Cucurbita (Latin for gourd) is a genus of vines in the gourd family,
native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five species are grown worldwide,
variously known as squash, pumpkin, or gourd depending on species,
variety, and local parlance. The fruits have played a role in human
culture for at least 2,000 years. First cultivated in the Americas
before being brought to Europe by returning explorers, the plants remain
an important food source. Most Cucurbita species are herbaceous vines
that grow several meters in length and have tendrils, but bush cultivars
of C. pepo and C. maxima have also been developed. Many North and
Central American species are visited by honey bees, as well as
specialist bees that pollinate only a single species. Most of the
domesticated species can be considered winter squash, since the full-
grown fruits can be stored for months. Their extracts have many uses,
including in cosmetics for dry and sensitive skin. The fruits are also
good sources of vitamins and minerals in foods such as pumpkin pie,
biscuits, bread, desserts, puddings, beverages, and soups.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
475:
Romulus Augustulus took the throne as the last ruling emperor of
the Western Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus>
1517:
According to traditional accounts, Martin Luther first posted
his Ninety-Five Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
present-day Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninety-Five_Theses>
1917:
World War I: Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beersheba
in Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, often reported as "the
last successful cavalry charge in history".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917)>
1973:
Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escaped from
Mountjoy Prison in Dublin after a hijacked helicopter landed in the
prison's exercise yard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountjoy_Prison_helicopter_escape>
2011:
The United Nations declared that the world's population had
exceeded seven billion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Billion_Actions>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
zombocalypse:
(slang, fiction) The breakdown of society as a result of a zombie
outbreak
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zombocalypse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If I should die, I have left no immortal work behind me —
nothing to make my friends proud of my memory — but I have loved the
principle of beauty in all things, and if I had had time I would have
made myself remembered.
--John Keats
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Keats>
Fremantle Prison was built in Fremantle, Western Australia, between 1851
and 1859 using convict labour. Royal Commissions in 1898 and 1911
instigated some prison reforms, but after World War II, significant
reforms lagged behind those occurring elsewhere in Australia and the
world. Improvements in the late 1960s and early 1970s included an
officer training school, social workers, welfare officers, and work
release and community service programs. Punishments varied over the
years, with flogging and leg irons eventually replaced by lengthening of
sentences and restriction from visitors or entertainment. More than 40
hangings were carried out at Fremantle Prison, which was Western
Australia's only lawful place of execution between 1888 and 1984. There
were major riots in 1968 and 1988; in the second one, guards were taken
hostage, and fire damage totalled $1.8 million (in 1988 Australian
dollars). The prison closed in 1991, replaced by the new maximum-
security Casuarina Prison. Since then, Fremantle Prison has become a
tourist attraction and World Heritage Site.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremantle_Prison>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
War of the Fourth Coalition: Believing they were massively
outnumbered, the 5,300-man German garrison at Stettin, Prussia (now
Szczecin, Poland), surrendered to a much smaller French force without a
fight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitulation_of_Stettin>
1888:
King Lobengula of Matabeleland granted the Rudd Concession to
agents of Cecil Rhodes, setting in motion the creation of the British
South Africa Company.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudd_Concession>
1938:
The radio drama The War of the Worlds, based on the science
fiction novella by English writer H. G. Wells, frightened many listeners
in the United States into believing that an actual Martian invasion was
in progress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_drama)>
1965:
English model Jean Shrimpton wore a controversially short
minidress to Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia
– a pivotal moment of the introduction of the miniskirt to women's
fashion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_shift_dress_of_Jean_Shrimpton>
1995:
In a referendum, 50.58 percent of voters supported the province
of Quebec remaining a part of Canada, narrowly averting sovereignty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_referendum,_1995>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
circumlocution:
1. A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than
necessary to express an idea.
2. A roundabout expression.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/circumlocution>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We think ourselves possessed, or, at least, we boast that we are
so, of liberty of conscience on all subjects, and of the right of free
inquiry and private judgment in all cases, and yet how far are we from
these exalted privileges in fact!
--John Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams>
Telescopium is a minor constellation in the southern celestial
hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French
astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting
scientific instruments. Its name is a Latinized form of the Greek word
for telescope. Telescopium was later much reduced in size by Francis
Baily and Benjamin Gould. The brightest star in the constellation is
Alpha Telescopii, a blue-white subgiant with an apparent magnitude of
3.5, followed by the orange giant star Zeta Telescopii at magnitude 4.1.
Eta and PZ Telescopii are two young star systems with debris disks and
brown dwarf companions. Telescopium hosts two unusual stars with very
little hydrogen that are likely to be the result of merged white dwarfs:
HD 168476, also known as PV Telescopii, is a hot blue extreme helium
star, while RS Telescopii is an R Coronae Borealis variable. RR
Telescopii is a cataclysmic variable that brightened to magnitude 6 in
1948 as a nova.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescopium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1618:
English courtier and explorer Walter Raleigh was executed in
London after King James I reinstated a fifteen-year-old death sentence
against him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh>
1863:
American Civil War: The Battle of Wauhatchie, one of the few
night battles of the war, concluded with the Union Army opening a supply
line to troops in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wauhatchie>
1917:
The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet,
in charge of preparing for and carrying out the Russian Revolution, was
established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrograd_Military_Revolutionary_Committee>
1969:
A student at UCLA sent the first message on the ARPANET, the
precursor to the Internet, to a computer at Stanford Research Institute.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET>
2013:
The first phase of the Marmaray project opened with an undersea
rail tunnel across the Bosphorus strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaray>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
coquette:
A woman who flirts or plays with men's affections.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coquette>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Only the mediocre are always at their best.
--Jean Giraudoux
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Giraudoux>
The Battle of Concepción was fought on October 28, 1835, between
Mexican troops and Texian insurgents on the grounds of Mission
Concepción (pictured in 2010), 2 miles (3.2 km) south of what is now
Downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. The day before, Stephen
F. Austin, commander of the newly created Texian Army, had sent James
Bowie, James Fannin, and 90 soldiers to find a defensible spot for the
army to rest. After choosing a site near Mission Concepción, the
scouting party camped for the night and sent a courier to notify Austin.
Upon learning that the army was divided, General Martín Perfecto de Cos
sent Colonel Domingo Ugartechea with 275 soldiers to attack the scouting
party. The Texians took cover in a horseshoe-shaped gully; their good
defensive position, longer firing range, and better ammunition helped
them repel several attacks, and the Mexican soldiers retreated just 30
minutes before the remainder of the Texian Army arrived. Historians
estimate that between 14 and 76 Mexican soldiers were killed, while only
one Texian soldier died.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Concepci%C3%B3n>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1707:
The Hōei earthquake ruptured all of the segments of the Nankai
megathrust simultaneously—the only earthquake known to have done
this—with an estimated magnitude of 8.6 ML.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1707_H%C5%8Dei_earthquake>
1886:
In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicated
the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, to commemorate the centennial
of the Declaration of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty>
1915:
Richard Strauss conducted the first performance of his tone
poem An Alpine Symphony in Berlin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Alpine_Symphony>
1940:
The Balkans Campaign in World War II: Italy invaded Greece
after Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the occupation of Greek
territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War>
1965:
In St. Louis, Missouri, US, the 630-foot (190 m) tall catenary
steel Gateway Arch was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
háček:
(orthography and typography) A caron; a diacritical mark (ˇ) usually
resembling an inverted circumflex, but in the cases of ď, Ľ, ľ, and
ť resembling a prime (′) instead.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/h%C3%A1%C4%8Dek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Aesthetic value is often the by-product of the artist striving to
do something else.
--Evelyn Waugh
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh>
Oerip Soemohardjo (1893–1948) was an Indonesian general and the first
chief of staff of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. He trained in
Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) to become a lieutenant in the Royal
Netherlands East Indies Army, and after almost 25 years of service was
the highest-ranking Native Indonesian officer in the country. He
resigned in 1938, but was recalled to active duty after Nazi Germany
invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. When the Empire of Japan occupied
Indonesia less than two years later, he was detained in a prisoner-of-
war camp for three and a half months. Indonesia proclaimed its
independence from the Netherlands in 1945; several months later, he was
declared the chief of staff and interim leader of the newly formed army.
Working to build a united force from the fractured former military
groups in the country, he oversaw army development during the Indonesian
National Revolution along with General Sudirman, the leader of the armed
forces. He has received several awards from the Indonesian government,
including the title National Hero of Indonesia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oerip_Soemohardjo>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
English Civil War: The combined armies of Parliament inflicted
a tactical defeat on the Royalists, but failed to gain any strategic
advantage in the Second Battle of Newbury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Newbury>
1838:
Governor of Missouri Lilburn Boggs issued Missouri Executive
Order 44, ordering all Mormons to leave the state or be killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Executive_Order_44>
1958:
General Ayub Khan deposed Iskander Mirza in a bloodless coup
d'état to become the second President of Pakistan, less than three
weeks after Mirza had appointed him the enforcer of martial law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(President_of_Pakistan)>
1981:
Cold War: Soviet Whiskey-class submarine U 137 ran aground near
Sweden's Karlskrona naval base, sparking an international incident
termed "Whiskey on the rocks".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363>
2005:
The deaths of two Muslim youths in the Clichy-sous-Bois suburb
of Paris triggered four months of rioting by mostly youths of North
African origins in various parts of France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_French_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
miscellany:
1. Miscellaneous items.
2. A collection of writings on various subjects or topics; an anthology.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miscellany>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must recognize that it is a cardinal sin against democracy to
support a man for public office because he belongs to a given creed or
to oppose him because he belongs to a given creed. It is just as evil as
to draw the line between class and class, between occupation and
occupation in political life. No man who tries to draw either line is a
good American. True Americanism demands that we judge each man on his
conduct, that we so judge him in private life and that we so judge him
in public life.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
Arthur Sifton (1858–1921) was the second Premier of Alberta from 1910
to 1917 and a minister in the Government of Canada thereafter. When
Alberta was created out of a portion of the Northwest Territories in
1905, Sifton became its first chief justice. In 1910 the Alberta
government of Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford was embroiled in the
Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal; Rutherford resigned, and
the position was offered to Sifton. As premier, he failed to gain
provincial control over natural resources, but succeeded in implementing
some direct democracy measures, leading to prohibition and the extension
of the vote to women. During the conscription crisis of 1917, Sifton
supported the Conservative Prime Minister, Robert Borden, in his attempt
to impose conscription to help win the First World War. He backed the
creation of a Union government composed of Conservatives and pro-
conscription Liberals. In 1917 he left provincial politics and became a
minister in this government. Over the next three and a half years he
served briefly in four ministries and was a delegate to the Paris Peace
Conference of 1919.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Sifton>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1708:
The final stone of St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt after the
original burned down in the 1666 Great Fire of London, was laid by the
son of its architect, Christopher Wren.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral>
1881:
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the most famous
gunfights in the history of the American Old West, took place in
Tombstone, Arizona, between the faction of Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton's
gang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral>
1955:
Ngo Dinh Diem proclaimed himself president of the newly created
Republic of Vietnam after defeating former Emperor Bao Dai in a
fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Vietnam_referendum,_1955>
1985:
The Australian government returned ownership of Uluru, also
known as Ayers Rock, to the local Pitjantjatjara people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru>
2000:
Laurent Gbagbo became the first President of Côte d'Ivoire
since Robert Guéï was thrown out of power during the 1999 Ivorian coup
d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
specter:
A ghostly apparition.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/specter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is one tradition in America I am proud to inherit. It is our
first freedom and the truest expression of our Americanism: the ability
to dissent without fear. It is our right to utter the words, "I
disagree."
--Natalie Merchant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant>
The three-cent silver was struck by the Mint of the United States for
circulation from 1851 to 1872, and as a proof coin for collectors in
1873. A reduction of postage rates to three cents prompted Congress in
1851 to authorize the coin. At the time, profiteers were exporting and
melting U.S. silver coins for their metal to trade for increasing
amounts of gold in the wake of the California Gold Rush. The three-cent
silver thwarted this scheme, as the first American coin with metal
valued significantly less than its face value, and the first silver coin
not usable as legal tender in unlimited amounts. Designed by the Mint's
Chief Engraver, James B. Longacre, the coin saw heavy use until Congress
protected other silver coins from profiteers in 1853 by reducing their
silver content. The coin's place in commerce was lost with the economic
chaos of the Civil War, which led to hoarding of all gold and silver
coins. After the three-cent piece in copper-nickel emerged in 1865, the
three-cent silver had a string of low mintages until its abolition by
the Coinage Act of 1873. The series is not widely collected, and the
pieces remain inexpensive relative to U.S. coins of similar scarcity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_silver>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1147:
Reconquista: Forces under Afonso I of Portugal captured Lisbon
from the Moors after a four-month siege in one of the few Christian
victories during the Second Crusade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lisbon>
1415:
Hundred Years' War: Henry V of England and his lightly armoured
infantry and archers defeated the heavily armoured French cavalry in the
Battle of Agincourt on Saint Crispin's Day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt>
1861:
The Toronto Stock Exchange, the stock exchange with the most
mining and petrochemical companies listed in the world, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Stock_Exchange>
1980:
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, a multilateral treaty providing an
expeditious method to return a child taken from one member nation to
another, concluded at The Hague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_Inte…>
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia began an increasingly
violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nacre:
1. (obsolete) A shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl.
2. A pearly substance which lines the interior of many shells; mother-of-
pearl.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nacre>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy
gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be
responsible for one's self.
--Max Stirner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Stirner>
Debora Green (b. 1951) is an American physician who pleaded no contest
in 1995 to killing two of her children and trying to kill her husband,
Michael Farrar. Their marriage had been tumultuous, and Farrar filed for
divorce in July 1995. He soon fell violently ill, but his doctors could
not pinpoint the source of his illness. Green began to drink heavily,
even while supervising her children. In October the family home caught
fire, and two of her children died in the blaze. Investigation showed
that trails of accelerant in the house led back to Green's bedroom, and
that she had been poisoning Farrar's food with ricin. The trial was
sensational, and covered heavily by news media, especially in the
Kansas–Missouri area, where the crimes occurred. She was sentenced to
forty years in prison. Crime writer Ann Rule wrote about the case in her
book Bitter Harvest: A Woman's Fury, a Mother's Sacrifice. Green has
petitioned for a new trial twice in recent years, without success.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debora_Green>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Brabant Revolution, sometimes considered as the first
expression of Belgian nationalism, began with the invasion of the
Austrian Netherlands by an émigré army from the Dutch Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabant_Revolution>
1857:
Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club
still in operation, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_F.C.>
1931:
The George Washington Bridge, today the world's busiest motor
vehicle bridge, connecting New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, was
dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Bridge>
1945:
The UN Charter, the constitution of the United Nations, entered
into force after being ratified by the Republic of China, France, the
Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a majority of
the other signatories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Charter>
1964:
The military court of South Vietnamese junta chief Nguyen Khanh
acquitted Generals Dương Văn Đức and Lâm Văn Phát of leading a
coup attempt against Khanh, despite the pair's proclamation of his
overthrow during their military action.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A2m_V%C4%83n_Ph%C3%A1t>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
manpack:
(usually attributive) An object meant to be carried by a single person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/manpack>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let natural consequences teach responsible behavior. One of the
kindest things we can do is to let the natural or logical consequences
of people's actions teach them responsible behavior. They may not like
it or us, but popularity is a fickle standard by which to measure
character development. Insisting on justice demands more true love, not
less. We care enough for their growth and security to suffer their
displeasure.
--Stephen Covey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey>
United States v. Washington was a 1974 case heard in the U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Washington and the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. It reaffirmed the reserved right of
American Indian tribes in the State of Washington to act alongside the
state as co-managers of salmon and other fish, and to continue
harvesting them in accordance with the various treaties that the United
States had signed with the tribes. The tribes of Washington had ceded
their land to the United States but had reserved the right to fish as
they always had (pictured), including fishing at their traditional
locations that were off the designated reservations. After a long trial,
the decision of federal judge George Hugo Boldt held that the tribes
were entitled to half the fish harvest each year. In 1975 the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Boldt's ruling and the U.S.
Supreme Court declined to hear the case. After the state refused to
enforce the court order, Boldt ordered the Coast Guard to enforce his
rulings. In a later case, Justice John Paul Stevens summarized: "Both
sides have a right, secured by treaty, to take a fair share of the
available fish." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Washington>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1641:
Irish Catholic gentry in Ulster tried to seize control of
Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, to force concessions
to Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Rebellion_of_1641>
1812:
General Claude François de Malet began a conspiracy to
overthrow Napoleon, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he
was now the commandant of Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malet_coup_of_1812>
1953:
Alto Broadcasting System in the Philippines made the first
television broadcast in Southeast Asia on DZAQ-TV.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABS-CBN>
1972:
Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign
against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ended after
five months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker>
2002:
Chechen separatists seized a crowded theater in Moscow, taking
approximately 700 patrons and performers hostage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
poplit:
The shallow depression (fossa) located at the back of the knee joint;
the popliteal fossa or “knee pit”.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poplit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We shall not busy ourselves with what men ought to have admired,
what they ought to have written, what they ought to have thought, but
with what they did think, write, admire.
--George Saintsbury
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Saintsbury>
The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It
breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to
Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the
Falkland Islands, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It has
several subspecies across its large range; a few of the Asian subspecies
are sometimes considered to be full species. Depending on latitude, the
common blackbird may be resident, partially migratory, or fully
migratory. The male of the nominate subspecies, which is found
throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and
bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have
mainly dark brown plumage. The species breeds in woods and gardens,
building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a
wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. This common and
conspicuous bird has given rise to many literary and cultural
references, frequently related to its song.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_blackbird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1740:
A two-week massacre of ethnic Chinese in Batavia, Dutch East
Indies, came to an end with at least 10,000 people killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1740_Batavia_massacre>
1884:
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, was adopted as
Universal Time meridian of longitude.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time>
1895:
At Gare Montparnasse station in Paris, an express train
derailed after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing the concourse
before crashing through a wall and falling to the plaza below
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montparnasse_derailment>
1962:
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet
nuclear weapons had been discovered in Cuba and that he had ordered a
naval "quarantine" of the island nation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis>
2013:
The Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 made the Australian
Capital Territory the nation's first jurisdiction to legalise same-sex
marriage, although the High Court struck the act down two months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Equality_(Same_Sex)_Act_2013>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
allometry:
(biology) The science studying the differential growth rates of the
parts of a living organism's body part or process.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/allometry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more
stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always
known.
--Doris Lessing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing>