George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Virginia
planter, politician, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention
of 1787, one of three men who refused to sign. He served in the pro-
independence Fourth Virginia Convention of 1775 and the Fifth Virginia
Convention of 1776, during which he wrote much of the Virginia
Declaration of Rights; this later served as a basis for the Bill of
Rights, of which he has been deemed the father. Named one of his state's
delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Mason traveled to
Philadelphia, his only lengthy trip outside Virginia, and was active in
the convention for months before deciding he could not sign the final
draft. Although he lost his fight to add a bill of rights there, and
again at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788, his efforts led his
fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First
Congress in 1789, and it was ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died.
Long obscure, Mason is today recognized for his contributions to the
founding texts of Virginia and the United States.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mason>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
220:
Emperor Xian abdicated the throne and the Han dynasty broke
apart, beginning the Three Kingdoms period in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms>
1899:
Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated
the forces of the British Empire trying to relieve the Siege of
Kimberley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magersfontein>
1905:
In support of the December Uprising in Moscow, the Council of
Workers' Deputies of Kiev stage a mass uprising, establishing the
Shuliavka Republic (monument pictured) in the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuliavka_Republic>
1980:
The United States Congress enacted the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act to protect
people, families, communities and others from heavily contaminated toxic
waste sites that have been abandoned.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfund>
2006:
The first action in the Mexican Drug War took place as
President Felipe Calderón ordered Mexican military and Federal Police
units into the state of Michoacán.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hedge sermon:
(Christianity, historical) An open-air religious service held by
Calvinists in the Low Countries during the Reformation, typically in
rural areas beyond the reach of civic authorities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hedge_sermon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty,
and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.
--George Mason
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Mason>
Fantastic Adventures was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction
magazine, edited by Ray Palmer and published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-
Davis. It was almost cancelled at the end of 1940, but the October 1940
issue had unexpectedly good sales, helped by a strong cover (pictured)
by J. Allen St. John for Robert Moore Williams' Jongor of Lost Land.
Fantastic Adventures soon developed a reputation for light-hearted and
whimsical stories. The cover art usually focused on melodramatic action
scenes; H.W. McCauley's covers, featuring glamorous, alluring women,
were among the most popular. In 1949 Palmer was replaced by Howard
Browne, who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about fantasy fiction.
Browne briefly managed to improve the quality of the fiction in
Fantastic Adventures, and the period around 1951 has been described as
the magazine's heyday. Browne lost interest when his plan to take
Amazing Stories more upmarket collapsed, however, and the magazine fell
back into predictability. In 1952, Ziff-Davis launched another fantasy
magazine, titled Fantastic, in a digest format; it was successful, and
in March 1953 they ended Fantastic Adventures in favor of Fantastic.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Adventures>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
France became the first country to adopt the metric system as
its system for weights and measures.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system>
1898:
The Spanish–American War ended with the signing of the Treaty
of Paris, with Spain recognizing the independence of Cuba; and ceding
Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico to the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1898)>
1936:
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, desiring to marry American
socialite Wallis Simpson against widespread opposition, abdicated the
throne, the only British monarch to have voluntarily done so since the
Anglo-Saxon period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis>
1941:
Second World War: Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers sank
the Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales (53) and
HMS Repulse (1916) east of Malaya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse>
1989:
At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia,
journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the
Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending
Communist rule four months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsakhiagiin_Elbegdorj>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clomp:
1. (transitive) To make a clomping sound (with some object).
2. (intransitive) To move in a way that makes loud noises with one's feet.
3. (intransitive, rare) To walk with wooden shoes.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clomp>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I firmly believe people have hitherto been a great deal too much
taken up about doctrine and far too little about practice. The word
doctrine, as used in the Bible, means teaching of duty, not theory. I
preached a sermon about this. We are far too anxious to be definite and
to have finished, well-polished, sharp-edged systems — forgetting that
the more perfect a theory about the infinite, the surer it is to be
wrong, the more impossible it is to be right.
--George MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_MacDonald>
Exsudoporus frostii, Frost's bolete, is a fungus first described in
1874. The mushrooms it produces have tubes and pores instead of gills on
the underside of their caps. E. frostii is distributed in the eastern
United States from Maine to Georgia and Arizona, and south to Mexico and
Costa Rica. It is typically found associating with hardwood trees,
especially oak. Its mushrooms can be recognized by their dark red sticky
caps, the red pores, the network-like pattern of the stem, and a
variable blue-staining reaction after tissue injury. Another
characteristic of young, moist fruit bodies is the amber-colored drops
exuded on the pore surface. Although the mushrooms are considered
edible, they are generally not recommended for consumption because of
the risk of confusion with other poisonous red-pored, blue-bruising
boletes. E. frostii may be distinguished from other superficially
similar red-capped boletes by differences in distribution, associated
tree species, bluing reaction, or morphology.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exsudoporus_frostii>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1872:
P. B. S. Pinchback took office as Governor of Louisiana, the
first African American governor of a U.S. state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._B._S._Pinchback>
1905:
Legislation establishing state secularism in France was passed
by the Chamber of Deputies of France, triggering civil disobedience by
French Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_French_law_on_the_Separation_of_the_Chur…>
1917:
First World War: Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman mayor of
Jerusalem, surrendered the city to the British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jerusalem>
1948:
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide
Convention, which defines genocide in legal terms and advises its
signatories to prevent and punish such actions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention>
1968:
Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All
Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-
mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hit point:
1. (chiefly role-playing games) A unit of damage, used to specify the
amount of damage a character can withstand before it is defeated.
2. (computer graphics) In ray tracing, the point in a scene at which a ray
strikes an object.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_point>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Godspeed, John Glenn.
--Scott Carpenter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_Carpenter>
Ernie Toshack (8 December 1914 – 11 May 2003) was an Australian
cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. He made his first-
class debut in 1945 as a left-arm medium paced bowler; his accuracy,
stamina, changes of pace, and movement in both directions confounded
batsmen. After only seven matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic
competition, he was selected for Australia's tour of New Zealand. In
Wellington, he opened the bowling in a match that was later classed as
an official Test match. He became a regular member of the Australian
team, playing in all of its Tests until the 1947–48 series against
India; he took a career-best 11 wickets for 31 runs in the First Test
but began to suffer recurring knee injuries. As a member of Don
Bradman's Invincibles team, which went undefeated on a tour of England
in 1948, Toshack played in the first four Tests before being injured
again. After a long convalescence, he attempted a comeback during
Australia's 1949–50 season, but further injury forced him to retire.
As a player, he was popular with crowds for his sense of humour.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Toshack>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
A woman appeared on stage as a professional actress in England
for the first time, most often credited to Margaret Hughes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hughes>
1880:
At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the
fulfilment of the decision to restore the South African Republic
government and volksraad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kruger>
1941:
The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied
Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto
Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che%C5%82mno_extermination_camp>
1991:
Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the Belavezha
Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States>
2010:
The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS (model pictured)
passed by Venus at about 80,800 km distance, completing its planned
mission to demonstrate solar sail technology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tankie:
1. (slang) A tank engine.
2. (slang, historical, Britain) A member of the Communist Party of Great
Britain who slavishly agreed with the Soviet Union's policy of crushing
revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by
sending army tanks into these countries.
3. (slang, derogatory, by extension) A person acting as an apologist for
the brutal policies of Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), the leader of the
Soviet Union.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tankie>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.
--Horace
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace>
The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships,
Pennsylvania and Arizona, named after American states. They were the
newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First
World War, but saw limited use at the time. During the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, both ships were present. Arizona
suffered a massive magazine explosion and sank with the loss of 1,177
officers and crewmen; the remains now lie beneath a memorial site that
attracts more than two million visitors annually. Pennsylvania, in dry
dock at the time, received only minor damage; it spent most of the war
as a shore bombardment ship before participating in the October 1944
Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships.
Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, the
day before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, it was
used in Operation Crossroads, part of the Bikini atomic experiments,
before being expended as a target ship in 1948.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania-class_battleship>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Michel Ney, Marshal of France, was executed by a firing squad
near Paris' Jardin du Luxembourg for supporting Napoleon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Ney>
1869:
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank
robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>
1936:
Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to
score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fingleton>
1946:
The deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history happened at the
Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winecoff_Hotel_fire>
1988:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia,
killing at least 25,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vehement:
Showing strong feelings; passionate; forceful or intense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vehement>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hello my Country I once came to tell everyone your story Your
passion was my poetry And your past my most potent glory Your promise
was my prayer Your hypocrisy my nightmare And your problems fill my
present Are we both going somewhere?
--Harry Chapin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Chapin>
Amanita ocreata, one of the death angels or destroying angels, is a
deadly fungus native to California and the North American Pacific
Northwest. The large fruiting bodies (mushrooms) generally appear in
spring, associating with oak trees. The stalk, ring, gills and volva are
white, and the cap may be white or ochre, often developing a brownish
centre. It can resemble the edible springtime amanita (A. velosa),
coccora (A. lanei) or stubble rosegill (Volvariella speciosa), but is
similar in toxicity to the death cap (A. phalloides) and to the
destroying angels of Europe (A. virosa) and eastern North America (A.
bisporigera). Its principal toxic constituent, α-amanitin, damages the
liver and kidneys, and has no known antidote. The initial
gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea and
vomiting, subside after two or three days. Ongoing damage to internal
organs can cause jaundice, diarrhea, delirium, seizures, coma, and in
many cases, death from liver failure 6 to 16 days after ingestion.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_ocreata>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1060:
Béla I the Champion was crowned King of Hungary.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary>
1865:
Slavery in the United States was officially abolished when the
Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Con…>
1956:
At the Melbourne Olympics, 14-year-old swimmer Sandra Morgan
became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Morgan>
1982:
The Irish National Liberation Army exploded a time bomb in
Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven British Army soldiers and
six civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droppin_Well_bombing>
2005:
An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashed
into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran,
killing all 84 on board and 44 bystanders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Iranian_Air_Force_C-130_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
them's the facts:
(idiomatic, colloquial) Those are the facts, that's the truth, that's
how it is; frequently used in reference to an unfortunate truth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/them%27s_the_facts>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
David is the song upon God's lips, And Our Lady is the goblet that
He sips: And Gabriel's the breath of His command, But Saint Michael is
the sword in God's right hand. The Ivory Tower is fair to see, And may
her walls encompass me! But when the Devil comes with the thunder of his
might, Saint Michael, show me how to fight!
--Joyce Kilmer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer>
Walt Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American
entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the
American animation industry, he holds the record for the most Academy
Awards earned by an individual (22), out of 59 nominations. He set up
the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio with his brother Roy in the 1920s,
and had his first big success with the character Mickey Mouse. As the
studio grew, he introduced synchronized sound, better cameras, and full-
color three-strip Technicolor, as seen in Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia, Pinocchio (both 1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi
(1942). In 1955 he opened the Disneyland theme park and diversified into
television programs, including The Mickey Mouse Club. He helped plan the
1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York
World's Fair. In 1965 he began work on Disney World and a concept he
called the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). Disney
was a shy and self-deprecating man in private, but adopted a warm and
outgoing public persona. The company he cofounded exists today as one of
the world's largest and best-known entertainment companies.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit
authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus>
1876:
Fire engulfed the Brooklyn Theatre in Brooklyn, New York,
killing at least 278 people, mostly due to smoke inhalation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Theatre_fire>
1916:
Amid the First World War and following his loss of support in
Parliament, British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith resigned.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Asquith>
1936:
The 1936 Soviet Constitution, also known as the "Stalin"
constitution, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution>
1974:
The Birmingham Americans won the only World Bowl in World
Football League history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Americans>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ulterior:
1. Situated beyond, or on the farther side.
2. Beyond what is obvious or evident.
3. Being intentionally concealed so as to deceive.
4. (archaic) Happening later; subsequent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ulterior>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the
whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and
complementarity constitute reality.
--Werner Heisenberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg>
In Australian service, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft are operated
by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). To improve the Australian
Defence Force's (ADF's) ability to operate outside Australia, eight were
ordered from 2006 to 2014; the first arrived in Australia on 4 December
2006. Three more entered service by January 2008, two more by November
2012, and the last two by November 2015. All eight Globemasters are
assigned to No. 36 Squadron and operate from RAAF Base Amberley,
Queensland. The aircraft have supported ADF operations in Afghanistan,
Iraq and other locations in the Middle East, as well as training
exercises in Australia and the United States. They have also transported
supplies and personnel as part of relief efforts following disasters in
Australia, Japan, New Zealand and several other countries. Their
acquirement process was seen as exemplary of good practice in defence
procurement. C-17s are highly regarded throughout the Australian
military for their ability to carry large amounts of cargo across long
distances.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_C-17_Globemaster_III_in_Australian_ser…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
771:
Austrasian King Carloman I died, leaving his brother Charlemagne
King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carloman_I>
1872:
The American brigantine Mary Celeste was found apparently
abandoned under circumstances that to this day remain unknown.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste>
1909:
The Montreal Canadiens, the oldest professional ice hockey club
in the world, were founded as a charter member of the National Hockey
Association.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Montreal_Canadiens>
1980:
The English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbanded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin>
2006:
Six black youths in Jena, Louisiana, US, assaulted a white
teenager; the subsequent court case would become a cause célèbre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dude:
1. (colloquial) A man, generally a younger man.
2. (colloquial, used in the vocative) A term of address for a teenager or
young man, particularly when cautioning him or offering him advice.
3. An inexperienced cowboy.
4. (slang) A tourist.
5. (archaic) A man who is very concerned about his dress and appearance; a
dandy, a fop.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dude>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved.
--Edith Cavell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell>
Union Station is an Amtrak railroad station and commercial building in
downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the only stop in
Pennsylvania for the Lake Shore Limited, a passenger rail line serving
Chicago, New York City, and Boston. The first railroad station in Erie,
established in 1851, was replaced with a Romanesque Revival-style
building in 1866. Union Station, the first Art Deco depot in the U.S.,
was dedicated on December 3, 1927. Passenger rail service dwindled
after World War II, as air and highway travel increased. The station was
jointly owned and operated by the New York Central and Pennsylvania
railroads, which merged to form Penn Central, and passenger rail service
was transferred to Amtrak in 1971. From 1972 to 1975, even Amtrak
service in Erie was suspended. Union Station was largely neglected and
allowed to decay until the freight management company Logistics Plus
bought it in 2003. Since then, it has been restored and portions re-
purposed as commercial and retail space.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Erie,_Pennsylvania)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
War of the Second Coalition: French forces under General Jean
Moreau defeated the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John in
Hohenlinden, near Munich, forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hohenlinden>
1854:
At least 22 people were killed and 35 others were injured when
rebelling miners at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria,
Australia, clashed violently with the police and the military.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion>
1904:
Himalia, the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter, was
discovered by astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory
in San Jose, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalia_(moon)>
1959:
The current flag of Singapore was adopted, six months after
Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Singapore>
1976:
Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley survived an assassination
attempt by unknown assailants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
telemark:
1. (uncountable, skiing) Telemark skiing, a method of skiing using the
telemark turn and a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at
the toes.
2. (countable, skiing) A telemark turn.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/telemark>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality,
invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complicated situation.
--Joseph Conrad
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad>
Migration of the Serbs is a set of oil paintings by the artist Paja
Jovanović that depict the Great Serb Migration of 1690–91. The first
was commissioned in 1895 by Georgije I, the Patriarch of Karlovci,
intended for the following year's Budapest Millennium Exhibition. In the
view of the Serbian clergy, the painting was to support Serb claims to
religious autonomy and partial self-administration in Austria-Hungary.
The Patriarch was dissatisfied with Jovanović's initial rendering and
asked the artist to adjust his work to conform with the Church's view of
the migration. Jovanović could not complete the revision in time, and
the painting was not shown at the Exhibition. Three of the original four
paintings survive, at the patriarchate building of the Serbian Orthodox
Church and at Princess Ljubica's Residence, both in Belgrade, and at the
Pančevo Museum. Migration of the Serbs holds iconic status in Serbian
popular culture, and several authors consider it one of Jovanović's
finest achievements.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_of_the_Serbs>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
War of the Third Coalition: French forces led by Napoleon
decisively defeated a Russo-Austrian army commanded by Tsar Alexander I
in the Battle of Austerlitz.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Austerlitz>
1848:
Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria>
1943:
World War II: The Luftwaffe conducted a surprise air raid on
Allied ships in Bari, Italy, sinking 18 ships and releasing one ship's
secret cargo of mustard gas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_on_Bari>
1956:
Cuban Revolution: The yacht Granma, carrying Fidel Castro, Che
Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement, reached the
shores of Cuba.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granma_(yacht)>
2001:
Less than two months after disclosing accounting violations,
Texas-based energy firm Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
evaporating nearly $11 billion in shareholder wealth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
houndstooth:
1. A two-colour fabric pattern of broken checks.
2. Fabric with a houndstooth pattern; an item of clothing made with such
fabric.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/houndstooth>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One of my complaints is that you've got far more scientists than
ever before but the pace of discovery has not increased. Why? Because
they're all busy just filling in the details of what they think is the
standard story. And the youngsters, the people with different ideas have
just as big a fight as ever and normally it takes decades for science to
correct itself. But science does correct itself and that's the reason
why science is such a glorious thing for our species.
--Nigel Calder
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nigel_Calder>