God of War: Betrayal is a two-dimensional side-scrolling action-
adventure mobile game released for the Java Platform, Micro Edition in
2007. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is the third installment in
the God of War series, and the fifth chronologically. The player
controls Kratos, who became the new God of War after killing the former,
Ares. Kratos is framed for the murder of Argos and pursues the true
assassin across Greece, resulting in a confrontation with Olympian
messenger Ceryx. The gameplay relies on simplified combo-based combat
and features quick time events, puzzles and platforming elements.
Developed by Javaground and Sony Online Entertainment's Los Angeles
division and published by Sony Pictures Digital, it was praised for
maintaining the high standards of the series in its gameplay, art style,
and graphics, and received awards for "Wireless Game of the Month" (June
2007) and "Best Platform Game" (wireless) of 2007 from IGN.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War:_Betrayal>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
451:
Flavius Aetius, with the help of Roman foederati, defeated
Attila in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, and halted the invasion
of Gaul by the Huns and their allies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Catalaunian_Plains>
1789:
French Revolution: Meeting in a tennis court near the Palace of
Versailles, members of France's Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath,
pledging not to separate until a new constitution was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Court_Oath>
1819:
Arriving in Liverpool, the SS Savannah became the first
steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Savannah>
1943:
Rioting between blacks and whites began on Belle Isle, Detroit,
Michigan, and continued for three days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_race_riot_of_1943>
1960:
The Mali Federation gained independence from France, but lasted
only two months before dividing into Senegal and Mali.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Federation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
demagogue:
(pejorative) An orator or leader who gains favor by pandering to or
exciting the passions and prejudices of the audience.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/demagogue>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I may not always love you But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it I'll make you so sure about it God only knows
what I'd be without you…
--Brian Wilson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson>
The 2005 United States Grand Prix was the ninth race and only American
race of the 2005 Formula One season. Held at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, it was won by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher (pictured). In the
days before the race, several Michelin tyres suffered failures on the
speedway's resurfaced track. Michelin advised its seven customer teams
(representing 14 cars in the race) that without a reduction in speed in
the last turn of the speedway, the tyres provided for the race would
only be safe for 10 laps—but Formula One rules in 2005 prohibited tyre
changes during the race. Unable to come to a compromise with the sport's
governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the
Michelin teams decided not to participate. They completed the parade lap
to avoid sanctions, but retired to the pits before the race started;
only the six cars from teams using Bridgestone tyres (Ferrari, Jordan
and Minardi) competed. The race generated negative publicity for the
sport, especially in the US, a market in which Formula One had struggled
to establish itself over the preceding 20 years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_United_States_Grand_Prix>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1269:
Louis IX of France imposed a fine of ten livres of silver on
Jews found in public without a yellow badge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_badge>
1816:
The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-
trading companies, engaged in a violent confrontation in present-day
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Oaks>
1944:
World War II: The navies of the United States and Imperial
Japan engaged each other off the Mariana Islands in the Philippine Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Philippine_Sea>
1987:
Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at the
Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Hipercor_bombing>
2010:
The royal wedding between Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden,
and Daniel Westling (both pictured) took place in Stockholm Cathedral.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Victoria,_Crown_Princess_of_Sweden…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
salad dodger:
(informal) An overweight person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salad_dodger>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is a strong argument for democracy that governments regulated
by principles of accountability, respect for public opinion and the
supremacy of just laws are more likely than an all-powerful ruler or
ruling class, uninhibited by the need to honour the will of the people,
to observe the traditional duties of Buddhist kingship. Traditional
values serve both to justify and to decipher popular expectations of
democratic government.
--Aung San Suu Kyi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi>
Blue's Clues is an American children's television series that premiered
on Nickelodeon in 1996. Hosted first by Steve Burns (pictured) and then
by Donovan Patton, and produced by Angela Santomero, Todd Kessler and
Traci Paige Johnson, the show follows an animated blue-spotted dog named
Blue as she plays a game with the host and viewers, inviting their
involvement. A product of extensive research in child development and
early-childhood education, Blue's Clues was the first cutout animation
series for preschoolers, and resembles a storybook in its use of primary
colors and its simple construction paper shapes of familiar objects with
varied colors and textures. It became the highest-rated show for
preschoolers on American commercial television, and has been syndicated
in 120 countries and translated into 15 languages. Regional versions of
the show, featuring local hosts, have been produced in other countries.
A live production of Blue's Clues toured the U.S. starting in 1999, and
a spin-off called Blue's Room appeared on Nickelodeon in 2004.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue%27s_Clues>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
618:
Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries
of the Tang dynasty in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty>
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and
lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo>
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist
Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to
publish his theory of evolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_of_Darwin%27s_theory>
1972:
British European Airways Flight 548 crashed near the town of
Staines less than three minutes after departing from London Heathrow
Airport, killing all 118 people aboard, at the time the worst air
disaster in the UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight_548>
1982:
The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's
Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging
from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiaroscuro:
An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the
use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of
volume.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiaroscuro>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Kindness" covers all of my political beliefs. No need to
spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our
abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and
something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we
can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy
is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world.
That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances.
We must try. I didn't always know this and am happy I lived long enough
to find it out.
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>
The AMX-30E was a Spanish battle tank based on the French AMX-30.
Although the Spanish government originally sought to procure the German
Leopard 1, the lower-cost AMX-30, which could be manufactured in Spain,
was ultimately awarded the contract. The first 19 tanks were acquired
from France in 1970, while another 180 were assembled in Spain by Santa
Bárbara Sistemas for the Spanish Army between 1974 and 1983. The tank
was to supplement Spain's fleet of American M47 and M48 Patton tanks,
reducing the army's reliance on American equipment. It was Spain's first
mass-produced tank, leading to the development of the Lince tank project
in 1985 and the Leopard 2E in late 2003. In the late 1980s, 150 of the
AMX-30E tanks were modernized to improve the vehicle's automotive
characteristics; another 149 received only upgraded transmissions. Part
of the fleet was replaced in the late 1990s by the German Leopard 2A4,
and the rest by Centauro wheeled anti-tank vehicles in the early 21st
century.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMX-30E>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1462:
Forces led by Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia attacked an Ottoman
camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Attack>
1775:
American Revolutionary War: British forces took Bunker Hill
outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill>
1900:
Boxer Rebellion: Allied naval forces captured the Taku Forts
after a brief but bloody battle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dagu_Forts_(1900)>
1985:
On board Space Shuttle Discovery, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud
became the first Arab, the first Muslim, and the first astronaut of
royal blood to fly in outer space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_bin_Salman_Al_Saud>
1991:
The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population
Registration Act, which required that each inhabitant of South Africa be
classified and registered by race as part of the system of apartheid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Registration_Act,_1950>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
postilion:
A rider mounted on the near, leading horse pulling a carriage who guides
the team.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/postilion>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Coercion never produces harmony. How harmonious are people who
are being forced to act against their will? Most likely, those who are
coerced will resent those who benefit from the coercion. This sets group
against group; it doesn't bring them together.
--Harry Browne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Browne>
The Augustinian theodicy, like other theodicies, is an argument
reconciling an omnipotent, benevolent God with the presence of evil.
Named after the early Christian theologian and philosopher Augustine of
Hippo (pictured in a 16th-century painting), the argument asserts that
evil exists not in itself but as a corruption of goodness, requiring the
abuse of free will. The 20th-century philosopher John Hick classified
similar theodicies by Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and others as
Augustinian for their shared beliefs that God is perfect and guiltless,
that he created the world out of nothing, and that evil is a punishment
for original sin. Augustine's argument was criticised by his
contemporary Fortunatus, a Manichaean, who contended that God must be
implicated in evil, and by 18th-century theologian Francesco Antonio
Zaccaria, who said the argument neglected human suffering. Hick regarded
evil as something necessary for moral development, and process
theologians have argued that God is not responsible for evil because he
is not omnipotent. Scientific consensus regarding the beginning of the
world and the development of life runs contrary to some aspects of the
Augustinian theodicy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustinian_theodicy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1487:
Lancastrian forces defeated Yorkist supporters at the Battle of
Stoke Field in East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, England, the final battle of
the Wars of the Roses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoke_Field>
1815:
Napoleonic Wars: French Marshal Michel Ney earned a strategic
victory against the Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle of Quatre Bras.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quatre_Bras>
1883:
Over 180 out of 1,100 children died in the Victoria Hall
disaster in Sunderland, England, when they stampeded down the stairs to
collect gifts from the entertainers after the end of a variety show.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hall_disaster>
1904:
Irish author James Joyce began his relationship with Nora
Barnacle, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922
novel Ulysses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce>
1961:
Pioneering Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected from
the Soviet Union at Paris–Le Bourget Airport with the help of French
police and a Parisian socialite friend.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Nureyev>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abeyance:
1. (law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined; undetermined
ownership.
2. Suspension; temporary suppression.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abeyance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As we, or mother Dana, weave and unweave our bodies, Stephen
said, from day to day, their molecules shuttled to and fro, so does the
artist weave and unweave his image.
--Ulysses
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ulysses>
The five Panama–Pacific commemorative coins ($50 piece pictured) were
produced in connection with the 1915 Panama–Pacific International
Exposition in San Francisco. Struck at that city's mint, the issue
included round and octagonal $50 pieces. Excepting modern bullion coins,
these two gold pieces are the highest denomination ever issued and the
largest coins ever struck by the United States Mint. The octagonal $50
piece is the only non-round U.S. coin ever issued. In January 1915,
Congress passed legislation for a silver half dollar, as well as a gold
dollar, a quarter eagle ($2.50 piece), and the two $50 pieces. The Mint
had already consulted artists, but Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo
initially rejected all their designs. Two of them persevered, Robert I.
Aitken for the $50 pieces and Charles Keck for the gold dollar, and
their submissions were used. The half dollar and quarter eagle were
designed by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, possibly with the
participation of his longtime assistant, George T. Morgan. The coins did
not sell well, and many of each denomination were returned for melting.
Only a few hundred of each of the $50 pieces were distributed, making
them the lowest-mintage commemorative coins. They catalog for up to
$200,000, depending on condition.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama%E2%80%93Pacific_commemorative_coins>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
763 BC:
The Eclipse of Bur-Sagale was observed in Assyria, the
earliest solar eclipse mentioned in historical sources that has been
successfully identified.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse>
1815:
The Duchess of Richmond held a ball in Brussels, Belgium, that
was described as "the most famous ball in history".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_of_Richmond%27s_ball>
1859:
The shooting of a pig in the San Juan Islands led to the so-
called Pig War over the border between the United States and British
North America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War>
1978:
King Hussein of Jordan married American Lisa Halaby, who became
known as Queen Noor of Jordan (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Noor_of_Jordan>
1991:
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines deposited
large amounts of particulate into the atmosphere, enough to lower global
temperatures by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pinatubo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
encapsulate:
1. To cover something as if in a capsule.
2. To epitomize something by expressing it as a brief summary.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/encapsulate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is our will, and we firmly enjoin, that the English Church be
free, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid
liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and
quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us and our
heirs, in all respects and in all places for ever, as is aforesaid. An
oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on our part as on the part of
the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall be kept in good
faith and without evil intent. Given under our hand — the abovenamed
and many others being witnesses — in the meadow which is called
Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in
the seventeenth year of our reign.
--Magna Carta
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Magna_Carta>
The 2011 Money in the Bank event was the seventh of thirteen
professional wrestling pay-per-view events held by WWE that year, and
the second installment in the annual Money in the Bank series. It took
place on July 17 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, and
featured six matches, including two Money in the Bank ladder matches.
Alberto Del Rio won the match for wrestlers from the Raw brand to earn a
WWE Championship match at a time of his choosing within the next year,
while Daniel Bryan won the match for wrestlers from the SmackDown brand
for the same opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship. In the
World Heavyweight Championship match also held at the event, Christian
defeated Randy Orton by disqualification and became the new champion
according to the match rules. The main event featured John Cena
defending his WWE Championship against CM Punk (pictured), who won and
became the new champion. Money in the Bank was broadcast globally to
195,000 pay-per-view customers (compared to 165,000 for the previous
year), and received positive reviews, with the main event receiving the
most praise.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_in_the_Bank_(2011)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1645:
English Civil War: In the Battle of Naseby, the main army of
King Charles I was defeated by the Parliamentarian New Model Army under
Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Naseby>
1775:
The United States Army was founded as the Continental Army by
an act of the Continental Congress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army>
1822:
In a paper presented to the Royal Astronomical Society, English
mathematician Charles Babbage proposed a difference engine, an
automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial
functions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine>
1940:
The Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding
that the Red Army be allowed to enter the country and form a new pro-
Soviet government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Soviet_ultimatum_to_Lithuania>
1985:
The Schengen Agreement, a treaty to abolish systematic border
controls between participating European countries, was signed between
five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vexillology:
The study of flags.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vexillology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What makes saintliness in my view, as distinguished from
ordinary goodness, is a certain quality of magnanimity and greatness of
soul that brings life within the circle of the heroic.
--Harriet Beecher Stowe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe>
Drowning Girl is a 1963 pop art painting with oil and synthetic polymer
paint on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein (pictured). Utilizing the
conventions of comic book art, a thought bubble conveys the thoughts of
the figure, while Ben-Day dots echo the effect of the mechanized
printing process. Part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent
collection since 1971, the painting is considered among Lichtenstein's
most significant works, perhaps on a par with Whaam!, his acclaimed 1963
diptych. Drowning Girl has been described as a "masterpiece of
melodrama", and is one of the artist's earliest images depicting women
in tragic situations, a theme to which he often returned in the mid-
1960s. The painting shows a teary-eyed woman on a turbulent sea,
declaring that she would rather sink in the ocean than call Brad.
(Several Lichtenstein works contain text referring to an absent "Brad".)
The narrative element highlights the clichéd melodrama, while its
graphics reiterate Lichtenstein's theme of painterly work depicting
mechanized reproduction. The work is derived from a 1962 DC Comics
panel, while also borrowing from Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa
and from works by modernist artists Jean Arp and Joan Miró.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning_Girl>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
313:
The Edict of Milan, an agreement between Constantine the Great
and Licinius to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire,
was posted in Nicomedia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Milan>
1886:
King Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead in Lake Starnberg near
Munich under mysterious circumstances.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria>
1952:
Soviet warplanes shot down a Swedish military Douglas DC-3A-360
Skytrain carrying out signals intelligence gathering operations, which
was followed by the shootdown of a Catalina flying boat searching for
the Skytrain three days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_affair>
1971:
The New York Times began to publish the Pentagon Papers, a
7,000-page top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the
nation's political and military involvement in the Vietnam War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers>
2010:
The Japanese Hayabusa (model pictured) space mission became the
first to return samples of an asteroid (25143 Itokawa) to Earth for
analysis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
soundly:
In a thorough manner; in manner free of defect or deficiency.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soundly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Trouble shared is trouble halved.
--Dorothy L. Sayers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dorothy_L._Sayers>
Ian Craig (1935–2014) was a cricketer who represented Australia in 11
Tests between 1953 and 1958. A teenage prodigy, he made his first-class
debut for New South Wales in 1952 at the age of 16, and soon earned
comparisons to the great batsman Don Bradman, but was never as
successful in his later career. Craig was, and remains, the youngest
Australian cricketer to score a first-class double century (against the
touring South Africa national cricket team), to represent his country in
a Test match, and to tour England (in the 1953 Ashes tour). For the
1957–58 tour of South Africa, Craig was appointed as Australian
captain, the youngest man ever to hold the position, and led the team to
an unexpected 3–0 victory despite his poor personal batting form. He
missed the 1958–59 season with hepatitis, and could not regain his
Test place when he returned the following season. Work commitments
forced him to retire from first-class cricket at 26. In later life,
Craig was the managing director of the Australian subsidiary of the
British pharmaceutical firm Boots, but continued his involvement with
cricket as a board member of the New South Wales Cricket Association,
trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, and chairman of the Bradman
Museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Craig>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1381:
The first mass protest in the Peasants' Revolt began in
Blackheath, England, caused by political and socioeconomic tensions due
to the Black Death and high taxes as a result of the Hundred Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt>
1899:
The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125
others in the northern Great Plains of the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_New_Richmond_tornado>
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary
during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl>
1987:
Cold War: During a speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate by the
Berlin Wall, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall!>
2001:
Robert Edward Dyer was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for
conducting a six-month long letter bomb campaign against the British
supermarket chain Tesco.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco_bomb_campaign>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
make shift:
(dated) To contrive; to invent a way of surmounting a difficulty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_shift>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather
be anywhere else.
--Len Wein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Len_Wein>
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London (route map
pictured), known operationally as The Underground for much of its
existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for three
deep-level tubes (underground railway lines) opened in London during
1906 and 1907: the Bakerloo, Hampstead and Piccadilly tubes. It was also
the parent company of the District Railway and a precursor of today's
London Underground. The company struggled financially in its first years
and narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 1908. Acquisitions before World War I
gave the company control of most of the underground railways in London
and large bus and tram fleets, the profits from which subsidised the
financially weaker railways. After the war, new railway lines were
extended outward from London to stimulate passenger numbers. In the
1920s, competition from small unregulated bus operators reduced the
profitability of the road transport operations. The company's directors
sought government regulation, leading to the establishment of the London
Passenger Transport Board in 1933, which absorbed the company and all of
the other bus, tram and underground railway services in the London
Passenger Transport Area.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Electric_Railways_Company_of_Lond…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
In the Philippines, Philip II of Spain recognized the right to
govern of the Principalía, the local nobles and chieftains who had
converted to Roman Catholicism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%C3%ADa>
1776:
The Second Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston
to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence for
Britain's Thirteen Colonies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Five>
1917:
Alexander was crowned King of Greece, succeeding his father
Constantine, who had abdicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_of_Greece>
1955:
More than 80 people were killed after cars driven by Pierre
Levegh and Lance Macklin collided during the 23rd running of the 24
Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster>
2008:
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologised to the First
Nations for past governments' policies of forced assimilation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
piece together:
1. To physically assemble (or reassemble) from fragments or pieces.
2. (figuratively) To reconstruct an event or goal from incomplete or flawed
elements.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piece_together>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
True happiness Consists not in the multitude of friends, But in
the worth and choice.
--Ben Jonson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson>