding with the Storstad, killing 1,012 on
board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Ireland>
1954:
The first annual Bilderberg Group meeting of leaders from
European countries and the United States took place in Oosterbeek,
Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group>
1985:
A wall at Brussels' Heysel Stadium collapsed under the pressure
of football fans escaping a riot before the European Cup Final between
Liverpool and Juventus, killing 39 people and injuring over 600 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apothegm:
A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apothegm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The one thing that can never be told is the last notion of
the President, for his notions grow like a tropical forest. So in case
you don't know, I'd better tell you that he is carrying out his notion
of concealing ourselves by not concealing ourselves to the most
extraordinary lengths just now. … He said that if you didn't seem to
be hiding nobody hunted you out. Well, he is the only man on earth, I
know; but sometimes I really think that his huge brain is going a little
mad in its old age. For now we flaunt ourselves before the public. …
They say we are a lot of jolly gentlemen who pretend they are
anarchists.
--The Man Who Was Thursday
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday>
Roy Dowling (1901–1969) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian
Navy (RAN). He graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College in 1919
and was given command of the sloop HMAS Swan in 1937. During World
War II, he saw action in the Mediterranean aboard HMS Naiad (surviving
her sinking in 1942), served as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, and
commanded HMAS Hobart in the South West Pacific, earning the
Distinguished Service Order. Dowling took command of the RAN's first
aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney, in 1948. He rose to become Chief of
Naval Staff (CNS), the RAN's highest-ranking position, from 1955 until
1959. As CNS he had to deal with shortages of money, manpower and
equipment, and with the increasing role of the United States in
Australia's defence planning at the expense of traditional ties with
Britain. Knighted in 1957, he served as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff
Committee from 1959 until 1961, when he retired. In 1963 he was
appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and became
Australian Secretary to HM Queen Elizabeth II, serving until his death
in 1969.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Dowling>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1588:
Anglo-Spanish War: The Spanish Armada (a galleass pictured),
with 130 ships and over 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon for the English
Channel in an attempt to invade England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada>
1754:
French and Indian War: Led by 22-year-old George Washington, a
company of colonial militia from Virginia ambushed a force of 35
Canadiens in the Battle of Jumonville Glen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen>
1937:
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated when he was summoned
to Buckingham Palace to "kiss hands" and accept the office of Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Neville_Chamberlain>
1987:
West German aviator Mathias Rust flew his Cessna 172 through
the supposedly impregnable Soviet air defense system and landed in Red
Square, Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust>
2004:
Ayad Allawi was unanimously elected by the Iraqi Governing
Council to be the interim Prime Minister of Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayad_Allawi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
crown molding:
(finish carpentry, interior decorating) A molding at the edge of a room
between ceiling and wall.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crown_molding>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I enjoy decoration. By accumulating this mass of detail you throw
light on things in a longer sense: in the long run it all adds up. It
creates a texture — how shall I put it — a background, a period,
which makes everything you write that much more convincing. Of course,
all artists are terrible egoists. Unconsciously you are largely writing
about yourself. I could never write anything factual; I only have
confidence in myself when I am another character. All the characters in
my books are myself, but they are a kind of disguise.
--Patrick White
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patrick_White>
Sonatas and Interludes is a collection of twenty pieces for prepared
piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage (pictured). Forty-five
notes are prepared, using screws, nuts, bolts, pieces of rubber and
plastic, and an eraser. The pieces were composed between February 1946
and March 1948, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy
and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, both of which
became major influences on the composer's later work. Significantly more
complex than his other works for prepared piano, Sonatas and Interludes
is generally recognized as one of Cage's finest achievements. The cycle
consists of sixteen sonatas and four more freely structured interludes.
The aim of the pieces is to express the eight permanent emotions of the
rasa Indian tradition. In Sonatas and Interludes, Cage elevated his
technique of rhythmic proportions to a new level of complexity. In each
sonata a short sequence of natural numbers and fractions defines the
structure of the work and that of its parts, informing structures as
localized as individual melodic lines. Cage dedicated the work to Maro
Ajemian, a pianist and friend, who performed it many times.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatas_and_Interludes>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
Manchu regent Dorgon defeated rebel leader Li Zicheng of the
Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to
enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanhai_Pass>
1799:
War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated the
French and captured the strategically important town of Winterthur,
Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur_(1799)>
1874:
The first group of the Dorsland Trek, a series of explorations
undertaken by Boers in search of political independence and better
living conditions, departed South Africa for Angola.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsland_Trek>
1930:
Standing at 319 metres (1,047 ft), New York City's Chrysler
Building opened as the world's tallest building before it was surpassed
by the Empire State Building 11 months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building>
1983:
A massive explosion at an illegal fireworks factory near
Benton, Tennessee, US, killed eleven people and caused damage within a
radius of several miles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webb_Farm_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antaphrodisiac:
Capable of reducing the sex drive.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antaphrodisiac>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I am anti-entropy. My work is foursquare for chaos. I spend
my life personally, and my work professionally, keeping the soup
boiling. Gadfly is what they call you when you are no longer dangerous;
I much prefer troublemaker, malcontent, desperado. I see myself as a
combination of Zorro and Jiminy Cricket. My stories go out from here and
raise hell. From time to time some denigrator or critic with umbrage
will say of my work, "He only wrote that to shock." I smile and nod.
Precisely. 
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>
Triaenops menamena is a bat in the genus Triaenops found on Madagascar,
mainly in the drier regions. It was known as Triaenops rufus until 2009,
when it was discovered that that name had been incorrectly applied to
the species. Triaenops rufus is a synonym of Triaenops persicus, a
closely related Middle Eastern species. Triaenops menamena is mostly
found in forests, but also occurs in other habitats. It often roosts in
large colonies and eats insects such as butterflies and moths. Because
of its wide range, common occurrence, and tolerance of habitat
degradation, it is not considered to be threatened. With a forearm
length of 50 to 56 mm (2.0 to 2.2 in) in males and 46 to 53 mm (1.8
to 2.1 in) in females, this is a medium-sized bat. Its fur color is
variable, ranging from reddish-brown to gray, but it is generally darker
than the species in the closely related genus Paratriaenops which also
occur on Madagascar. The skull contains a pronounced swelling around the
nose and the second upper premolar is displaced outside the toothrow.
The maximum frequency of the echolocation call averages 94.2 kHz and
the species can easily be recognized on the basis of its call.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triaenops_menamena>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
946:
King Edmund I of England was murdered by a thief whom he
personally attacked while celebrating St Augustine's Day mass.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I>
1857:
American slave Dred Scott (pictured), who had previously
unsuccessfully sued for his freedom, was emancipated by Henry Taylor
Blow, his original owner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott>
1897:
Dracula, Irish author Bram Stoker's most famous novel, was
first published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula>
1972:
U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev
signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow, concluding the first
round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty>
2008:
Severe flooding began in eastern and southern China that
ultimately caused 148 deaths and forced the evacuation of 1.3 million
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_South_China_floods>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eyrie:
1. A bird of prey's nest.
2. Any high and remote but commanding place.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eyrie>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that
you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's
known in advance to what you need to know.
--Ward Cunningham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham>
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is the third studio album by American
metal band Slipknot (pictured). The album was released on May 25, 2004,
through Roadrunner Records. It is the band's only album produced by Rick
Rubin and also the only one not to feature profanity. Following the
band's tour to promote its second album in 2002, speculation regarding
the future began. Some band members had already been involved in side
projects including Murderdolls, To My Surprise, and the reformation of
Stone Sour. In 2003, Slipknot moved into The Mansion to work on the
album. Initially, the band was unproductive; lead vocalist Corey Taylor
was drinking heavily. Nevertheless, they wrote more than enough material
for a new album—the band's first to incorporate more traditional,
melodic song structures, guitar solos and acoustic guitars. The album
received generally positive reviews; Q called it "a triumph". The album
peaked within the top ten in album sales across eleven countries, and
went Platinum in the United States. The band also received the Grammy
Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Before I Forget".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vol._3:_(The_Subliminal_Verses)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
240 BC:
The Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian recorded
the first confirmed sighting of Halley's Comet (pictured), the first
comet to be recognized as periodic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet>
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1914:
The British parliament passed the Third Home Rule Act,
establishing a devolved government in Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Ireland_Act_1914>
1940:
Second World War: A German Panzer division captured Boulogne-
sur-Mer, France, forcing the evacuation of the British Expeditionary
Force through Dunkirk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boulogne_(1940)>
2000:
Israel withdrew its army from most of Lebanese territory, 22
years after its first invasion in 1978.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lebanon_conflict_(1985%E2%80%932000)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
masterly inactivity:
(politics) A policy of deliberate inactivity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/masterly_inactivity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always
present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred
impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears
a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and
lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never
became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains,
reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the
simplicity of his childhood.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson>
The history of Sheffield, a city in South Yorkshire, England, can be
traced back to the founding of a settlement beside the River Sheaf in
the second half of the 1st millennium AD, although the area has seen
human occupation since the last ice age. Following the Norman conquest
of England, Sheffield developed into a small town. By the 14th century
it was noted for the production of knives, and by 1600 it had become the
second main centre of cutlery production in England after London. In the
1740s the crucible steel process was improved by Sheffield resident
Benjamin Huntsman, allowing a much better production quality. At about
the same time, Sheffield plate, a form of silver plating, was invented,
and the associated industries caused Sheffield to grow rapidly. It
remained a major industrial city throughout the first half of the 20th
century, but the downturn in world trade following the 1973 oil crisis
and international rationalisation in steel production led to the closure
of many of the steelworks from the early 1970s onward. Since the late
1980s, urban and economic regeneration schemes (including the Sheffield
Winter Garden, pictured) have transformed the city, but the city centre
remains blighted by empty shops and improvements have been halted by the
recession.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sheffield>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship
to Nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately
excluding Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Toleration_1689>
1830:
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published
as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Had_a_Little_Lamb>
1883:
New York City opened the Brooklyn Bridge (pictured) – the
longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: After five days of fighting, Egyptian
forces finally captured the Israeli community of Yad Mordechai after the
defenders had abandoned it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yad_Mordechai>
1999:
Former President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević was indicted
for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shylock:
(intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shylock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true
analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of
all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Emerson_Fosdick>
Coonskin is a 1975 American film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi
(pictured in 2009), about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who
rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering
corrupt law enforcement, con artists, and the Mafia. The film, which
combines live action and animation, stars Philip Thomas, Charles
Gordone, Barry White, and Scat Man Crothers, all of whom appear in both
live-action and animated sequences. Coonskin makes reference to various
elements from African-American culture, ranging from African folk tales
to the work of cartoonist George Herriman, and satirizes racist and
other stereotypes, as well as the blaxploitation genre, Song of the
South, and The Godfather. Coonskin encountered controversy before its
original theatrical release when the Congress of Racial Equality
criticized the content as being racist. When the film was released, it
had limited distribution and initially received negative reviews.
Coonskin has since been reappraised. A New York Times review said that
it could be Bakshi's "masterpiece" and Bakshi considers it his best
film.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonskin_(film)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1555:
Giovanni Pietro Carafa became Pope Paul IV and had a short,
but tumultuous papacy, during which the Papal States suffered a serious
military defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_IV>
1618:
In the Second Defenestration of Prague, Protestant members of
the Bohemian aristocracy threw Catholic regents of Emperor Ferdinand II
out the third-storey window of Prague Castle, precipitating the Thirty
Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague>
1844:
Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad Shírází proclaimed that he was "the
Báb", after a Shi`a religious concept, marking the beginning of the
Bábí movement, the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism>
1934:
American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed
and killed by police on a desolate road near their hideout in Bienville
Parish, Louisiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde>
2010:
Jamaica's military and police force began a manhunt for drug
lord Christopher Coke, beginning three days of armed conflict with the
Shower Posse cartel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Kingston_unrest>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thagomizer:
(anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various
stegosaurs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thagomizer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Mercury has cast aside The signs of intellectual pride, Freely
offers thee the soul: Art thou noble to receive? Canst thou give or take
the whole, Nobly promise and believe? Then thou wholly human art, A
spotless, radiant, ruby heart, And the golden chain of love Has bound
thee to the realm above.
--Margaret Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller>
Hurricane Ginger was the second-longest lasting Atlantic hurricane on
record. The eighth tropical cyclone and fifth hurricane of the 1971
season, Ginger spent 27.25 days as a tropical cyclone and was
classified as a hurricane for 20 of those days. The storm formed
northeast of the Bahamas, and for its first nine days tracked generally
eastward or northeastward while gradually strengthening to peak winds of
110 mph (175 km/h). On September 14, Ginger slowed and turned to a
general westward track, passing near Bermuda on September 23. There,
the hurricane produced gusty winds and high waves, but no damage. While
over the western Atlantic Ocean, Ginger became the last target of
Project Stormfury, which sought to weaken hurricanes by depositing
silver iodide into tropical cyclone rainbands. Ginger ultimately struck
North Carolina on September 30 as a minimal hurricane, lashing the
coastline with gusty winds. Heavy rainfall flooded towns and caused
damage estimated at $10 million. Further north, moderate precipitation
and winds spread through the Mid-Atlantic states, although no
significant damage was reported outside of North Carolina.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ginger>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1629:
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Danish King Christian IV
signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty
Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_L%C3%BCbeck>
1849:
Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for an invention to lift
boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. President to
ever hold a patent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln%27s_patent>
1897:
The first Blackwall Tunnel (construction pictured) under the
River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of
London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwall_Tunnel>
1958:
Ethnic rioting broke out in Ceylon, targeted mostly at the
minority Sri Lankan Tamils, resulting in up to 300 deaths over the next
five days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_riots_in_Ceylon>
2010:
Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812
overshot the runway and fell over a cliff, killing 158 of the 166 people
on board in the crash and ensuing fire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Express_Flight_812>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sangfroid:
Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a
dangerous situation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sangfroid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other
people don't know.
--Arthur Conan Doyle
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle>