On 11 May 1812, Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, was shot and killed in the lobby of the
House of Commons in London. His assailant, John Bellingham, a Liverpool
merchant, was tried and convicted, and on 18 May was hanged at Newgate
Prison. Despite initial fears that the assassination might be linked to
a general uprising, Bellingham had in fact acted alone, as a protest
against the government's failure to compensate him for his imprisonment
in Russia for a trading debt. After Perceval's death, parliament made
generous provision to his widow and children, but his ministry was soon
forgotten and his policies reversed. He had led the Tory government
during a critical phase of the Napoleonic Wars, and his determination to
prosecute the war using the harshest of measures had caused widespread
poverty and unrest. He is generally better known for the manner of his
death than for any of his achievements. Later historians have
characterised Bellingham's hasty trial and execution as contrary to the
principles of justice.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Spencer_Perceval>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
868:
A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in China, making it the
world's oldest dated printed book.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Sutra>
1745:
War of the Austrian Succession: French forces defeated the
Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian "Pragmatic Army" at the Battle of Fontenoy in the
Austrian Netherlands in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fontenoy>
1813:
William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth departed
westward from Sydney on an expedition to become the first Europeans
confirmed to cross the Blue Mountains.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(New_South_Wales)>
1946:
The United Malays National Organisation, today Malaysia's
largest political party, was founded, originally to oppose the
constitutional framework of the Malayan Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Malays_National_Organisation>
1996:
A severe blizzard on Mount Everest caused the deaths of eight
climbers, helping make that year the deadliest in the mountain's history
at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Mount_Everest_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dudess:
1. A female dude.
2. (dated) A cowgirl.
3. A woman, generally a younger woman, especially one who is perceived to
be cool or hip.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dudess>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach
it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my
point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally.
Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path
whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed
to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first
understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a
belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must
not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a
creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti>
How a Mosquito Operates (1912) is a silent animated film by American
cartoonist Winsor McCay. The six-minute short, about a giant mosquito
tormenting a dozing man who tries in vain to shoo it away, is one of the
earliest works of animation. It is considered far ahead of its
contemporaries in its technical quality. McCay had a reputation for his
proficiency as a cartoonist, exemplified in the children's comic strip
Little Nemo in Slumberland. He delved into the infant art of animation
with the 1911 film Little Nemo, and followed its success by adapting an
episode of his comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend into How a
Mosquito Operates. McCay gives the animation naturalistic timing,
motion, and weight, and displays a more coherent story and developed
character than in Little Nemo. The film was enthusiastically received
when McCay first unveiled it during a chalk talk (a vaudeville act with
drawings) and in a theatrical release that soon followed. In 1914 McCay
further developed his character animation style in his best-known
animated work, Gertie the Dinosaur.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_a_Mosquito_Operates>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
28 BC:
The first recorded observation of a sunspot was made by Han
Dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_Han_dynasty>
1824:
The National Gallery in London opened to the public, in the
former townhouse of the collector John Julius Angerstein.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery>
1869:
The Golden Spike Ceremony was held at Promontory Summit, Utah,
celebrating the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the
United States between the Missouri and Sacramento Rivers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad>
1941:
World War II: Nazi leader Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland
in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess>
1981:
François Mitterrand was elected to be the first socialist
President of the French Fifth Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
manspreading:
(informal) The practice of men splaying their legs open wide when
sitting on public transport, thus occupying more than one seat.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/manspreading>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are magic. It is magic that we're walking around. It's
fantastic magic. Some people would call it miracles; I like to call it
magic. … I'm very aware of this. Yes, the more aware I get, the more I
can understand how big it is, how big it will get. It'll be harder to
comprehend; that's why I have to go along with it, 'cause its so vast.
To say to somebody that God is everything that lives and ever has lived
and ever will live, and you're never going to touch and see, smell and
be everything that is God. Magic is very hard to comprehend.
--Donovan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donovan>
The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season was unusually active, with
17 tropical cyclones, 15 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major
hurricanes. The first named storm, Subtropical Storm Andrea, developed
on May 9, and the last, Tropical Storm Olga, dissipated on
December 13. The season was one of only four on record with more than
one Category 5 hurricane, Dean and Felix. Tied for the seventh most
intense Atlantic hurricane of all time, Dean hit Mexico as the third
most intense Atlantic hurricane at landfall. Felix also made landfall at
Category 5 intensity, in Central America. None of the season's other
hurricanes exceeded Category 1. Five cyclones made landfall in the US:
Hurricane Humberto, Tropical Storm Gabrielle, and three tropical
depressions. Three storms directly affected Canada, although none
severely. The combined storms killed at least 423 people and caused
about $3 billion in damage. The names Dean, Felix and Noel were later
retired from the list of Atlantic tropical storm names.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Atlantic_hurricane_season>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1662:
The figure who later became Mr. Punch of the Punch and Judy
show made his first recorded appearance in England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_Judy>
1877:
Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu made a
speech in the Parliament that declared Romania was discarding Ottoman
suzerainty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihail_Kog%C4%83lniceanu>
1918:
First World War: Germany repelled Britain's second attempt to
blockade the Belgian port of Ostend.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Ostend_Raid>
1960:
The United States Food and Drug Administration announced it
would approve the use of Searle's Enovid for birth control, making it
the first oral contraceptive pill.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_oral_contraceptive_pill>
1977:
The Hotel Polen in Amsterdam was destroyed by fire, which
resulted in 33 deaths and 21 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Polen_fire>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hillman:
A native or inhabitant of hilly or mountainous country; a tribesman who
lives in the mountains.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hillman>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We can know America through our flag which is its symbol … In
our flag the barriers of time and space vanish. All America that ever
was and ever will be lives every moment in our flag. Wherever in the
world two or three of us stand together under our flag, all America is
there. When we stand proudly and salute our flag, that is what we know
wordlessly in the passing moment. … Understand that our flag is not
the cloth but the pattern of form and color manifested in the cloth …
It could have been any pattern once, but our fathers chose that one.
History has made it sacred. The honor paid it in uncounted acts of
individual reverence has made it live. Every morning in American
schoolrooms children present their hearts to our flag. Every morning and
evening we render it our military salutes. And so the pattern lives and
it can manifest itself in any number of bits of perishable cloth, but
the pattern is indestructible.
--Richard McKenna
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_McKenna>
Music for a Time of War is a 2011 Oregon Symphony concert recording of
four compositions: Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question (1906), John
Adams' The Wound-Dresser (1989), Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem
(1940) and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 4 (1935). The program
was performed on May 7 and May 8 under the artistic direction of Carlos
Kalmar at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (pictured) in Portland,
Oregon, and again on May 12 at Carnegie Hall. A concert album, the
orchestra's first in eight years, was released five months later on CD
by Dutch record label PentaTone Classics. The live performances and
album received favorable reviews; the recording debuted at number 31 on
Billboard's Classical Albums chart, and made several lists of the best
classical recordings of 2011. The album earned two nominations from the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the 2013 Grammy
Awards, and producer Blanton Alspaugh received the Grammy for Producer
of the Year, Classical, for his contributions to this and other
recordings.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_a_Time_of_War>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1842:
A train derailed and caught fire in Paris, killing between 52
and 200 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_rail_accident>
1886:
In Atlanta, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his
carbonated beverage Coca-Cola (glass pictured) as a patent medicine,
claiming that it cured a number of diseases.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola>
1924:
Lithuania signed the Klaipėda Convention with the nations of
the Conference of Ambassadors, taking the Klaipėda Region (German:
Memelland) from East Prussia and making it into an autonomous region
under unconditional sovereignty of Lithuania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaip%C4%97da_Convention>
1945:
A parade to celebrate the end of World War II turned into a
riot, followed by widespread disturbances and killings in and around
Sétif, French Algeria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre>
1972:
Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to
demand the release of 315 convicted Palestinian terrorists.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena_Flight_571>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quail:
1. (intransitive) To waste away; to fade, wither.
2. (transitive, now rare) To frighten, daunt (someone).
3. (intransitive) To lose heart or courage; to be daunted, fearful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there
would be no more wars.
--E. M. Forster
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._M._Forster>
American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse
who in 2015 became the 12th American Triple Crown winner, and the first
since Affirmed in 1978. He also became the only horse to win the
Breeders' Cup Classic along with all three Triple Crown races—the
Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. He was bred and
owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat's Zayat Stables,
trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor
Espinoza. After the Belmont, he easily won the Haskell Invitational on
August 2. On August 29, he finished a close second at Travers Stakes at
Saratoga Race Course, snapping a winning streak of eight races. After a
layoff of two months, he shipped to Keeneland for the 2015 Breeders' Cup
and contended in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he challenged older
horses for the first time and won by 6 1⁄2 lengths, breaking the
track record. He was retired at the conclusion of his 2015 racing year
and now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre established the Cult
of the Supreme Being as the new state religion of the French First
Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Supreme_Being>
1824:
Ludwig van Beethoven's last complete symphony, the Symphony No.
9 in D minor, which incorporates part of Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode
to Joy" in its fourth movement, premiered at the Kärntnertortheater in
Vienna.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)>
1920:
Polish–Soviet War: During the Kiev Offensive, Polish troops,
with the help of a symbolic Ukrainian force, captured Kiev, only to be
driven out by the Soviet Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Offensive_(1920)>
1946:
Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded the Tokyo
Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, which later changed its name
to Sony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony>
2007:
A team of Israeli archaeologists discovered the tomb of 1st
century BC ruler of Judea Herod the Great.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lady who lunches:
(chiefly in the plural) A lady who is affluent and thus able to have
lunch with other such ladies in relatively expensive restaurants.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lady_who_lunches>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of
receiving it as guest.
--Rabindranath Tagore
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore>
Russula virescens is a fungus that produces a mushroom commonly known as
the green-cracking Russula. It has a distinctive pale green cap up to
15 cm (6 in) wide, with a surface covered with angular patches in a
darker green. It has white gills and a firm white stalk up to 8 cm
(3 in) tall and 4 cm (1.6 in) thick. With a taste that is variously
described as mild, nutty, fruity, or sweet, it is regarded as one of the
best edible mushrooms of the genus Russula. Popular in Spain and China,
it can be grilled, fried, sautéed, or eaten raw. The species fruits
singly or scattered on the ground in both deciduous and mixed forests,
and is symbiotic with roots of broadleaf trees such as oak, European
beech, aspen, and some Asian lowland rainforest trees of the family
Dipterocarpaceae. First described in 1774 by Jacob Christian Schaeffer,
the species is native to Asia, North Africa, Europe, Central America,
and possibly North America. The mushroom contains a unique laccase
enzyme that can break down various dyes in laboratory and textile
wastewater.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula_virescens>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
The army of Inca Emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui began a 10-month
siege of Cuzco against a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian
auxiliaries led by Hernando Pizarro.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Cuzco>
1782:
Construction began on the Grand Palace of Bangkok, the official
residence of the King of Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace>
1941:
American entertainer Bob Hope performed the first of his many
shows for the United Service Organizations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hope>
1991:
Time magazine published "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power",
an article highly critical of the Scientology organization, leading to
years of legal conflict that ended when the Church of Scientology's
petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United
States in the case was denied in 2001.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thriving_Cult_of_Greed_and_Power>
2002:
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was assassinated by animal rights
and environmental activist Volkert van der Graaf in Hilversum, marking
the first political murder on Dutch soil since 1672.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Pim_Fortuyn>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
supererogation:
1. An act of doing more than is required.
2. (philosophy) An action that is neither morally forbidden or required,
but has moral value.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/supererogation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All shall be well, I'm telling you, let the winter come and go All
shall be well again, I know.
--Sydney Carter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Carter>
The Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge is a historic bridge across the
Cacapon River in Capon Lake, West Virginia. The bridge's Whipple truss
technology was developed by civil engineer Squire Whipple in 1847, and
modified by J. W. Murphy in 1859 to include pinned eyebar connections.
The bridge is West Virginia's oldest remaining Whipple truss bridge and
its oldest intact metal truss bridge. The structure was originally built
in a different location in 1874 as part of a larger two-span bridge
conveying the Northwestern Turnpike across the South Branch Potomac
River near Romney. When a new bridge was constructed at this site in
1937, the old bridge was dismantled and relocated to the current site in
Capon Lake in southeastern Hampshire County to carry Capon Springs Road
between West Virginia Route 259 and Capon Springs. The bridge was
dedicated on August 20, 1938. In 1991 a new bridge was completed to the
south, and the existing bridge was preserved in place by the West
Virginia Division of Highways, due to its rarity, age, and engineering
significance. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 2011.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capon_Lake_Whipple_Truss_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
553:
The Second Council of Constantinople, considered by many
Christian churches to have been the fifth Christian Ecumenical Council,
began to discuss the topics of Nestorianism and Origenism, among others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Constantinople>
1809:
Mary Dixon Kies became the first American woman to receive a
patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dixon_Kies>
1912:
The Bolshevik newspaper Pravda (issue pictured) was first
published in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravda>
1980:
The British Special Air Service stormed the Iranian Embassy in
London, six days after Iranian Arab separatists had seized it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege>
1991:
Rioting broke out in Washington, D.C., after a rookie police
officer shot a Salvadorean man in the chest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Washington,_D.C._riot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smitten:
1. Made irrationally enthusiastic.
2. In love.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smitten>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there
are things which it cannot understand, and what those things are. Human
understanding has vulgarly occupied itself with nothing but
understanding, but if it would only take the trouble to understand
itself at the same time it would simply have to posit the paradox.
--Søren Kierkegaard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard>
Two Shōkaku-class aircraft carriers, Shōkaku and Zuikaku, were
commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. They
participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Indian Ocean Raid, and
the battles of the Coral Sea, the Eastern Solomons, and the Santa Cruz
Islands. Their air groups sank two of the four fleet carriers lost by
the United States Navy during the war in addition to one elderly British
light carrier. Returning to Japan after the Battle of the Coral Sea to
repair damage and replace lost aircraft, they missed the Battle of
Midway in June 1942. After the catastrophic loss of four carriers during
that battle, they formed the bulk of Japan's carrier force for the rest
of the war. Shōkaku was sunk by an American submarine during the Battle
of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 as the Americans invaded the Mariana
Islands, and Zuikaku was sacrificed as part of a decoy force four months
later in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, both with heavy loss of life.
Historian Mark Peattie called them "arguably the best aircraft carriers"
of the early 1940s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dkaku-class_aircraft_carrier>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1436:
Swedish rebel and later national hero Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
was assassinated in the midst of his rebellion against Eric of
Pomerania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbrekt_Engelbrektsson>
1814:
Ferdinand VII abolished the Spanish Constitution of 1812,
returning Spain to absolutism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Constitution_of_1812>
1836:
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic fraternal
organization, was founded in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Order_of_Hibernians>
1945:
Second World War: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the
unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands,
northwest Germany, and Denmark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_surrender_at_L%C3%BCneburg_Heath>
1979:
Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, following the defeat of James Callaghan's incumbent
Labour government in the previous day's general election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
skywalker:
1. (usually figuratively) One who walks in the sky.
2. (specifically) A member of the Mohawk group of Native Americans;
especially one who is or was involved in steelworking on tall buildings
in New York City.
3. (by extension from the previous) Any ironworker working at a height.
4. One who walks along a skywalk or skyway.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skywalker>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The foundation of morality is to have done, once and for all, with
lying; to give up pretending to believe that for which there is no
evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond
the possibilities of knowledge.
--T. H. Huxley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._H._Huxley>
The Carpet from Bagdad is a 1915 American silent adventure film directed
by Colin Campbell, based on Harold MacGrath's 1911 novel of the same
name. In the story, Horace Wadsworth (played by Guy Oliver), one of a
gang of criminals planning a bank robbery in New York, steals a prayer
rug from a Baghdad mosque. He sells the carpet to antique dealer George
Jones (Wheeler Oakman) to fund the robbery scheme. The carpet's guardian
kidnaps both men and Fortune Chedsoye (Kathlyn Williams), the innocent
daughter of another conspirator, but they escape. Marketing for the film
included a media tour of part of the set and an invitation-only
screening sponsored by the publisher of MacGrath's book. The Carpet from
Bagdad was released on 3 May 1915 to mostly positive reviews. Many
praised the tinted desert scenes and realistic Middle East imagery,
although some felt the scenery overshadowed the characters. The film is
now lost, except for one badly damaged reel salvaged from the RMS
Lusitania in 1982. Images from several feet of the reel were recovered
by the British Film Institute's National Archive.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carpet_from_Bagdad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1491:
Nkuwu Nzinga of the Kingdom of Kongo was baptised as João I by
Portuguese missionaries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_I_of_Kongo>
1791:
The Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, the oldest
codified national constitution in Europe, was adopted by the Great Sejm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_May_3,_1791>
1921:
The island of Ireland was divided into two distinct
territories: Northern and Southern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_Ireland>
1960:
The Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks made its premiere,
eventually becoming the world's longest-running musical.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasticks>
2007:
Four-year-old Madeleine McCann was abducted while on holiday
with her family in Portugal, sparking "the most heavily reported
missing-person case in modern history."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
needn't:
(Britain) Need not.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/needn%27t>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever men are not obliged to fight from necessity, they fight
from ambition; which is so powerful in human breasts, that it never
leaves them no matter to what rank they rise. The reason is that nature
has so created men that they are able to desire everything but are not
able to attain everything: so that the desire being always greater than
the acquisition, there results discontent with the possession and little
satisfaction to themselves from it
--Niccolò Machiavelli
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli>
The noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) is a bird native to eastern and
south-eastern Australia in the honeyeater family. It is grey with a
black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch
behind the eye and white tips on the tail feathers. Its almost constant
vocalizations, particularly from young birds, include a large range of
calls, scoldings and alarms. Primarily inhabiting dry, open eucalypt
forests without understory shrubs, noisy miners are gregarious and
territorial; they forage, bathe, roost, breed and defend territory
communally, forming colonies of up to several hundred birds. Birds that
live close to each other form stable associations called coteries.
Temporary flocks are formed for activities such as mobbing a predator.
The noisy miner is an aggressive bird, chasing, pecking, fighting,
scolding, and mobbing both intruders and colony members throughout the
day. The bird's numbers have increased significantly in many locations
across its range, particularly in human-dominated habitats in which
avian diversity has decreased.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisy_miner>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1670:
A Royal Charter granted the Hudson's Bay Company a monopoly in
the fur trade in Rupert's Land.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company>
1757:
Konbaung forces captured the city of Bago, Burma, to end the
Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konbaung%E2%80%93Hanthawaddy_War>
1945:
World War II: General Helmuth Weidling, commander of the German
troops in Berlin, surrendered the city to Soviet forces led by Marshal
Georgy Zhukov, ending the Battle of Berlin (Soviet soldiers pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin>
1986:
Henri Toivonen was killed in an accident while leading the Tour
de Corse rally, resulting in FISA banning the popular Group B rally cars
for the following season.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Toivonen>
2011:
Osama bin Laden was shot and killed by U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 in
a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mental gymnastics:
1. Difficult and complex logical thought processes.
2. (pejorative) Inventive, complex arguments used to justify unjustifiable
decisions, or situations.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mental_gymnastics>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No explanation is required for Holy Writing. Whoso speaks truly is
full of eternal life, and wonderfully related to genuine mysteries does
his Writing appear to us, for it is a Concord from the Symphony of the
Universe.
--Novalis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Novalis>