The Horse Protection Act of 1970 is a United States federal law, under
which the practice of soring is a crime punishable by both civil and
criminal penalties. Soring is the practice of applying irritants
(including objects such as nails, example pictured) or blistering agents
to the front feet or forelegs of a horse, making it pick its feet up
higher in an exaggerated manner that creates the "action" desired in the
show ring, giving practitioners an unfair advantage over other
competitors. The Act makes it illegal to show a horse or enter it at a
horse show, to auction, sell, offer for sale, or transport a horse for
any of these purposes if it has been sored. It is enforced by the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Violations are detected by observation, palpation and gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify chemicals on horses' legs.
Certain training techniques and topical anesthetics can be used to avoid
detection by the first two methods. In 2013, an amendment to the Act was
proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives to toughen penalties and
outlaw "stacks", or layers of pads attached to the front hooves.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Protection_Act_of_1970>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1139:
Song Dynasty general Yue Fei defeated an army led by Jin
dynasty general Wanyan Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the
Jin–Song wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yancheng>
1689:
Jacobite risings: Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king
James VII of Scotland clashed with a government regiment of Covenanters
supporting William of Orange, in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral,
Dunkeld, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkeld>
1911:
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a
museum employee and was not recovered until two years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa>
1944:
Delegations from Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, met at Dumbarton Oaks in
Washington, D.C. to discuss the formation of the United Nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbarton_Oaks_Conference>
2007:
Hurricane Dean made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a
Category 5 storm, causing 45 deaths and US$1.5 billion in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Dean>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
accismus:
(rhetoric) Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accismus>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I like to play any character that allows me the freedom to
explore it and teach the audience something they didn't know, and show
them a journey they identify with... or be inspired, or moved. Anything
that touches someone's heart is important for me.
--Alicia Witt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alicia_Witt>
Thirty Flights of Loving is a first-person adventure video game
developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio, Blendo Games. It was
released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows and in November 2012 for
OS X. The game employs a modified version of id Software's id Tech 2
engine—originally used for Quake II—and incorporates music composed
by Idle Thumbs member Chris Remo. An indirect sequel to Gravity Bone
(2008), it features the same main character, an unnamed spy controlled
by the player. The game follows the spy and two other people as they
prepare for an alcohol heist and then deal with the aftermath of the
failed operation. Unlike Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving employs
non-linear storytelling, forcing the player to piece together the
narrative. Thirty Flights of Loving was developed as part of the
Kickstarter campaign for the revival of the Idle Thumbs podcast and
includes a free copy of Gravity Bone. Thirty Flights of Loving received
generally favorable reviews from video game journalists, scoring 88 out
of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic. A follow-up, Quadrilateral
Cowboy, is scheduled for release in 2014.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Flights_of_Loving>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1710:
War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish-Bourbon army
commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational
army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragossa>
1882:
The 1812 Overture (audio featured) by Russian composer Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky was first performed at the Cathedral of Christ the
Saviour in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture>
1944:
World War II: The Gestapo transported 168 Allied airmen, who
had been classified as spies and criminals so as not to warrant prisoner
of war treatment, to Buchenwald concentration camp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLB_Club>
1962:
NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship,
underwent her maiden voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah>
1989:
After a collision with a dredger on the River Thames in London,
the pleasure boat Marchioness sank in just thirty seconds, killing 51
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchioness_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
transhumance:
The moving of cattle or other grazing animals to new pastures, often
quite distant, according to the change in season.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transhumance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Isn't life the strangest thing you've ever seen?
--Patricia Rozema
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patricia_Rozema>
Cyclura nubila, also known as the Cuban iguana, is a species of lizard
of the iguana family. It is the largest of the West Indian rock iguanas,
one of the most endangered groups of lizards. This herbivorous species
with red eyes, a thick tail, and spiked jowls is one of the largest
lizards in the Caribbean. The Cuban iguana is distributed throughout the
rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islets
with a feral population thriving on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. It is
also found on the Cayman Islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where
a separate subspecies occurs. Females guard their nest sites and often
nest in sites excavated by Cuban crocodiles. As a defense measure, the
Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti.
Although the wild population is in decline because of predation by feral
animals and habitat loss caused by human agricultural development, its
numbers have been bolstered as a result of captive-breeding and other
conservation programs. Cyclura nubila has been used to study evolution
and animal communication, and its captive-breeding program has been a
model for other endangered lizards in the Caribbean.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclura_nubila>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1745:
Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard at
Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands to begin the Second Jacobite
Rising.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_rising_of_1745>
1895:
American outlaw and folk hero John Wesley Hardin was shot dead
by an off-duty lawman in El Paso, Texas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Hardin>
1953:
The intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United
States orchestrated a coup d'état of Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad
Mosaddegh and restored the absolute monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1960:
Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka began to orbit the Earth
aboard the Korabl-Sputnik-2 spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_space_dogs>
2005:
Thunderstorms in southern Ontario, Canada, spawned at least
three tornadoes that caused over C$500 million in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ontario_Tornado_Outbreak_of_2005>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clemency:
1. The gentle or kind exercise of power; leniency, mercy; compassion in
judging or punishing.
2. (now rare) Mildness of weather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clemency>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Peace is never long preserved by weight of metal or by an
armament race. Peace can be made tranquil and secure only by
understanding and agreement fortified by sanctions. We must embrace
international cooperation or international disintegration. Science has
taught us how to put the atom to work. But to make it work for good
instead of for evil lies in the domain dealing with the principles of
human dignity. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of
physics.
--Bernard Baruch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Baruch>
"Episode 2" is the third episode of the first season of the American
mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series
creators David Lynch (pictured) and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch.
Twin Peaks centers on the investigation into the murder of schoolgirl
Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), in the small rural town in Washington state
after which the series is named. In this episode, FBI agent Dale Cooper
(played by Kyle MacLachlan) tells Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) and
his deputies about a unique method of narrowing down the suspects in
Palmer's death. Meanwhile, Cooper's cynical colleague Albert Rosenfield
(Miguel Ferrer) arrives in town, and Cooper has a strange dream that
elevates the murder investigation to a new level. "Episode 2" was first
broadcast on April 19, 1990, and was watched by an audience of
19.2 million US households. It is regarded by critics as a ground-
breaking television episode and has influenced, and been parodied by,
several television series. Academic readings of the episode have
highlighted its depiction of heuristic, a priori knowledge, and the
sexual undertones of several characters' actions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episode_2_(Twin_Peaks)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1612:
The trials of the Pendle witches, among the most famous of
England's witch trials, began at the assizes in Lancaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches>
1864:
American Civil War: At the Battle of Globe Tavern, Union forces
attempted to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Globe_Tavern>
1891:
A hurricane struck Martinique, killing about 700 people,
injuring at least 1,000 others, and obliterating houses, trees, and
crops across the entire island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1891_Martinique_hurricane>
1966:
Vietnam War: Members from D Company of the 6th Battalion of the
Royal Australian Regiment were surrounded and attacked on all sides by a
much larger Viet Cong unit at the Battle of Long Tan (RAAF helicopter
pictured), but held them off for several hours until reinforcements
arrived.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan>
1989:
Leading Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán was
assassinated during a public demonstration in the town of Soacha,
Cundinamarca.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Carlos_Gal%C3%A1n>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
social contract:
(philosophy, politics) An implicit agreement or contract among members
of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to
rule of law and acceptable conduct.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_contract>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a
problem.
--Brian Aldiss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_Aldiss>
Leslie Groves (1896–1970) was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer
who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan
Project that developed the atomic bomb. After joining the Corps of
Engineers and assisting with projects in Nicaragua, he was posted to the
War Department General Staff. In 1940, he became special assistant for
construction to the Quartermaster General. He was given responsibility
in 1941 for the gigantic office complex to house the War Department's
40,000 staff which would ultimately become the Pentagon. In September
1942, Groves took charge of the Manhattan Project and was involved in
most aspects of the atomic bomb's development, including the acquisition
of raw materials and selection of target cities in Japan. He remained in
charge of the project until the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission assumed
responsibility for nuclear weapons production in 1947. He then headed
the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, created to control the
military aspects of nuclear weapons. He was promoted to lieutenant
general just before his retirement in 1948 in recognition of his
leadership of the bomb program, and later became a vice-president at
Sperry Rand.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Groves>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first
commercially successful paddle steamer, went into service on the Hudson
River in New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_River_Steamboat>
1943:
Second World War: The Royal Air Force began a strategic bombing
campaign against Nazi Germany's V-weapon programme by attacking the
Peenemünde Army Research Center.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hydra_(1943)>
1947:
A commission led by Cyril Radcliffe established the Radcliffe
Line, the border between India and Pakistan after the Partition of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Line>
1977:
The Soviet icebreaker NS Arktika became the first surface ship
to reach the North Pole.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arktika_(icebreaker)>
2009:
A turbine at Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia,
broke apart violently, flooding the power station, causing widespread
power failures, and killing 75 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sayano%E2%80%93Shushenskaya_power_statio…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
remuneration:
1. Something given in exchange for goods or services rendered.
2. A payment for work done; wages, salary, emolument.
3. A recompense for a loss; compensation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/remuneration>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The idea of global unity is not new, but the absolute
necessity of it has only just arrived, like a sudden radical alteration
of the sun, and we shall have to adapt or disappear. If the nations are
ever to make a working synthesis of their ferocious contradictions, the
plan will be created in spirit before it can be formulated or accepted
in political fact. And it is in poetry that we can refresh our hope that
such a unity is occupying people's imaginations everywhere, since poetry
is the voice of spirit and imagination and all that is potential, as
well as of the healing benevolence that used to be the privilege of the
gods.
--Ted Hughes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Hughes>
Aston Villa Football Club are an English professional association
football club based in Witton, Birmingham. Founded in 1874, the club
have played at their current home ground, Villa Park (pictured), since
1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888.
They were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992, and have
remained there ever since. Aston Villa are one of the oldest and most
successful football clubs in the history of English football. Villa won
the 1981–82 European Cup, and are thus one of five English clubs to
win what is now the UEFA Champions League. They have the fourth highest
total of major honours won by an English club, having won the First
Division Championship seven times (most recently in the 1980–81
season), the FA Cup seven times (last won in 1957), the Football League
Cup five times (last won in 1996) and the UEFA Super Cup in 1982. The
club's traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves,
white shorts and sky blue socks. Their traditional badge is of a rampant
gold lion on a light blue background with the club's motto "Prepared"
underneath; a modified version of this was adopted in 2007.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
War of the League of Cambrai: King Henry VIII of England and
his Imperial allies defeated French cavalry, who were then forced to
retreat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guinegate_(1513)>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The Americans, led by General John
Stark, routed British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the
Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bennington>
1906:
An estimated 8.2 MW earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, killing
3,886 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_Valpara%C3%ADso_earthquake>
1946:
A day of widespread riot and manslaughter between Hindus and
Muslims took place in the city of Calcutta as a result of the Muslim
League's call for an independent Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Action_Day>
1962:
The Beatles fired drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo
Starr (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nowise:
(In) no way, (in) no manner, definitely not.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nowise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on
account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands
of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it
could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at
their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.
--Jean de La Bruyère
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Bruy%C3%A8re>
Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) was an American religious leader who
founded the Heaven's Gate religious group and organized their mass
suicide in 1997. It was the largest mass suicide in America. Applewhite
and his friend Bonnie Nettles discussed mysticism at length and
concluded that they were divine messengers. They traveled around
America, gaining a group of committed followers, who were told that
extraterrestrials would provide them with new bodies. Applewhite
initially stated that they would physically ascend to a spaceship, where
their bodies would be transformed, but later believed that their souls
would be placed into new bodies. In 1985, Nettles died, leaving
Applewhite distraught and challenging his views on physical ascension.
In 1996, they learned of the approach of Comet Hale–Bopp and rumors of
an accompanying spaceship. Believing that their souls would ascend to
the spaceship and be given new bodies, all the group members killed
themselves in their mansion. Some commentators attributed his followers'
willingness to commit suicide to his skill as a manipulator, while
others argued that their willingness was due to their faith in the
narrative that he constructed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
The Empire of Trebizond, the longest surviving Byzantine
successor state, was conquered by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II following a
month-long siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond>
1812:
War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors destroyed the United States
Army's Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois, and captured the
survivors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Dearborn>
1914:
The Panama Canal (construction pictured) opened to traffic,
providing a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the
Isthmus of Panama.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal>
1944:
World War II: Allied forces began their invasion of southern
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon>
1998:
A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army
killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avail:
1. (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
2. (transitive) To be of service to.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The Flag links up the past and the present. It is the legacy
bequeathed to us by the architects of our liberty. … The world is full
of misunderstandings, suspicions and distrusts. In these difficult days
it depends on us under what banner we fight. Here we are Putting in the
very centre the white, the white of the Sun's rays. The white means the
path of light … the ideal light, the light of truth … The Asoka's
wheel represents to us the wheel of the Law, the wheel Dharma. Truth can
be gained only by the pursuit of the path of Dharma, by the practice of
virtue. ...the orange, the Bhagwa colour, represents the spirit of
renunciation. All forms of renunciation are to be embodied in Raja
Dharma. … Our leaders must be disinterested. They must be dedicated
spirits … The green is there, our relation to the soil, our relation
to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. We must build
our Paradise, here on this green earth... This flag tells us "Be ever
alert, be ever on the move, go forward, work for a free, flexible,
compassionate, decent, democratic society in which Christians, Sikhs,
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists will all find a safe shelter." Let us all
unite under this banner and rededicate ourselves to the ideas our flag
symbolizes.
--Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan>
Xeromphalina setulipes is a species of Mycenaceae fungus. First
collected in 2005, it was described and named in 2010 by Fernando
Esteve-Raventós and Gabriel Moreno, and is known only from oak forests
in Ciudad Real Province, Spain. The species produces mushrooms with dark
reddish-brown caps up to 15 millimetres (0.59 in) across, dark
purplish-brown stems up to 45 millimetres (1.8 in) in height and
distinctive, arched, brown gills. The mushrooms were found growing
directly from the acidic soil of the forest floor, surrounded by plant
waste, during November. Morphologically, the dark colour of the gills
and stem, lack of a strong taste, and characters of the cystidia (large
cells found on the mushrooms) are the most distinguishing
characteristics of X. setulipes. These features allow the species to be
readily distinguished from other, similar species. Its ecology and
habitat are also distinct, but it is unclear whether they can serve as
certain identifying characteristics. According to Esteve-Raventós and
colleagues, further analysis is required to accurately judge the
relationships between the species of Xeromphalina.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeromphalina_setulipes>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1842:
American Indian Wars: American general William J. Worth
declared the Second Seminole War to be over.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Seminole_War>
1888:
A recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost
Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during
a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord>
1980:
Lech Wałęsa and colleagues at Gdańsk Shipyard began strike
actions, which subsequently led to the founding of the Solidarity
movement in Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa>
1994:
International fugitive Carlos the Jackal, wanted for a number
of terrorist attacks in Europe, was handed over to French agents by
Sudanese officials.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_the_Jackal>
2007:
Four coordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Iraqi
towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, killing an estimated 796 people and
wounding 1,562 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Yazidi_communities_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
teenybopper:
A person, especially a female, in her early teens who follows popular
clothing fashions, music trends, and the like.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teenybopper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 It isn't enough to love people because they're good to you,
or because in some way or other you're going to get something by it. We
have to love because we love loving.
--John Galsworthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy>
The Tunnel Railway was a narrow gauge underground railway in Ramsgate,
Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate
in 1926 a section of main line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour
including a tunnel was abandoned. In 1936 a narrow gauge railway was
opened in the disused tunnel to connect tourist attractions and shops
near Ramsgate Harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.
Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line
ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months,
and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent
railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before
being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After
the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of
British railways but remained in private hands. Passenger numbers fell
during the 1960s, and the line became economically nonviable. Following
a train crash in 1965, the owners decided to close at the end of
September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace of the
stations remains.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_Railway>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1624:
Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister to King
Louis XIII, and under his supervision, France's feudal political
structure transformed into one with a powerful central government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu>
1779:
American Revolutionary War: Off the coast of Maine, the United
States suffered its worst naval defeat until the attack on Pearl Harbor
during World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penobscot_Expedition>
1868:
A major earthquake near Arica, Peru, caused an estimated 25,000
casualties, and the subsequent tsunami caused considerable damage as far
away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake>
1954:
The complete version of "Qaumi Taranah", the national anthem of
Pakistan, was broadcast for the first time on Radio Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaumi_Taranah>
2004:
Hurricane Charley struck the U.S. state of Florida, just 22
hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie inflicted its own damage to the state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
erratic:
(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a
glacier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erratic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Spiritual evolution is the progressive advance of mankind
toward a state of things in which the light of ethical perfection shall
be reflected from the face of human society; that is, in which all men
shall live and move and have their being in mutually promoting the
highest life of each and all. It means that the object of social
reformation shall not be a mere change in the conditions under which men
live, but a change in human nature itself. It means that we shall look
forward consciously to the breaking forth of new powers in ourselves, to
the release, through our own efforts, of capacities dimly latent in us.
--Felix Adler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler>
The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that lived in
South Africa. Its name is derived from its call, which sounded like
"kwa-ha-ha". The quagga is believed to have been around 257 cm (8 ft
5 in) long and 125–135 cm (4 ft 1 in–4 ft 5 in) tall at the
shoulder. It could be distinguished from other zebras by its limited
patterning of primarily brown and white stripes, mainly on the front
part of the body. Little is known about its behaviour but it may have
gathered in herds of 30–50 individuals. They were once found in great
numbers in the Karoo of Cape Province and the southern part of the
Orange Free State in South Africa. After Dutch settlement of South
Africa began, the quagga was heavily hunted, and it competed with
domesticated animals for forage. Some specimens were taken to European
zoos (one pictured in London Zoo, 1870), but breeding programmes were
not successful. It was extinct in the wild by 1878, and the last quagga
died in Amsterdam on 12 August 1883. The quagga was the first extinct
animal to have its DNA analysed, and the Quagga Project is trying to
recreate its pelage characteristics by selectively breeding Burchell's
zebras.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1323:
Sweden and the Novgorod Republic signed the Treaty of Nöteborg
to temporarily end the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_N%C3%B6teborg>
1624:
Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister to King
Louis XIII, and under his supervision, France's feudal political
structure transformed into one with a powerful central government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu>
1877:
American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Deimos, the smaller
of the two moons of Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_(moon)>
1944:
After a week of indiscriminate killing of civilians in Wola,
Warsaw, Poland, SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski ordered that any
remaining Poles be sent to labour or concentration camps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wola_massacre>
1981:
The IBM Personal Computer (pictured), the original version and
progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform, was introduced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
repechage:
(sports) A heat (as in rowing or fencing) in which the best competitors
who have lost in a previous round compete for a place or places yet left
in the next round.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repechage>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma.
 Although I think that life may be the result of an
accident, I do not think that of consciousness. Consciousness cannot be
accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely
fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.
--Erwin Schrödinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger>