Frederick Delius (1862–1934) was an English composer. Born in the
north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he was sent to
Florida in 1884 to manage an orange plantation. Influenced by African-
American music, he began composing. After a brief period of formal
musical study in Germany from 1886, he embarked on a full-time career as
a composer in France, living in Grez-sur-Loing with his wife Jelka. His
first successes came in Germany in the late 1890s; it was not until 1907
that his music regularly appeared in British concerts. Thomas Beecham
conducted the full premiere of A Mass of Life in London in 1909, staged
the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden in 1910, mounted a
six-day Delius festival in London in 1929, and made gramophone
recordings of many works. After 1918 Delius began to suffer the effects
of syphilis, became paralysed and blind, but completed some late
compositions with the aid of Eric Fenby. His early compositions reflect
the music he had heard in America and Europe; later he developed a style
uniquely his own. The Delius Society, formed in 1962, promotes knowledge
of his life and works, and sponsors an annual competition for young
musicians.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Delius>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
More than 25 Australian Aborigines were massacred near
Inverell, New South Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myall_Creek_massacre>
1871:
Nine days after Korean shore batteries attacked two American
warships, an American punitive expedition landed and captured several
forts on Ganghwa Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_expedition_to_Korea>
1918:
First World War: Italian torpedo boats sank the Austro-
Hungarian dreadnought SMS Szent István off the Dalmatian coast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Szent_Istv%C3%A1n>
1957:
Led by John Diefenbaker (pictured), the Progressive
Conservative Party won a plurality of the seats in the Canadian House of
Commons in the federal election, bringing an end to 22 years of Liberal
Party rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election,_1957>
1991:
Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in South Lake
Tahoe, California; she would remain a captive until 2009.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
white whale:
1. A cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas.
2. (figuratively) An obsession; monomania.
3. (trading cards) A printing plate, for a sports card, that is then issued
as a collectible itself.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/white_whale>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
From their earliest years children live on familiar terms with
disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their
everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they
can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is
the best means they have for taming Wild Things.
--Maurice Sendak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak>
Thopha saccata, commonly known as the double drummer, is the largest
Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the
world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in
1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia.
Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets
that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double
drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces. The adult
double drummer is the largest Australian species of cicada. Broad-headed
compared with other cicadas, the double drummer is mostly brown with a
black pattern across the back of its thorax, and has red-brown and black
underparts. The sexes are similar in appearance, though the female lacks
the male's tymbals and sac-like covers. Found in sclerophyll forest in
Queensland and New South Wales, adult double drummers generally perch
high in the branches of large eucalypts. They emerge from the ground
where they have spent several years as nymphs from November until March,
and live for another four to five weeks. They appear in great numbers in
some years, yet are absent in others.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thopha_saccata>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
Mormon pioneers began leaving Iowa City, Iowa, and headed west
for Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled
handcarts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_handcart_pioneers>
1946:
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning current
monarch, ascended to the throne of Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej>
1954:
During the Army–McCarthy hearings investigating conflicting
accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy,
Army lawyer Joseph N. Welch famously asked McCarthy, "At long last, have
you left no sense of decency?"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army%E2%80%93McCarthy_hearings>
1965:
The Viet Cong commenced combat with the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam in the Battle of Dong Xoai, one of the largest battles in the
Vietnam War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dong_Xoai>
2010:
A boy wearing a bomb committed a suicide attack at a wedding in
Arghandab District, Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing at least 40 people
and injuring 70 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadahan_wedding_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caisson:
1. (military) A two-wheeled, horse-drawn military vehicle used to carry
ammunition.
2. (engineering) A watertight retaining structure used in the construction
of bridges.
3. (architecture) A sunken panel used as decoration for a ceiling or a
vault; a coffer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caisson>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I
would do so. I like to think I am a gentle man, but your forgiveness
will have to come from someone other than me. … Let us not assassinate
this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of
decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
--Joseph N. Welch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_N._Welch>
Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!, BWV 172, is a 1714
church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, composed in Weimar for
Pentecost Sunday. The title translates as "Ring out, you songs; sound,
you strings!" It is an early work in a genre to which Bach later
contributed complete cantata cycles for all occasions of the liturgical
year. Appointed Konzertmeister in the spring of 1714, he composed
monthly church cantatas, most to texts by court poet Salomon Franck. The
librettist reflects different aspects of the Holy Spirit, including a
quotation from the prescribed Gospel reading and a stanza from Philipp
Nicolai's 1599 hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" as the closing
chorale. The work is in six movements, and scored for four vocal parts,
three trumpets, timpani, oboe d'amore and a string orchestra. Bach
specified an unusual repeat of the opening chorus after the sixth
movement. He led the first performance in the court chapel (pictured in
1660) of the Weimar palace. Bach performed the cantata again several
times during his tenure as Thomaskantor – director of church
music – in Leipzig, indicating that he particularly valued this
cantata.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erschallet,_ihr_Lieder,_erklinget,_ihr_Saiten…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: British forces defeated the
Continental Army at the Battle of Trois-Rivières, the last major battle
fought on Quebec soil that was part of the American colonists' invasion
of Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trois-Rivi%C3%A8res>
1887:
German-American statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent
for his punch card calculator.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card>
1950:
Thomas Blamey became the only Australian to attain the rank of
Field Marshal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blamey>
1972:
Vietnam War: Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took his
Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc
running down a road after being burned by napalm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Thi_Kim_Phuc>
2008:
A Japanese man drove a truck into a crowd of pedestrians in the
Akihabara district of Tokyo, then proceeded to stab at least 12 people
before being apprehended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
oneironaut:
A person who explores dream worlds, usually associated with lucid
dreaming.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oneironaut>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best way to solve a problem is to identify the core belief
that causes the problem; then mock that belief until the people who hold
it insist that you heard them wrong.
--Scott Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_Adams>
Wells Cathedral is a Church of England place of worship in Wells,
Somerset, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle, and is the seat of the
Bishop of Bath and Wells. The present building dates from 1175 to 1490,
an earlier church having been built on the site in 705. With its broad
west front and large central tower, it is the city's dominant feature
and a landmark in the Somerset countryside. Its architecture is entirely
Gothic, mostly of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, differing from
most other English medieval cathedrals, which have parts in the earlier
Romanesque style. The historian John Harvey considers it to be the first
truly Gothic structure in Europe. The Early English Gothic façade
displays more than three hundred sculpted figures, and is described by
Harvey as "the supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England".
The eastern end retains much ancient stained glass, which is rare in
England. Wells has an exceptional number of surviving secular buildings
associated with its chapter of secular canons, such as the Bishop's
Palace and the Vicars' Close, a residential street which has remained
intact from the 15th century. The cathedral is a scheduled monument and
is designated as a Grade I listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Cathedral>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1628:
The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document
that set out specific liberties of the subject, was granted the Royal
Assent by Charles I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petition_of_Right>
1788:
Citizens of Grenoble threw roof tiles onto royal soldiers,
sometimes credited as the beginning of the French Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Tiles>
1810:
Journalist Mariano Moreno published Argentina's first
newspaper, the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Moreno>
1917:
First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines
under the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-
made explosion in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917)>
1982:
Graceland (pictured), Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis,
Tennessee, opened to the public as a museum of Presley's life.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graceland>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trendite:
(slang) A person given to following trends.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trendite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Teaching is successful only as it causes people to think for
themselves. What the teacher thinks matters little; what he makes the
child think matters much.
--Alice Moore Hubbard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice_Moore_Hubbard>
Operations Taxable, Glimmer and Big Drum were tactical military
deceptions conducted on 6 June 1944 in support of the Allied landings in
Normandy. The operations formed the naval component of Operation
Bodyguard, a wider series of tactical and strategic deceptions
surrounding the invasion. By towing radar reflector balloons and
producing significant amounts of radio traffic, small boats simulated
invasion fleets approaching Cap d'Antifer, Pas-de-Calais and Normandy.
Royal Air Force bombers, including Lancaster bombers (pictured) from No.
617 "Dam Busters" Squadron, created the illusion of a large fleet on
coastal radar screens by dropping chaff in progressive patterns. Glimmer
and Taxable played on the German belief that the main invasion force
would land in the Calais region. Big Drum was positioned on the western
flank of the real invasion force to try to confuse German forces about
the scale of the landings. It is unclear whether the operations were
successful, due to the complexity of their execution, poor weather, and
lack of response from German forces. It is possible they contributed to
the overall confusion of D-Day as part of the wider Bodyguard plan.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day_naval_deceptions>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1674:
Shivaji, who led a resistance to free the Maratha from the
Sultanate of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire, was crowned the first
Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaji>
1859:
Queen Victoria signed letters patent separating the colony of
Queensland from New South Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland>
1892:
The 'L' train (1922 train pictured) of Chicago, the second
longest rapid transit system in total track mileage in the United
States, began operations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_%27L%27>
1912:
The second-largest eruption of the 20th century created the
Novarupta volcano in the Alaska Peninsula, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novarupta>
1985:
The remains of Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician notorious for
human experiments done on Auschwitz inmates, were discovered in Embu das
Artes, Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
enfranchise:
To grant the franchise to an entity, generally meaning to grant the
privilege of voting to a person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enfranchise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching
together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage and devotion
to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full
Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon
this great and noble undertaking.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower>
Thatgamecompany is an American independent video game development studio
co-founded in 2006 by University of Southern California students Jenova
Chen (pictured) and Kellee Santiago. A contracted development studio for
Sony Computer Entertainment prior to securing independent funding, it
has released three critically acclaimed games for the PlayStation 3's
PlayStation Network service. The first, released in 2007, was a remake
of Chen's award-winning Flash title Flow, with enhanced visuals, sound,
and gameplay. The second and third PlayStation 3 games, Flower and
Journey, were released in 2009 and 2012 respectively. The company
focuses on creating video games that provoke emotional responses from
players. When designing a game, Thatgamecompany employees start by
mapping out what they want the player to feel, rather than by
establishing game mechanics. They have stated that, while they are not
opposed to making action-oriented games, they believe that enough such
titles are released by the established video game industry. The company
does not plan to produce large, blockbuster titles, due to a belief that
the pressure for high sales would stifle innovation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatgamecompany>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1257:
Kraków in Poland received city rights based on the Magdeburg
law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w>
1883:
The Orient Express (pictured), a train line that became
synonymous with intrigue and luxury travel, began operations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient_Express>
1968:
Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan fatally shot U.S. Senator
Robert F. Kennedy inside the kitchen pantry of The Ambassador Hotel in
Los Angeles – an event that has spawned a variety of conspiracy
theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy>
1981:
The Centers for Disease Control recorded a cluster of
Pneumocystis pneumonia cases among homosexual men in Los Angeles, the
first reported cases of AIDS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS>
2001:
Tropical Storm Allison made landfall in southeast Texas,
causing $5.5 billion in damage to make it the costliest tropical storm
in US history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Allison>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vulgarian:
A vulgar individual, especially one who emphasizes or is oblivious to
their vulgar qualities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vulgarian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Bullies — political bullies, economic bullies, and religious
bullies — cannot be appeased; they have to be opposed with courage,
clarity, and conviction. This is never easy. These true believers don't
fight fair. Robert's Rules of Order is not one of their holy texts.
--Bill Moyers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Moyers>
The Sultanate of Singora was a short-lived port city in southern
Thailand and precursor of the present-day town of Songkhla. The city was
founded in the early 1600s by Dato Mogol, a Persian Muslim who
recognized Siamese suzerainty. From its inception, it was designated a
duty-free port and vied with the neighboring Sultanate of Pattani for
trade. An important trading center for tin, lead and pepper, Singora
flourished during the reign of Doto Mogol's son, Sultan Sulaiman Shah,
but was destroyed by Siamese troops in 1680 after decades of conflict.
Remains of the city include fourteen forts (example pictured), city
walls and the tomb of Sultan Sulaiman Shah. A cannon from Singora
bearing the seal of Sultan Sulaiman Shah was captured by Siamese forces.
It was seized in the 18th century by Burmese troops and in the 19th
century by the British, and is now displayed in the grounds of the Royal
Hospital Chelsea, London. The sultanate's history was documented in
accounts, letters and journals written by British and Dutch East India
Company traders; its destruction was discussed in books and reports
authored by representatives of the French embassies to Siam in the mid-
1680s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Singora>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound in the
Pacific Northwest for Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound>
1944:
A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505
(pictured), the first warship to be captured by U.S. forces on the high
seas since the War of 1812.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505>
1974:
The Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball hosted Ten Cent
Beer Night, but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to
rioting by drunken fans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Cent_Beer_Night>
1989:
The People's Liberation Army violently cracked down on the
Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, leaving at least 241 dead and
7,000 wounded, and causing widespread international condemnation of the
Chinese government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989>
2004:
In Granby, Colorado, US, Marvin Heemeyer went on a rampage with
a modified bulldozer over a zoning dispute, destroying several buildings
before committing suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sexton:
A church official who looks after a church and its graveyard and may act
as a gravedigger and bell-ringer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sexton>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret
weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis
developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air —
explode softly — and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes
into the air. Floating down to earth — boxes of Crayolas. And we
wouldn't go cheap either — not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-
four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and
copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.
And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and
cover the world with imagination instead of death. A child who touched
one wouldn't have his hand blown off.
--Robert Fulghum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum>
Jefferson Davis (1808–1889) was President of the Confederate States of
America during the Civil War. Born in Kentucky, he graduated from the
U.S. Military Academy and had a career as a soldier, fighting in the
Mexican–American War. As a plantation owner, he employed slave labor
as did many of his peers in the South, and supported slavery. He served
as Secretary of War and U.S. senator, arguing against secession, but
agreeing that each state had the right to secede. At the beginning of
the Civil War in 1861, Davis was chosen as President of the Confederate
States. He took personal charge of the Confederate war plans but was
unable to defeat the larger, more powerful and better organized Union.
He is often blamed for contributing to the fall of the Confederacy. His
diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country
and he paid little attention to the collapsing economy. At the end of
the war in 1865, he was captured and imprisoned; after his release he
entered private life. He wrote a memoir, The Rise and Fall of the
Confederate Government, eventually became a Civil War hero to many white
Southerners and, in later life, encouraged reconciliation with the
North.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1658:
Pope Alexander VII appointed François de Laval as vicar
apostolic of New France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Laval>
1839:
Qing government official Lin Zexu catalysed the First Opium War
after ordering the destruction of nearly 1.2 million kg (2.6 million
lbs) of opium in Humen, China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Zexu>
1888:
American writer Ernest Thayer's baseball poem "Casey at the
Bat" was first published in the San Francisco Examiner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_at_the_Bat>
1940:
Franz Rademacher, a Nazi government official, proposed that
Madagascar should be made available for the resettlement of the Jews of
Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_Plan>
2012:
Dana Air Flight 992, a passenger flight from Abuja to Lagos,
Nigeria, suffered dual engine failure and crashed into a building,
resulting in the deaths of all 153 on board and ten more on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Air_Flight_992>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
guardian angel:
A spirit believed to protect and to guide a particular person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guardian_angel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in ideas
that we don't even notice how monstrous it is to deny ideas to a people
who are dying without them. So uncritically do we accept the idea of
property in culture that we don't even question when the control of that
property removes our ability, as a people, to develop our culture
democratically. Blindness becomes our common sense. And the challenge
for anyone who would reclaim the right to cultivate our culture is to
find a way to make this common sense open its eyes. So far, common sense
sleeps. There is no revolt. Common sense does not yet see what there
could be to revolt about.
--Lawrence Lessig
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig>
Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition
hall complex and speedway stadium in Belle Vue, Manchester, England,
opened in 1836. The brainchild of John Jennison, the park was intended
to entertain the genteel middle classes, with formal gardens and dancing
on open-air platforms during the summer, but they soon became one of the
most popular attractions in Northern England. Jennison set out a small
amusements area in Belle Vue during the 1870s, which was expanded in the
early 20th century to become what was advertised as the "showground of
the world". Popular rides included the 60 mph (97 km/h) Bobs roller
coaster and the Scenic Railway. Grand firework displays were given from
1852 and there was an annual Christmas circus from 1922. The Kings Hall,
opened in 1910, housed the Hallé Orchestra for several years and later
hosted concerts by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling
Stones, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin. At its peak Belle
Vue occupied 165 acres (0.67 km2) and attracted more than two million
visitors a year. The zoo closed in September 1977 after its owners
decided they could no longer afford annual losses of £100,000.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Vue_Zoological_Gardens>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1098:
First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ended as Crusader
forces captured the city, but the Seljuk Turks would later start a
second siege of Antioch a few days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Antioch>
1805:
Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptured Diamond Rock
(pictured), an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to
Fort-de-France, from the British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Diamond_Rock>
1919:
First Red Scare: Anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani set off
eight bombs in eight cities across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings>
1967:
German university student Benno Ohnesorg was killed during a
protest in West Berlin against the visit of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah
of Iran, sparking the formation of the militant group 2 June Movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_June_Movement>
1994:
The Royal Air Force suffered its worst peacetime disaster when
a Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, killing
all 29 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Scotland_RAF_Chinook_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
superannuate:
1. (transitive) To retire or put out of use due to age.
2. (intransitive) To become obsolete or antiquated.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/superannuate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Though the General's feelings and my own were perfectly in
unison, with respect to our predilection for private life, yet I cannot
blame him, for having acted according to his ideas of duty, in obeying
the voice of his country. The consciousness of having attempted to do
all the good in his power, and the pleasure of finding his fellow-
citizens so well satisfied with the disinterestedness of his conduct,
will doubtless be some compensation for the great sacrifices, which I
know he has made.
--Martha Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martha_Washington>
The Four Freedoms is a series of four 1943 oil paintings by the American
artist Norman Rockwell (1894–1978). The paintings—Freedom of Speech,
Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear—refer to
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's January 1941 Four Freedoms State of
the Union address in which he identified essential human rights that
should be universally protected, a theme which became part of the
charter of the United Nations. The paintings were reproduced in the
Saturday Evening Post alongside essays by prominent thinkers of the day.
They became the highlight of a year-long touring exhibition to promote
the sale of war bonds in support of the American war effort, which
raised over $132 million. Rockwell (pictured in his twenties) was the
most widely known and popular commercial artist of the mid 20th century,
but failed to achieve critical acclaim. The four paintings, which are
now in the Norman Rockwell Museum, are his best-known works, but
critical review has not been entirely positive. However, Rockwell
created a niche in the enduring social fabric with Freedom from Want,
emblematic of what is now known as the "Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_(Norman_Rockwell)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1535:
Ottoman–Habsburg wars: The army of Charles V, Holy Roman
Emperor conquered Tunis and massacred an estimated 30,000 inhabitants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_Tunis_(1535)>
1660:
Mary Dyer was hanged in Boston for repeatedly defying a law
banning Quakers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dyer>
1879:
Louis Napoleon was killed in action during the Anglo-Zulu War,
sending shock waves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious hope
for the restoration of the Bonapartes to the French throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on,_Prince_Imperial>
1967:
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the celebrated album by
the Beatles, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band>
1980:
CNN was launched as the first television network to provide
24-hour television news coverage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
progeny:
1. (uncountable) Offspring or descendants.
2. (countable) Result of a creative effort.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/progeny>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Seize the time, Meribor. Live now. Make now always the most
precious time. Now will never come again. Star Trek : The Next
Generation
--Jean-Luc Picard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard>