Half-Life 2: Episode One is a first-person shooter video game, the first
in a series of episodes that serve as the sequel to the 2004 game Half-
Life 2. Originally called Half-Life 2: Aftermath, it was developed by
Valve Corporation and released on June 1, 2006. Episode One, like Half-
Life 2, uses the Source game engine. The game debuted new lighting and
animation technologies, as well as artificial intelligence enhancements
for the sidekick character, Alyx Vance. Episode One tracks scientist
Gordon Freeman and Alyx as they fight in humanity's continuing struggle
against the Combine, an alien race. Gordon wakes up outside the enemy's
base of operations, the Citadel, after being rendered unconscious by the
concluding events of Half-Life 2. During the course of the game, Gordon
travels with Alyx in and around war-torn City 17 as they attempt to
evacuate the city. As the game comes to an end, they are trapped in a
derailing train; their fates are revealed in Episode Two. Critical
reaction was generally positive, especially for the cooperative aspects
of the gameplay, but the game's short length was criticized.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_2:_Episode_One>
_______________________________
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>
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston
and G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan at the
Battle of Seven Pines outside Richmond, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines>
1941:
The United Kingdom completed its re-occupation of Iraq,
returning 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iraqi_War>
2009:
American physician George Tiller, who was nationally known for
being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late-term
abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion
activist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_George_Tiller>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
despect:
(archaic) To hold in contempt, to despise, to look down on, to scorn.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/despect>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I answer for him that answers for all, and send these signs. Him
all wait for, him all yield up to, his word is decisive and final, Him
they accept, in him lave, in him perceive themselves as amid light, Him
they immerse and he immerses them. Beautiful women, the haughtiest
nations, laws, the landscape, people, animals, The profound earth and
its attributes and the unquiet ocean, (so tell I my morning's romanza,)
All enjoyments and properties and money, and whatever money will buy,
The best farms, others toiling and planting and he unavoidably reaps,
The noblest and costliest cities, others grading and building and he
domiciles there, Nothing for any one but what is for him, near and far
are for him, the ships in the offing, The perpetual shows and marches on
land are for him if they are for anybody. He puts things in their
attitudes, He puts to-day out of himself with plasticity and love, He
places his own times, reminiscences, parents, brothers and sisters,
associations, employment, politics, so that the rest never shame them
afterward, nor assume to command them. He is the Answerer, What can be
answer'd he answers, and what cannot be answer'd he shows how it cannot
be answer'd. A man is a summons and challenge, (It is vain to skulk
— do you hear that mocking and laughter? do you hear the ironical
echoes?)
--Song of the Answerer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#Song_of_the_Answerer_.281855.…>
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer
Bedřich Smetana, first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on
30 May 1866. Set in a country village with realistic characters, it
tells the story of how true love prevails over the combined efforts of
ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. Originally presented
in a two-act format with spoken dialogue, the opera was not immediately
successful, but it gained rapid popularity after numerous revisions.
Smetana's musical treatment made considerable use of traditional
Bohemian dance forms such as the polka and furiant, creating music which
was accurately folk-like, and considered to be quintessentially Czech in
spirit. After a performance in Vienna in 1892 the opera achieved
international recognition. It reached Chicago in 1893, London in 1895
and New York in 1909, becoming the first, and for many years the only,
Czech opera in the general repertory. Many of these early international
performances were in German, under the title Die verkaufte Braut, and
the German-language version continues to be played and recorded.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bartered_Bride>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
Jane Seymour, a former lady-in-waiting, became Queen of England
by marrying King Henry VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Seymour>
1854:
The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the US
territories of Nebraska and Kansas, repealing the 1820 Missouri
Compromise, and allowing settlers in those territories to determine if
they would permit slavery within their boundaries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act>
1913:
The Treaty of London was signed to deal with territorial
adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War,
declaring, among other things, an independent Albania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_London_(1913)>
1963:
Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination
was held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open
demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis>
1998:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at
least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000
people homeless in the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1998_Afghanistan_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
isinglass:
1. A form of gelatine obtained from the air bladder of the sturgeon and
certain other fish, used as an adhesive and as a clarifying agent for
wine and beer.
2. A thin, transparent sheet of mica (probably from its similarity to true
isinglass).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isinglass>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The liberty of every individual is only the reflection of his own
humanity, or his human right through the conscience of all free men, his
brothers and his equals. I can feel free only in the presence of and in
relationship with other men. In the presence of an inferior species of
animal I am neither free nor a man, because this animal is incapable of
conceiving and consequently recognizing my humanity. I am not myself
free or human until or unless I recognize the freedom and humanity of
all my fellowmen. Only in respecting their human character do I
respect my own.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
The House of Plantagenet (1154–1485) was the royal house of all the
English kings from Henry II to Richard III, including the Angevin kings
and the houses of Lancaster and York. In addition to the traditional
judicial, feudal and military roles of the king, the Plantagenets had
duties to the realm that were underpinned by a sophisticated justice
system. They were often forced to agree to constraints on royal power,
such as Magna Carta, in return for financial and military support.
During their reigns, a distinct national identity was shaped by conflict
with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish, and by the establishment of
English as the primary language. In the 15th century, the Plantagenets
were defeated in France in the Hundred Years' War and beset with social,
political and economic problems. Revolts were triggered by politics and
by the denial of freedoms. English nobles raised private armies, engaged
in private feuds and openly defied Henry VI. Rivalry between the
Yorkists and Lancastrians erupted into the Wars of the Roses. After
Richard III's death ended the reign of the Plantagenets, Henry VII
founded the Tudor dynasty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
With the conquest of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire fell
to the Ottomans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire>
1852:
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a 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>
1913:
During the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of
Spring at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the avant-garde
nature of the music and choreography caused a near-riot in the audience.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring>
1954:
The first annual Bilderberg Group meeting of leaders from
European countries and the United States took place in Oosterbeek,
Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group>
1982:
Falklands War: Approximately 1,000 Argentine troops
surrendered, ending the Battle of Goose Green.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Goose_Green>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
daimon:
A tutelary spirit that guides a person; a demon, a genius, a lar.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daimon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie —
deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent,
persuasive, and unrealistic.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
The Phantom Tollbooth is a 1961 children's adventure novel by Norton
Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer (pictured). It tells the
story of a bored young boy named Milo, who unexpectedly receives a magic
tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, drives through
it in his toy car. The tollbooth transports him to the Kingdom of
Wisdom, once prosperous, now troubled. There, he acquires two faithful
companions and goes on a quest to restore to the kingdom its exiled
princesses, named Rhyme and Reason. The text is full of puns and
wordplay; many events, such as when Milo unintentionally jumps to
Conclusions (an island in Wisdom), explore the literal meanings of
idioms. A major theme of the book is a love for education. Although the
book was not expected to sell well, it received strong reviews and has
sold in excess of three million copies. It has been adapted into a film,
opera, and play, and translated into many languages. Critics have
compared its appeal to that of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland and to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Tollbooth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1588:
Anglo-Spanish War: The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and over
30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon for the English Channel in an attempt
to invade England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada>
1830:
US President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into
law, authorizing him to negotiate with Native Americans for their
removal from their ancestral homelands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act>
1936:
English mathematician Alan Turing introduced the Turing
machine, a basic abstract symbol-manipulating device that can simulate
the logic of any computer algorithm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing>
1998:
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission carried out five
underground nuclear tests, becoming the seventh country in the world to
successfully develop and publicly test nuclear weapons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagai-I>
2010:
A train derailment and collision in the Paschim Medinipur
district of West Bengal, India, caused the deaths of at least 141
passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnaneswari_Express_train_derailment>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brushy:
1. Having a similar texture to a fox’s tail; brushlike, bushy.
2. Of the countryside: having thick vegetation, taller than grass but
shorter than trees; having abundant brush; shrubby.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brushy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The facts will eventually test all our theories, and they form,
after all, the only impartial jury to which we can appeal.
--Louis Agassiz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Agassiz>
"A Quiet Night In" is the second episode of the British dark comedy
anthology series Inside No. 9. Written by Reece Shearsmith (pictured)
and Steve Pemberton, it first aired on 12 February 2014 on BBC Two. It
stars the writers as a pair of hapless burglars attempting to steal a
painting from the large, modernist house of an oblivious quarreling
couple, played by Denis Lawson and Oona Chaplin—a granddaughter of the
silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The episode progresses almost entirely
without dialogue, relying on physical comedy and slapstick. Critics
generally responded positively to the episode, and a particularly
laudatory review by David Chater was published in The Times. On its
first airing, the episode was watched by 940,000 viewers (4.8% of the
market). It was submitted to the British Academy of Film and Television
Arts for their 2015 awards, but was not nominated. Pemberton and
Shearsmith are not planning any further silent episodes for Inside No.
9, but they have continued the use of experimental formats, including in
the 2015 split screen episode "Cold Comfort".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Quiet_Night_In>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1199:
John, who would posthumously become known as one of the most
reviled Kings of England, was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England>
1644:
Manchu regent Dorgon defeated rebel leader Li Zicheng of the
Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to
enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanhai_Pass>
1896:
The St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado, one of the deadliest
and most destructive tornadoes in US history, struck St. Louis,
Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing more than 255 people and
injuring at least 1,000 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_St._Louis%E2%80%93East_St._Louis_tornado>
1942:
Czech fighters resisting Nazis in Prague ambushed and mortally
wounded Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of Reich Security Main Office and
the Protector of Bohemia and Moravia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Anthropoid>
2006:
An earthquake measuring about 6.3 Mw struck near the city of
Yogyakarta, Indonesia on the southern side of the island of Java,
killing at least 5,700 people, injuring at least 36,000, and leaving at
least 1.5 million homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Yogyakarta_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stitch up:
1. To close by sewing.
2. (slang) To maliciously or dishonestly incriminate someone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stitch_up>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad
reputation.
--Henry Kissinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger>
Paul Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) was until 2011 a regular member of
the England Test cricket team. He is a batting all-rounder, and a
medium-pace bowler. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes series was the
first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years.
Three consecutive match-winning performances at the end of the 2006–07
Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval
in the British media, helping to secure the trophy for England. In 2010
he led the England team to their first International Cricket Council
Trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20. He has made the most One Day
International (ODI) appearances for England and was, until recently
passed by Ian Bell, the leading ODI run scorer. He announced his
retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the 5th Test of the
2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-time
Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in
24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3–1 win. He
is regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Collingwood>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
451:
Armenian rebels were defeated by forces of the Sassanid Empire
on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan, but the loss played a major factor
in their being granted religious freedom 33 years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Avarayr>
1637:
Pequot War: An allied Puritan and Mohegan force attacked a
fortified Pequot village in the Connecticut Colony, killing 500 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_massacre>
1822:
The deadliest fire in Norwegian history took place at a church
in Grue, Norway, with at least 113 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire>
1906:
Vauxhall Bridge in London opened, crossing the River Thames
between Vauxhall and Westminster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_Bridge>
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:
baksheesh:
(business, ethics) in the Middle East, southwest Asia and Eastern
Europe: a bribe or tip.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baksheesh>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can't tell you how much time is spent worrying about decisions
that don't matter. To just be able to make a decision and see what
happens is tremendously empowering, but that means you have to set up
the situation such that when something does go wrong, you can fix it.
--Ward Cunningham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham>
Operation Copperhead was a small military deception operation run by the
British during the Second World War. Conceived by Dudley Clarke, it was
intended to mislead German intelligence as to the location of General
Bernard Montgomery (pictured) just before the 1944 invasion of Normandy.
The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known
Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead.
Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile
appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not
imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who
spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the
general's mannerisms. On 26 May, James flew to Gibraltar and then to
Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence
agents would spot him, but the operation did not appear to have any
significant impact on German plans. James later wrote a book about the
operation, I Was Monty's Double, which was adapted into a film, with
James in the lead role.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Copperhead>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
240 BC:
The Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian recorded
the first confirmed sighting of Halley's Comet, the first comet to be
recognized as periodic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet>
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>
1936:
Employees of the Remington Rand company began an 11-month
strike action, during which time the company executives developed the
notorious "Mohawk Valley formula" to intimidate the strikers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand_strike_of_1936%E2%80%9337>
1946:
Abdullah bin Husayn, Emir of the Emirate of Transjordan, was
proclaimed King of the renamed "Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan>
2012:
SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to
rendezvous with the International Space Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_C2%2B>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
giant-killer:
Someone or something, especially a sports team, that defeats a larger
and superior opponent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/giant-killer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have been writing & speaking what were once called novelties,
for twenty five or thirty year, & have not now one disciple. Why? Not
that what I said was not true; not that it has not found intelligent
receivers but because it did not go from any wish in me to bring men to
me, but to themselves.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson>
"Push the Button" is a song by the English girl group the Sugababes,
released as the lead single from their fourth studio album Taller in
More Ways (2005). Composed by Dallas Austin and the Sugababes as an
electropop and R&B; song with various computer effects, it was inspired
by an infatuation that one of them (Keisha Buchanan) developed for
another artist. Critics praised the song's conception and production,
and some of them named it one of the best pop singles of the 2000s. The
song became one of the group's most commercially successful releases,
peaking at number one in Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United
Kingdom, and reaching the top five across Europe and in Australia. It
was nominated for Best British Single at the 2006 BRIT Awards. Matthew
Rolston directed the song's music video, which was filmed in Shepherds
Bush, London; it features the Sugababes flirting with three men in an
elevator. The group performed the single at Oxegen 2008, V Festival
2008, and other festivals and events. "Push the Button" appears on the
soundtrack to It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_the_Button_(Sugababes_song)>
_______________________________
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/Toleration_Act_1688>
1883:
New York City opened the Brooklyn Bridge (pictured) – the
longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge>
1956:
The first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in
Lugano, Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1956>
1976:
In a wine competition in Paris, French judges shocked the wine
industry by rating California wines higher than French ones.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Paris_(wine)>
1991:
The Israel Defense Forces began Operation Solomon, a covert
operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Solomon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dibbly-dobbler:
(cricket) A slow-paced bowler.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dibbly-dobbler>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our course of advance ... is neither a straight line nor a curve.
It is a series of dots and dashes. Progress comes per saltum, by
successive compromises between extremes, compromises often … between
"positivism and idealism". The notion that a jurist can dispense with
any consideration as to what the law ought to be arises from the fiction
that the law is a complete and closed system, and that judges and
jurists are mere automata to record its will or phonographs to pronounce
its provisions.
--Benjamin N. Cardozo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_N._Cardozo>
The Spanish conquest of Petén was the last stage of the conquest of
Guatemala, a prolonged conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the
Americas. The Itza, the Yalain, the Kowoj, and other Maya populations in
Petén were engaged in a complex web of alliances and enmities before
the conquest. Petén was first penetrated by Hernán Cortés with a
sizeable expedition that crossed the territory from north to south in
1525. In the first half of the 16th century Spain established
neighbouring colonies in Yucatán to the north and Guatemala to the
south. In 1622 a military expedition from Yucatán led by Captain
Francisco de Mirones was massacred by the Itza. In 1628 the Manche Ch'ol
of the south were placed under the administration of the colonial
governor of Verapaz within the Captaincy General of Guatemala. In 1695
another expedition tried to reach Lake Petén Itzá from Guatemala.
Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi captured Nojpetén, the island capital of
the Itza kingdom, in 1697, defeating the last of the independent native
kingdoms in the Americas and incorporating them into the Spanish Empire.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Pet%C3%A9n>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1430:
Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was captured at the Siege of
Compiègne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Compi%C3%A8gne>
1706:
War of the Spanish Succession: Led by the Duke of Marlborough,
the allied forces of England, the Dutch Republic, and Denmark–Norway
defeated the Franco-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ramillies>
1873:
The North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and
assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police>
1934:
American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed
and killed by police on a desolate road near their hideout in Bienville
Parish, Louisiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde>
2008:
To resolve a 29-year-old territorial dispute, the International
Court of Justice awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to
Singapore.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_Branca_dispute>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fief:
1. An estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to
a superior.
2. Something over which one has rights or exercises control.
3. (metaphor) An area of dominion, especially in a corporate or
governmental bureaucracy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fief>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have
every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man. Were this done, and a
slight temporary fermentation allowed to subside, we should see
crystallizations more pure and of more various beauty. We believe the
divine energy would pervade nature to a degree unknown in the history of
former ages, and that no discordant collision, but a ravishing harmony
of the spheres, would ensue. Yet, then and only then will mankind be
ripe for this, when inward and outward freedom for Woman as much as for
Man shall be acknowledged as a right, not yielded as a concession.
--Margaret Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller>
Frigatebirds are a family—Fregatidae—of seabirds found across all
tropical and subtropical oceans. The five living species are classified
in a single genus, Fregata. All have predominantly black plumage, long,
deeply forked tails and long hooked bills. Their pointed wings can span
up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), with the largest wing area to body weight
ratio of any bird. Females have white bellies and males have a
distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding
season. Able to soar for days on wind currents, frigatebirds spend most
of the day in flight hunting for food. They mainly eat fish and squid
that have been chased to the surface by large predators such as tuna.
Frigatebirds are kleptoparasites as they occasionally rob other seabirds
for food, and are known to snatch seabird chicks from the nest. Three of
the five species are widespread, while two are endangered and restrict
their breeding habitat to one small island each. The oldest fossils date
to the early Eocene, around 50 million years ago; classified in the
genus Limnofregata, those birds had shorter less-hooked bills and longer
legs, and lived in a freshwater environment.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigatebird>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1629:
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Danish King Christian IV
signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty
Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_L%C3%BCbeck>
1816:
A riot broke out in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, over
high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_and_Littleport_riots_of_1816>
1856:
US Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner
with a cane for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who
sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner>
1958:
Ethnic rioting broke out in Ceylon, targeted mostly at the
minority Sri Lankan Tamils, resulting in up to 300 deaths over the next
five days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_anti-Tamil_pogrom>
1980:
Pac-Man, an arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular
culture, made its debut in Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
protaspis:
(paleontology) A stage in the development of a trilobite where the
creature has not yet developed articulated segments.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/protaspis>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ancient intuition that all matter, all “reality,” is
energy, that all phenomena, including time and space, are mere
crystallizations of mind, is an idea with which few physicists have
quarreled since the theory of relativity first called into question the
separate identities of energy and matter. Today most scientists would
agree with the ancient Hindus that nothing exists or is destroyed,
things merely change shape or form; that matter is insubstantial in
origin, a temporary aggregate of the pervasive energy that animates the
electron. … The cosmic radiation that is thought to come from the
explosion of creation strikes the earth with equal intensity from all
directions, which suggests either that the earth is at the center of the
universe, as in our innocence we once supposed, or that the known
universe has no center. Such an idea holds no terror for mystics; in the
mystical vision, the universe, its center, and its origins are
simultaneous, all around us, all within us, and all One.
--Peter Matthiessen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Matthiessen>