Babe Ruth (1895–1948) was an American baseball outfielder and pitcher
who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1914 to 1935.
Born in Baltimore, Ruth was sent at age seven to St. Mary's, a
reformatory where he learned baseball skills. In 1914, Ruth was signed
to play minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. He began his
MLB career as a stellar left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but
achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York
Yankees. Ruth established many MLB batting (and some pitching) records,
including 714 career home runs. In his fifteen years with the Yankees,
Ruth helped them win seven American League pennants and four World
Series championships. His big swing led to escalating home run totals
that boosted baseball's popularity and made home runs a major factor in
the sport. Ruth's unprecedented power and carousing lifestyle made him a
larger-than-life figure in the "Roaring Twenties". One of the first five
inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Ruth is regarded as
one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture, and is considered
by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1405:
Marking the start of Ming China's treasure voyages, Admiral
Zheng He's expeditionary fleet set sail towards foreign regions on the
South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_voyages>
1848:
London Waterloo station, Britain's busiest railway station by
passenger usage, was opened by the London and South Western Railway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Waterloo_station>
1864:
American Civil War: Confederate forces under Jubal Early began
an unsuccessful attempt to capture Washington, D.C..
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Stevens>
1914:
USS Nevada, the United States Navy's first "super-
dreadnought", was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nevada_(BB-36)>
1957:
Prince Karīm al-Hussaynī succeeded Sultan Mahommed Shah as
the Aga Khan, becoming the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_IV>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gaggle:
1. A group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water.
2. Any group or gathering of related things; bunch.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaggle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies
in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure
scientific mind.
--E. B. White
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._B._White>
Jane Cobden (1851–1947) was a British Liberal politician and radical
activist. An early proponent of women's rights, she was one of two women
elected to the inaugural London County Council in 1889, although legal
challenges prevented her from being a councillor. Throughout her life
she sought to protect and develop the legacy of her father, the
Victorian reformer Richard Cobden, in particular the causes of land
reform, peace, social justice and women's suffrage. She was also a
consistent advocate for Irish independence. In the 1890s she extended
her interests to advancing the rights of the indigenous populations
within colonial territories. She opposed the Boer War of 1899–1902,
and after the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 she
attacked its segregationist policies. Before the First World War she
spoke out against Joseph Chamberlain's tariff reform crusade on the
grounds of her father's free trade principles, and was prominent in the
Liberal Party's revival of the land reform issue. In 1928 she presented
the old Cobden family residence, Dunford House, to the Cobden Memorial
Association as a centre dedicated to the issues and causes that had
defined "Cobdenism".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Cobden>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1519:
Zhu Chenhao declared the Ming Dynasty emperor Zhengde a
usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and led his army north
in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Ning_rebellion>
1553:
Four days after the death of her predecessor, Edward VI, Lady
Jane Grey was officially proclaimed Queen of England, beginning her
reign as "The Nine Days' Queen".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jane_Grey>
1806:
Indian sepoys mutinied against the East India Company when they
broke into Vellore Fort and killed or injured 200 British troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore_Mutiny>
1940:
The German Luftwaffe began attacks on British convoys in the
English Channel to start the Battle of Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain>
1966:
Martin Luther King, Jr. led a rally in support of the Chicago
Freedom Movement, one of the most ambitious civil rights campaigns in
the northern United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Freedom_Movement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
badinage:
Playful raillery; banter.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/badinage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to
study. They would much rather play, and if you have their interests at
heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what
they have mastered is child's play.
--Carl Orff
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Orff>
Banksia dentata, commonly known as the tropical banksia, is a species of
tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs across northern Australia, southern
New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as a gnarled tree to 7 m
(23 ft) high, it has large green leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long
with toothed margins. The cylindrical yellow flower spikes, up to 13 cm
(5 in) high, appear over the cooler months, attracting honeyeaters,
sunbirds, the sugar glider and a variety of insects. Flowers fall off
the ageing spikes, which swell and develop follicles containing up to
two viable seeds each. Banksia dentata is one of the four original
Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770 (1773 depiction
shown), and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carolus
Linnaeus the Younger's original description of Banksia. Within the
genus, it is classified in the series Salicinae, a group of species from
Australia's eastern states. Genetic studies show it is an early offshoot
within the group. Banksia dentata is found in tropical grassland known
as savanna, associated with Pandanus and Melaleuca. It regenerates from
bushfire by regrowing from its woody base, known as a lignotuber.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_dentata>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1745:
War of the Austrian Succession: The French victory in the
Battle of Melle made their subsequent capture of Ghent possible.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Melle>
1877:
The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, the oldest tennis
tournament in the world, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_Wimbledon_Championship>
1896:
Politician William Jennings Bryan made his Cross of Gold speech
advocating bimetallism, considered one of the greatest political
speeches in American history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech>
1958:
A 516 m (1,693 ft) high megatsunami, the highest ever
recorded, struck Lituya Bay, Alaska, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Lituya_Bay_megatsunami>
1995:
Sri Lankan Civil War: After having advised civilians to take
shelter in places of worship, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in
Navaly, killing at least 125 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaly_church_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
penitent:
1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant;
contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on
amendment of life.
2. Doing penance.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penitent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Truth shall be firmly established, while aught else besides
it is sure to perish.
--The Báb
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b>
Alexander Cameron Rutherford (1857–1941) was a Canadian lawyer and
politician who served as the first Premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910.
He began his political career in the Legislative Assembly of the
Northwest Territories. When the province of Alberta was created,
Rutherford was asked to form its first government, and then won the 1905
election. The apparatus of provincial government was established under
Rutherford, and Edmonton was controversially selected as Alberta's
capital over Calgary. The government faced labour unrest in the coal
mining industry, and established a commission to examine the problem. It
also tried to encourage the development of new railways. Early in 1910,
William Henry Cushing's resignation as Minister of Public Works
precipitated the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal, which
turned many of Rutherford's Liberals against his government. He was
forced to resign. He later became chancellor of the University of
Alberta, whose earlier founding had been a personal project. A
University of Alberta library, an Edmonton elementary school, and Mount
Rutherford are named in his honour. His home, Rutherford House, is now a
museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cameron_Rutherford>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1579:
Our Lady of Kazan (pictured), a holy icon of the Russian
Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in Kazan, present-day
Tatarstan, Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Kazan>
1709:
Great Northern War: Peter I of Russia defeated Charles XII of
Sweden in Poltava, effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in
Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poltava>
1889:
The first issue of The Wall Street Journal, the world's most
circulated business daily newspaper, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_Street_Journal>
1947:
After various news agencies reported the capture of a "flying
disc" by U.S. Army Air Force personnel in Roswell, New Mexico, the
military stated that what was actually recovered was debris from an
experimental high-altitude surveillance weather balloon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident>
1994:
Upon the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il became the Supreme
Leader of North Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
maw:
1. The upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the
mouth and jaws of a ravenous creature.
2. Any great, insatiable or perilous opening.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maw>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Come to the bridal chamber, Death, Come to the mother's,
when she feels, For the first time, her first born's breath; Come, when
the blessed seals That close the pestilence are broke, And crowded
cities wail its stroke: Come in consumption's ghastly form, The
earthquake shock, the ocean storm; Come when the heart beats high and
warm With banquet song and dance and wine; And thou art terrible: —
the tear, The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier, And all we know, or
dream, or fear, Of agony, are thine. But to the hero, when his sword Has
won the battle for the free, Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word, And
in its hollow tones are heard The thanks of millions yet to be.
--Fitz-Greene Halleck
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fitz-Greene_Halleck>
No. 34 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron,
responsible for the transport of VIPs, including members of the
Australian government, the Governor-General, and visiting dignitaries.
The squadron has a secondary role providing emergency transport during
humanitarian operations. It operates Boeing 737 Business Jets and
Bombardier Challenger 604s (example pictured) from Defence
Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra. The squadron was formed in February
1942 for standard transport duties during World War II, initially
flying de Havilland DH.84 Dragons. In 1943 it operated Douglas
C-47 Dakotas in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies prior to
disbanding in 1946. The unit was re-established in 1948 as No. 34
(Communications) Squadron at RAAF Station Mallala, South Australia,
where it supported activities at the Woomera Rocket Range before
disbanding in 1955. It was re-raised the following year, and since the
1960s it has at various times operated Dakotas, Convair Metropolitans,
Vickers Viscounts, Dassault Falcon-Mysteres, Hawker Siddeley HS 748s,
BAC 1-11s, and Dassault Falcon 900s. The squadron took its present name
in 1963, and began using the 737 and Challenger in 2002.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._34_Squadron_RAAF>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1456:
Twenty-five years after her death, Joan of Arc was declared
innocent of heresy in a posthumous retrial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrial_of_Joan_of_Arc>
1846:
Mexican–American War: American forces led by Commodore John
D. Sloat occupied Monterey, beginning the annexation of California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monterey>
1963:
The police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political
adviser of President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a
group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the
Buddhist crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle>
1997:
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War: The Turkish Armed Forces concluded
Operation Hammer, having successfully destroyed Kurdistan Workers' Party
units in Northern Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hammer_(1997)>
2012:
The equivalent of five months of rain fell overnight in
Krasnodar Krai, Russia, causing flash floods, killing 171 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Krasnodar_Krai_floods>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sanguinary:
1. Attended with bloodshed.
2. Eager to shed blood; bloodthirsty.
3. Consisting of, covered with or similar in appearance to blood.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sanguinary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 A properly balanced sword is the most versatile weapon for
close quarters ever devised. Pistols and guns are all offense, no
defense; close on him fast and a man with a gun can't shoot, he has to
stop you before you reach him. Close on a man carrying a blade and
you'll be spitted like a roast pigeon — unless you have a blade and
can use it better than he can. A sword never jams, never has to be
reloaded, is always ready. Its worst shortcoming is that it takes great
skill and patient, loving practice to gain that skill; it can't be
taught to raw recruits in weeks, nor even months.
--Robert A. Heinlein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein>
Pope Paul III and His Grandsons is an oil on canvas painting by Titian,
housed in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. It was commissioned by the
Farnese family and painted during Titian's visit to Rome between autumn
1545 and June 1546. It depicts the thorny relationship between Pope Paul
III, born Alessandro Farnese, and two of his grandsons, Ottavio and
Alessandro. The painting explores the effects of ageing and the
manoeuvring behind succession; Paul was at the time in his late
seventies and operating within an uncertain political climate as Charles
V came into ascendancy. Paul was not a religious man; he viewed the
papacy as a means to consolidate his family's position. He appointed
Alessandro as cardinal against accusations of nepotism, fathered a
number of illegitimate children and spent large sums of church money
collecting art. Titian abandoned the commission before completion, and
for the next 100 years the painting languished unframed in a Farnese
cellar. It ranks as one of Titian's most penetrating works. The panel
contains subtle indications of the contradictions in the character of
the Pope, and captures the complex psychological dynamic between the
three men.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_III_and_His_Grandsons>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1483:
The last king of the House of York and the last of the
Plantagenet dynasty, Richard III (pictured), was crowned King of
England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England>
1614:
The Ottoman Empire made a final attempt to conquer the island
of Malta, but were beaten back by the Knights Hospitaller.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_of_%C5%BBejtun>
1892:
During a steelworkers' strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a
day-long battle between strikers and Pinkerton agents resulted in ten
deaths and dozens of people wounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Strike>
1940:
The Story Bridge in Brisbane, the longest cantilever bridge in
Australia, was opened by Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, Governor of Queensland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_Bridge>
1989:
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member carried out a suicide attack
by hijacking a bus and forcing it into a ravine near Kiryat Ye'arim,
Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv%E2%80%93Jerusalem_bus_405_suicide_at…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Higgs boson:
(physics) A hypothetical elementary particle predicted by the Standard
Model; a boson with zero spin, it is thought to give mass to other
particles.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Higgs_boson>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you
want to be happy, practice compassion. 
--Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama>
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film.
The genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo
Montalbán), a character from the 1967 Star Trek television series
episode "Space Seed", escapes from exile to exact revenge on Admiral
James T. Kirk (William Shatner). The crew of the USS Enterprise must
stop Khan from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis.
The film concludes with the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy), beginning a
story arc continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek
IV: The Voyage Home. After the poor response to Star Trek: The Motion
Picture, series creator Gene Roddenberry was forced out of the sequel's
production. Nimoy only reprised his role as Spock because the
character's death was intended to be irrevocable. Negative test audience
reaction to Spock's death led to significant revisions of the ending
over the objections of the director, Nicholas Meyer (pictured in 2008).
The Wrath of Khan was a box office success, and critical reaction was
generally positive. It is generally considered to be the best film of
the entire Star Trek series and is credited with renewing interest in
the franchise.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_II:_The_Wrath_of_Khan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac
Newton was first published, describing his laws of motion and his law of
universal gravitation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathemat…>
1937:
The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned
precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture,
folklore, and urban legend.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)>
1977:
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Pakistani Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a military coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Zia-ul-Haq>
1989:
United States National Security Council member Oliver North was
sentenced for his part in the Iran-Contra Affair.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North>
2004:
Indonesia held its first direct presidential elections, that
resulted in the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President of
Indonesia after the second round on September 20.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_presidential_election,_2004>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gruntled:
(humorous) Satisfied.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gruntled>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say
it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its
responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.
--P. T. Barnum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum>
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, published in 1986, is the fifth
book in African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou's seven-volume
autobiography series. Set between 1962 and 1965 and taking its title
from a Negro spiritual, the book begins when Angelou is thirty-three
years old, and recounts her time in Accra, Ghana. It starts where her
previous book, The Heart of a Woman, ends, with the traumatic car
accident involving her son Guy, and ends as she returns to America.
Angelou (pictured in 2013) upholds the long tradition of African-
American autobiography, and at the same time makes a deliberate attempt
to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing,
changing, and expanding the genre. As in her previous books, it consists
of a series of anecdotes connected by theme. She depicts her struggle
with being the mother of a grown son, and with her place in her new
home. Angelou examines many of the same subjects and themes of her
previous autobiographies, including motherhood, the parallels and
connections between the African and American parts of her history and
character, and racism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_God%27s_Children_Need_Traveling_Shoes>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
414:
Aelia Pulcheria proclaimed herself regent over her brother
Theodosius II and made herself Augusta and Empress of the Eastern Roman
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulcheria>
1776:
In Philadelphia, the Continental Congress adopted the
Declaration of Independence, announcing that the thirteen American
colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence>
1862:
In a rowing boat on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow,
author Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that
would eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland>
1943:
The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of
the Polish government-in-exile, crashed, killing him and fifteen others,
leading to several conspiracy theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski%27s_death_contro…>
2012:
CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs boson elementary
particle after a 40-year search for its existence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_the_Higgs_boson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
auteur:
A creative artist, especially a film director, seen as having a
specific, recognisable artistic vision, and who is seen as the single or
preeminent ‘author’ of their works.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auteur>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
   Thou warden of the western gate, above Manhattan
Bay, The fogs of doubt that hid thy face are driven clean away: Thine
eyes at last look far and clear, thou liftest high thy hand To spread
the light of liberty world-wide for every land. ... Oh, come as comes
the morn. Serene and strong and full of faith, America, arise, With
steady hope and mighty help to join thy brave Allies. O dearest country
of my heart, home of the high desire, Make clean thy soul for sacrifice
on Freedom’s altar-fire: For thou must suffer, thou must fight, until
the warlords cease, And all the peoples lift their heads in liberty and
peace.
--Henry van Dyke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_van_Dyke>
Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang is a 1927 vernacular Malay-language novel
written by Kwee Tek Hoay. The book follows a man who leaves his beloved
concubine so that he can be married; eighteen years later, he discovers
that she had been pregnant, and takes responsibility for his daughter's
marriage. The novel has been interpreted variously as promotion of
theosophy, a treatise on the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, a call
for education, an ode to concubines, and a condemnation of how such
women are treated. Inspired by the lyrics to the song "If Those Lips
Could Only Speak" and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the book
was written as an outline for the stage drama troupe Union Dalia before
being published as a serial in Kwee's magazine Panorama. By 1930 there
had been a number of stage adaptations (advertisement pictured) – some
unauthorised. The work was filmed in 1931 by The Teng Chun and then in
1975 by Fred Young. Though not considered part of the Indonesian
literary canon, the book ranks amongst the most reprinted works of
Chinese Malay literature, and is Kwee's most popular publication. An
English translation by George Fowler, titled The Rose of Cikembang, was
published in 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boenga_Roos_dari_Tjikembang_(novel)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
324:
Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated former colleague
Licinius in the Battle of Adrianople.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople_(324)>
1754:
French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his entire
career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity>
1844:
The last known pair of great auks, the only modern species in
the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey, off the coast of Iceland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk>
1940:
Second World War: The British Navy attacked the French fleet
(French destroyer Mogador pictured), fearing that the ships would fall
into German hands after the armistice between those two nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on
Belfast, Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish
republican resistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Panglossian:
1. (pejorative) Naively or unreasonably optimistic.
2. (pejorative) Of or relating to the view that this is the best of all
possible worlds.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Panglossian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 How the hell do I know what I find incredible? Credibility is
an expanding field... Sheer disbelief hardly registers on the face
before the head is nodding with all the wisdom of instant hindsight.
--Tom Stoppard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard>
Empress Matilda (1102–1167) was the claimant to the English throne
during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I
of England, she moved to Germany to marry the future Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V. Her younger brother, William Adelin, died in 1120, leaving a
succession crisis, and on Henry V's death in 1125, her father arranged
for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou in a strategic alliance. Henry I
nominated Matilda as his heir before his death in 1135, but Matilda and
Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and the throne was
instead taken by her cousin Stephen of Blois. In 1139 Matilda crossed to
England to take the kingdom by force. She captured Stephen at the Battle
of Lincoln in 1141, but London crowds blocked her attempt to be crowned
and she was never formally declared Queen of England. Robert of
Gloucester, her half-brother, was captured, and Matilda exchanged him
for Stephen. A stalemate developed. Matilda returned to Normandy in
1148, leaving her eldest son (later Henry II) to continue the campaign.
Thereafter she focused on the administration of Normandy, provided her
son with political advice, and worked extensively with the Church.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
706:
In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang interred the final bodies in
the Qianling Mausoleum, which remained unopened until the 1960s.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianling_Mausoleum>
1644:
The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters and the English
Parliamentarians defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor,
one of the decisive encounters of the English Civil War, near York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marston_Moor>
1881:
U.S. President James A. Garfield was fatally shot at the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_James_A._Garfield>
1964:
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act
into law (pictured), outlawing segregation in schools, at the workplace,
and other facilities that served the general public.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964>
2000:
In the Mexican general election, Vicente Fox was elected to be
the first President of Mexico from an opposition party in 71 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Fox>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
geodesy:
Scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation
of earth, its gravitational field and geodynamic phenomena (polar
motion, earth tides, and crustal motion) in three‐dimensional,
time‐varying space.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/geodesy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Whether you and I and a few others will renew the world
someday remains to be seen. But within ourselves we must renew it each
day, otherwise we just aren't serious. Don't forget that!
--Hermann Hesse
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse>