The Eisenhower dollar is a one-dollar coin issued from 1971 to 1978 by
the United States Mint. Authorized by law on December 31, 1970, it was
the first US dollar coin minted since 1935, the last year of the Peace
dollar. Designed by Frank Gasparro, the coin's obverse depicts President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in March 1969. Proposals in Congress to
honor him on a coin led to a dispute over whether the new coin was to
contain silver. In 1970, a compromise was reached to strike it in base
metal for circulation, and in 40% silver as a collectible. Although the
collector's pieces sold well, the new dollars failed to circulate,
except in and around Nevada casinos, where they took the place of
privately issued tokens. Coins from 1975 and 1976 bear a double date,
1776–1976, and a special reverse by Dennis R. Williams in honor of the
Bicentennial. To replace the Eisenhower dollar with a smaller-sized
piece, Congress authorized the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck beginning
in 1979, but that coin also failed to circulate.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
405 or 406:
The Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine River
to begin an invasion of Gaul.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_of_the_Rhine>
1857:
Queen Victoria selected Ottawa, then a small logging town, to
be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa>
1907:
Times Square in New York City held its first New Year's Eve
celebrations with the ball drop (2008 version pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball>
1972:
Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane
crash en route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente>
1998:
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the values of the
legacy currencies in the Eurozone and established the value of the euro
currency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fireworks:
1. […] (plural only) An event or a display where fireworks are set off.
2. (plural only, figuratively) A boisterous or violent event or situation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fireworks>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is a slow-motion avalanche, and none of us are steering.
--Donald E. Westlake
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake>
"No Me Queda Más" ("There's Nothing Left for Me") is a song by American
recording artist Selena for her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido
(1994). Written by Ricky Vela and produced by Selena's brother A.B.
Quintanilla, it was released as the third single from the album in
October 1994 by EMI Latin. It is a downtempo mariachi and pop ballad
that portrays a woman who wishes the best for her former lover despite
her own agony. Praised by music critics for its raw emotion, "No Me
Queda Más" was one of the most successful singles of Selena's career,
topping the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for seven non-consecutive
weeks. It was the Song of the Year at the 1995 Broadcast Music Awards
and became the most successful US Latin single of 1995. Billboard
magazine ranked it ninth on a list of Tejano recordings. A music video,
shot in San Antonio's Amtrak station, received the Music Video of the
Year award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Many musicians have
recorded cover versions, including Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar, American
salsa singer Tito Nieves, and Mexican pop group Palomo.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Me_Queda_M%C3%A1s>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1702:
Carolina colonial governor James Moore abandoned the siege
against the Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine, Spanish Florida,
and retreated to Charles Town in disgrace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_St._Augustine_(1702)>
1853:
The United States purchased approximately 29,600 sq mi
(77,000 km2) of land south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande
from Mexico for $10 million.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase>
1903:
In the deadliest single-building fire in United States history,
the Iroquois Theatre fire claimed over 600 lives in Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire>
1906:
The All-India Muslim League, a political party in British India
that developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as
a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent, was founded in Dhaka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-India_Muslim_League>
2006:
MV Senopati Nusantara, an Indonesian ferry, sank in the Java
Sea during a storm, killing at least 400 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Senopati_Nusantara>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
underfire:
1. (transitive, intransitive) To heat from below.
2. (transitive) To intentionally operate a boiler, furnace, oven, etc., at
a low level.
3. (intransitive) Not burning fuel at the desired level, and thus not
providing heat efficiently.
4. (transitive, ceramics) To fire at a low (or excessively low)
temperature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/underfire>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I was a simple kid who was thrown into the wonderful world of show
business. I've loved every moment.
--Debbie Reynolds
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Debbie_Reynolds>
The Montreal Laboratory in Montreal, Canada, was established by the
National Research Council of Canada during World War II to undertake
nuclear research in collaboration with the United Kingdom. After the
Fall of France, some French scientists escaped to Britain with their
stock of heavy water, and joined the British Tube Alloys project to
build an atomic bomb. In 1942, it was decided to relocate the work to
Canada. The Montreal Laboratory was established in a house belonging to
McGill University, but moved to the Université de Montréal in March
1943. The first laboratory staff arrived at the end of 1942. John
Cockcroft became director in May 1944. In August 1943, Mackenzie King,
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (pictured) negotiated the
Quebec Agreement, which merged Tube Alloys with the Manhattan Project.
Work moved to the Chalk River Laboratories, which opened in 1944, and
the Montreal Laboratory was closed in July 1946. Two reactors were built
at Chalk River: the small ZEEP, which went critical in September 1945,
and the larger NRX, which followed in July 1947, and was for a time the
most powerful research reactor in the world.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Laboratory>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1170:
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was slain in his own
cathedral by four knights of Henry II of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket>
1779:
American Revolutionary War: British soldiers under the command
of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Savannah>
1891:
Physical education teacher James Naismith introduced a game in
Springfield, Massachusetts, with thirteen rules and nine players on each
team that he called "Basket Ball".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_basketball>
1911:
Sun Yat-sen was elected in Nanjing as the Provisional President
of the Republic of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>
1959:
Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's
Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is considered the birth of
nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>
1993:
The Tian Tan Buddha, at the time the world's tallest outdoor
bronze statue of the seated Buddha, was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
writing on the wall:
An ominous warning; a prediction of bad luck.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/writing_on_the_wall>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men learn little from others' experience. But in the life of one
man, never The same time returns. Sever The cord, shed the scale. Only
The fool, fixed in his folly, may think He can turn the wheel on which
he turns.
--T. S. Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot>
Pain fitzJohn (died 1137) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and
administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", the ones who
owed their positions and wealth to the king. Pain's family originated in
Normandy, but there is little to suggest that he had many ties there,
and he appears to have spent most of his career in England and the Welsh
Marches. A son of a minor nobleman, he rose to become an important royal
official during Henry's reign. In 1115 he was rewarded with marriage to
an heiress, thereby gaining control of the town of Ludlow and its
castle, which he augmented with further acquisitions. He became the
sheriff in two counties near the border between England and Wales, and
heard legal cases as a royal justice in much of western England. He was
generous in his gifts of land to monastic houses. After Henry's death in
1135 Pain supported Henry's nephew, King Stephen. In July 1137 Pain was
ambushed by the Welsh and killed as he was leading a relief expedition
to the garrison at Carmarthen.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_fitzJohn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
893:
An earthquake destroyed the city of Dvin, Armenia, causing about
30,000 casualties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/893_Dvin_earthquake>
1768:
Taksin the Great was crowned king of the newly established
Thonburi Kingdom in the new capital at Thonburi, present-day Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin>
1907:
The last confirmed sighting of the extinct huia took place in
the Tararua Ranges, North Island, New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huia>
1973:
U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act
into law, a wide-ranging environmental law designed to protect
critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of
economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and
conservation."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act_of_1973>
2009:
A suicide bomber attacked a Shi'ite commemoration in Karachi,
Pakistan, during a procession on the Day of Ashura, the holiest of days
for followers of Shia Islam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Karachi_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tortfeasance:
(chiefly law) The condition, or an act, of doing wrong; the act of
committing a tort.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tortfeasance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don’t want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.
--Carrie Fisher
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carrie_Fisher>
Ficus rubiginosa, the Port Jackson fig, is a species of flowering plant
native to eastern Australia. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other
plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), it matures into a tree
30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed
trunk. The leaves are oval and glossy green and measure from 4 to
19.3 cm (1 1⁄2–7 1⁄2 in) long and 1.25 to 13.2 cm
(1⁄2–5 1⁄4 in) wide. The fruits are small, round and yellow, and
can ripen and turn red at any time of year, peaking in spring and
summer. The fruit is known as a syconium, an inverted inflorescence with
the flowers lining an internal cavity. F. rubiginosa is exclusively
pollinated by the fig wasp species Pleistodontes imperialis. Many
species of bird, including pigeons and parrots, eat the fruit. Ranging
along the Australian east coast from Queensland to Bega in southern New
South Wales, F. rubiginosa grows in rainforest margins and rocky
outcrops. It is used as a shade tree in parks and public spaces, and
when potted is well-suited for use as an indoor plant or in bonsai.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_rubiginosa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1657:
Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance
to Director-General Peter Stuyvesant, requesting an exemption to his ban
on Quaker worship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushing_Remonstrance>
1831:
Aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin left Plymouth, England, on
what became a historic expedition to South America that made his name as
a naturalist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle>
1916:
German Togoland, occupied by the Allies in World War I, was
partitioned between Britain and France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>
1966:
The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the
world, in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, was first descended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Swallows>
2007:
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was
assassinated while she was leaving a political rally of Pakistan Peoples
Party supporters at Liaquat National Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
spuriosity:
1. (rare) Spuriousness.
2. (rare) That which is spurious; something false or illegitimate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spuriosity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we have faith in each other Then we can be Strong, baby I will
be your father figure Put your tiny hand in mine I will be your preacher
teacher Anything you have in mind I will be your father figure I have
had enough of crime I will be the one who loves you … 'Til the end of
time.
--George Michael
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Michael>
Tropical Storm Vamei was a Pacific tropical cyclone, the last storm of
the 2001 Pacific typhoon season. On December 26 the storm developed into
a tropical depression about 230 km (145 mi) east of Singapore in the
South China Sea at 1.4° N, 156 km (97 mi) north of the equator. This
was the first recorded occurrence of a tropical cyclone developing near
the equator, which had previously been considered impossible because of
a lack of Coriolis effect there. It strengthened quickly and made
landfall the next day approximately 60 km (35 mi) northeast of
Singapore, along extreme southeastern Peninsular Malaysia. The storm
rapidly dissipated over Sumatra a day later, and the remnants eventually
re-organized in the North Indian Ocean. Though officially designated as
a tropical storm, the intensity of Vamei is disputed; some agencies
classify it as a typhoon, based on sustained winds of 140 km/h
(85 mph) and the appearance of an eye. The storm brought flooding and
landslides to eastern Peninsular Malaysia, causing US$3.6 million in
damage and five deaths.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Vamei>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: In the predawn hours, George
Washington and his army crossed the Delaware River to launch a surprise
attack against the Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trenton>
1871:
Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, made
its debut at the Gaiety Theatre, London, UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_(opera)>
1900:
A relief crew arrived at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of
Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared without a
trace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles>
1996:
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called upon its 1.2
million members to walk off the job, beginning the largest organized
strike in South Korea's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397_strikes_in_South_Korea>
2006:
The Hengchun earthquake struck off the southwest coast of
Taiwan, on the anniversaries of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that
devastated coastal communities across Southeast and South Asia, and of
the 2003 Bam earthquake that destroyed areas of southeastern Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Bam_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Boxing Day:
The day after Christmas; the 26th of December.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Boxing_Day>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is survival and survival, the historian learns to his grief.
The very worst impulses of humankind can survive generations, centuries,
even millennia. And the best of our individual efforts can die with us
at the end of a single lifetime.
--Elizabeth Kostova
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Kostova>
Hebron Church is a mid-19th century Lutheran church in Intermont,
Hampshire County, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was founded in
1786 as Great Capon Church by German settlers in the Cacapon River
Valley, making it the first Lutheran church west of the Shenandoah
Valley. The congregation worshiped in a log church, which initially
served both Lutheran and Reformed denominations. In 1821, records and
sermons transitioned from German to English. The church's congregation
built the present Greek Revival-style church building in 1849, when it
was renamed Hebron on the Cacapon. The original log church was moved
across the road and used as a sexton's house, Sunday school classroom,
and public schoolhouse. To celebrate the congregation's 175th
anniversary in 1961, Hebron Church constructed a building for community
functions and religious education, designed to be architecturally
compatible with the 1849 brick church. Hebron Church was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2014, cited as a Potomac
Highlands church with vernacular Greek Revival architecture.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebron_Church_(Intermont,_West_Virginia)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror was crowned King of
England at Westminster Abbey, although he still faced rebellions over
the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror>
1809:
American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first
removal of an ovarian tumor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_McDowell>
1926:
Emperor Taishō died of a heart attack, and was succeeded by
his son, Hirohito, who ruled until his death in 1989, becoming the
longest-reigning Emperor of Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito>
1941:
Second World War: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began
after Mark Aitchison Young, the Governor of Hong Kong, surrendered the
territory to Japan after 18 days of fierce fighting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Hong_Kong>
1991:
In a nationally televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as
President of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Christingle:
1. (Christianity) A small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus
Christ as the “light” of the world. A typical modern Christingle is
made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into
the top, and a red ribbon wrapped round it.
2. (Christianity) A church service for children incorporating Christingles,
usually held during Advent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Christingle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Except the Christ be born again tonight In dreams of all men,
saints and sons of shame, The world will never see his kingdom bright.
Stars of all hearts, lead onward thro' the night Past death-black
deserts, doubts without a name, Past hills of pain and mountains of new
sin To that far sky where mystic births begin, Where dreaming ears the
angel-song shall win.
--Vachel Lindsay
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vachel_Lindsay>
Themes in Maya Angelou's autobiographies include racism, identity,
family, and travel. Angelou (1928–2014), an African-American writer,
achieved critical acclaim for her first of seven autobiographies, I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). That book and the second in the series,
Gather Together in My Name (1974), are about the lives of Black women in
America. Her autobiographies all have the same structure, a narrative of
how she coped within the larger white society she inhabited. In her
third autobiography, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like
Christmas (1976), she showed the integrity of the African-American
character as she experienced more positive interactions with whites. The
series continues with The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God's Children
Need Traveling Shoes (1986), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom &
Me & Mom (2013). Angelou's autobiographies take place from Arkansas to
Africa and back to the US, and span almost forty years, from the start
of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Maya_Angelou%27s_autobiographies>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
759:
Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu departed for Chengdu, staying with his
fellow poet Pei Di, where he composed poems about life in his thatched
cottage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Fu>
1871:
Aida, one of Giuseppe Verdi's most popular operas, made its
debut in Cairo, Egypt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida>
1953:
On New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge
was damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train, killing
151 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangiwai_disaster>
1968:
Astronaut William Anders of the NASA Apollo 8 mission, the
first manned voyage to orbit the Moon, took the famous photograph known
as "Earthrise", showing the Earth rising above the lunar surface.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise>
1974:
Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, Australia, eventually destroying
more than 70% of the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Tracy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sommelier:
The member of staff at a restaurant who keeps the wine cellar and
advises guests on a choice of wines; a wine steward, a wine waiter.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sommelier>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think it will be found that the grand style arises in poetry,
when a noble nature, poetically gifted, treats with simplicity or with
severity a serious subject.
--Matthew Arnold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold>
Richard Dannatt (born 23 December 1950) is a retired senior British Army
officer who served as the Constable of the Tower of London from August
2009 to July 2016. He was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1971,
and his first tour of duty was in Belfast as a platoon commander. During
his second tour of duty, Dannatt was awarded the Military Cross. He
commanded 4th Armoured Brigade in 1994 during its peace operations in
Bosnia. In 1999 he simultaneously commanded 3rd Mechanised Division and
the British forces in Kosovo. After a brief tour in Bosnia, he was
appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff. Following the attacks of
11 September 2001, Dannatt became involved in planning for subsequent
operations in the Middle East. As Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction
Corps from 2003, he led the planning for their deployments to Iraq and
Afghanistan. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 2006,
succeeding Sir Mike Jackson. Calling for improved pay and conditions for
soldiers, less military focus on Iraq, and more on Afghanistan, Dannatt
faced controversy over his outspokenness.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dannatt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
583:
Yohl Ik'nal acceded to the throne of the Maya city-state of
Palenque.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yohl_Ik%27nal>
1793:
French Revolution: The Royalist counterrevolutionary army was
decisively defeated in the Battle of Savenay, although fighting
continued in the War in the Vendée for years afterward.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e>
1916:
First World War: Allied forces gained a strategic victory in
the Battle of Magdhaba, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magdhaba>
1938:
A South African fisher discovered the first living specimen of
a coelacanth, long believed to be extinct.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth>
1986:
Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, the Rutan Voyager
became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or
refueling, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a nine-
day trip.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
aweless:
1. Without fear; fearless, unafraid.
2. Wanting reverence; void of respectful fear; irreverent.
3. (obsolete) Inspiring no awe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aweless>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Unless we are willing to escape into sentimentality or fantasy,
often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out
exactly what happened and restore some of the missing parts —
hopefully, even the arch to the sky.
--Norman Maclean
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Maclean>
Andrew Sledd (1870–1939) was an American theologian, university
professor and university president. A native of Virginia, he was
ordained as a Methodist minister after earning his master's degree; he
later earned a doctorate at Yale. After teaching for several years,
Sledd became the last president of the University of Florida at Lake
City from 1904 to 1905, and the first president of what is now the
University of Florida from 1905 to 1909. He was president of Southern
University from 1910 to 1914, and became a professor and an influential
biblical scholar at Emory University's Candler School of Theology from
1914 to 1939. Bibliographies highlight his 1902 magazine article
advocating better legal and social treatment of African-Americans, his
role in founding the modern University of Florida, his scholarly
analysis of biblical texts as literature, his call for an end to racial
violence, and his influence on a generation of Methodist seminary
students, scholars and ministers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sledd>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1216:
Pope Honorius III issued the papal bull Religiosam vitam to
establish the Dominican Order.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Order>
1769:
Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing dynasty agreed
to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Burmese_War_(1765%E2%80%9369)>
1937:
The Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New
Jersey, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tunnel>
1988:
Brazilian unionist and environmental activist Chico Mendes was
murdered at his Xapuri home.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes>
2001:
Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power
in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
endosteum:
(biology) A membranous vascular layer of cells which line the medullary
cavity of a bone; an internal periosteum.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endosteum>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's the questions we ask, the journey we take to get to where we
are going that is more important than the actual answer. It's good to
have mysteries. It reminds us that there's more to the world than just
making do and having a bit of fun.
--Charles de Lint
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lint>