The smooth toadfish (Tetractenos glaber) is a species in the pufferfish
family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine
waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant.
French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville described
the species in 1813, though early records confused it with what is now
the only other member of its genus, the common toadfish (T. hamiltonii).
Up to 16 cm (6 1⁄4 in) long with distinctive leopard-like dark
markings on its upperparts, the smooth toadfish has a flattened belly
and an elongate body tapering to a slender tail. Its back and fins are
rounded. Unlike most of its relatives, it does not have prominent spines
on its body. Like other pufferfish, it can inflate itself with water or
air. It forages for its preferred foods—molluscs and crustaceans—in
sandy or muddy sediment. Often an unwanted catch by anglers, the smooth
toadfish's flesh contains the poison tetrodotoxin, and eating it may
result in death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_toadfish>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1423:
Hundred Years' War: The English and their Burgundian allies
were victorious over the French at the Battle of Cravant near Auxerre,
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cravant>
1777:
The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing
French nobleman the Marquis de Lafayette to enter the American
revolutionary forces as a Major General.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette>
1941:
The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann
Göring ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle "the final
solution of the Jewish question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution>
1991:
The Soviet Union and the United States signed the bilateral
START I treaty, the largest and most complex arms control treaty in
history, which eventually removed 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons
then in existence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_I>
2006:
Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally
transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006%E2%80%9308_Cuban_transfer_of_presidentia…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
i18n:
(software engineering) Abbreviation of internationalization.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/i18n>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The wizards represent all that the true "muggle" most fears: They
are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more
unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit!
--J. K. Rowling
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling>
In 1988, Orel Hershiser set the record in Major League Baseball for
consecutive scoreless innings pitched. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher's
streak of 59 innings spanned from the sixth inning of an August 30 game
against the Montreal Expos to the tenth inning of a September 28 game
against the San Diego Padres, not counting eight scoreless innings he
pitched to start Game 1 of the 1988 National League Championship Series
on October 4. The previous record of 58 2⁄3 innings was set by former
Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale in 1968; as the team's radio announcer,
Drysdale called Hershiser's streak as he pursued the new record.
Following the regular season, Hershiser was awarded the National League
Cy Young Award. In the playoffs, he earned both the National League
Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) and the World
Series MVP Award. He also secured Sportsman of the Year and Associated
Press Athlete of the Year honors. He continued to be an effective
pitcher for many seasons, making two additional appearances in the World
Series and winning the 1995 American League Championship Series MVP
Award.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orel_Hershiser%27s_scoreless_innings_streak>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1811:
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, an early leader of the Mexican War
of Independence, was executed by Spanish authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla>
1825:
Malden Island, now one of Kiribati's Line Islands, was
discovered by Captain The 7th Lord Byron.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malden_Island>
1916:
German agents caused a major explosion when they sabotaged
American ammunition supplies in New Jersey to prevent the materiel from
being used by the Allies of World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion>
1950:
Four striking workers were shot dead by the Gendarmerie in
Belgium at the height of the political crisis known as the Royal
Question.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Question>
2006:
Lebanon War: The Israeli Air Force attacked a three-story
building near the South Lebanese village of Qana, killing at least 28
civilians, including 16 children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qana_airstrike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sett:
1. The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.
2. The pattern of distinctive threads and yarns that make up the plaid of a
Scottish tartan.
3. A small, square-cut piece of quarried stone used for paving and edging.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sett>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Soon it will be the phase of the moon When people tune in. Every
girl knows about the punctual blues, But who's to know the power behind
our moves? A day of coincidence with the radio And a word that won't go
away We know what they're all going to say "G" arrives, funny, had a
feeling he was on his way … We raise our hats to the strange
phenomena. Soul-birds of a feather flock together.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>
Silverplate was the codename for the United States Army Air Forces'
participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally
the name for the aircraft modification project for the B-29
Superfortress bomber to enable it to drop an atomic weapon, Silverplate
eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the
program as well. Modifications began in November 1943 on a prototype
B-29 known as the "Pullman", used for bomb flight testing at Muroc Army
Air Field in California commencing in March 1944. Seventeen production
Silverplate aircraft were ordered in August 1944 for 509th Composite
Group training, and to allow the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit to test
bomb configurations. In February 1945, 28 more were ordered, including
Bockscar (pictured), the plane that carried out the atomic bombing of
Nagasaki in August 1945. A total of 65 Silverplate B-29s were made. The
use of the Silverplate codename was discontinued after the war;
modifications to an additional 80 aircraft continued under a new
codename, Saddletree.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverplate>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1014:
Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Forces of the Byzantine Empire
defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the
Belasica Mountains near present-day Klyuch, Bulgaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kleidion>
1858:
Japan reluctantly signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, an
unequal treaty giving the United States various commercial and
diplomatic privileges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amity_and_Commerce_(United_States%E…>
1899:
The first Hague Convention, among the first formal statements
of the laws of war and war crimes in international law, was signed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Conventions_of_1899_and_1907>
1958:
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National
Aeronautics and Space Act into law, establishing a new federal non-
military space agency known as NASA.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA>
1987:
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.
R. Jayewardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in an ultimately
unsuccessful attempt to resolve the ongoing Sri Lankan Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Sri_Lanka_Accord>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
platypusary:
A place where platypuses are nurtured.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/platypusary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whether or not it was a coincidence, Jurgen met precisely the
vampire of whom he had inveigled his father into thinking. She was the
most seductively beautiful creature that it would be possible for
Jurgen's father or any other man to imagine: and her clothes were
orange-colored, for a reason sufficiently well known in Hell, and were
embroidered everywhere with green fig–leaves. "A good morning to you,
madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you going?" "Why, to no place at
all, good youth. For this is my vacation, granted yearly by the Law of
Kalki —" "And who is Kalki, madame?" "Nobody as yet: but he will come
as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law precedes him, so that I am spending my
vacation peacefully in Hell, with none of my ordinary annoyances to
bother me." "And what, madame, can they be?" "Why, you must understand
that it is little rest a vampire gets on earth, with so many fine young
fellows like yourself going about everywhere eager to be destroyed."
--James Branch Cabell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell>
Horace Greeley (1811–1872) was editor of the New-York Tribune, as well
as the Democratic and Liberal Republican candidate in the 1872 U.S.
presidential election. Born to a poor family in New Hampshire, Greeley
in 1831 went to New York City to seek his fortune. He lived there the
rest of his life, but also spent much time at his farm in Chappaqua. In
1841, he founded the Tribune, which became the highest-circulating
newspaper in the country. He urged the settlement of the American West,
popularizing the phrase "Go West, young man, and grow up with the
country", though it is uncertain if he invented it. Greeley was briefly
a Whig congressman from New York, and helped found the Republican Party
in 1854. When the Civil War broke out, he mostly supported President
Abraham Lincoln, and urged the end of slavery. Greeley ran in 1872 in an
attempt to unseat President Ulysses Grant, whose administration he
deemed corrupt, but lost in a landslide. Devastated at the defeat, he
died three weeks after Election Day.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Greeley>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1821:
Peruvian War of Independence: Argentine general José de San
Martín declared the independence of Peru from Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_de_San_Mart%C3%ADn>
1866:
At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream became the youngest artist and
first woman to receive a commission from the United States government
for a statue—that of Abraham Lincoln in the US Capitol rotunda.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinnie_Ream>
1915:
US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince to begin a 20-year
occupation of Haiti.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti>
1932:
US President Herbert Hoover ordered the eviction of the "Bonus
Army"—a group of veterans who were occupying government property to
demand immediate payment for money owed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army>
2001:
At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan,
Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at
a single World Championships.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brazen:
1. (archaic) Pertaining to, made of, or resembling brass (in color or
strength).
2. Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
3. (archaic) Extremely strong; impenetrable.
4. Shamelessly shocking and offensive; impudent; barefaced; immodest; or
unblushing.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brazen>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The deep desire to inspire people, to take an active part in the
life of the country … attracts our best people to political life …
We should all do something to right the wrongs that we see and not just
complain about them. We owe that to our country.
--Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis>
SS Washingtonian was a cargo ship launched in 1913 by the Maryland Steel
Company, one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship
Company and the largest cargo ship under American registry at the time.
During the American occupation of Veracruz in April 1914, the ship was
chartered by the Department of the Navy for service as a refrigerated
supply ship for the U.S. fleet stationed off the Mexican coast. In
January 1915, after a little more than one year of service,
Washingtonian collided with the schooner Elizabeth Palmer off the
Delaware coast after the cargo ship's captain misjudged the schooner's
rapid pace. Washingtonian sank in ten minutes with the loss of a
$1,000,000 cargo of raw Hawaiian sugar. In the days after the sinking,
the price of sugar in the United States increased almost 9%, partly
attributed to the loss of this cargo. Lying under approximately 100 feet
(30 m) of water, the wreck is one of the most popular recreational dive
sites on the eastern seaboard.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Washingtonian_(1913)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1302:
Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman sultanate gained its
first major victory against the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of
Bapheus in Bithynia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bapheus>
1778:
Anglo-French War: French and British fleets fought to a
standoff west of Ushant, which led to political disputes in both
countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ushant_(1778)>
1916:
British mariner Charles Fryatt was executed at Bruges, Belgium,
after a court-martial found him to be a franc-tireur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fryatt>
1953:
An armistice was signed to end hostilities in the Korean War,
officially making the Division of Korea indefinite by creating an
approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide demilitarized zone across the Korean
Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone>
2002:
A Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft crashed during an
aerobatics presentation at an airshow near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 84
people and injuring over 100 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sknyliv_air_show_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
baby carrot:
1. A carrot harvested and sold when immature and of a small size.
2. A small piece cut from a larger carrot.
3. The term baby-cut carrot is sometimes used for the second sense,
especially to distinguish it from the first sense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baby_carrot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In a word, the Barbarian is discoverable everywhere in this that
he cannot make; that he can befog or destroy, but that he cannot
sustain; and of every Barbarian in the decline or peril of every
civilisation exactly that has been true. We sit by and watch the
Barbarian, we tolerate him; in the long stretches of peace we are not
afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence, his comic inversion of our
old certitudes and our fixed creeds refreshes us: we laugh. But as we
laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond: and on these
faces there is no smile.
--Hilaire Belloc
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hilaire_Belloc>
Pavo is a constellation in the southern sky with the Latin name for
peacock. It is one of twelve constellations conceived by Petrus Plancius
from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de
Houtman. First appearing on a 35 cm (14 in) diameter celestial globe
published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius, it was
depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. The
constellation's brightest member, Alpha Pavonis, is also known as
Peacock and appears as a 1.91-magnitude blue-white star, but is actually
a spectroscopic binary. Delta Pavonis is a Sun-like star some 19.9 light
years distant. Six of the star systems in Pavo have been found to host
planets, including HD 181433 with a super-earth, and HD 172555 with
evidence of a major interplanetary collision in the past few thousand
years. The constellation contains NGC 6752, the third-brightest globular
cluster in the sky, and the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, which closely
resembles our Milky Way but is twice as large.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavo_(constellation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1581:
Representatives of the States General of the Netherlands signed
the Act of Abjuration, declaring the independence of the Dutch Low
Countries from King Philip II of Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Abjuration>
1882:
Boer mercenaries declared their independence from the Transvaal
Republic and established the Republic of Stellaland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaland>
1936:
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to the Canadian
Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was
unveiled near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial>
1953:
Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately
160 rebels in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus
beginning the Cuban Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moncada_Barracks>
2008:
One day after similar bombings in Bangalore, 21 bombs exploded
in Ahmedabad, India, killing 56 people and injuring over 200 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Ahmedabad_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thimblerig:
1. A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three
small cups (or thimbles) a pea-sized object has been placed after the
party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity
for sleight-of-hand trickery; a shell game.
2. One operating such a game.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thimblerig>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The masses demand a fighting President, and that means you’ve
got to offend somebody, because the way I see it, a strong offense is
the best attack. So what can you offend? That’s an easy one. Offend
the other candidates, because they’ll be too busy talking to hear you,
and besides, they might not vote for you anyway.
--Gracie Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gracie_Allen>
The 1880 Democratic National Convention met June 22–24, 1880, at the
Music Hall (pictured) in Cincinnati, Ohio, nominating Winfield S.
Hancock of Pennsylvania for president and William H. English of Indiana
for vice president. Six men were officially candidates for nomination at
the convention, and several more received votes. The two leading
candidates were Hancock and Thomas F. Bayard, a conservative senator
from Delaware. Many Democrats believed that Samuel J. Tilden of New York
had been unjustly deprived of the presidency in 1876 and hoped to rally
around him in the 1880 campaign, but his intentions were unclear. The
first round of balloting was inconclusive. After learning of Tilden's
withdrawal before the second round of balloting, the delegates flocked
to Hancock, a career soldier and Civil War hero, who was nominated.
English, a conservative from a swing state, was nominated for vice
president. Hancock and English were narrowly defeated by Republicans
James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur that autumn.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880_Democratic_National_Convention>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
306:
Constantine the Great was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops
after the death of Constantius Chlorus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great>
1814:
War of 1812: In present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario, the United
States and Great Britain engaged in Battle of Lundy's Lane, one of the
deadliest ever fought on Canadian soil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lundy%27s_Lane>
1893:
The Corinth Canal, which bisects the narrow Isthmus of Corinth,
was formally opened, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean
Sea's Saronic Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal>
1978:
Two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists were killed in a
police ambush at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Maravilla_murders>
2000:
Air France Concorde Flight 4590, en route from Paris to New
York City, crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all 100 passengers and
nine crew members, as well as four people on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shindig:
A noisy party or festivities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shindig>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as
ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others
when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate
ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to
sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves. It is not
love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles
that afflict our world.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
The fungus Chalciporus piperatus, commonly known as the peppery bolete,
is a small mushroom of the family Boletaceae found in mixed woodland in
Europe and North America, and occasionally in Brazil. It has also become
naturalised in Tasmania, under native myrtle beech trees. A small
bolete, it has a 1.6–9 cm (0.6–3.5 in) orange-fawn cap with
cinnamon or brown pores underneath, and a 4–9.5 cm (1.6–3.7 in)
stalk. The rare variety hypochryseus, found only in Europe, has yellow
pores and tubes. Described by Pierre Bulliard in 1790 as Boletus
piperatus, it is only distantly related to other members of the genus
Boletus and was reclassified as Chalciporus piperatus by Frédéric
Bataille in 1908. Chalciporus was an early branching lineage in its
family and appears to be related to boletes with parasitic properties.
Previously thought to be symbiotic with tree roots, C. piperatus is now
suspected of being parasitic on the mushroom Amanita muscaria. The flesh
of C. piperatus has a very peppery taste, and can be used as a
condiment or flavouring.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalciporus_piperatus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and the Russian Empire signed the
Treaty of Georgievsk, establishing Georgia as a protectorate of Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Georgievsk>
1847:
Brigham Young led the first group of Mormon pioneers into the
Salt Lake Valley of Utah, at the time a part of Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young>
1911:
In the Peruvian Andes, American explorer Hiram Bingham re-
discovered Machu Picchu, then thought to be the "Lost City of the
Incas".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu>
1963:
Bluenose II, a replica fishing schooner and major Canadian
symbol, was launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluenose_II>
2001:
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was
a child, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming one of the
first monarchs in history to regain political power through a democratic
election to a different office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
schlep:
1. (transitive, informal) To carry, drag, or lug.
2. (intransitive, informal) To go, as on an errand or task.
3. (intransitive, informal) To act in a slovenly, lazy, or sloppy manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schlep>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Up with life. Stamp out all small and large indignities. Leave
everyone alone to make it without pressure. Down with hurting. Lower the
standard of living. Do without plastics. Smash the servo-mechanisms.
Stop grabbing. Snuff the breeze and hug the kids. Love all love. Hate
all hate.
--John D. MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald>
Ian Dougald McLachlan (23 July 1911 – 14 July 1991) was a senior
commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A Duntroon cadet
before he joined the Air Force, McLachlan took command of No. 3
Squadron in December 1939, leading it into action in the Middle East
less than a year later. He was posted to the South West Pacific in 1943,
commanding successively Nos. 71 and 73 Wings. He took over Southern
Area Command in 1944, and No. 81 Wing in the Dutch East Indies the
following year. Raised to air commodore in 1946, McLachlan served with
the British Commonwealth Air Group in Japan until 1948. After leading
North-Eastern Area Command in 1951–53, he attended the Imperial
Defence College, London. Promoted to air vice marshal, he returned to
Australia in 1957 as Air Officer Commanding Training Command, carrying
out major reviews on the RAAF's educational and command systems. He was
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1959–61, and then Head of the
Australian Joint Services Staff in Washington, DC, until 1963.
McLachlan's final post before retiring in 1968 was as Air Member for
Supply and Equipment. He was a consultant to Northrop after leaving the
RAAF.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Dougald_McLachlan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
William Austin Burt was awarded a patent for the typographer,
the first practical typewriting machine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographer_(typewriter)>
1914:
Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum to allow
them to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, that
Serbia would ultimately reject, leading to World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis>
1942:
The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp
began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the
Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treblinka_extermination_camp>
1970:
Qaboos overthrew his father Said bin Taimur to become Sultan of
Oman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaboos_bin_Said_al_Said>
1986:
Sarah Ferguson married Prince Andrew, Duke of York at
Westminster Abbey, joining the British Royal Family as the Duchess of
York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah,_Duchess_of_York>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mare's nest:
1. A great discovery which turns out to be illusory; a hoax.
2. A confused or complicated situation; a muddle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mare%27s_nest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must never lose sight of the fact that the law has a moral
foundation, and we must never fail to ask ourselves not only what the
law is, but what the law should be.
--Anthony Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Kennedy>
Mischief Makers is a 1997 side-scrolling platform video game, the first
for the Nintendo 64, developed by Treasure and published by Enix and
Nintendo. The player assumes the role of Marina, a robotic maid who
grabs, shakes and throws objects in her journey to rescue her creator
from the emperor of Planet Clancer. The game is presented in 2.5D, with
pre-rendered 3D backgrounds behind 2D gameplay. A 12-person team
developed the game over two years as Treasure's first title for a
Nintendo console. It was first shown at the 1997 Electronic
Entertainment Expo and released later that year. The game's reviews were
mixed: they praised its inventiveness, personality, and boss fights, but
criticized its brevity, low difficulty, low replay value, sound, and
harsh introductory learning curve. Retrospective reviewers disagreed
with the originally poor reception, and several highlighted Marina's
signature "Shake, shake!" sound bite. In 2009, GamesRadar called it
"possibly the most underrated and widely ignored game on the N64".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_Makers>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
838:
Arab–Byzantine wars: The forces of the Abbasid Caliphate
defeated Byzantine Empire troops, led by Emperor Theophilos himself, at
the Battle of Anzen near present-day Dazman, Turkey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Anzen>
1894:
Despite finishing in first place in the world's first auto
race, Jules-Albert de Dion did not win, as his steam-powered car was
against the rules.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules-Albert_de_Dion>
1950:
Following an indecisive referendum, King Leopold III, accused
of collaboration with Nazi Germany, returned to Belgium, beginning an
escalation of the political crisis known as the Royal Question.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Question>
1991:
American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after police discovered human remains in his
apartment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer>
2002:
The Israeli Defense Forces dropped a bomb on the home of Salah
Shehade, the leader of the military arm of Hamas, killing him and his
family.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_Shehade>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cupboard:
1. (obsolete) A board or table used to openly hold and display silver plate
and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet.
2. (obsolete) Things displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly
valuable plate.
3. A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for
storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used
for storing other items.
4. (obsolete) Things stored in a cupboard; particularly food.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cupboard>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can
be, (b) that is the one and only way that the mediocre and the vile can
be transformed, and (c) doing that makes it that. Loving makes love.
Loving makes itself. We waste time looking for the perfect lover instead
of creating the perfect love.
--Tom Robbins
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins>