The Indian Head eagle was an American ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle,
produced from 1907 until 1916, and then irregularly until 1933.
Beginning in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the
introduction of more artistic designs on US coins, prompting the Mint to
hire the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create them. Roosevelt chose
a design for the obverse of the eagle (pictured) that the sculptor had
meant to use for the cent, and for its reverse he selected a design
featuring a standing bald eagle, which had been developed for the
twenty-dollar piece designed by Saint-Gaudens. Following the sculptor's
death on August 3, 1907, Roosevelt insisted that the new eagle be
finished and struck that month, and new pieces were given to the
President on August 31. The omission of the motto "In God We Trust" on
the new coins caused public outrage, and prompted Congress to pass a
bill mandating its inclusion. The Indian Head eagle was struck regularly
until 1916, and then intermittently until President Franklin Roosevelt
directed the Mint to stop producing gold coins in 1933; many were later
melted down. Its termination ended the series of eagles struck for
circulation begun in 1795.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_eagle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
Peninsular War: At the Battle of San Marcial, the Spanish Army
of Galicia under Manuel Alberto Freire turned back Nicolas Soult's last
major offensive against Arthur Wellesley's allied army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Marcial>
1897:
Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetoscope
(pictured), a precursor to the movie projector.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope>
1935:
In an effort to stay out of the growing European conflict, the
United States passed the first of its Neutrality Acts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_Acts_of_1930s>
1959:
A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and
chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, failed
to kill Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C3%B4_%C4%90%C3%ACnh_Nhu>
1986:
Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided with a privately owned Piper
PA-28 Cherokee aircraft over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air
and 15 on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Cerritos_mid-air_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kore:
An Ancient Greek statue of a woman, portrayed standing, usually clothed,
painted in bright colours and having an elaborate hairstyle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kore>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I can't hate for long. It isn't worth it.
--William Saroyan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan>
Clackline Bridge is a road bridge in Clackline, Western Australia, 77
kilometres (48 mi) east of Perth, that carried Great Eastern Highway
until 2008. It is the only bridge in Western Australia to have spanned
both a waterway and railway, the Clackline Brook and the former Eastern
Railway alignment. The mainly timber bridge has a unique curved and
sloped design, due to the difficult topography and the route of the
former railway. The bridge was designed in 1934 to replace two dangerous
rail crossings and a rudimentary water crossing. Construction began in
January 1935, and the opening ceremony was held on 30 August 1935. The
bridge was still a safety hazard, with increasing severity and numbers
of accidents in the 1970s and 1980s. Planning for a highway bypass of
Clackline and the Clackline Bridge began in the 1990s, and was
constructed between January 2007 and February 2008. The local community
had been concerned that the historic bridge would be lost, but it
remains part of the local road network, and has been listed on both the
Northam Municipal Heritage Inventory and the Heritage Council of Western
Australia's Register of Heritage Places.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clackline_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: A squadron of the navy of
the Batavian Republic surrendered to the Royal Navy without a fight near
Wieringen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlieter_Incident>
1835:
European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River
in Southeastern Australia founded the city of Melbourne (Parliament
House pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne>
1862:
American Civil War: In separate actions, Confederate forces
were victorious in both the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky and the
Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run>
1918:
Fanni Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin,
helping to spark the Red Terror in the future Soviet Union, a repression
against Socialist-Revolutionary Party members and other political
opponents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror>
1984:
Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
leech:
1. (transitive) To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from
the patient.
2. (transitive) To drain (resources) without giving back.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leech>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my
ability to use that talent is completely dependent on the society I was
born into. If I’d been born into a tribe of hunters, this talent of
mine would be pretty worthless. I can’t run very fast. I’m not
particularly strong. I’d probably end up as some wild animal’s
dinner. But I was lucky enough to be born in a time and place where
society values my talent, and gave me a good education to develop that
talent, and set up the laws and the financial system to let me do what I
love doing — and make a lot of money doing it. The least I can do is
help pay for all that.
--Warren Buffett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett>
The 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game was a regular
season college football game between the Appalachian State Mountaineers
and Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines were ranked No. 5 in the upper-
tier Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while the Mountaineers were ranked
No. 1 in the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), of
which they were the defending champions. Games between FBS and FCS teams
typically result in lopsided victories for the FBS team, and the game
was not expected to be an exception. However, in an upset hailed as one
of the greatest in college football history, the Mountaineers won
34–32 (scoreboard pictured), blocking a potentially game-winning field
goal attempt by Michigan in the waning seconds to secure their win. The
Mountaineers became the first FCS team to defeat a ranked FBS team,
while the Wolverines became the first top-five team to drop out of the
polls as the result of a single game. The game received a large amount
of coverage in American sports media, and both teams went on to have
successful seasons, with Appalachian State winning the FCS championship
and Michigan winning a bowl game.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appalachian_State_vs._Michigan_football_…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1526:
Ottoman–Hungarian Wars: Louis II, the last Jagiellonian king
of Hungary and Bohemia, died after his army was defeated by Ottoman
forces led by Suleiman the Magnificent at the Battle of Mohács.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs>
1831:
Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, leading
to the formation of Faraday's law of induction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction>
1885:
Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first internal combustion
motorcycle, the Reitwagen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_Reitwagen>
1930:
The last 36 residents of St Kilda, Scotland, now a UNESCO World
Heritage Site for its natural and cultural qualities, voluntarily
evacuated to Morvern.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland>
1984:
Followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh deliberately contaminated
salad bars in The Dalles, Oregon with salmonella, the first and single
largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rajneeshee_bioterror_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
skyclad:
(Wicca) Naked outdoors.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skyclad>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is reason to think, that, if men were better instructed
themselves, they would be less imposing on others.
--John Locke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Locke>
The Creek Turnpike is a 33.22-mile-long (53.46 km) freeway-standard
toll road that lies entirely in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The turnpike
forms a partial beltway around the south and east sides of Tulsa,
Oklahoma's second largest city. The western terminus is at the Turner
Turnpike in Sapulpa, while the northeastern terminus is at the Will
Rogers Turnpike in Fair Oaks; both ends of the Creek Turnpike connect
with Interstate 44 (I-44). Along the way, the highway passes through the
cities of Sapulpa, Jenks, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow, and the counties of
Creek, Tulsa, Wagoner and Rogers. The first section of the Creek
Turnpike, from US-75 in Jenks to US-64/US-169 in Tulsa, was first
authorized in 1987. Its construction was controversial. Homeowners along
the route of the highway formed a group called Tulsans Against Turnpikes
to fight the highway in both the courtroom and the media, and the
highway was also challenged on environmental grounds. Nevertheless, the
highway opened to traffic in the first half of 1992. Further extensions
to both the east and the west followed in later years after several
years of false starts under the administrations of two different
governors.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creek_Turnpike>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
Tom Thumb (replica pictured), the first American-built steam
locomotive, engaged in an impromptu race against a horse-drawn car in
Maryland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thumb_(locomotive)>
1914:
In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships
defeated the German fleet in the Heligoland Bight area of the North Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight_(1914)>
1924:
An unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, known as the August Uprising, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Uprising>
1937:
Toyota Motors, now the world's largest automobile manufacturer,
was spun off from Toyota Industries as an independent company.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota>
1963:
The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the world's longest
floating bridge, opened across Lake Washington in Washington, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_Albert_D._Rosellini_Bridge%E2%80%94E…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
battle of the sexes:
(game theory) A situation in which two people want to do different
things, but do them together.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/battle_of_the_sexes>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-
evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on
the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of
brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi,
a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat
of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live
in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character. I have a dream today. 
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
ARA Rivadavia was an Argentine battleship, the lead ship of its class,
constructed during the South American dreadnought race. When the
Brazilian government placed an order for two powerful new
"dreadnought"-type warships in 1907, the Argentines moved quickly to
acquire their own. After an extended bidding process, contracts to build
Rivadavia and Moreno (its only sister ship) were given to the Fore River
Shipbuilding Company. Given the tense international climate that soon
broke out into the First World War, the Argentine government received
several offers for the ships. This dovetailed with a legislative
movement that aimed to sell the ships and devote the proceeds to
improving the country's educational system. These efforts were defeated,
and Rivadavia was commissioned into the Argentine Navy on 27 August
1914, one hundred years ago. Both Argentine dreadnoughts underwent
extensive refits in the United States in 1924–25, and saw no active
duty during the Second World War. Rivadavia's last cruise was in 1946.
The ship was sold for scrapping in 1957 and broken up two years later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARA_Rivadavia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
British forces led by William Howe defeated the American
Continental Army under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island,
the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island>
1810:
Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy,
preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de la
Passe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Port>
1927:
Five Canadian women filed a petition to ask the Supreme Court
of Canada, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North
America Act, 1867, include female persons," to which the court
eventually replied that it does not.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)>
1964:
South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh entered into a
triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện
Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to
unseat Khánh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_V%C4%83n_Minh>
2003:
The planet Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly
60,000 years: 55,758,006 kilometres (34,646,419 mi).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
anglicism:
A word or other feature originating in the English language that has
been borrowed by another language.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anglicism>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Instead of insight, maybe all a man gets is strength to
wander for a while. Maybe the only gift is a chance to inquire, to know
nothing for certain. An inheritance of wonder and nothing more.
--William Least Heat-Moon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Least_Heat-Moon>
Misterioso is a live album by American jazz ensemble the Thelonious Monk
Quartet, released in 1958 by Riverside Records. Pianist and composer
Thelonious Monk (pictured) had overcome an extended period of career
difficulties by the time of his 1957 residency at the Five Spot Café in
New York City. He returned to the venue the following year for a second
residency and recorded Misterioso with drummer Roy Haynes, bassist Ahmed
Abdul-Malik, and tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Misterioso and its
title track refer to Monk's reputation as an enigmatic, challenging
musician. The album features four of his earlier compositions, which
Monk reworked live. It was one of the first successful live recordings
of his music and was produced by Orrin Keepnews, who said that Monk
played more distinctly than on his studio albums in response to the
audience's enthusiasm. Music critics at the time complimented Monk's
performance, but were critical of Griffin, whose playing they felt was
out of place with the quartet. Later critics have viewed Griffin's
playing as a highlight. The album was remastered and reissued in 1989
and 2012 by Original Jazz Classics.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misterioso_(Thelonious_Monk_album)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1071:
Byzantine–Seljuq Wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan
captured Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert>
1346:
Hundred Years' War: English forces established the military
supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow
and armoured knights at the Battle of Crécy (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy>
1768:
HMS Endeavour departed Plymouth, England, marking the start of
the first voyage of explorer James Cook.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_voyage_of_James_Cook>
1810:
Juan José Castelli ordered the execution of Santiago de
Liniers, during the Argentine War of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Liniers,_1st_Count_of_Buenos_Aires>
1966:
The South African Defence Force launched an attack against
SWAPO guerrilla fighters at Omugulugwombashe, starting the Namibian War
of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAPO>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
paradigm shift:
A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new
one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies in
the current paradigm.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paradigm_shift>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
--Mother Teresa
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa>
Francis Marrash (1836–1873) was a Syrian writer and poet of the Nahda
movement—the Arabic renaissance—and a physician. Most of his works
revolve around science, history and religion, analysed under an
epistemological light. He travelled through the Middle East and France
in his youth, and after some medical training and a year of practice in
his native Aleppo, during which he wrote several works, he enrolled in a
medical school in Paris. Declining health and growing blindness forced
his return to Aleppo, where he produced more literary works until his
early death. Middle Eastern historian Matti Moosa considered Marrash to
be the first truly cosmopolitan Arab intellectual and writer of modern
times. Marrash adhered to the principles of the French Revolution and
defended them in his own works, implicitly criticising Ottoman rule in
the Middle East. He was also influential in introducing French
romanticism in the Arab world, especially through his use of poetic
prose and prose poetry, of which his writings were the first examples in
modern Arabic literature. He has had a lasting influence on contemporary
Arab thought and on the Mahjari poets.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Marrash>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1580:
War of the Portuguese Succession: The army of the pretender to
the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato, was routed in the
Battle of Alcântara, ending his short-lived reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alc%C3%A2ntara_(1580)>
1825:
The Thirty-Three Orientals, a revolutionary group led by Juan
Antonio Lavalleja, declared Uruguayan independence from the Empire of
Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay>
1920:
Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski successfully forced the
Russians to withdraw from Warsaw at the Battle of Warsaw, the decisive
battle of the Polish–Soviet War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)>
1942:
Second World War: Japanese forces attacked the Australian base
at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay>
1989:
The Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune
and provided definitive proof of the existence of the planet's rings
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Neptune>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
draculin:
(organic chemistry) A glycoprotein with anticoagulant properties, found
in the saliva of vampire bats.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/draculin>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Is there any good reason why we cannot extend our multi-
cultural generosity to include another dimension? That of time. The
past, too, is another country. Its ghosts may look strange and
frightening and slightly misshapen in body and mind, but all the more
reason then, to welcome them to our shores.
--Martin Amis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis>
The FP is a 2011 American independent comedy film written and directed
by brothers Brandon (pictured right) and Jason Trost (pictured left).
The film focuses on two gangs—the 248 and the 245—that are fighting
for control of Frazier Park (The FP). The gangs settle their disputes by
playing Beat-Beat Revelation, a video game similar to Dance Dance
Revolution. Gang member JTRO (Jason Trost) undergoes training to defeat
L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy), the leader of a rival gang. Jason Trost
conceived The FP when he was 16 years old, and developed it into a short
film. He was then encouraged to make a feature-length version. Ron
Trost—Brandon and Jason Trost's father—served as special effects
supervisor and executive producer of the film, and his property was the
primary filming location. The full-length version of The FP premiered at
South by Southwest on March 13, 2011, and received positive reviews.
After its screening at the Fantasia Festival on July 30 that year,
Drafthouse Films acquired the film for distribution. It had a limited
release and received mixed reviews, failing to recoup its production
budget.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_FP>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
79:
According to estimates based on the Codex Laurentianus Mediceus,
Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and
Stabiae in Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79>
1814:
War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting
fire to various U.S. government buildings, including what is now the
White House (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington>
1889:
The predominantly Māori New Zealand Native football team
played the last match of their 107-game tour, the longest in rugby union
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888%E2%80%9389_New_Zealand_Native_football_t…>
1963:
Buddhist crisis: The U.S. State Department ordered Ambassador
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. to encourage South Vietnamese Army officers to
oust Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not willingly remove Ngo Dinh Nhu from his
unofficial position of power.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_243>
2004:
About 90 total people died after suicide bombers attacked two
airliners flying out of Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Russian_aircraft_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
provident:
With care and consideration for the future; foresightly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/provident>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The term "just war" contains an internal contradiction.
War is inherently unjust, and the great challenge of our time is how to
deal with evil, tyranny, and oppression without killing huge numbers of
people.
--Howard Zinn
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn>
John Sherman Cooper (1901–1991) was an American politician, jurist,
and diplomat. He began his political career in the Kentucky House of
Representatives (1927–29) before being elected as a county judge in
1930. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II and reorganizing
the Bavarian judicial system after Germany's defeat, he was a Kentucky
circuit judge before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1946. He was
defeated in the 1948 election, but re-elected to partial terms in 1952
and 1956, serving as Ambassador to India in between. He was re-elected
to the Senate in 1960 and 1966 by record margins for Kentucky. President
John F. Kennedy chose Cooper to conduct a secret fact-finding mission to
Moscow and New Delhi. Following Kennedy's assassination in November
1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Cooper to the Warren
Commission to investigate the assassination. Cooper soon became an
outspoken opponent of Johnson's decision to escalate U.S. military
involvement in the Vietnam War. Aging and increasingly deaf, Cooper did
not seek re-election in 1972. His last acts of public service were as
Ambassador to East Germany from 1974 to 1976 and as an alternate
delegate to the United Nations in 1981.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sherman_Cooper>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1514:
Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of
Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chaldiran>
1873:
The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London>
1914:
In their first major action of the First World War, the British
Expeditionary Force defeated German troops in Mons, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons>
1944:
King Michael dismissed the pro-Axis government of General Ion
Antonescu, putting Romania on the side of the Allies for the remainder
of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Antonescu>
1989:
Singing Revolution: Approximately two million people joined
hands to form an over 600 km (370 mi) long human chain across the
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics to demonstrate their
respective desires for independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Way>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
malleate:
To beat into shape with a hammer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malleate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We are the Choice of the Will: God, when He gave
the word That called us into line, set in our hand a sword; Set us a
sword to wield none else could lift and draw, And bade us forth to the
sound of the trumpet of the Law.
--William Ernest Henley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley>
The Liber Eliensis ("Book of Ely") is a 12th-century English chronicle
and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written
at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern
Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of a newly formed
bishopric in 1109. The Liber covers the period from the founding of the
abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century, building on a number
of earlier historical works. It incorporates documents and stories of
saints' lives and is a typical example of a kind of local history
produced during the latter part of the 12th century. The longest of the
contemporary local histories, it describes the devastation caused by the
disorders during the reign of King Stephen, as well as the career of
Nigel (Bishop of Ely 1133–69) and his disputes with the king. The two
surviving complete manuscripts of the work are complemented by a number
of partial manuscripts. A printed version of the Latin text appeared in
1963 and an English translation was published in 2005. The Liber
Eliensis is an important source of historical information for the region
and period it covers, and particularly for the abbey and bishopric of
Ely.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liber_Eliensis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1642:
King Charles I of England raised the royal standard at
Nottingham, marking the beginning of the First English Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_English_Civil_War>
1864:
The Red Cross movement led by Henry Dunant officially began
when twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention,
establishing the International Committee of the Red Cross.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Geneva_Convention>
1922:
Irish Civil War: Irish National Army commander-in-chief Michael
Collins was assassinated in an ambush while en route through County Cork
at the village of Béal na mBláth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(Irish_leader)>
1944:
World War II: Wehrmacht infantry carried out an assault
operation against the civilian residents of nine villages located in the
Amari Valley on the Greek island of Crete.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_of_Kedros>
2012:
A series of ethnic clashes between the Orma and Pokomo tribes
of Kenya's Tana River District resulted in the deaths of at least 52
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_Tana_River_District_clashes>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
sheeple:
(derogatory slang) People who unquestioningly accept as true whatever
their political leaders say or who adopt popular opinion as their own
without scrutiny.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sheeple>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 At the center of religion is love. I love you and I forgive
you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the
world. I love creating. Everything in our life should be based on love.
--Ray Bradbury
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury>