Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial
hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the smaller lion", in contrast to
Leo, the larger lion (19th-century illustration of both pictured). It
lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north
and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate
constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes
Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent
magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than
magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of magnitude 3.8,
is located some 95 light-years from Earth. At magnitude 4.4, Beta
Leonis Minoris is the second brightest star and the only one in the
constellation with a Bayer designation. It is a binary star, the
brighter component of which is an orange giant and the fainter a yellow-
white main sequence star. The third brightest star is 21 Leonis
Minoris, a rapidly rotating white main-sequence star of average
magnitude 4.5. The constellation also includes two stars with planetary
systems, two pairs of interacting galaxies, and the unique deep-sky
object Hanny's Voorwerp.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Minor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
230:
Pope Pontian began his pontificate, succeeding Urban I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pontian>
1645:
Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issued an edict ordering all Han
Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair
into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_(hairstyle)>
1774:
The Russo-Turkish War officially ended after the Russian and
Ottoman Empires signed the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, with the latter
ceding parts of the Yedisan region to the former.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Turkish_War_(1768%E2%80%9374)>
1944:
World War II: American troops landed on Guam to liberate it
from Japanese control.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guam_(1944)>
1970:
The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 11 years of
construction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mither:
1. (intransitive, Northern England) To make an unnecessary fuss, moan,
bother.
2. (transitive) To pester or irritate someone. Usually directed at
children.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mither>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Complexity is looking at interacting elements and asking how
they form patterns and how the patterns unfold. It’s important to
point out that the patterns may never be finished. They’re open-ended.
In standard science this hit some things that most scientists have a
negative reaction to. Science doesn’t like perpetual novelty.
--W. Brian Arthur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Brian_Arthur>
The Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy involved more than
3,000 military personnel serving under British command, the majority
from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) (Australian members of No.
196 Squadron pictured). Others served with the Royal Navy and British
Army. After participating in the Allied landings on 6 June 1944,
Australian air force and army personnel fought in the subsequent Battle
of Normandy between June and August 1944, and an RAAF fighter squadron
operated from airfields in Normandy. Throughout the campaign, Australian
airmen provided direct support to the Allied ground forces by attacking
German military units and their supply lines, as well as forming part of
the force which defended the beachhead from air attack. Australians also
indirectly contributed to the campaign by attacking German submarines
and ships which posed a threat to the invasion force. Australia's
contribution to the fighting in Normandy is commemorated in memorials
and cemeteries in London and Normandy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_contribution_to_the_Battle_of_Norm…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1779:
Tekle Giyorgis I began the first of his six reigns as Emperor
of Ethiopia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekle_Giyorgis_I>
1807:
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent
for their Pyréolophore (diagram pictured), one of the world's first
internal combustion engines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore>
1922:
The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League
of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>
1940:
The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the
United States, opened to traffic, connecting downtown Los Angeles with
Pasadena, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Seco_Parkway>
1999:
The Chinese government began a persecution campaign against
Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
punctilious:
1. Strictly attentive to detail; meticulous or fastidious, particularly to
codes or conventions.
2. Precise or scrupulous; finicky or nitpicky.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punctilious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Five enemies of peace inhabit with us — avarice, ambition,
envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should
infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
--Petrarch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Petrarch>
McDonald's Cycle Center is an indoor bike station in Millennium Park in
the Loop community area of Chicago. The city built the center and opened
it July 2004. Since June 2006, it has been sponsored by McDonald's and
other partners, including city departments and bicycle advocacy
organizations. The bike station, which serves bicycle commuters and
utility cyclists, provides lockers, showers, a snack bar with outdoor
summer seating, bike repair, bike rental and 300 bicycle parking spaces.
The Cycle Center is accessible by membership and day pass. It also
accommodates runners and inline skaters, and provides space for a
Chicago Police Department Bike Patrol Group. Planning for the Cycle
Center was part of the larger "Bike 2010 Plan", in which the city aimed
to make itself more accommodating to bicycle commuters. Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley was an advocate of the plan. Suburban Chicago-based
McDonald's controversially claimed that their sponsorship of the Cycle
Center fit with their efforts to promote health. Environmentalists,
urban planners and cycling enthusiasts around the world have expressed
interest in the Cycle Center, and want to match its urban planning and
transit-oriented development success story.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_Cycle_Center>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
64:
The Great Fire of Rome started among the shops around the Circus
Maximus, eventually destroying three of fourteen Roman districts and
severely damaging seven others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Rome>
1702:
Great Northern War: A numerically superior Polish–Saxon army
of Augustus II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive
position, was defeated by a Swedish army half its size in the Battle of
Klissow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Klissow>
1848:
The two-day Women's Rights Convention, the first women's rights
and feminist convention held in the United States, opened in Seneca
Falls, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Falls_Convention>
1981:
French President François Mitterrand privately revealed to
U.S. President Ronald Reagan (both pictured) documents showing that the
Soviets had been stealing American technological research and
development.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Dossier>
1992:
A car bomb killed anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino and five
policemen in Palermo, Italy, less than two months after the murder of
his friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Via_D%27Amelio>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reliquary:
A container to hold or display religious relics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reliquary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some
fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up
boring people.
--Edgar Degas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas>
"Today" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing
Pumpkins, written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan (pictured
in 2010). "Today" was released in September 1993 as the second single
from the band's second album and major label debut, Siamese Dream. The
song, seemingly upbeat, contains dark lyrics. Corgan wrote it about a
day when he had suicidal thoughts, exemplified by the reference to self-
mutilation in the chorus. The contrast between the grim subject matter
of the song and the soft instrumental part during the verses, coupled
with use of irony in the lyrics, left many listeners unaware of the
song's tale of depression and desperation. Although Corgan opted for
"Cherub Rock", the lead single from the album, to be the opening track,
"Today" and its follow-up "Disarm" are credited in AllMusic for
popularizing the band and "sen[ding] [Siamese Dream] into the
stratosphere". "Today" has been generally well received by critics, and
in an article about the song in Blender it was described as having
"achieved a remarkable status as one of the defining songs of its
generation, perfectly mirroring the fractured alienation of American
youth in the 1990s." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(The_Smashing_Pumpkins_song)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1389:
France and England agreed to the Truce of Leulinghem,
establishing a 13-year peace during the Hundred Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truce_of_Leulinghem>
1870:
The First Vatican Council declared that the Pope is infallible
when he solemnly declares a dogmatic teaching on faith as being
contained in divine revelation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility>
1976:
At the Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci became the
first person to score a perfect 10 in a modern Olympics gymnastics
event.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci>
1984:
A gunman massacred 21 people and injured 15 others at a
McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego,
California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre>
2012:
A suicide bomber attacked an Israeli tour bus at Burgas
Airport, Bulgaria, which later led the European Union to list the
military branch of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Burgas_bus_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disinter:
1. To take out of the grave or tomb; to unbury; to exhume; to dig up.
2. To bring out, as from a grave or hiding place; to bring from obscurity
into view.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disinter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The law changes and I don't. How I stand vis-à-vis the law
at any given moment depends on the law. The law can change from state to
state, from nation to nation, from city to city. I guess I have to go by
a higher law. How's that? Yeah, I consider myself a road man for the
lords of karma.
--Hunter S. Thompson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson>
Somerset County Cricket Club's 2009 season saw the team compete in four
English competitions: the first divisions of the County Championship and
the NatWest Pro40 League, the Friends Provident Trophy, and the Twenty20
Cup. Somerset were in contention to win the County Championship until
the last few weeks of the season, but the batting-friendly pitch at
their home ground meant that they finished with too many draws to claim
their first Championship title. Somerset were unbeaten in the group
stage of the Friends Provident Trophy, but were eliminated in the first
knock-out round, and finished runners-up by one point in the NatWest
Pro40. In the Twenty20 Cup, Somerset finished as losing finalists, thus
qualifying for the international Champions League Twenty20, where they
were eliminated in the second group stage. Overall, Somerset had a
successful season but fell short of winning any competitions, prompting
their Director of Cricket Brian Rose to say "We've had enough of being
cricket's nearly men." Marcus Trescothick (pictured) topped the national
batting tables and was named by the Professional Cricketers' Association
as Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the Year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_County_Cricket_Club_in_2009>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
The Battle of Castillon, the last conflict of the Hundred
Years' War, ended with the English losing all landholdings in France,
except Calais.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon>
1863:
The New Zealand land wars resumed as British forces in New
Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the
Waikato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Waikato>
1918:
Russian Revolution: Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II and
his family at Yekaterinburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_the_Romanov_family>
1944:
Two ships laden with ammunition for World War II exploded at
the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, killing 320
sailors and civilians, and injuring more than 400 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster>
1992:
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Manchester Metrolink,
a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disconsolate:
1. Cheerless, dreary.
2. Seemingly beyond consolation; inconsolable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disconsolate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We are not powerless. We have tremendous potential for good
or ill. How we choose to use that power is up to us; but first we must
choose to use it. We're told every day, "You can't change the world."
But the world is changing every day. Only question is...who's doing it?
You or somebody else?
--J. Michael Straczynski
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._Michael_Straczynski>
The Chaplain–Medic massacre was a war crime that took place in the
Korean War on July 16, 1950, on a mountain above the village of Tunam,
South Korea. Operating at the Kum River during the Battle of Taejon,
troops of the US Army's 19th Infantry Regiment were cut off from
resupply by a roadblock established by North Korean troops of the NK 3rd
Division. The roadblock proved difficult to break, and forced US troops
to move through nearby mountains to evacuate their wounded. Thirty
unarmed and critically wounded US troops were stranded at the top of a
mountain along with a chaplain (Herman G. Felhoelter, pictured) and a
medic. They were discovered by a North Korean patrol. Though the medic
was able to escape, the North Koreans executed Felhoelter as he prayed
over the wounded, then killed the rest of them. The massacre was one of
several incidents that led US commanders to establish a commission in
July to look into war crimes during the war. The same month, the North
Korean commanders, concerned about the way their soldiers were treating
prisoners of war, laid out stricter guidelines for handling enemy
captives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplain%E2%80%93Medic_massacre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail made its
premiere, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally made the comment
that it had "too many notes".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail>
1862:
David Farragut became the first person to be promoted to the
rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farragut>
1981:
Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as Malaysia's fourth prime
minister, a post which he held for 22 years, making him the country's
longest-serving one.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad>
1994:
Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 began hitting the planet
Jupiter, with the first one causing a fireball which reached a peak
temperature of about 24,000 K.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9>
2004:
Chicago's Millennium Park (pictured), currently the world's
largest rooftop garden, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quisling:
(pejorative) A traitor who collaborates with the enemy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quisling>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Creation has the truth written all over it — the age of the
universe, the history of the world — but nine-tenths of mankind either
don't know it or think it's a sham, because it isn't what their book or
their prophet says, and it isn't cozy or manipulable enough.
--Sheri S. Tepper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper>
Frank Headlam (1914–1976) was a senior commander in the Royal
Australian Air Force. He joined as an air cadet in 1934 and specialised
in flying instruction and navigation before the outbreak of World
War II. In April 1941, he became commanding officer of No. 2 Squadron
and saw action against Japanese forces in the South West Pacific. After
returning to Australia, he held staff appointments and training
commands, finishing the war a group captain. Headlam served as Officer
Commanding North-Western Area in 1946, and was Director of Training from
1947 to 1950. In 1950–51, during the Malayan Emergency, he was
stationed at Singapore as commander of No. 90 (Composite) Wing and,
later, RAF Tengah. Promoted air vice-marshal, he successively held the
positions of Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Operational Command, AOC
No. 224 Group RAF during the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, Deputy
Chief of the Air Staff, and AOC Support Command. He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1958 and Companion of
the Order of the Bath in 1965, and retired in 1971 following a posting
to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Headlam>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1410:
The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated
the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald,
the decisive engagement of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald>
1799:
French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone in Fort Julien,
near the Egyptian port city of Rashid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone>
1910:
In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gave a name to
Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease>
1966:
Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began
Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese
Demilitarized Zone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hastings>
1997:
American spree killer Andrew Cunanan gunned down fashion
designer Gianni Versace in Miami, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Versace>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
effluvium:
A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effluvium>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Only a thoughtless observer can deny that correspondences
come into play between the world of modern technology and the archaic
symbol-world of mythology.
--Walter Benjamin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin>
The broad-billed parrot is a large extinct parrot in the family
Psittaculidae that was endemic to the island of Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean. It has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, and
may have been closely related to the Rodrigues parrot. The broad-billed
parrot had a large head in proportion to its body, a distinct crest of
feathers on the front of the head, and a very large beak that would have
enabled it to crack hard seeds. Subfossil bones indicate that the
species exhibited greater sexual dimorphism in overall size and head
size than any living parrot. A contemporary description indicates that
it had a blue head, a greyish or blackish body, and perhaps a red beak.
The broad-billed parrot was first referred to as the "Indian raven" in
Dutch ships' journals from 1598 onwards. It was first scientifically
described from a subfossil mandible in 1866, but this was not linked to
the few brief contemporary descriptions until the rediscovery of a
detailed 1601 sketch (pictured). The bird became extinct in the 17th
century owing to a combination of deforestation, predation by introduced
invasive species, and probably also because of hunting.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad-billed_parrot>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
756:
Emperor Xuanzong fled the Tang capital Chang'an as An Lushan's
forces advance toward the city during the An Lushan Rebellion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Xuanzong_of_Tang>
1791:
The Priestley Riots began, in which Joseph Priestley and other
religious Dissenters were driven out of Birmingham, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestley_Riots>
1865:
A seven-man team made the first ascent of the Matterhorn,
marking the end of the golden age of alpinism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_ascent_of_the_Matterhorn>
1960:
English primatologist Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe Stream
Chimpanzee Reserve, Tanganyika, to begin her groundbreaking study of the
social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall>
1987:
Over 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain fell in a two-and-a-half-hour
period in Montreal, causing severe flooding and over CA$220 million in
damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Flood_of_1987>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hapless:
Very unlucky; ill-fated.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hapless>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Regardless of my own beliefs and my own doubts, which are
unimportant in this connection, it is my opinion that art lost its basic
creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an
umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and
degenerating itself. In former days the artist remained unknown and his
work was to the glory of God... The ability to create was a gift. In
such a world flourished invulnerable assurance and natural humility.
--Ingmar Bergman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ingmar_Bergman>
Joel Brand (1906–1964) was a rescue worker, born in Transylvania and
raised in Germany, who became known during the Holocaust for his efforts
to save Hungary's Jews from deportation to Auschwitz. A leading member
of Budapest's Aid and Rescue Committee, which smuggled Jews out of
occupied Europe, Brand was approached in April 1944 by Adolf Eichmann,
the German SS officer in charge of the deportations. He proposed that
Brand broker a deal between the SS and the United States or Britain, in
which the Nazis would exchange one million Jews for 10,000 trucks for
the Eastern front and large quantities of other goods. Historians
believe the SS intended the deal as cover for peace talks that would
exclude the Soviet Union. Whatever its purpose, the proposal was
thwarted when the British arrested Brand in Turkey and alerted the
media. The failure of the negotiations, and the wider issue of why the
Allies were unable to save the 435,000 Hungarian Jews sent to Auschwitz,
was bitterly debated for decades. Brand said shortly before his death:
"An accident of life placed the fate of one million human beings on my
shoulders. I eat and sleep and think only of them." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Brand>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1260:
The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th
century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Durbe>
1814:
The Carabinieri (modern Carabiniere pictured), the national
military police of Italy, was founded by Victor Emmanuel I as the
police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabinieri>
1878:
At the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin, the major powers
in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the map of the Balkans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berlin_(1878)>
1962:
In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives_(1962)>
2008:
War in Afghanistan: Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops
near the village of Wanat in the Waygal district in Afghanistan's far
eastern province of Nuristan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wanat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tardigrade:
Sluggish; moving slowly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tardigrade>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times human
beings have tried to imprison it in some durable hieroglyphic. It is
perhaps the first of all the subjects of art.
--Kenneth Clark
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark>
M-185 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that
circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination. A narrow paved
road of 8.004 miles (12.881 km), it offers scenic views of the Straits
of Mackinac dividing the Upper and the Lower peninsulas of Michigan,
Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan. It has no connection to any other state
highways and is accessible only by passenger ferry. M-185 passes several
key sites within Mackinac Island State Park, including Fort Mackinac,
Arch Rock, British Landing, and Devil's Kitchen. Outside of the downtown
area, it runs between the water's edge and woodlands. Traffic on is by
foot, on horse, by horse-drawn vehicle, or by bicycle; motorized
vehicles have been banned since the 1890s, and only a few vehicles have
been permitted on the island other than emergency vehicles. It is the
only state highway in the US where cars cannot drive. The highway was
built during the first decade of the 20th century by the state and
designated as a state highway in 1933. It was paved in the 1950s, and
portions were rebuilt to deal with shoreline erosion in the 1980s. Until
2005, it was the only state highway without any automobile accidents.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-185_(Michigan_highway)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1561:
Saint Basil's Cathedral (pictured), located at the geographic
center of Moscow, was consecrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral>
1789:
French Revolution: Journalist Camille Desmoulins gave an
impassioned speech protesting the dismissal of finance minister Jacques
Necker the day before, inspiring listeners to storm the Bastille two
days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Desmoulins>
1918:
An explosion in the ammunition magazine of the Japanese
battleship Kawachi resulted in the loss of over 600 officers and
crewmen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Kawachi>
1962:
British rock band The Rolling Stones played their first concert
at the Marquee Club in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones>
1986:
The Homosexual Law Reform Act became law in New Zealand,
decriminalising consensual homosexual sex.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_Law_Reform_Act_1986>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
inveterate:
1. Old; firmly established by long continuance; of long standing;
obstinately deep-rooted; as, an inveterate disease; an inveterate habit.
2. (of a person) Having habits fixed by long continuance; confirmed;
habitual; as, an inveterate idler or smoker.
3. Malignant; virulent; spiteful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inveterate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go
relay race right up to the final moment. … Humanity is in "final exam"
as to whether or not it qualifies for continuance in Universe.
--Buckminster Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller>