O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad (O holy bath of Spirit and water), BWV
165, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in
Weimar for Trinity Sunday and led the first performance on 16 June 1715.
It was one in a series of cantatas he had been writing since his
promotion to concertmaster at the Weimar court in the ducal palace, one
cantata each month over the previous year. The libretto by the court
poet Salomo Franck is based on the day's prescribed gospel reading about
the meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus (pictured in a contemporary
painting). Close in content to the gospel, the text connects the concept
of the Trinity to baptism. The music is structured in six movements,
alternating arias and recitatives, and scored for a small ensemble of
four vocal parts, strings and continuo. The closing chorale is the fifth
stanza of a hymn by Ludwig Helmbold which mentions scripture, baptism
and the Eucharist. The text, full of Baroque imagery, reads like a
sermon set to music, especially in the two recitatives for the bass
voice, which are rich in musical contrasts. Bach probably led a second
performance on the Trinity Sunday concluding his first year as Cantor at
St. Thomas in Leipzig on 4 June 1724.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_heilges_Geist-_und_Wasserbad,_BWV_165>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1223:
Mongol invasions: Mongol forces defeated a combined army of
Kiev, Galich, and the Cumans at the Kalchik River in present-day
Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River>
1669:
Citing poor eyesight, English naval administrator and Member of
Parliament Samuel Pepys recorded his last entry in his diary, one of the
most important primary sources for the English Restoration period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pepys>
1935:
A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Balochistan in the British Raj, now
part of Pakistan, killing anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Balochistan_earthquake>
1981:
An organized mob of police and government-sponsored
paramilitias began burning the public library in Jaffna, Sri Lanka,
destroying over 97,000 items in one of the most violent examples of
ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_library>
2005:
An article in the magazine Vanity Fair revealed that the secret
informant known as "Deep Throat", who provided information about the
Watergate scandal, was former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(Watergate)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
omnishambles:
(UK, chiefly politics) A situation that is bad or mismanaged in every
way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/omnishambles>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The words of the true poems give you more than poems, They give
you to form for yourself poems, religions, politics, war, peace,
behavior, histories, essays, daily life, and every thing else, They
balance ranks, colors, races, creeds, and the sexes, They do not seek
beauty, they are sought, Forever touching them or close upon them
follows beauty, longing, fain, love-sick. They prepare for death, yet
are they not the finish, but rather the outset, They bring none to his
or her terminus or to be content and full, Whom they take they take into
space to behold the birth of stars, to learn one of the meanings, To
launch off with absolute faith, to sweep through the ceaseless rings and
never be quiet again.
--Song of the Answerer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#Song_of_the_Answerer_.281855.…>
George Headley (1909–1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22
Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the
best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers
of all time, he also represented Jamaica and played professionally in
England. Headley was born in Panama but raised in Jamaica where he
quickly established a cricketing reputation as a batsman. West Indies
had a weak cricket team through most of Headley's career; as their one
world-class player, he carried a heavy responsibility, and they depended
on his batting. He batted at number three, scoring 2,190 runs in Tests
at an average of 60.83, and 9,921 runs in all first-class matches at an
average of 69.86. He was chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the
Year in 1934. Following his tour of England in 1933, Headley signed as a
professional at Haslingden in the Lancashire League, where he played
until the outbreak of war in 1939 interrupted his career. Although he
returned to Tests in 1948 he was hampered by injuries. Even so, he was
chosen as West Indies captain in 1948 against England, the first black
player to be appointed to the position.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Headley>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1431:
Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in
Rouen, France, after being convicted of heresy in a politically
motivated trial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc>
1815:
The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at
Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the
loss of 372 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arniston_(East_Indiaman)>
1948:
A dike holding the Columbia River broke, causing a flood that
destroyed Vanport, Oregon, US, only five years after it was built.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanport,_Oregon>
1967:
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu announced the establishment of
Biafra, a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, an event that
sparked the Nigerian Civil War one week later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra>
2005:
American student Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a high
school graduation trip to Aruba, and caused a media sensation in the
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Natalee_Holloway>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
have Van Gogh's ear for music:
(humorous) To be tone-deaf.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_Van_Gogh%27s_ear_for_music>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You say that you are my judge. I do not know if you are! But I
tell you that you must take good care not to judge me wrongly, because
you will put yourself in great danger. I warn you, so that if God
punishes you for it, I would have done my duty by telling you!
--Joan of Arc
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc>
"Speechless" is a song by the American recording artist Michael Jackson
(pictured), included on his tenth studio album, Invincible (2001). It
was released in South Korea as the lead single from the album, and
elsewhere as a promotional single. The singer was inspired to write the
ballad after a water balloon fight with children in Germany. Jackson
collaborated on the production with musicians such as Jeremy Lubbock,
Brad Buxer, Novi Novoq, Stuart Bradley and Bruce Swedien. Andraé Crouch
and his gospel choir provided backing vocals. Executives at Jackson's
record label, Epic Records, responded positively to the track when given
a preview several months before Invincible 's release. The song
received mixed reviews from music critics; commentary focused on its
a cappellas and lyrics. A clip of Jackson singing "Speechless" was
included in the 2009 documentary-concert film Michael Jackson's This Is
It.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speechless_(Michael_Jackson_song)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1780:
American Revolutionary War: A mainly Loyalist force rejected
the Continental Army troops' surrender at the Battle of Waxhaws and
continued killing the Patriot soldiers, including men who were not
resisting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waxhaws>
1852:
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a widely
successful concert tour of the US under the management of showman P. T.
Barnum.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind_tour_of_America,_1850%E2%80%9352>
1911:
English dramatist W. S. Gilbert of the songwriting duo Gilbert
and Sullivan died while saving a young woman from drowning in his lake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Gilbert>
1935:
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, the most produced fighter aircraft in
history, had its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109>
1953:
New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa
mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit
of Mount Everest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_British_Mount_Everest_expedition>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apothegm:
A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apothegm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a
man should fall down. No one sees anything funny in a tree falling down.
No one sees a delicate absurdity in a stone falling down. No man stops
in the road and roars with laughter at the sight of the snow coming
down. The fall of thunderbolts is treated with some gravity. The fall of
roofs and high buildings is taken seriously. It is only when a man
tumbles down that we laugh. Why do we laugh? Because it is a grave
religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for
only man can be dignified.
--G. K. Chesterton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton>
The common starling is a medium-sized perching bird in the starling
family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black
plumage, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs
are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young
birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird,
especially in communal roosts, with an unmusical but varied song. The
starling has about a dozen subspecies breeding in open habitats across
its native range in temperate Europe and western Asia, and it has been
introduced elsewhere. This bird is resident in southern and western
Europe and southwestern Asia, while northeastern populations migrate
south and west in winter. The starling builds an untidy nest in a
natural or artificial cavity in which four or five glossy, pale blue
eggs are laid. These take two weeks to hatch and the young remain in the
nest for another three weeks. The species is omnivorous, taking a wide
range of invertebrates, as well as seeds and fruit. The starling's gift
for mimicry has been noted in literature including the medieval Welsh
Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
628:
Li Shimin defeated and captured Dou Jiande in the Battle of
Hulao, leading to a Tang dynasty victory in the civil war that followed
the collapse of the Sui dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hulao>
1644:
English Civil War: Royalist troops allegedly slaughtered up to
1,600 people during their storm and capture of the Town of Bolton.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolton_Massacre>
1936:
English mathematician Alan Turing introduced the Turing machine
(model pictured), a basic abstract symbol-manipulating device that can
simulate the logic of any computer algorithm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing>
1975:
Sixteen West African countries signed the Treaty of Lagos,
establishing the Economic Community of West African States to promote
economic integration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States>
2002:
An independent commission appointed by the English Football
Association voted, two-to-one, to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from
London to Milton Keynes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_Keynes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
crown molding:
(finish carpentry, interior decorating) A molding at the edge of a room
between ceiling and wall.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crown_molding>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Possibly all art flowers more readily in silence. Certainly the
state of simplicity and humility is the only desirable one for artist or
for man. While to reach it may be impossible, to attempt to do so is
imperative.
--Patrick White
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patrick_White>
Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404 (1968), was a case in
which the Supreme Court ruled that the Menominee Indian Tribe would keep
their historical hunting and fishing rights even after the federal
government ceased to recognize the tribe. It was a landmark decision in
Native American case law. The tribe had entered into treaties with the
United States which did not specifically state that they retained
hunting and fishing rights. In 1961, Congress terminated the tribe's
federal recognition, and two years later, three members of the tribe
were charged with violating Wisconsin's hunting laws on former
reservation land. The Indians were acquitted, but when the state
appealed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the tribe no longer had
hunting and fishing rights due to the termination action. The tribe sued
the United States in the U.S. Court of Claims, which ruled that tribal
members retained those rights. Opposite rulings by the state and federal
courts brought the issue to the Supreme Court, which ruled in the
tribe's favor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_Tribe_v._United_States>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1153:
Malcolm IV became King of Scotland at the age of twelve.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_IV_of_Scotland>
1703:
Russian Tsar Peter I founded Saint Petersburg after
reconquering the Ingrian land from Sweden during the Great Northern War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Saint_Petersburg>
1915:
HMS Princess Irene was obliterated by an explosion off
Sheerness, United Kingdom with the loss of 352 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_Irene>
1935:
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Schechter Poultry
Corp. v. United States that the National Industrial Recovery Act, a
major component of the New Deal, was unconstitutional.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Industrial_Recovery_Act>
1995:
American actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse,
leaving him a quadriplegic; he later became an activist on behalf of
people with spinal cord injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antaphrodisiac:
Capable of reducing the sex drive.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antaphrodisiac>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The closer I get to the burning core of my being, the things
which are most painful to me, the better is my work. … It is a
love/hate relationship I have with the human race. I am an elitist, and
I feel that my responsibility is to drag the human race along with me
— that I will never pander to, or speak down to, or play the safe
game. Because my immortal soul will be lost.
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>
Anachronox is a third-person role-playing video game produced by Tom
Hall (pictured) and the Dallas Ion Storm games studio. It was released
worldwide in June 2001 for Microsoft Windows. The turn-based game
follows a down-and-out private investigator looking for work in the
slums of planet Anachronox; he travels to other planets, collects an
unlikely group of friends, and unravels a mystery that threatens the
fate of the universe. The game's design and unconventional humor were
influenced by cyberpunk and film noir; inspirations include the video
game Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series, animator Chuck Jones,
and the novel Ender's Game. The game was built with a heavily modified
version of the Quake II engine, rewritten chiefly to allow a wider color
palette, emotive animations and facial expressions, and better particle,
lighting, and camera effects. Originally planned for a 1998 release,
Anachronox 's development was long and difficult. Critics
enjoyed the game and awarded it high marks for its design and story, but
Ion Storm closed down one month after the game's release. In 2003,
Anachronox cinematic director Jake Hughes spliced together gameplay
footage and cutscenes to create a feature-length award-winning film.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronox>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1328:
William of Ockham, an English friar who originated the
methodological principle Occam's razor, secretly left Avignon under
threat from Pope John XXII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Ockham>
1828:
Kaspar Hauser, a foundling with suspected ties to the Royal
House of Baden, first appeared in the streets of Nuremberg, Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser>
1865:
American Civil War: General Edmund Kirby Smith negotiated the
surrender of his army, the only significant Confederate Army force
remaining in the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kirby_Smith>
1940:
Second World War: A flotilla of "little ships" began a mass
evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops cut off by the German
army during the Battle of Dunkirk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation>
1991:
Lauda Air Flight 004 experienced an uncommanded thrust reverser
deployment of an engine and broke apart in mid-air, killing all 223
people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eyrie:
1. A bird of prey's nest.
2. Any high and remote but commanding place.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eyrie>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We erased a problem by not trying to erase the problem, by
saying, "This is in the nature of what we do." It's really weird that it
could be that simple.
--Ward Cunningham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham>
The Texas Revolution (1835–36) began when colonists in the Mexican
province of Texas rebelled after President Santa Anna overturned the
Mexican constitution, dismissing state legislatures and militias and
centralizing the government. He stepped down from the presidency to lead
Mexican troops in quashing the revolt. Sam Houston was named commander
of the Texian Army and sent Jim Bowie to destroy the Alamo to keep it
out of Mexican hands. Bowie and William B. Travis chose instead to lead
the Alamo defenders in what became the most famous battle of Texas
history. Three weeks later, the Mexican army executed 400 Texians at the
Goliad massacre, then marched east as terrified civilians fled. The
Texian army moved in the same direction, giving the impression that they
were running away. Under a false sense of complacency, Santa Anna was
asleep and his army was on stand-down on April 21, 1836, when shouts of
"Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" pierced the air as Texians
overran them, winning the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 18 minutes
(monument pictured). Santa Anna fled on horseback but was captured the
next day; the Texians traded him for the full retreat of the Mexican
army and the cessation of hostilities. Intermittent conflicts between
the two countries continued until 1844, when Texas was willingly annexed
into the United States, which in turn caused the Mexican–American War.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Revolution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
Ming general Wu Sangui let the invading Manchus pass through
the Great Wall of China, allowing them to capture Beijing, leading to
the foundation of the Qing dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China>
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1878:
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at
the Opera Comique in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore>
1979:
Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on his way to school in New
York City, and later became the first missing child to have his picture
featured on milk cartons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Etan_Patz>
2013:
Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)
attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the state of
Chhattisgarh, causing at least 27 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Naxal_attack_in_Darbha_valley>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
masterly inactivity:
(politics) A policy of deliberate inactivity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/masterly_inactivity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I've always believed in numbers. In the equations and logics
that lead to reason. But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask, what
truly is logic? Who decides reason? My quest has taken me through the
physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back — and I have made
the most important discovery of my career — the most important
discovery of my life: It is only in the mysterious equations of love
that any logic or reasons can be found. as portrayed in
--A Beautiful Mind
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Beautiful_Mind_(film)>
Hurricane Lenny was the second-strongest November Atlantic hurricane on
record and the record-breaking fifth Category 4 hurricane in the 1999
Atlantic hurricane season. It formed on November 13 in the western
Caribbean Sea and maintained an unprecedented west-to-east track for its
entire duration. It attained hurricane status south of Jamaica and
passed south of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, attaining peak winds of
155 mph (250 km/h) about 21 mi (34 km) south of Saint Croix in the
US Virgin Islands. It gradually weakened while moving through the
Leeward Islands, dissipating on November 23 over the open Atlantic
Ocean. Damage in the US territories totaled about $330 million, with
widespread flooding and erosion in Saint Croix. Lenny killed two people
in northern Colombia, three in Saint Martin and one in Antigua and
Barbuda, where it also contaminated the local water supply. Significant
storm damage occurred as far south as Grenada, where high surf isolated
towns from the capital city.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lenny>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Act of Toleration became law in England, granting freedom
of worship to Nonconformists under certain circumstances, but
deliberately excluding Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Toleration_1689>
1830:
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published
as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Had_a_Little_Lamb>
1913:
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia married Prince Ernest
Augustus of Hanover, one of the last great social events of European
royalty before World War I began fourteen months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Victoria_Louise_of_Prussia>
1963:
United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with
African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to
improve race relations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Kennedy_meeting>
1970:
On the Kola Peninsula in Russia, drilling began on the Kola
Superdeep Borehole, eventually reaching 12,262 metres (40,230 ft),
making it the deepest hole ever drilled and the deepest artificial point
on the earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shylock:
(intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shylock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
God of grace and God of glory, On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story, Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, For the facing of this hour, For the
facing of this hour.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Emerson_Fosdick>
Paul Tibbets (1915–2007) was a brigadier general in the United States
Air Force, best known as the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft
to drop an atomic bomb. Tibbets enlisted in the army in 1937 and
qualified as a pilot the next year. After the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor he flew anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic. In July 1942 he
became the deputy group commander of the 97th Bombardment Group, the
first such group deployed to the United Kingdom as part of the Eighth
Air Force. He flew the lead plane in the first American daylight heavy
bomber mission against Occupied Europe on August 17, 1942, and again in
the first American raid of more than 100 bombers on October 9. After
flying 43 combat missions, he joined the staff of the Twelfth Air Force
in North Africa. He returned to the United States in February 1943 to
help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In September
1944, he was appointed the commander of the 509th Composite Group, which
conducted the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he was
involved in the development of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. He left the
Air Force in 1966, working for Executive Jet Aviation until 1987.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tibbets>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1498:
Girolamo Savonarola of Florence was executed for heresy,
uttering prophecies, sedition, and other crimes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola>
1701:
Scottish privateer William Kidd was executed for piracy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kidd>
1895:
Representatives of the Astor Library and Lenox Library agreed
to merge and form the New York Public Library, now the second-largest
public library in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library>
1951:
Delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama and the government of the
newly established People's Republic of China signed the Seventeen Point
Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, affirming Chinese
sovereignty over Tibet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Point_Agreement_for_the_Peaceful_Li…>
2010:
Jamaica's military and police force began a manhunt for drug
lord Christopher Coke, beginning three days of armed conflict with the
Shower Posse cartel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Kingston_unrest>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thagomizer:
(anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various
stegosaurs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thagomizer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Plants of great vigor will almost always struggle into blossom,
despite impediments. But there should be encouragement, and a free
genial atmosphere for those of more timid sort, fair play for each in
its own kind.
--Margaret Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller>
Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, characterized by two pairs of
continuously growing incisors, one pair in the upper and one in the
lower jaw. About forty percent of all mammal species are rodents, and
they are found in vast numbers on all continents except Antarctica. They
are the most diversified mammalian order, including mice, rats,
squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters,
and can be found in a variety of habitats, including manmade
environments. There are arboreal, burrowing, and semi-aquatic species.
While the largest species, the capybara, can weigh as much as 66 kg
(146 lb), many rodents weigh less than 100 g (3.5 oz) and have robust
bodies, short limbs and long tails. They use their sharp incisors to
gnaw food, defend themselves, and shape their habitat. Most eat seeds or
other plant material. Many species live in societies with complex forms
of communication. Rodents can be monogamous, polygynous, or promiscuous.
The rodent fossil record dates back to the Paleocene on the
supercontinent of Laurasia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
853:
Byzantine–Arab Wars: The Byzantine navy sacked and plundered
the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta, whose garrison was absent
at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Damietta_(853)>
1826:
HMS Beagle departed on her first voyage from Plymouth for a
hydrographic survey of the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego regions of
South America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Beagle>
1915:
Lassen Peak, in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern
California, violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the
contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens in 1980.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassen_Peak>
1915:
Five trains were involved in the United Kingdom's deadliest
train crash near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring
246 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintinshill_rail_disaster>
1945:
The United States Army formed a plan to evacuate German
scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket
technology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sangfroid:
Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a
dangerous situation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sangfroid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It was easier to know it than to explain why I know it. If you
were asked to prove that two and two made four, you might find some
difficulty, and yet you are quite sure of the fact.
--A Study in Scarlet
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes#A_Study_in_Scarlet_.281887.29>