Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) was a British politician and writer who
twice served as prime minister. He played a central role in the creation
of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad
outreach. Disraeli entered the House of Commons in 1837. In 1846, after
clashing with the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, Disraeli became a
major figure in the party, though many in it did not favour him. He
served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons
in the 1850s and 1860s, and became prime minister briefly in 1868 before
losing that year's election. In his second term as prime minister
(1874–80), he arranged Britain's purchase of a major interest in the
Suez Canal Company, and worked at the Congress of Berlin to maintain
peace in the Balkans and to make terms that favoured Britain and
weakened Russia. He had throughout his career written novels, and he
published his last completed one, Endymion, shortly before he died.
Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his
political battles with the Liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone, and
his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1620:
The Mayflower Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth,
Massachusetts, establishing the Plymouth Colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony>
1879:
A Doll's House, a controversial play by Henrik Ibsen that
challenged 19th-century marriage norms, premiered at the Royal Theatre
in Copenhagen, Denmark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll%27s_House>
1910:
In the second worst mining accident in England, an underground
explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit killed 344 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria_Pit_disaster>
1965:
The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which 87 member
nations have since signed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_on_the_Elimination_o…>
1988:
A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb on board Pan Am
Flight 103 exploded while the plane was in flight over Lockerbie,
Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apologetic apostrophe:
(sociolinguistics, orthography) An apostrophe added to a Scots word in
order to give the appearance that it is a contraction of an English
word.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apologetic_apostrophe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am waking from a dream, I am choking on a scream, You were
trying to show me something. But the dark is wide and long, The gates
are closed, the crowd's all gone, You're still shimmering and leading me
on… Firefly that's what you are Burning for me in my darkest hour
"Light breaks where no sun shines" So shine for me tonight — firefly.
--Greta Gaines
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Greta_Gaines>
The Wrestlers is an oil painting by English artist William Etty, painted
around 1840 in the life class of the Royal Academy. It depicts a
wrestling match between a black man and a white man, both glistening
with sweat and under an intense light that emphasises their musculature.
Etty was best known for his paintings of nude or near-nude women in
historical and mythological settings but had also painted men involved
in various forms of combat. At that time, sports were becoming
increasingly popular, and the painting is both a reflection of this
trend and a part of the English tradition of copying poses from
classical Hellenistic works. It was also a time of change in the British
attitude to race relations. In this period Etty often made a conscious
effort to illustrate moral lessons in his work, and it is not clear
whether he chose the topic as a form of social commentary or simply
because the contrast between the dark and pale flesh tones was visually
striking. The Wrestlers, as part of a private collection, was not seen
publicly from about 1849 until 1947, when it was put on sale and
purchased by the York Art Gallery, where it remains.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrestlers_(Etty)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to
secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the
Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America>
1955:
Cardiff (Cardiff City Hall pictured) was proclaimed as the
capital of Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff>
1957:
The first flight of the Boeing 707, the first commercially
successful jet airliner, took place.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_707>
1995:
As per the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, the
NATO-led IFOR began peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation_Force>
2005:
US district court Judge John E. Jones III ruled against
mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District>
2007:
Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the
São Paulo Museum of Art.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Suzanne_Bloch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apeirogon:
(mathematics, geometry) A polygon having an infinite number of sides and
vertices.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apeirogon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I see a fulfilment of the great Law of all worlds, that while the
wisdom of Man thinks it is working one thing, the wisdom of Nature
constrains it to work another, and quite a different and far better
thing.
--Edwin Abbott Abbott
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edwin_Abbott_Abbott>
Robert de Chesney was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. Educated at
Oxford or Paris, Chesney was Archdeacon of Leicester before his election
as bishop in December 1148. He served as a royal justice in
Lincolnshire, and was an early patron of Thomas Becket. Although shown
favour by King Stephen of England, including the right to a mint,
Chesney was present at the coronation of King Henry II of England in
1154 and went on to serve Henry as a royal justice. In about 1160
Chesney became embroiled in a dispute with St Albans Abbey that was
eventually settled when the abbey granted him land in return for his
relinquishing any right to oversee the abbey. He was active in his
diocese; more than 240 documents relating to his episcopal career
survive. They show him mediating disputes between religious houses and
granting exemptions and rights in his diocese. Chesney bought a house in
London to serve as an episcopal residence, constructed an episcopal
palace in Lincoln, and founded a religious house outside the city. He
died in December 1166 and was buried in Lincoln Cathedral.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Chesney>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1154:
Henry II was crowned King of England in London's Westminster
Abbey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England>
1828:
Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John
C. Calhoun wrote the South Carolina Exposition and Protest to protest
the Tariff of 1828.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Exposition_and_Protest>
1843:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a novella about the miser
Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by three
Christmas ghosts, was first published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol>
1932:
The BBC launched its World Service, now the world's largest
international broadcaster, as BBC Empire Service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service>
1985:
Yakutsk United Air Group Flight 101/435 was hijacked by the co-
pilot and landed in China, where he was apprehended, while the
passengers returned home with Chinese gifts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakutsk_United_Air_Group_Flight_101/435>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antispinward:
(often science fiction) In a rotating reference frame, against the
direction of spin.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antispinward>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they
shadows of things that may be, only?
--A Christmas Carol
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol>
Interstate 496 (I-496) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that passes
through downtown Lansing in the US state of Michigan. Also a component
of the State Trunkline Highway System, the loop route runs east from
I-96 to the downtown area, turning south concurrently with US
Highway 127. It passes a former assembly plant used by Oldsmobile and
runs along or crosses parts of the Grand and Red Cedar rivers.
Construction started in 1963, and the freeway opened on December 18,
1970. Segments south of downtown were built near a historically black
neighborhood that dates from the early 20th century. Community leaders
opted not to fight the construction of the freeway, instead seeking
affordable housing and relocation assistance for displaced residents.
The city named the freeway in honor of a former mayor when it opened in
1970, but the local historical society proposed that the state rename it
after Ransom E. Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile and the REO Motor Car
Company, after his mansion was demolished to make way for the freeway.
The Michigan Legislature approved the name "Olds Freeway" two years
later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_496>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
In Angola, New York, US, the last coach of a Lake Shore Railway
train derailed, plunged 40 ft (12 m) down a gully, and caught fire,
resulting in 49 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_Horror>
1892:
The first performance of the fairy-tale ballet The Nutcracker
was held at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker>
1916:
The French defeated German forces around the city of Verdun-
sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest battle and one of the
bloodiest in World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun>
1987:
Programmer Larry Wall released the first version of the
programming language Perl via the comp.sources.misc newsgroup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl>
2005:
The most recent Chadian Civil War began when rebel groups,
allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launched an attack in Adré.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadian_Civil_War_(2005%E2%80%9310)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tiptoe:
1. Standing elevated, on or as if on the tips of one's toes.
2. Moving carefully, quietly, warily or stealthily, on or as if on the tips
of one's toes.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tiptoe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field
created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It
binds the galaxy together.
--Star Wars
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope>
Harry Glicken (1958–1991) was an American volcanologist who researched
Mount St. Helens before and after its dramatic eruption in 1980. Despite
a long-term interest in working for the U.S. Geological Survey, Glicken
never received a permanent post there because employees found him
eccentric. Conducting independent research sponsored by the National
Science Foundation and other organizations, Glicken accrued expertise in
the field of volcanic debris avalanches. He wrote several major
publications on the topic, including his doctoral dissertation on Mount
St. Helens. In 1991, while conducting avalanche research with
volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft on Mount Unzen in Japan, Glicken
was killed by a wayward pyroclastic flow. Glicken and David A. Johnston
(who died at Mount St. Helens) remain the only American volcanologists
known to have perished in volcanic eruptions. After Glicken's
dissertation was published by his colleagues in 1996, the report was
widely cited. His detailed and comprehensive work on flows at Mount St.
Helens is considered the most complete in the field to date.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Glicken>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
942:
William I Longsword of Normandy was ambushed and assassinated by
supporters of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, while the two were at a peace
conference to settle their differences.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_Longsword>
1790:
The Aztec calendar stone, now a modern symbol of Mexican
culture, was excavated in the Zócalo, Mexico City's main square.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_calendar_stone>
1903:
In Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright aboard
the Wright Flyer conducted the first successful flight of a powered
fixed-wing aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers>
1944:
Nazi troops under Joachim Peiper killed unarmed prisoners of
war, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, with machine guns near
Malmedy, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre>
2013:
The Istanbul Security Directory detained 47 people, most of
them members of the ruling Justice and Development Party, on charges of
corruption.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_corruption_scandal_in_Turkey>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
puddle jumper:
(idiomatic) A small passenger airplane, typically used for shorter
connecting trips to smaller airports.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puddle_jumper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it
to do something so great as to change the course of human history. …
This Extraordinary Holy Year is itself a gift of grace. To pass through
the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who
welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them.
This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s
mercy. How much wrong we do to God and his grace when we speak of sins
being punished by his judgment before we speak of their being forgiven
by his mercy! But that is the truth. We have to put mercy before
judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light
of his mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that
we ourselves are part of this mystery of love. Let us set aside all fear
and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead,
let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms
all things.
--Pope Francis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Francis>
Geastrum quadrifidum, commonly known as the rayed earthstar, is an
inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, the
earthstar fungi. First described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1794,
it is a cosmopolitan but uncommon species found in Europe, the Americas,
Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The fungus feeds off decomposing organic
matter in the litter and soil of coniferous forests. The small, grayish-
brown fruit bodies are enclosed by a skin, or peridium, made up of four
layers of tissue. The outer layer splits to form star-like rays and
expose a spore case, inside of which is the gleba—fertile spore-
producing tissue. The spore case, set on a short, slender stalk, has a
well-defined narrow pore at the top through which mature spores escape.
The mushroom's outer skin is purplish-brown, with four or five cream or
yellowish-brown rays whose tips are stuck in the substrate. This species
is one of several earthstars whose rays arch downward as they mature,
lifting the spore sac upward and allowing it to catch air currents that
disseminate the spores.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geastrum_quadrifidum>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1598:
Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Korean navy defeated the Japanese fleet at
the Battle of Noryang, the final naval battle of the Imjin War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Noryang>
1653:
Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of
England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell>
1918:
Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declared the formation of the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, a puppet state created by Soviet
Russia to justify the Lithuanian–Soviet War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1918%E2…>
1930:
Herman Lamm, "the father of modern bank robbery", killed
himself during a botched robbery attempt in Clinton, Indiana, US, rather
than be captured by police.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Lamm>
2012:
A woman in New Delhi was gang-raped on a bus, generating public
protests across the country against the Government of India and the
Government of Delhi for not providing adequate security for women.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gafiate:
(dated, fandom slang, science fiction) To leave the mundane world and
enter the science fiction fandom community. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gafiate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It seems to me very important to continue to distinguish between
two evils. It may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but
one must never label a necessary evil as good.
--Margaret Mead
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead>
Ununseptium is the current name of the artificial chemical element with
atomic number 117. The second-heaviest known element and second-to-last
element of the 7th period of the periodic table, its discovery was
announced in Dubna, Russia, by a Russian–American collaboration in
2010, making it the most recently discovered element. One of its
daughter isotopes was created in 2011, partially confirming the results.
The experiment was repeated successfully by the same collaboration in
2012 and by a joint German–American team in 2014. When these
experiments have been examined and verified by the Joint Working Party,
the discoverers will be invited to give the element an official name.
Some of ununseptium's isotopes are expected to lie within the island of
stability, a predicted group of nuclides of enhanced stability with
atomic numbers around 120, but the isotopes of ununseptium created so
far have had predicted half-lives of less than one second. Like
fluorine, chlorine, and other halogens, ununseptium is expected to be a
group 17 element, but it is not currently expected to be a halogen, as
some of its properties are likely to be different due to relativistic
effects.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ununseptium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1161:
Emperor Hailing of the Jin dynasty was assassinated in a
military camp near the Yangtze River front following Jin losses in the
Battle of Caishi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Hailing_of_Jin>
1467:
Troops under Stephen III of Moldavis defeated the forces of
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary in present-day Baia, Romania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baia>
1943:
World War II: American and Australian forces began the Battle
of Arawe as a diversion before a larger landing at Cape Gloucester on
New Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arawe>
1995:
The European Court of Justice handed down the Bosman ruling,
allowing footballers in the European Union to freely transfer from one
UEFA Federation to another at the end of their contracts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling>
2005:
The F-22 Raptor, a stealth fighter aircraft that the United
States Air Force claimed is unmatched by any known or projected fighter,
entered into service despite a protracted and costly development period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
parsimonious:
1. Exhibiting parsimony; sparing in expenditure of money; frugal to excess;
penurious; niggardly; stingy.
2. (sports) Not conceding many goals.
3. Using a minimal number of assumptions, steps, or conjectures.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parsimonious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The meanings of poetry take their growth through the interaction
of the images and the music of the poem.
--Muriel Rukeyser
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muriel_Rukeyser>
The Toledo War (1835–36) was a nearly bloodless sovereignty dispute
between the US state of Ohio and the Michigan Territory over a small
strip of land along their border, fueled by conflicting legislation, a
desire to control the then-prosperous city of Toledo, and poor maps.
After Ohio politicians blocked Michigan's bid to become a state, both
sides raised militias to enforce their claims.The only casualty was a
wounded sheriff, stabbed with a penknife, and in the only clash,
Michigan militiamen fired shots in the air and captured Ohioan
surveyors. After President Andrew Jackson intervened to keep Ohio's
support for his fledgling Democratic Party, Michigan agreed at what is
now called the Frostbitten Convention to a compromise. The strip was
sacrificed in exchange for statehood and the undeveloped Upper
Peninsula, which would later produce an economic windfall in timber,
iron, and copper. Vestiges of the dispute persisted for 137 years and
were ended only with the help of the US Supreme Court in 1973. Memories
of the Toledo War helped ignite the Michigan–Ohio State football
rivalry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
835:
In the Sweet Dew Incident, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty
conspired to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot
was foiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Dew_Incident>
1819:
Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S. state, after the
statehood of present-day Northern Alabama was delayed for several years
by the lack of a coastline until Mobile was captured from Spain during
the War of 1812.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama>
1900:
German physicist Max Planck presented a theoretical derivation
of his black-body radiation law, suggesting that electromagnetic energy
could only be emitted in quantized form.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Planck>
1962:
NASA's Mariner 2 became the world's first spacecraft to
successfully conduct a planetary encounter when it flew by Venus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_2>
2012:
A 20-year-old gunman shot twenty children and six adult staff
members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,
Connecticut, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
polar opposite:
The complete opposite, opposite in every way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polar_opposite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the Art of Peace we never attack. An attack is proof that one
is out of control. Never run away from any kind of challenge, but do not
try to suppress or control an opponent unnaturally. Let attackers come
any way they like and then blend with them. Never chase after opponents.
Redirect each attack and get firmly behind it.
--Morihei Ueshiba
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Morihei_Ueshiba>
American rock musician Jimi Hendrix was charged with drug possession in
Canada in May 1969. Customs agents at Toronto International Airport
detained Hendrix (pictured) after finding a small amount of heroin and
hashish in his luggage. Released on $10,000 bail, he performed at Maple
Leaf Gardens later that night, joking with the crowd. In December he
stood trial for two counts of illegal possession of narcotics, carrying
a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Judge Joseph Kelly presided.
Defense attorney John O'Driscoll raised doubts about whether the
narcotics belonged to Hendrix, who had no drug paraphernalia in his
luggage or needle tracks on his arms, and whether he even knew they were
in his luggage. He was acquitted after a three-day trial. Both of
Hendrix's bandmates in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell and
Noel Redding, later said that they had been warned about a planned drug
bust the day before flying to Toronto and that they believed the drugs
had been planted in his bag. Hendrix was the world's highest-paid
performer when he was arrested, but this was his last tour, and he died
the following year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_drug_charges_and_trial_of_Jimi_Hendr…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1545:
The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council convoked by Pope
Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism, opened in Trent,
Bishopric of Trent (now in modern Italy).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent>
1769:
Dartmouth College in present-day Hanover, New Hampshire, US,
was established by a Royal Charter and became the last university
founded in the Thirteen Colonies before the American Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_College>
1960:
With Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie out of the country,
four conspirators staged a coup attempt and installed Crown Prince Asfaw
Wossen as the new Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Ethiopian_coup_attempt>
1981:
Polish Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law,
suspended Solidarity and imprisoned many union leaders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski>
2001:
The Parliament of India was attacked by five gunmen, resulting
in 12 deaths, including those of the perpetrators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
anting:
(ornithology) The practice of some birds of rubbing live ants or
occasionally other items into the feathers, possibly as a means of
controlling parasites.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anting>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You, the sought for; I, the seeker; this, the search: And each is
the mission of all. For greatness is only the drayhorse that coaxes The
built cart out; and where we go is reason. But genius is an enormous
littleness, a trickling Of heart that covers alike the hare and the
hunter.
--Kenneth Patchen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Patchen>
The Far Eastern Party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition set out
with sled dogs in November 1912 to collect specimens, map the coast, and
claim territory. Douglas Mawson (pictured), Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier
Mertz had covered 311 miles (501 km) when Ninnis and a sled broke
through the snow lid of a crevasse and were lost. With few supplies
left, Mawson and Mertz made for the main base at Cape Denison, eating
the remaining sled dogs one by one. Mertz became sick, and died within a
week. For almost a month, Mawson pulled his sled alone across snow and
ice despite an illness that increasingly weakened him. He reached the
comparative safety of Aladdin's Cave—a food depot 5.5 miles (8.9 km)
from the main base—on 1 February, only to be trapped there for a week
while a blizzard raged outside. He arrived at the main base just hours
after the expedition ship, SY Aurora, sailed for Australia, fleeing the
encroaching ice. With a relief party, Mawson remained at Cape Denison
until the ship returned the next summer, 10 months later. In 1976 Sir
Edmund Hillary described Mawson's journey as "probably the greatest
story of lone survival in Polar exploration".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Eastern_Party>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1531:
According to traditional Catholic accounts, the image of the
Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared imprinted on Juan Diego's
tilma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe>
1862:
American Civil War: The USS Cairo was sunk in the Yazoo River,
the first armored ship sunk by a naval mine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cairo>
1915:
President Yuan Shikai of the Republic of China reinstated the
monarchy and declared himself Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai>
1935:
The Nazi Lebensborn programme, which was later mistakenly
believed to engage in coercive breeding, was established to provide
assistance to the wives of SS members and unmarried mothers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn>
1985:
Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed after takeoff in Gander,
Newfoundland and Labrador, killing 256, including 248 members of the US
Army's 101st Airborne Division.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Air_Flight_1285>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
profundify:
(in post-19th-century uses, humorous) To make profound; to make a
concept unnecessarily complicated.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/profundify>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies,
and the importance of a work of art by the harm that is spoken of it.
--Gustave Flaubert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Flaubert>