System Shock 2 is a first-person action role-playing survival horror
video game for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux, first released on
August 11, 1999. It was designed by Ken Levine and co-developed by
Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios. Originally written as a
standalone title, it became a sequel to the 1994 PC game System Shock
after Electronic Arts signed on as the publisher. In a cyberpunk
depiction of 2114, the player assumes the role of a soldier trying to
stem the outbreak of a genetic infection that has devastated a starship.
As in System Shock, gameplay consists of combat and exploration aided by
acquired special abilities such as hacking and psionics. System Shock 2
received positive reviews, but failed to meet commercial sales
expectations. Critics later determined that the game was highly
influential in subsequent game design, particularly on first-person
shooters, and considered it far ahead of its time. It has been included
in several lists of all-time best video games. OtherSide Entertainment
has been licensed the rights to produce a sequel, System Shock 3.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock_2>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1492:
The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected
Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave,_1492>
1828:
William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds, England, for the
murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_Murder>
1942:
Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a
patent for their "Secret Communications System", an early technique of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum that later became the basis for many
forms of today's wireless communication systems.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Antheil>
1965:
Violent race riots began in Watts, Los Angeles, California,
lasting for six days and leaving 34 people dead and 1,032 others
injured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_riots>
2012:
At least 306 people were killed and 3,000 others injured in a
pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_East_Azerbaijan_earthquakes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kayfabe:
(professional wrestling) The portrayal of events within the industry as
real; the portrayal of professional wrestling and the accompanying
storylines as not staged or worked.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kayfabe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to
establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule,
establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of
his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be
affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by
martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a
truth.
--Robert G. Ingersoll
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll>
Jerry Pentland (1894–1983) was an Australian fighter ace of World
War I. He saw action at Gallipoli as a Lighthorseman with the
Australian Imperial Force in 1915. Transferring to the Royal Flying
Corps in 1916, he was credited with 23 aerial victories to become the
fifth highest-scoring Australian ace of the war. He was awarded the
Military Cross for attacking an enemy airfield, and the Distinguished
Flying Cross for engaging four hostile aircraft single-handedly.
Pentland served in the fledgling Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and
later the Royal Air Force, before going into business in 1927. His
ventures included commercial flying around New Guinea goldfields. By the
early 1930s, he was a pilot with Australian National Airways. He re-
joined the RAAF during World War II, commanding rescue and
communications units in the South West Pacific. Perhaps the oldest
operational pilot in the RAAF, Pentland was responsible for several
rescues involving soldiers and civilians, and earned the Air Force Cross
for his bravery and skill. He became a trader in New Guinea after the
war, and later a coffee planter. He retired in 1959.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pentland>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1270:
Yekuno Amlak deposed the last Zagwe king and seized the
imperial throne of Ethiopia, beginning the reign of the Solomonic
dynasty that would last for more than 700 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yekuno_Amlak>
1628:
The Swedish warship Vasa (salvaged wreck pictured) sank after
sailing less than a nautical mile on her maiden voyage from Stockholm on
her way to fight in the Thirty Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)>
1792:
French Revolution: Insurrectionists in Paris stormed the
Tuileries Palace, effectively ending the French monarchy until it was
restored in 1814.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_August_(French_Revolution)>
1953:
First Indochina War: The French Union withdrew its forces from
Operation Camargue against the Viet Minh in central modern-day Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Camargue>
1981:
The severed head of kidnapped six-year-old Adam Walsh was found
in a canal in Vero Beach, Florida, prompting his father John to become
an advocate for victims' rights, helping to spur the formation of the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
keep shtum:
(intransitive, colloquial, idiomatic) Not tell anyone; especially, keep
silent about something that may be sensitive or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/keep_shtum>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The forces going on in the society are not things the media can
prevent or change. But we can and should help understand this crisis and
warn against false solutions. If feelings are trumping arguments — the
pun is fully intended — it doesn’t mean that arguments don’t still
have to be made. It may not win the news cycle. It may not even win this
election cycle. But it’s a critical task.
--Andrew Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan>
Albert Ketèlbey (9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English
composer, conductor, and pianist, best known for his light orchestral
music. He was born in Birmingham, moving to London in 1889 to study at
Trinity College of Music where he became musical director of the
Vaudeville Theatre. For many years Ketèlbey worked for music publishers
including Chappell & Co and the Columbia Graphophone Company, providing
arrangements for smaller orchestras. He composed accompanying music for
silent films; In a Monastery Garden (1915) sold over a million copies
and brought widespread notice. Later soundtracks for exotic scenes such
as In a Persian Market (1920, cover pictured), In a Chinese Temple
Garden (1923), and In the Mystic Land of Egypt (1931), became best-
sellers; by the late 1920s Ketèlbey was Britain's first millionaire
composer. His popularity waned during the Second World War. In 1949 he
retired to the Isle of Wight, where he died in obscurity. In a 2003 poll
by the BBC's Your Hundred Best Tunes, Bells across the Meadows was voted
the thirty-sixth most popular tune of all time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ket%C3%A8lbey>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1173:
Construction began on a campanile, which would eventually
become the Leaning Tower of Pisa (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa>
1914:
World War I: France launched its first attack of the war in an
ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mulhouse>
1945:
World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped a "Fat Man" atomic
bomb, devastating Nagasaki, Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man>
1971:
The Troubles: British authorities began arresting and interning
(without trial) people accused of being republican paramilitary members.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Demetrius>
2006:
British police arrested 24 people for conspiring to detonate
liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from
the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Pinkerton syndrome:
(chiefly Singapore, derogatory) The tendency of some Asians to regard
Caucasians as superior or more desirable, especially where marriage or
relationships are concerned. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pinkerton_syndrome>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am transparent An open book; There's no choice in the matter But
the breath from my mind Is living air, And the notes from my heart Are
what I share. Words weren't made for cowards.
--Happy Rhodes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Happy_Rhodes>
Christ Illusion is the tenth studio album by the American thrash metal
band Slayer. Released on August 8, 2006, the album received generally
favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200 at number
5—the band's second highest U.S. chart position. Christ Illusion
includes the Grammy Award-winning songs "Eyes of the Insane" and "Final
Six", and is the band's first studio album to feature original drummer
Dave Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. Depicting a mutilated
Christ painted by longtime collaborator Larry Carroll, the album's
graphic artwork courted controversy. An alternative cover was issued to
conservative retailers who felt uncomfortable with the original. The
band also put out a self-censored cover without the controversial
artwork. Lyrics, particularly in the song "Jihad", describe the
September 11 attacks from the perspective of a terrorist. Following
protests, all Indian stocks of the album were recalled and destroyed by
EMI India.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Illusion>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory
Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraniborg>
1786:
Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat completed the first
recorded ascent of Mont Blanc in the Alps, an act considered to be the
birth of modern mountaineering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc>
1946:
The first prototype of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, the first
nuclear weapon delivery vehicle to be mass-produced, flew for the first
time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker>
1956:
A major mining disaster killed 262 workers, mainly Italian
nationals, at the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_du_Cazier>
2008:
Eight people died and 64 more were injured when a EuroCity
express train en route to Prague, Czech Republic struck a part of a
motorway bridge that had fallen onto the track near Studénka station in
the Czech Republic and derailed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Stud%C3%A9nka_train_wreck>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disquiet:
Want of quiet; want of tranquility in body or mind; anxiety,
disturbance, restlessness, uneasiness.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disquiet>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I want to die a slave to principles. Not to men.
--Emiliano Zapata
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata>
The 1998 FA Charity Shield was the 76th in a series of annual English
football matches organised by The Football Association and usually
played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and
FA Cup competitions. It was contested on 9 August 1998 by Arsenal, who
won both titles the previous season, and Manchester United, the league
runners-up. Watched by a crowd of 67,342 at Wembley Stadium (pictured),
Arsenal took the lead when Marc Overmars scored 11 minutes before half-
time. They extended their lead in the second half, as Overmars and
Nicolas Anelka found Christopher Wreh, who put the ball into an empty
net at the second attempt. In the 72nd minute, Arsenal scored a third
goal, when Anelka got around Jaap Stam in the penalty box and shot the
ball past goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. Arsenal won the match 3–0,
United's first defeat in the Shield in 13 years. United completed a
treble of trophies in the 1998–99 season, winning the league, the FA
Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FA_Charity_Shield>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the
Tianshun Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>
1794:
US President George Washington invoked the Militia Acts of 1792
to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_Acts_of_1792>
1946:
The Soviet Union informed Turkey that the way the latter was
handling the Turkish Straits no longer represented the security
interests of its fellow Black Sea nations, escalating the Turkish
Straits crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Straits_crisis>
1978:
Two years after the discovery of toxic waste that had been
negligently disposed of, US President Jimmy Carter declared a federal
health emergency in the Love Canal neighborhood (pictured in 2012) of
Niagara Falls, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal>
2008:
Georgia launched a large-scale military offensive against the
separatist region of South Ossetia, opening the six-day Russo-Georgian
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
grass tops:
(idiomatic, plural only) People in a position of power or influence at a
local level.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grass_tops>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but
getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart
enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
--Garrison Keillor
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor>
The Waddesdon Bequest is a collection, left to the British Museum in
Baron Ferdinand Rothschild's will in 1898, taken from his New Smoking
Room at Waddesdon Manor. It includes almost 300 pieces of jewellery,
plate, enamel, carvings, glass and maiolica. Earlier than most objects
is the Holy Thorn Reliquary, probably created in the 1390s in Paris for
John, Duke of Berry. The wide-ranging collection is in the tradition of
a treasure house, such as those owned by the Renaissance princes of
Europe. Most of the objects are from late Renaissance Europe; there are
several important medieval pieces, and outliers from classical antiquity
and medieval Syria. Rothschild selected intricate, superbly executed,
highly decorated and rather ostentatious works of the Late Gothic,
Renaissance and Mannerist periods for this collection. Few of the
objects relied on the Baroque sculptural movement for their effect,
though several come from periods and places where many Baroque pieces
were being made. A new display for the collection, which under the terms
of the bequest must be kept and displayed together, opened in 2015.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddesdon_Bequest>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
achieved one of the greatest Lithuanian victories against the Tatars in
the Battle of Kletsk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kletsk>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Oriskany, one of the
bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the war, was fought
about six miles (10 km) east of Fort Stanwix, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oriskany>
1806:
The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by its last emperor,
Francis II, during the aftermath of the War of the Third Coalition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1956:
DuMont, one of the world's first television networks, aired its
last program.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuMont_Television_Network>
1996:
NASA announced that the meteorite known as ALH 84001,
discovered in the Allan Hills of Antarctica, may contain evidence of
life on Mars, but further tests were inconclusive.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hills_84001>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nudiustertian:
(rare, obsolete, modern uses probably humorous) Of or relating to the
day before yesterday; very recent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nudiustertian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky! A young man will be
wiser by and by; An old man's wit may wander ere he die. Rain, rain, and
sun! a rainbow on the lea! And truth is this to me, and that to thee;
And truth or clothed or naked let it be. Rain, sun, and rain! and the
free blossom blows: Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows? From
the great deep to the great deep he goes.
--Idylls of the King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Idylls_of_the_King>
Harry Trott (1866–1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test
matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Trott was a versatile
batsman, spin bowler and fielder. As a captain, he was assertive,
respected by teammates and opponents alike and quick to spot a weakness
in opponents. Trott made his Test debut in 1888 and toured England four
times; on his last tour, he was elected captain by his team-mates.
England won the series and retained The Ashes, but Trott's captaincy was
praised by the likes of Ranjitsinhji and Wisden. In the return series in
Australia, Trott led his side to victory, regaining The Ashes in a win
credited as aiding the federation of the Australian colonies. A
mysterious illness in 1898 abruptly ended Trott's Test career. After
more than a year in Kew Asylum, he recovered and returned to first-class
cricket for nearly 10 years. After retirement from cricket Trott served
as a selector for the Victoria cricket team. A good-humoured man, Trott
once played a joke on his friends by giving each a cigar butt supposedly
smoked by royalty. When he died, well-wishers contributed to a monument
over his grave.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Trott>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
25:
Guangwu claimed the throne as emperor of the Han dynasty after
Wang Mang, who had seized the throne himself and proclaimed the Xin
dynasty, died when peasant rebels besieged Chang'an.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_the_Han_dynasty>
1772:
Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria began the First Partition
of Poland to help restore the regional balance of power in Eastern
Europe among those three countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Partition_of_Poland>
1888:
Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, going
106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-
Motorwagen, returning the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz>
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine
Campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani>
1981:
US President Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of
the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organiza…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
only game in town:
(idiomatic, almost always preceded by the) The only opportunity,
activity, or resource available.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/only_game_in_town>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do believe in this evolution of consciousness as the only thing
which we can embark on, or in fact, willy-nilly, are embarked on; and
along with that will go the spiritual discoveries and, I feel, the
inexhaustible wonder that one feels, that opens more and more the more
you know. It’s simply that this increasing knowledge constantly
enlarges your kingdom and the capacity for admiring and loving the
universe.
--Conrad Aiken
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Conrad_Aiken>
Maurice Richard (1921–2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey
player. He played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the
Montreal Canadiens between 1942 and 1960. A prolific scorer, he was the
first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season and the
first to reach 500 career goals. An eight-time Stanley Cup champion, he
won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player in 1947 and played in 13
consecutive All-Star Games. Richard was a cultural icon for Quebec's
Francophone population, as recounted in the short story The Hockey
Sweater, which elevated him to a pan-Canadian hero. His 1955 suspension
for striking an official precipitated the Richard Riot; some historians
consider the incident a violent manifestation of Francophone Quebec's
dissatisfaction over its place within Canada and a precursor to the
Quiet Revolution. Richard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in
1961 and was named to the Order of Canada in 1967. The Canadiens retired
his jersey number, 9, in 1960, and in 1998 donated the Maurice "Rocket"
Richard Trophy to the NHL, awarded annually to the league's regular
season leading goal-scorer.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Richard>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
A cataclysmic eruption of Mount Asama, the most active volcano
in Japan, killed roughly 1,400 people and exacerbated a famine,
resulting in another 20,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Asama>
1914:
First World War: Adhering to the terms in the 1839 Treaty of
London, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in response to the
latter's invasion of Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_London_(1839)>
1964:
A second US Navy destroyer was reportedly attacked by North
Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize
the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident>
1983:
A coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré and supported by
Libya made Thomas Sankara President of the Republic of Upper Volta (now
Burkina Faso).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara>
2006:
Sri Lankan Civil War: Seventeen employees of the French INGO
ACF International were massacred in Muttur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Trincomalee_massacre_of_NGO_workers>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
periplus:
1. A circumnavigation; a sea voyage around a coastline.
2. A record of such a voyage.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/periplus>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
America has changed over the years. But these values that my
grandparents taught me — they haven’t gone anywhere. They’re as
strong as ever, still cherished by people of every party, every race,
every faith. They live on in each of us. What makes us American, what
makes us patriots is what’s in here. That’s what matters. … And
that’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of
other countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own. That’s
why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to
build new factories and create new industries here. That’s why our
military can look the way it does — every shade of humanity, forged
into common service. That’s why anyone who threatens our values,
whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues,
will always fail in the end. That is America. That is America. Those
bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we
shape it. We embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on
our own.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
The Thorpe affair of the 1970s was a British political and sex scandal
that ended the career of Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal Party
and Member of Parliament for North Devon. The scandal arose from
allegations by Norman Scott of a homosexual affair, at a time when such
relationships were illegal in the United Kingdom. Thorpe denied any such
liaison and largely managed to avoid public and press scrutiny, but
Scott's allegations were a persistent threat for years, endangering the
Liberal Party's mid-1970s revival. Unsuccessful attempts to buy Scott's
silence and frighten him culminated in 1975 with the shooting of his dog
by a hired gunman. The police investigation and publicity forced
Thorpe's resignation. He and three others were charged with conspiracy
to murder Scott, but the main prosecution witnesses were undermined by,
among other factors, their financial arrangements with newspapers. All
four defendents were acquitted, although there were later claims that
important prosecution evidence had been suppressed by the police.
Thorpe's reputation was damaged irreparably by evidence that was
uncontested, and he did not return to public life.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_affair>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1811:
A climbing team led by two German brothers became the first to
reach the summit of the Jungfrau, one of the main summits of the Bernese
Alps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau>
1913:
A strike by agricultural workers in Wheatland, California, US,
degenerated into a riot, one of the first major farm labor
confrontations in California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatland_hop_riot>
1936:
African American athlete Jesse Owens won the first of his four
gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes
of Aryan domination.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens>
1960:
Niger officially gained independence from France as part of the
decolonization of the French Community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger>
2007:
Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl
Iturriaga was captured after having been on the run following a
conviction for kidnapping.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Iturriaga>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ladder:
1. (firefighting) To ascend a building or wall using a ladder.
2. (of a knitted garment) To develop a ladder as a result of a broken
thread.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ladder>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It was a hopeless thing, he thought, this obsession of his to
present the people of the Earth as good and reasonable. For in many ways
they were neither good nor reasonable; perhaps because they had not as
yet entirely grown up. They were smart and quick and at times
compassionate and even understanding, but they failed lamentably in many
other ways. But if they had the chance … if they ever got a break, if
they only could be told what was out in space, then they'd get a grip
upon themselves and they would measure up and then, in the course of
time, would be admitted into the great cofraternity of the people of the
stars.
--Clifford D. Simak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak>
Interstate 68 (I-68) is a 112.9-mile (181.7 km) Interstate highway in
the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting Interstate 79
in Morgantown to Interstate 70 in Hancock, and is also part of the
Appalachian Development Highway System. In Maryland, it parallels the
historic National Road between Keysers Ridge and Hancock. A road cut at
one of the many mountain ridges it crosses, Sideling Hill, exposes
geological features that have become a tourist attraction. From 1965
until the freeway's construction was completed on August 2, 1991, its
segments were designated as U.S. Route 48. It crosses Allegany, Garrett,
and Washington counties in Maryland, and Preston and Monongalia counties
in West Virginia. The two largest cities connected by the highway are
Morgantown and Cumberland, Maryland. Although the freeway serves no
major metropolitan areas, it connects western Maryland and northern West
Virginia and provides an alternative to the Pennsylvania Turnpike for
westbound traffic from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. US 219, US 220
and US 40 overlap in part with I-68.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_68>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
216 BC:
Second Punic War: Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal
defeated a numerically superior Roman army, near the town of Cannae in
Apulia in southeast Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae>
1610:
English sea explorer Henry Hudson sailed into what is now known
as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage to
reach the Pacific Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Bay>
1830:
His hand forced by the recent July Revolution, Charles X of
France abdicated the throne in favor of his grandson, Henry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_X_of_France>
1916:
An explosion sank the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci,
which was blamed on Austro-Hungarian saboteurs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Leonardo_da_Vinci>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
tiffin:
(Britain, India) A light midday meal or snack; luncheon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tiffin>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so
stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced
to deal with pain.
--James Baldwin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Baldwin>