Hurricane John formed during the 1994 Pacific season and became both the
longest-lasting and the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone ever
observed. John formed during the strong El Niño episode of 1991 to 1994
and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane
wind scale, the highest categorization. It was recognized as Tropical
Depression Ten-E on August 11, 300 nautical miles (560 km) south-
southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and named Tropical Storm John later the
same day. In total, it followed a 7,165 mi (11,530 km) path from the
eastern Pacific to the western Pacific and back to the central Pacific,
lasting 31 days. Because it existed in both the eastern and western
Pacific, John was one of a small number of tropical cyclones to be
designated as both a hurricane and a typhoon. It was only the fifth
tropical cyclone to enter the central Pacific from the western Pacific.
John barely affected land, bringing only minimal effects to the Hawaiian
Islands (some minor flooding but no reported injuries or significant
damage) and a U.S. military base on Johnston Atoll, where damage to
structures was estimated at about $15 million. The storm's remnants
later affected Alaska.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_John_(1994)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
2492 BC:
According to legend, Armenian culture hero Hayk slew the
giant king Bel with a shot from a longbow near Lake Van (in modern
Turkey).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayk>
1492:
The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected
Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave,_1492>
1786:
Captain Francis Light founded the British colony of Penang,
beginning more than a century of British involvement in Malaya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang>
1942:
Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a
patent for their "Secret Communications System", an early technique of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum that later became the basis for many
forms of today's wireless communication systems.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Antheil>
2012:
At least 306 people were killed and 3,000 others injured in a
pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_East_Azerbaijan_earthquakes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bevy:
1. A group of animals, in particular quail.
2. A large group or collection.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bevy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be
merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. That he will not
torture the forgiving. Upon that rock I stand. That every man should be
true to himself, and that there is no world, no star, in which honesty
is a crime. Upon that rock I stand. The honest man, the good woman, the
happy child, have nothing to fear, either in this world or the world to
come. Upon that rock I stand.
--Robert G. Ingersoll
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll>
The Uruguayan War (10 August 1864 – 20 February 1865) was fought
between Uruguay's governing Blanco Party and an alliance consisting of
the Empire of Brazil and the Uruguayan Colorado Party. In 1863, with
covert support from Argentina, the Colorado leader Venancio Flores
launched a rebellion aimed at toppling president Bernardo Berro. The
Blanco government received support from dissident Argentines and made
overtures to Paraguayan dictator, Francisco Solano López, who was
suspicious of Argentina's motives and keen to form an alliance. Fearing
for its interests in the region, the Empire of Brazil intervened, first
trying diplomacy and then, when talks stalled, issuing an ultimatum; the
Blanco government rejected the Brazilians' conditions, and Brazil's
military were ordered to begin exacting reprisals, marking the beginning
of the war. In a combined offensive against Blanco strongholds, the
Brazilian–Colorado troops advanced through Uruguayan territory, taking
one town after another (storming of Paysandú pictured). Eventually, the
Blancos were left isolated in Montevideo, the national capital. Faced
with certain defeat, the Blanco government capitulated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_War>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
955:
Forces under Otto I were victorious at the Battle of Lechfeld
near present-day Augsburg, Germany, holding off the incursions of the
Magyars into Central Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lechfeld_(955)>
1628:
The Swedish warship Vasa (salvaged wreck pictured) sank after
sailing less than a nautical mile into her maiden voyage from Stockholm
on her way to fight in the Thirty Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)>
1755:
The first wave of the Expulsion of the Acadians from the
present-day Canadian Maritime provinces by the British began with the
Bay of Fundy Campaign at Chignecto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fundy_Campaign_(1755)>
1901:
The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers
organized an ultimately unsuccessful strike to reverse its declining
fortunes and organize large numbers of new members.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Steel_Recognition_Strike_of_1901>
1990:
NASA's Magellan space probe reached Venus on a mission to map
its surface, fifteen months after its launch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(spacecraft)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
leeward:
Away from the direction from which the wind is blowing. Downwind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leeward>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.
--Herbert Hoover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover>
The Profumo affair was a 1963 British political scandal that originated
with a sexual liaison between John Profumo, the Secretary of State for
War in Harold Macmillan's government, and Christine Keeler, a 19-year-
old would-be model. Profumo originally denied any impropriety, but in
June 1963 admitted the truth and resigned from parliament in disgrace.
Concern was heightened by Keeler's alleged simultaneous involvement with
Yevgeny Ivanov, a suspected Soviet spy. Keeler knew both Profumo and
Ivanov through her mentor, Stephen Ward, an osteopath and socialite.
After the scandal broke, Ward's private life was investigated, and he
was convicted of immorality offences. He took a fatal overdose during
the final stages of his trial, which has since been perceived as an act
of Establishment revenge, rather than as serving justice. In January
2014 the case was under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Profumo redeemed himself by a long period as a volunteer worker in
London's East End; he died, honoured and respected, in 2006. The
repercussions of the affair contributed to Macmillan's resignation in
October 1963, and to the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1964 general
election.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profumo_affair>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1173:
The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become
the Leaning Tower of Pisa, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa>
1854:
Henry David Thoreau published Walden, his account of having
spent two years living mostly in isolation on the shores of Walden Pond
near Concord, Massachusetts, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden>
1914:
World War I: France launched its first attack of the war in an
ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mulhouse>
1965:
Malaysia expelled the state of Singapore from its federation
due to heated ideological conflict between their respective ruling
parties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore>
1974:
In the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from
office due to the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the only
President of the United States to resign from office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pankration:
An Ancient Greek martial art combining aspects of boxing and wrestling,
introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pankration>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We are all made of the same stuff, remember, we of the
Jungle, you of the City. The same substance composes us — the tree
overhead, the stone beneath us, the bird, the beast, the star — we are
all one, all moving to the same end. Remember that when you no longer
remember me, my child.
--P. L. Travers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers>
Electra Heart is the second studio album by Welsh singer Marina
Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds (pictured).
Released in April 2012, it is a concept album inspired by electropop
music, a distinct departure from the new wave musical styles seen
throughout her debut studio album The Family Jewels (2010). Diamandis
created the titular character "Electra Heart" to represent female
archetypes of stereotypical American culture, and the album's lyrical
content is united by the topics of love and identity. Critical opinion
was divided and there was ambivalence towards Diamandis' shift in
musical style and its overall production. The record debuted at number
one on the UK Albums Chart, her first chart-topping record there, and
performed moderately on international record charts, including a peak
position at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200. "Primadonna" was
released as the lead single, and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles
Chart. The record was additionally promoted by two further singles and
by Diamandis' headlining The Lonely Hearts Club Tour, which visited
Europe and North America from May 2012 through May 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Heart>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory
Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraniborg>
1786:
Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat completed the first
recorded ascent of Mont Blanc in the Alps, an act considered to be the
birth of modern mountaineering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc>
1929:
German airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin embarked on a flight to
circumnavigate the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin>
1967:
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand
founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations>
2009:
Nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private
airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in
Hoboken, New Jersey, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hudson_River_mid-air_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shuttlecock:
(badminton) A lightweight object that is conical in shape with a cork or
rubber-covered nose, used in badminton as a ball is used in other
racquet games; a birdie.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shuttlecock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Most people understand the need for neutrality. The real
struggle is not between the right and the left — that's where most
people assume — but it's between the party of the thoughtful and the
party of the jerks. And no side of the political spectrum has a monopoly
on either of those qualities.
--Jimmy Wales
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales>
The American white ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family, found
from the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the United States south through
most of the New World tropics. It is a medium-sized bird with an overall
white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and
black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are
larger and have longer bills than females. Crayfish are its preferred
food in most regions. During the breeding season, the American white
ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly
monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to
engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their
reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from
unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season. Human
pollution has affected the behavior of the American white ibis via an
increase in the concentrations of methylmercury, which is released into
the environment from untreated waste. Exposure to methylmercury alters
the hormone levels of American white ibis, affecting their mating and
nesting behavior and leading to lower reproduction rates.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_white_ibis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the
Tianshun Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>
1782:
The Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great
that serves as one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, Russia, was
unveiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Horseman>
1944:
IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to
Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Mark_I>
1970:
Jonathan Jackson kidnapped California Superior Court judge
Harold Haley in an attempt to free Jackson's brother George from prison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County_courthouse_incident>
2008:
Georgia launched a large-scale military offensive against the
separatist region of South Ossetia, opening the six-day Russo-Georgian
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dressage:
An equestrian sport in which the horse and rider perform a test of
specific movements in an arena, and are judged on the horse's obedience,
acceptance of the bridle and of the rider's aids, gaits, impulsion, and
the harmony between horse and rider.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dressage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 If the government can round up someone and never be required
to explain why, then it's no longer the United States of America as you
and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their
wildest dreams. They have made us become like them.
--Garrison Keillor
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor>
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of American federal
legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. President
Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act into law (pictured) during the height
of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later
amended it five times. The Act allowed for a mass enfranchisement of
racial minorities across the country, especially in the South. Section 2
of the Act prohibits state and local governments from imposing any
voting law that has a discriminatory effect on racial or language
minorities, and other provisions specifically ban literacy tests and
similar discriminatory devices. Some provisions apply only to
jurisdictions covered by the Act's "coverage formula", which was
designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting
discrimination. Chiefly, Section 5 prohibits these jurisdictions from
changing their election practices without first receiving approval from
the federal government that the change is not discriminatory. In Shelby
County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court struck down the coverage
formula as unconstitutional, reasoning that it no longer responded to
current conditions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by its last emperor,
Francis II (pictured), during the aftermath of the War of the Third
Coalition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1890:
At Auburn Prison in Auburn, New York, US, William Kemmler
became the first person to be executed in an electric chair.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair>
1964:
American researcher Donald Currey had a bristlecone pine tree
known as Prometheus cut down, only to find that it was the oldest known
non-clonal organism ever discovered, at least 4,862 years old at the
time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)>
1991:
British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee first posted files
describing his ideas for a system of interlinked, hypertext documents
accessible via the Internet, to be called a "World Wide Web".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee>
2010:
A cloudburst and heavy overnight rains triggered flash floods,
mudslides, and debris flows across a large part of Ladakh, a region of
the northernmost Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving at least 255
people dead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Ladakh_floods>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Olympiad:
1. (historical) A period of four years, by which the ancient Greeks
reckoned time, being the interval from one celebration of the Olympic
games to another, beginning with the victory of Corbus in the foot race,
which took place in the year 776 b.c.; as, the era of the olympiads.
2. An occurrence of the Olympic games.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Olympiad>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Holy Thing is here again Among us, brother, fast thou
too and pray, And tell thy brother knights to fast and pray, That so
perchance the vision may be seen By thee and those, and all the world be
healed.
--Idylls of the King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Idylls_of_the_King>
The involvement of Southern Rhodesia in World War I began on 5 August
1914, when it learned that the United Kingdom had declared war on
Germany a day earlier. The British territory of Southern Rhodesia
provided over 8,000 soldiers to the British Army during the
hostilities, including 1,720 officers. About two-thirds of these
servicemen came from the country's white minority—about 40% of the
colony's white men enlisted—and these fought primarily on the Western
Front in Belgium and France (Rhodesian platoon pictured). Other Southern
Rhodesian troops, including 2,500 black soldiers, took part in the
South-West African and East African campaigns. Over 800 Southern
Rhodesians of all races lost their lives on operational service. The
colony's contributions played a part in the UK's decision to grant self-
government in 1923, and remained prominent in the Rhodesian national
consciousness for decades. Since 1980, when the country became Zimbabwe,
the government has removed many memorial monuments and plaques from
public view, regarding them as unwelcome vestiges of white minority rule
and colonialism. The country's war dead today have no official
commemoration, either there or overseas.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Rhodesia_in_World_War_I>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1278:
King Alfonso X of Castile was forced to abandon the Siege of
Algeciras, the first of many on the city during the Spanish Reconquista.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Algeciras_(1278)>
1600:
Scottish nobleman John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, died during
a failed attempt to kidnap King James VI.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruthven,_3rd_Earl_of_Gowrie>
1864:
American Civil War: Rear Admiral David Farragut successfully
led the Union fleet through a mine field to victory in the Battle of
Mobile Bay.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mobile_Bay>
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine
Campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani>
2010:
War in Afghanistan: Ten foreign aid workers of the
International Assistance Mission were killed by persons unknown in Kuran
wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Badakhshan_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dog days:
1. The days between early July and early September when Sirius (the Dog
Star) rises and sets with the Sun.
2. Hot, lazy days
3. A period of inactivity, laziness, or stagnation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dog_days>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as
ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we have
ever prepared for war.
--Wendell Berry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry>
The Blind Leading the Blind is a painting of 1568 by Flemish renaissance
artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Executed in distemper on linen canvas,
it measures 86 cm × 154 cm (34 in × 61 in). It depicts the
Biblical parable of the blind leading the blind from Matthew 15:14.
Considered a masterwork for its composition and accurate detail, the
painting (detail pictured) reflects Bruegel's mastery of observation:
each figure has a different recognizable eye affliction, including
corneal leukoma, atrophy of globe and removed eyes. The diagonal
composition reinforces the off-kilter motion of the six figures falling
in progression. It was painted the year before Bruegel's death, and has
a bitter, sorrowful tone. This may be related to the establishment of
the Council of Troubles in 1567 by the government of the Spanish
Netherlands, which ordered mass arrests and executions to enforce
Spanish rule and suppress Protestantism, but it is not clear if the
painting was meant as a political statement. The work has inspired
poetry by Charles Baudelaire and William Carlos Williams, and a novel by
Gert Hofmann. It is part of the collection of the Museo di Capodimonte
in Naples, Italy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Leading_the_Blind>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1265:
Second Barons' War: Royal forces under Prince Edward defeated
Baronial forces under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester at the
Battle of Evesham near Evesham, Worcestershire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evesham>
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: The French Army of Italy under
Napoleon crushed an Austrian brigade in the Battle of Lonato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lonato>
1964:
A second U.S. Navy destroyer (USS Maddox pictured) was
reportedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin,
leading Congress to authorize the use of military force in Southeast
Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident>
1974:
A bomb placed by a neo-fascist group exploded on a train of the
Ferrovie dello Stato while on the Bologna–Florence railway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italicus_Express_bombing_1974>
1992:
Yōhei Kōno, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, issued a formal
apology for forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
yarl:
A deep, guttural vocal style with affected pronunciation, characteristic
of male grunge and postgrunge singers of the 1990s and early 2000s.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yarl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us
to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not
have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that
will make it a better place. The non-violence practiced by men like
Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every
circumstance, but the love that they preached — their fundamental
faith in human progress — that must always be the North Star that
guides us on our journey. For if we lose that faith — if we dismiss it
as silly or naïve; if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on
issues of war and peace — then we lose what's best about humanity. We
lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians (died 911) became ruler of English
Mercia shortly after the death of its last king, Ceolwulf II, in 879.
His rule was confined to the western half, as eastern Mercia was then
part of the Viking-ruled Danelaw. Æthelred's origin is unknown, and he
was first recorded as the probable leader of an unsuccessful Mercian
invasion of Wales in 881. Shortly afterwards, he married Æthelflæd, a
daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, and submitted to Alfred's
lordship, an important step towards the unification of England in the
next century. In the 890s the Vikings renewed their attacks, and in 893
Æthelred led a joint force of Mercians, West Saxons and Welsh to a
decisive victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Buttington. He spent
much of the decade fighting the Vikings in cooperation with Alfred's
son, the future Edward the Elder. Historians disagree whether Æthelred
governed Mercia as Alfred's deputy or whether he was a ruler of a semi-
independent territory. Æthelred died in 911 and was succeeded by his
widow, and then briefly by his daughter, before Mercia was annexed by
Edward the Elder in 918.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred,_Lord_of_the_Mercians>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
The inaugural Harvard–Yale Regatta—the first
intercollegiate sports event in the United States—was held on Lake
Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard%E2%80%93Yale_Regatta>
1900:
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass
production of automobile tires, was founded by Harvey Firestone in
Akron, Ohio, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_Tire_and_Rubber_Company>
1929:
Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed to likely be the messianic "World
Teacher", shocked the Theosophy movement by dissolving the Order of the
Star, the organisation established to support him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_in_the_East>
1940:
World War II: Italy began their invasion of British Somaliland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_conquest_of_British_Somaliland>
2007:
Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl
Iturriaga was captured after having been on the run following a
conviction for kidnapping.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Iturriaga>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bowdlerize:
To remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or
otherwise unseemly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bowdlerize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 There was a world of mutants, men and women who were more
than normal men and women, persons who had certain human talents and
certain human understandings which the normal men and women of the world
had never known, or having known, could not utilize in their entirety,
unable to use intelligently all the mighty powers which lay dormant in
their brains.
--Clifford D. Simak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak>
Florence Fuller (1867–1946) was a South African-born Australian
artist. Originally from Port Elizabeth, Fuller migrated as a child to
Melbourne with her family. There she trained with her uncle Robert
Hawker Dowling and teacher Jane Sutherland and took classes at the
National Gallery of Victoria Art School, becoming a professional artist
in the late 1880s. In 1892 she left Australia, travelling first to South
Africa, where she met and painted for Cecil Rhodes, and then on to
Europe. Between 1895 and 1904 her works were exhibited at the Paris
Salon and London's Royal Academy. In 1904, Fuller returned to Australia
to live in Perth. She became active in the Theosophical Society and
painted some of her best-known works. From 1908, Fuller travelled
extensively, living in India and England before ultimately settling in
Sydney where she was the inaugural teacher of life drawing at a women's
art school. Highly regarded in her lifetime as a portrait and landscape
painter, by 1914 Fuller was represented in four public galleries—three
in Australia and one in South Africa—a record for an Australian female
painter at that time. She subsequently suffered mental illness and sank
into obscurity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Fuller>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
216 BC:
Second Punic War: Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal
defeated a numerically superior Roman army, near the town of Cannae in
Apulia in southeast Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae>
1790:
The first United States Census was conducted, as mandated by
the United States Constitution to allocate Congressional seats and
electoral votes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_Census>
1897:
The Siege of Malakand ended when a relief column was able to
reach the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial India's
North West Frontier Province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malakand>
1939:
Physicist Leó Szilárd wrote a letter to U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed by Albert Einstein, warning that Germany
might develop atomic bombs, which led to the establishment of the
Manhattan Project.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szil%C3%A1rd_letter>
1989:
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Indian Peace Keeping Force began
killing 64 minority Sri Lankan Tamil civilians over a two-day period in
Valvettithurai, Sri Lanka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Valvettiturai_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dolorous:
Solemnly or ponderously sad.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dolorous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We have heard much of Faraday's gentleness and sweetness and
tenderness. It is all true, but it is very incomplete. You cannot
resolve a powerful nature into these elements, and Faraday's character
would have been less admirable than it was had it not embraced forces
and tendencies to which the silky adjectives "gentle" and "tender" would
by no means apply. Underneath his sweetness and gentleness was the heat
of a volcano. He was a man of excitable and fiery nature; but through
high self-discipline he had converted the fire into a central glow and
motive power of life, instead of permitting it to waste itself in
useless passion. "He that is slow to anger" saith the sage, "is greater
than the mighty, and he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh a
city." Faraday was not slow to anger, but he completely ruled his own
spirit, and thus, though he took no cities, he captivated all hearts.
--John Tyndall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Tyndall>