Vannevar Bush (1890–1974) was an American engineer, inventor, science
administrator, policymaker and public intellectual. He is best known for
his work on analog computers, for founding Raytheon, and for the memex,
an adjustable microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of the
World Wide Web. He became Vice President of MIT and Dean of the MIT
School of Engineering in 1932, and president of the Carnegie Institution
of Washington in 1938. He was chairman of the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and of the National Defense Research
Committee (NDRC). During World War II he was director of the Office of
Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), coordinating the defense
activities of some 6,000 leading American scientists. As head of NDRC
and OSRD, he initiated the Manhattan Project, and ensured that it
received top priority from the highest levels of government. In 1945, he
published As We May Think in which he predicted that "wholly new forms
of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative
trails running through them". This influenced generations of computer
scientists, who drew inspiration from his vision.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
222:
Disgusted with Roman emperor Elagabalus's disregard for Roman
religious traditions and sexual taboos, the Praetorian Guard
assassinated him and his mother Julia Soaemias, mutilated their bodies,
and threw them in the Tiber River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus>
1864:
A crack in the Dale Dyke Dam in Sheffield, England, caused it
to fail, and the resulting flood killed 238 people and damaged more than
600 homes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sheffield_Flood>
1879:
Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, abdicated when
the kingdom was annexed by Japan and became Okinawa Prefecture.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8D_Tai>
1945:
World War II: The Empire of Japan established the Empire of
Vietnam, a short-lived puppet state, with Bảo Đại as its ruler.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Vietnam>
2006:
Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated as the first female President
of Chile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Bachelet>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quibble:
(intransitive) To complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quibble>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been
nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people
for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in
Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong
all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good
and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would
have to get nailed to anything. Sadly, however, before she could get to
a phone to tell anyone about it, the Earth was unexpectedly demolished
to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, and so the idea was lost,
seemingly for ever.
--So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#So_Lon…>
Ronnie Lee Gardner (1961–2010) was an American felon who received the
death penalty for murder in 1985 and was executed by a firing squad by
the state of Utah. In 1984 he killed a bartender during a robbery in
Salt Lake City, and the next year killed an attorney in an unsuccessful
escape attempt. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first
murder and received the death penalty for the second. In a series of
appeals, defense attorneys presented mitigating evidence of the troubled
upbringing of Gardner, who had spent nearly his entire adult life in
incarceration. His legal team took the case all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court, which declined to intervene. His execution at Utah State
Prison, the first to be carried out by firing squad in the U.S. in
14 years, became a focus of media attention in June 2010. Gardner
stated that he sought this method of execution because of his Mormon
background. On the day before his execution, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints released a statement clarifying its position on the
issue of blood atonement of individuals. The case also attracted debate
over capital punishment and whether Gardner's difficult childhood had
destined him for a life of violence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Lee_Gardner>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
By royal decree, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was
established to be the military force maintained by the Netherlands in
its colony of the Dutch East Indies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Netherlands_East_Indies_Army>
1876:
Alexander Graham Bell made his first successful bi-directional
telephone call, saying, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_the_telephone>
1965:
Thomas Playford (pictured), Premier of South Australia, left
office after 27 years, the longest term of any democratically elected
leader in the history of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Playford_IV>
1975:
Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnam began its final push for
victory over South Vietnam with an attack on Ban Me Thuot.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ban_Me_Thuot>
2005:
Tung Chee-hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong,
announced his resignation following widespread dissatisfaction with his
leadership.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Chee-hwa>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
normothermic:
(medicine) Having a normal body temperature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/normothermic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Irony is the form of paradox. Paradox is what is good and
great at the same time.
--Friedrich Schlegel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schlegel>
Kahaani is a 2012 Indian mystery thriller film directed and co-produced
by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan (pictured) as Vidya Bagchi, a
pregnant woman searching for her missing husband in Kolkata during the
festival of Durga Puja, assisted by Satyoki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata
Chatterjee) and Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Made on a shoestring budget
of 80 million (US$1.3 million), Kahaani was conceived and developed by
Ghosh, who co-wrote the film with Advaita Kala. The crew often employed
guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on Kolkata's city streets to avoid
attracting attention. The film was noted for avoiding the usual
Bollywood tropes of Kolkata culture and for using many local crew and
cast members. Kahaani explores themes of feminism and motherhood in
male-dominated Indian society. The film also makes allusions to Satyajit
Ray's films such as Charulata (1964) and Aranyer Dinratri (1970).
Kahaani was released worldwide on 9 March 2012. Critics praised the
screenplay, the cinematography and the performances of the lead actors.
Critical acclaim and word-of-mouth publicity helped the film earn 1.04
billion (US$16 million) worldwide, and it won several awards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahaani>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1009:
The first known record of the name of Lithuania appeared in an
entry in the annals of the Quedlinburg Abbey (in modern Germany).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Lithuania>
1776:
The Wealth of Nations by Scottish political economist Adam
Smith (bust pictured) was first published, becoming the first modern
work in the field of economics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations>
1842:
Nabucco, an opera by Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi
that established his reputation as a composer, premiered at the Teatro
alla Scala in Milan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabucco>
1915:
The Panama–California Exposition opened in San Diego's Balboa
Park, celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama%E2%80%93California_Exposition>
1925:
The Royal Air Force began a bombardment and strafing campaign
against the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South
Waziristan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink%27s_War>
1945:
World War II: A bomb raid on Tokyo by American B-29 heavy
bombers started a firestorm, killing over 100,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
win-win:
Of a situation or outcome that benefits two parties, or that has two
distinct benefits.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/win-win>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of course I have no right whatsoever to write down the truth
about my life involving as it naturally does the lives of so many other
people, but I do so urged by a necessity of truth-telling, because there
is no living soul who knows the complete truth; here, may be one who
knows a section; and there, one who knows another section: but to the
whole picture not one is initiated.
--Vita Sackville-West
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vita_Sackville-West>
Lost Luggage is an action video game developed and released in 1982 for
the Atari 2600 by the Texas-based studio Games by Apollo. The player
controls skycap porters working at an airport and tries to collect
pieces of luggage that fall from a frantic overhead luggage carousel. A
two-player mode, in which the second player controls the direction the
luggage falls, is included. Programmer Ed Salvo was inspired to begin
making Lost Luggage when he was waiting for his luggage at the
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and the game took around four
weeks to make. A four-minute advertising jingle was recorded for the
game, but never used. Most reviewers criticized the game's similarity to
the Activision game Kaboom!, believing Lost Luggage to be an inferior
clone, but a reviewer for the magazine TV Gamer recommended the game for
children, and Videogaming Illustrated described the game as the most
charming of Apollo's releases. Soon after Lost Luggage 's release,
Apollo filed for bankruptcy and closed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Luggage_(video_game)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1010:
Persian poet Ferdowsi completed his masterpiece, the Shahnameh,
the national epic of Iran and related societies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdowsi>
1618:
German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler discovered
the third law of planetary motion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler>
1919:
During the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, British authorities
arrested Saad Zaghloul and two others, exiling them to Malta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Revolution_of_1919>
1963:
The Ba'ath Party came to power in Syria in a coup d'état by a
clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the
National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Syrian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
2014:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing, prompting the most expensive search in aviation
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
triduan:
1. Lasting three days.
2. Happening every third day.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triduan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A page of history is worth a volume of logic.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes,_Jr.>
"S&M;" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna (pictured) from her fifth
studio album, Loud (2010). The song was released in January 2011 as the
fourth single from the album. Written by the American songwriter Ester
Dean in collaboration with its producers StarGate and Sandy Vee, "S&M;"
borrows from Depeche Mode's 1984 song "Master and Servant". The lyrics
make reference to sadomasochism, bondage, and fetishes. The song reached
number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaked at number one in
Australia, Canada, and Poland, and reached the top five in France,
Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the UK. Critical response was mixed; some
praised its sound and composition while others criticized its overtly
sexual lyrics. An accompanying music video that portrays softcore
sadomasochistic acts and fetishes was banned in many countries and
restricted to nighttime television in others. Critics complimented
Rihanna's sensuality and the vibrant colors. Photographer David
LaChapelle filed a lawsuit alleging that the video incorporates ideas
from his photographs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26M_(song)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
321:
Emperor Constantine I decreed that Sunday, the day honoring the
sun god Sol Invictus, would be the Roman day of rest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus>
1871:
José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, became Prime Minister
of the Empire of Brazil, starting a four-year rule, the longest in the
state's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Paranhos,_Viscount_of_Rio_Branco>
1945:
World War II: In Operation Lumberjack, Allied forces seized the
Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine, enabling them to establish and expand
a lodgement on German soil that changed the entire nature of the
conflict on the Western Front.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludendorff_Bridge>
1965:
African-American Civil Rights Movement: Civil rights
demonstrators marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, were brutally
attacked by police on Bloody Sunday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches>
1985:
The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup USA for
Africa was released, and would go on to sell over 20 million copies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
phillumenist:
A person who collects match-related items, like matchbox labels,
matchboxes, matchbooks, or matchbook covers.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phillumenist>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too
one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.
--Aristotle
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle>
In the 1850 Atlantic hurricane season, three significant tropical
cyclones affected land. Records of other storms are incomplete, since
the Atlantic hurricane database goes back only to 1851. The first system
struck North Carolina in July, causing significant damage before
battering the Mid-Atlantic states. Rivers were flooded from Baltimore to
northern New England, and 20 people were killed along the Schuylkill
River. In August, a strong hurricane hit Havana, Cuba, before making
landfall on the Florida Panhandle with an enormous storm surge. Coastal
flooding was severe around Apalachicola. Abundant precipitation fell
from Georgia through Virginia; one river swelled more than 20 feet (6 m)
above its normal height. The storm toppled a railroad bridge near
Halifax, North Carolina. Offshore, a pilot boat collided with a larger
ship in the rough seas and sank. Considered the worst storm in nearly 30
years in the tidewater region of Virginia, the cyclone briefly reentered
the Atlantic off New Jersey before making landfall over New England,
with strong winds and moderate to heavy rains. In September, a hurricane
brushed the coastline from New York to Cape Cod with gusty winds and
appreciable rainfall, and later struck Atlantic Canada.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1850_Atlantic_hurricane_season>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
961:
The Muslim Emirate of Crete was conquered by the Byzantine
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Crete>
1665:
The first joint Secretary of the Royal Society, Henry
Oldenburg, publishes the first issue of Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society, the world's longest-running scientific journal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Crete>
1853:
Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata premiered at Venice's La Fenice,
but the performance was considered so bad that it caused the Italian
composer to revise portions of the opera.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_traviata>
1945:
Petru Groza of the Ploughmen's Front became the first Prime
Minister of the Communist Party-dominated governments of Romania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petru_Groza>
1975:
Iran and Iraq signed the Algiers Agreement to settle a border
dispute, only to begin fighting again five years later in the
Iran–Iraq War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Algiers_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
begorra:
(Ireland) A mild minced oath; a euphemism for "by God".
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/begorra>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Even if a king defeats his enemy in battle, that still doesn't
settle anything. There are other, less numerous armies of philosophers
and scientists, and their contests determine the true triumph or defeat
of nations. One scholar is matched with another; one creative mind with
another; and one judicious temperament with his counterpart. A victory
won on that field counts for three won by force of arms.
--Cyrano de Bergerac
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac>
HMS Bellerophon was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal
Navy. Launched in 1786, she served mostly on blockades or convoy escort
duties. Known to sailors as the "Billy Ruffian", she entered service on
the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, and took part in the
Glorious First of June fleet action in 1793. Bellerophon narrowly
escaped being captured by the French in 1795, saved only by the bold
actions of the squadron's commander, Vice-Admiral Cornwallis. Detached
to reinforce Rear-Admiral Nelson's fleet in 1798 under Admiral Jervis,
she took part in the decisive defeat of a French fleet at the Battle of
the Nile. At the Battle of Trafalgar Bellerophon fought a bitter
engagement against Spanish and French ships, sustaining heavy casualties
including the death of her captain, John Cooke. In July 1815, when
Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and found escape to America barred by
the blockading Bellerophon, he came aboard "the ship that had dogged his
steps for twenty years" to finally surrender to the British, ending 22
years of nearly continuous war with France. The ship's long and
distinguished career has been recorded in literature and folk songs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1616:
Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium,
describing his heliocentric theory of the Solar System, was prohibited
by the Roman Catholic Church.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium>
1770:
British soldiers fired into a crowd in Boston, Massachusetts,
killing five civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre>
1824:
The First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war
in British Indian history, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Burmese_War>
1960:
Cuban photographer Alberto Korda took his iconic photograph of
Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrillero_Heroico>
1975:
Computer hackers in Silicon Valley held the first meeting of
the Homebrew Computer Club, whose members would go on to have great
influence on the development of the personal computer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Tinker to Evers to Chance:
(US, idiomatic) A task accomplished quickly by well-executed teamwork;
those involved in the teamwork.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tinker_to_Evers_to_Chance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Without general elections, without freedom of the press, freedom
of speech, freedom of assembly, without the free battle of opinions,
life in every public institution withers away, becomes a caricature of
itself, and bureaucracy rises as the only deciding factor.
--Rosa Luxemburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg>
Bradford City A.F.C. was founded in Bradford, England, in 1903, bringing
an association football club to the West Riding of Yorkshire as an
alternative to rugby league. They were immediately elected to the
Football League to replace Doncaster Rovers in Division Two, and made
their permanent home in the Valley Parade stadium. Under the management
of Peter O'Rourke the club won promotion to Division One in 1908, and
the FA Cup in 1911 (team pictured). After subsequent relegations, they
remained in the third and fourth tiers of the English football league
system until 1985–86. During that time, they endured several periods
of financial hardship, and in 1985, their ground suffered a disastrous
fire in which 56 people died. After coming close to returning to the
top division of the League in 1987–88, the club enjoyed mixed fortunes
before finally achieving promotion to the Premier League in 1998–99.
After two seasons in the top tier, the club's playing and financial
misfortunes multiplied; successive relegations saw them fall into the
bottom tier of The Football League, before promotion in 2012–13
brought them back up a division.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bradford_City_A.F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
306:
Roman Herculian guard Adrian of Nicomedia, who had converted to
Christianity after being impressed with the faith of Christians that he
had been torturing, was martyred.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_and_Natalia_of_Nicomedia>
1681:
King Charles II of England granted Quaker William Penn a
charter for the Pennsylvania Colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn>
1899:
Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Queensland, killing over
400 people, the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Mahina>
1918:
The first known case of the so-called Spanish flu was first
observed at Fort Riley, Kansas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic>
1980:
Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union was
elected to head the first government in Zimbabwe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
philtrum:
The shallow groove running down the center of the outer surface of the
upper lip.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/philtrum>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The problem of Eternity, of which the face of the Sphinx
speaks, takes us into the realm of the impossible. Even the problem of
Time is simple in comparison with the problem of Eternity.
--P. D. Ouspensky
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._D._Ouspensky>
The three-cent nickel was designed by the US Mint's Chief Engraver James
B. Longacre and struck by the mint from 1865 to 1889. When precious
metal coinage was hoarded during the economic turmoil of the American
Civil War, including the silver three-cent piece, and even the copper-
nickel cent was commanding a premium, Congress issued paper money in
denominations as small as three cents, but these small slips of paper
became ragged and dirty. After the issue of a lighter bronze cent and a
two-cent piece in 1864, there were proposals for a three-cent piece in
copper-nickel. The advocates were led by Pennsylvania industrialist
Joseph Wharton, who then controlled the domestic supply of nickel ore.
On the last day of the congressional session, March 3, 1865, a bill for
a three-cent piece in copper-nickel alloy was introduced in Congress,
passed by both houses without debate, and signed by President Abraham
Lincoln. Although initially popular, the three-cent nickel piece became
less so with the introduction in 1866 of the five-cent nickel, a larger,
more convenient coin, with a value better fitting the decimal system.
After 1870, most years saw low annual mintages for the three-cent
nickel, and in 1890 Congress abolished it.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_nickel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1284:
The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales
into England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Rhuddlan>
1861:
The Emancipation Manifesto of Tsar Alexander II was
proclaimed, abolishing serfdom in Imperial Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861>
1875:
The first indoor game of ice hockey was played at the Victoria
Skating Rink in Montreal by James Creighton and McGill University
students.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_indoor_hockey_game>
1915:
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the
predecessor of NASA, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Advisory_Committee_for_Aeronautics>
1945:
A former Armia Krajowa unit massacred at least 150 Ukrainian
civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paw%C5%82okoma_massacre>
2012:
Two passenger trains collided head-on near the town of
Szczekociny in Poland, resulting in 16 deaths and 58 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczekociny_rail_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
beey:
(informal, rare) Reminiscent of or containing bees.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beey>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the human condition to question one god after another, one
appearance after another, or better, one apparition after another,
always pursuing the truth of the imagination, which is not the same as
the truth of appearance.
--Émile Chartier
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Chartier>
Maggie Gyllenhaal (born 1977) is an American actress. She started out
appearing in films directed by her father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, and
achieved recognition in a supporting role in the indie cult film Donnie
Darko (2001), which starred her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. Her first
critically acclaimed role was in Secretary (2002); she received Golden
Globe nominations for this film and Sherrybaby (2006). She appeared in
the romantic comedy Trust The Man (2006) and such big-budget films as
World Trade Center (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). She was nominated
for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jean
Craddock in the musical-drama Crazy Heart (2009). She appeared in the
theatrical play Closer (2000) and in the television production The
Honourable Woman (2014), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for
Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. Gyllenhaal is an active
Democrat and a supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Before
the US-led invasion of Iraq she participated in anti-war demonstrations,
and she is active in causes involving human rights, civil liberties,
poverty and education. She is married to actor Peter Sarsgaard.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Gyllenhaal>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
The College of Arms, one of the few remaining official heraldic
authorities in Europe, was established by royal charter in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Arms>
1791:
French inventor Claude Chappe and his brothers first
demonstrated the semaphore line, a signalling system of conveying
information by means of visual signals, using towers (replica pictured)
with pivoting shutters, also known as blades or paddles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphore_line>
1937:
The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, precursor to the United
Steel Workers of America, made a dramatic breakthrough when it signed a
collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Workers_Organizing_Committee>
1965:
Vietnam War: The American and South Vietnamese air forces began
Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North
Vietnam that eventually became the most intense air/ground battle waged
during the Cold War period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Rolling_Thunder>
1978:
Aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 28, Czech Vladimír Remek
became the first person not from the Soviet Union or the United States
to go into space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_28>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
party favor:
A small gift given to a guest at a party, as a souvenir.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/party_favor>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have retreated from the perennial values. I don't think that
we need any new values. The most important thing is to try to revive the
universally known values from which we have retreated.
--Mikhail Gorbachev
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>