Hasan al-Kharrat (1861–1925) was a rebel commander of the Great Syrian
Revolt against the French Mandate, operating mainly in Damascus and its
Ghouta countryside. As the qabaday (local youths boss) of the al-
Shaghour quarter of Damascus, he was connected with Nasib al-Bakri, a
nationalist from the quarter's most influential family. At al-Bakri's
invitation, he joined the revolt in August 1925 and recruited a group of
fighters in and around al-Shaghour. He led the rebel assault against
Damascus, briefly capturing the residence of French High-Commissioner
Maurice Sarrail before withdrawing amid heavy bombardment. Towards the
end of 1925, relations grew tense between al-Kharrat and other rebel
leaders, particularly Sa'id al-'As and Ramadan al-Shallash, and they
traded accusations of plundering villages or strong-arming local
inhabitants. Al-Kharrat continued to lead forays in the Ghouta, where he
was ultimately killed in a French ambush. The revolt dissipated by 1927,
but he gained a lasting reputation as a martyr of the Syrian resistance
to French rule.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_al-Kharrat>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint
white dwarf companion of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius>
1900:
Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances
in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not
give up for five more years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_Salleh_Rebellion>
1945:
Second World War: The British 3rd Commando Brigade's victory in
the Battle of Hill 170 was crucial in causing the 28th Japanese Army to
withdraw from the Arakan peninsula of Burma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hill_170>
2000:
Alaska Airlines Flight 261, experiencing problems with its
horizontal stabilizer system, crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast
of California's Anacapa Island, killing all 88 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_261>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
roughshod:
1. (farriery) Of a horse: having hooves shod with calks or horseshoes that
have projecting nails to prevent slipping.
2. (by extension) Often in ride roughshod over: brutal or domineering.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roughshod>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We move from part to whole and back again, and in that dance of
comprehension, in that amazing circle of understanding, we come alive to
meaning, to value, and to vision: the very circle of understanding
guides our way, weaving together the pieces, healing the fractures,
mending the torn and tortured fragments, lighting the way ahead — this
extraordinary movement from part to whole and back again, with healing
the hallmark of each and every step, and grace the tender reward.
--Ken Wilber
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber>
The crescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) is a bird native to
southeastern Australia, in the honeyeater family. It is fairly
nondescript, with dark grey plumage and paler underparts highlighted by
yellow wing patches and a broad, black crescent, outlined in white, down
the sides of its breast. The female is a little duller than the male.
The male sings a complex and variable song from an exposed perch, and
during the breeding season performs song flights. The crescent
honeyeater is found in areas of dense vegetation including sclerophyll
forest and alpine habitats, as well as heathland, parks and gardens. Its
diet is made up of nectar and invertebrates. It forms long-term pairs,
and often commits to one breeding site for several years. The female
builds the nest and does most of the caring for two or three young,
which become independent within 40 days of egg-laying. Although the
parent birds use a range of anti-predator strategies, nestlings can be
taken by snakes, kookaburras, currawongs, or cats.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_honeyeater>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1661:
Two years after his death, Oliver Cromwell's remains were
exhumed for a posthumous execution and his head was placed on a spike
above Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell%27s_head>
1847:
The town of Yerba Buena in Mexican California was renamed San
Francisco (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco>
1945:
World War II: Allied forces liberated over 500 prisoners of war
from a Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Cabanatuan>
1972:
On Bloody Sunday, members of the British Parachute Regiment
shot twenty-six civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland,
killing at least thirteen people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972)>
2013:
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute launched Naro-1, South
Korea's first carrier rocket and their first launch vehicle to achieve
Earth orbit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naro-1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
redress:
1. To put in order again; to set right; to emend; to revise.
2. To set right, as a wrong; to repair, as an injury; to make amends for;
to remedy; to relieve from.
3. To make amends or compensation to; to relieve of anything unjust or
oppressive; to bestow relief upon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/redress>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No nation which refuses to exercise forbearance and to respect the
freedom and rights of others can long remain strong and retain the
confidence and respect of other nations. No nation ever loses its
dignity or good standing by conciliating its differences and by
exercising great patience with, and consideration for, the rights of
other nations.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt>
Titchwell Marsh is an English nature reserve owned and managed by the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Its 171 hectares (420 acres)
on the north coast of Norfolk, about 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the seaside
resort of Hunstanton, include reed beds, saltmarshes, a freshwater
lagoon, a sandy beach, and woodland. The reserve is important for some
scarce breeding birds, such as pied avocets on the islands, and western
marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings in the reeds. It
has regularly attracted rarities, as its location is important for
migrating birds, and shelters the endangered European water vole.
Facilities include three bird hides, a seawatching platform, two nature
trails, and a visitor centre. In 2010 and 2011 the banks around the
freshwater lagoon were improved and the brackish lagoon was converted to
tidal saltmarsh (pictured), a more effective barrier to encroachment by
the sea. Titchwell Marsh is archaeologically significant, with artefacts
dating to the Upper Paleolithic, and has remains of military
constructions from both world wars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titchwell_Marsh>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issued a Warrant under the
Royal sign-manual that established the Victoria Cross, originally to
recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the
Crimean War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross>
1891:
Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch and only queen regnant of the
Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ascended to the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani>
1944:
World War II: At least 38 people were killed and about a dozen
injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai,
Lithuania) was attacked by Soviet partisan units.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koniuchy_massacre>
1967:
The Mantra-Rock Dance, called the "ultimate high" of the hippie
era, took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami Bhaktivedanta, Janis
Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg (poster pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance>
2006:
India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test
cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irfan_Pathan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
receptacle:
1. A container.
2. (botany) The part of the flower stalk (peduncle or pedicel) to which the
floral parts are attached; a thalamus, a torus.
3. In the Asteraceae (aster or sunflower family), the end of the peduncle
to which all of the florets of the flower head are attached.
4. (phycology) A structure at the end of a branch of an alga containing
conceptacles (reproductive organs).
5. (electricity, US) A contact device installed at an outlet for the
connection of an attachment plug and flexible cord to supply portable
appliances or equipment.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/receptacle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When a person doesn’t understand something, he feels internal
discord: however he doesn’t search for that discord in himself, as he
should, but searches outside of himself. Thence a war develops with that
which he doesn’t understand.
--Anton Chekhov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov>
Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr. (January 28, 1828 – September 27, 1868)
was a United States Representative from Arkansas before serving as a
major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil
War. During the Mexican–American War, he became a captain of his
company. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from 1854 to 1856, and a Democratic representative in the Thirty-sixth
Congress from 1859 to 1861. Despite being re-elected, he declined to
serve after Arkansas seceded from the Union. Instead, Hindman joined the
armed forces of the Confederacy. He was promoted to brigadier general in
September 1861 and to major general the following April. He commanded
the Trans-Mississippi Department, and later raised and commanded
"Hindman's legion". After the war, he avoided surrender to the federal
government by fleeing to Mexico City. He worked in Mexico as a coffee
planter, and attempted to practice law. After returning to Arkansas,
Hindman was murdered at his home by an unknown assailant in 1868.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Hindman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1393:
King Charles VI of France was nearly killed when several
dancers' costumes caught fire during a masquerade ball.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_des_Ardents>
1821:
Alexander Island, the largest island of Antarctica, was
discovered by explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen of the
Imperial Russian Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Island>
1922:
Snowfall from the biggest recorded snowstorm in Washington,
D.C., history caused the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre to collapse,
killing 98 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Theatre_(Washington,_D.C.)>
1958:
The Lego Group, a Danish toy company, patented the design of
Lego bricks (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego>
1977:
A deadly blizzard hit upstate New York and Southern Ontario,
creating snowdrifts of up to 30 ft (9 m) in affected areas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Blizzard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
forthdraw:
(transitive, obsolete or poetic) To draw or bring forth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forthdraw>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Up, abysmal thought, out of my depths! I am your rooster and dawn,
you sleepy worm: Up! Up! My voice will yet crow you awake! Unsnap the
straps of your ears: listen! Because I want to hear you! Up! Up! Here
there is thunder enough to make even graves learn to listen! And wipe
the sleep and all that befogs and blinds you from your eyes! Hear me
with your eyes too: my voice is a remedy even for those born blind. And
once you are awake, you shall remain awake eternally. It is not my
manner to wake great-grandmothers from their sleep only to tell them —
go back to sleep! You stir, you stretch, you gasp? Up! Up! No gasping
— you will speak to me! Zarathustra summons you, the godless one! I,
Zarathustra, the advocate of life, the advocate of suffering, the
advocate of the circle — you I summon, my most abysmal thought! Hail
to me! You are coming – I hear you! My abyss speaks, I have unfolded
my ultimate depth to the light!
--Friedrich Nietzsche
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche>
The new wave of British heavy metal began in the late 1970s and achieved
international attention by the early 1980s. Encompassing diverse
mainstream and underground styles, the music often infused 1970s heavy
metal music with the intensity of punk rock to produce fast and
aggressive songs. The do-it-yourself ethic of the new metal bands led to
the spread of raw-sounding, self-produced recordings and a proliferation
of independent record labels. Song lyrics were usually about escapist
themes from mythology, fantasy, horror or the rock lifestyle. The
movement involved mostly young, white, male musicians and fans of the
heavy metal subculture, whose behavioural and visual codes were quickly
adopted by metal fans worldwide after the spread of the music to Europe,
North America and Japan. The movement spawned perhaps a thousand bands,
but only a few survived the rise of MTV and glam metal. Among them,
Motörhead and Saxon had considerable success, and Iron Maiden and Def
Leppard became international stars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_wave_of_British_heavy_metal>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1142:
Despite having saved the Southern Song dynasty from attempts by
the northern Jin dynasty to conquer it, Chinese general Yue Fei was
executed by the Song government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei>
1945:
The Soviet Red Army liberated more than 7,500 prisoners left
behind by Nazi personnel in the Auschwitz concentration camp in
Oświęcim, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp>
1967:
The Apollo 1 fire killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H.
White and Roger Chaffee at Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 34, and destroyed
the spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1>
1996:
Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of
Niger, was deposed by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara in a military
coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamane_Ousmane>
2011:
Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution began as more than 16,000
protesters demonstrated in Sana'a to demand governmental changes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Revolution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sharawadgi:
(historical or obsolete) A style of landscape gardening or
architecture in which rigid lines and symmetry are avoided in favour of
an organic appearance.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sharawadgi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For the last two years, the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock
stayed set at three minutes before the hour, the closest it had been to
midnight since the early 1980s. In its two most recent annual
announcements on the Clock, the Science and Security Board warned: "The
probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed
to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon." In 2017, we
find the danger to be even greater, the need for action more urgent. It
is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global
danger looms. Wise public officials should act immediately, guiding
humanity away from the brink. If they do not, wise citizens must step
forward and lead the way.
--Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bulletin_of_the_Atomic_Scientists>
Ferugliotheriidae is one of three known families in the order
Gondwanatheria, an enigmatic group of extinct mammals. Ferugliotheriids
coexisted with dinosaurs, mainly during the Late Cretaceous epoch
(84–66 million years ago) in Argentina, where they may have lived in a
marshy or seashore environment. Genera in the family, including
Trapalcotherium and Argentodites, are known from isolated low-crowned
teeth and possibly a fragment of a lower jaw. The best-known
representative of the family is Ferugliotherium windhauseni, a small
mammal, around 70 g (2.5 oz), which may have eaten insects and plants.
Ferugliotheriid incisors are long and procumbent and contain a band of
enamel on only part of the tooth. The jaw fragment contains a long tooth
socket for the incisor and bears a bladelike fourth lower premolar,
resembling those of multituberculates. Low-crowned and bladelike teeth
as seen in ferugliotheriids may have been evolutionary precursors of the
high-crowned teeth of the family Sudamericidae.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferugliotheriidae>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1564:
Livonian War: A Lithuanian surprise attack resulted in a
decisive defeat of the numerically superior Russian forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ula>
1808:
Governor of New South Wales William Bligh was deposed by the
New South Wales Corps in the only successful armed takeover of
government in Australia's recorded history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion>
1905:
The Cullinan Diamond, the largest gem-quality rough diamond
ever found at 3,106.75 carats (621.350 g), was discovered at the
Premier Mine in Cullinan, Gauteng, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond>
1950:
Indian independence movement: India officially became a
republic under a new constitution, with Rajendra Prasad as its first
president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India>
2009:
Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a
political crisis that led to the deposal of President Marc Ravalomanana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Malagasy_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mallee:
1. (Australia) A type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts,
characteristic of certain parts of Australia.
2. (Australia) Any semi-desert region of Australia where such scrub is the
predominant vegetation.
3. (Australia) Any of several low-growing eucalypts characteristic of such
scrubland, especially Eucalyptus dumosa, Eucalyptus oleosa, and
Eucalyptus socialis.
4. (botany, Australia) The growth habit of certain eucalypt species that
grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber,
shared by species of related genera.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mallee>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever it is, it’s OK because it’s what it is. Don’t be
looking for perfection. Don’t be short-tempered with yourself. And
you’ll be a whole lot nicer to be around with everyone else.
--Mary Tyler Moore
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Tyler_Moore>
"She Shoulda Said 'No'!" is a 1949 exploitation film in the spirit of
morality tales such as the 1936 films Reefer Madness and Marihuana.
Directed by Sam Newfield (listed as Sherman Scott) and starring Lila
Leeds, it was inspired by the 1948 arrest of movie stars Robert Mitchum
and Leeds for marijuana possession. The actors, along with two others,
were arrested after smoking marijuana at Leeds' home and were charged
with the felony of narcotics possession. Public empathy for Mitchum
resulted in his charge being downgraded, and his sentence of sixty days
in jail was set aside in 1951. Leeds served sixty days in prison, and
after her release found no work in Hollywood until she was cast in this
film. The film was issued under many titles and struggled to find a
distributor until film presenter Kroger Babb reissued it as The Story of
Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket. It failed to achieve
success under that title, and Babb eventually changed it to "She Shoulda
Said 'No'!" (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Shoulda_Said_No!>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1533:
Anne Boleyn, already pregnant with future queen Elizabeth,
secretly married Henry VIII of England, the second of his six
marriages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn>
1573:
Sengoku period: The forces of Takeda Shingen defeated those of
Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Mikatagahara in Mikatagahara, north of
Hamamatsu, Mikawa Province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mikatagahara>
1704:
English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their
native allies began a series of raids against a largely pacific
population of Apalachee in Spanish Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apalachee_massacre>
1971:
Idi Amin seized power in a military coup d'état from President
Milton Obote, beginning eight years of military rule in Uganda.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin>
2004:
The Five Cross Flag was restored to official use as the
national flag of Georgia after a hiatus of some 500 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Georgia_(country)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Burns night:
An event held on the evening of 25th January in celebration of the
Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns (born on that day in 1759),
usually involving Scottish foods and recitals of his poetry.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Burns_night>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any
man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of
spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practised at spare
moments; it is a whole-time job.
--W. Somerset Maugham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham>
In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway's first American collection of short
stories, published in 1925 by Boni & Liveright. Its title is derived
from "Give peace in our time, O Lord" from the English Book of Common
Prayer. Hemingway first used the title for a collection of six
nonfiction vignettes of 75 to 187 words, commissioned by Ezra Pound for
The Little Review. He added 12 more vignettes for in our time (with
lower-case title), published in 1924 in Paris, about matadors, the
Battle of Mons, the Greco-Turkish War and the execution of six Greek
cabinet ministers. The 1925 New York collection combined these and
fourteen newly written short stories, including "Indian Camp" and "Big
Two-Hearted River", two of his best-known Nick Adams stories. He added
"On the Quai at Smyrna" for the 1930 edition. The collection resonates
with themes of alienation, loss, grief and separation, and includes
descriptions of war, bullfighting and current events. It is the earliest
Hemingway work to employ his iceberg theory of writing, in which the
underlying meaning is hinted at, rather than explicitly stated. The
volume attracted attention from reviewers and is an important work in
his canon.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Our_Time_(short_story_collection)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
41:
Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards murdered
Roman emperor Caligula, replacing him with his uncle Claudius.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula>
1458:
The 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus was unanimously proclaimed
King of Hungary after the Estates were persuaded to do so by his uncle
Michael Szilágyi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus>
1848:
James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill
(reconstruction pictured) in Coloma, California, leading to the
California Gold Rush.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush>
1978:
The Soviet nuclear powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up
during reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest
Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954>
2011:
A suicide bomber killed 37 people at Domodedovo International
Airport in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodedovo_International_Airport_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kakistocracy:
Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified
citizens.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kakistocracy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We contemplate eternity Beneath the vast indifference of heaven.
--Warren Zevon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon>
Jochen Rindt (1942–1970) was the only racing driver to be posthumously
awarded the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, after his death
during the 1970 racing season. His debut in Formula One came in 1964 at
the Austrian Grand Prix. He began racing for Cooper in 1965, then moved
to Brabham for 1968 and Lotus in 1969. It was at Lotus that Rindt found
a competitive car, although he had concerns about its safety. He won his
first Formula One race at the 1969 United States Grand Prix. He had a
very successful 1970 season, winning five of the first nine races,
mainly in the revolutionary Lotus 72. In practice for the Italian Grand
Prix, he spun into the guardrails after a failure on his brake shaft,
and died from throat injuries. Overall, he competed in 62 Grand Prix
races, winning 6 and achieving 13 podium finishes. He was also
successful in sports car racing, winning the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans
paired with Masten Gregory in a Ferrari 250LM. Rindt was a popular
figure in Austria and his success increased interest there in
motorsport, and Formula One in particular.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochen_Rindt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1264:
King Louis IX of France issued the Mise of Amiens, a settlement
between King Henry III of England and barons led by Simon de Montfort
heavily favouring the former, which later led to the Second Barons' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_of_Amiens>
1793:
The Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia partitioned the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for the second time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Partition_of_Poland>
1915:
The Chilembwe uprising, regarded as a key moment in the history
of Malawi, began as rebels, led by a minister, attacked local plantation
owners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilembwe_uprising>
1997:
Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the first female United
States Secretary of State, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the
history of the U.S. government at that time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright>
2001:
Five people attempted to set themselves on fire in Beijing's
Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claimed was staged by
the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their
persecution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_self-immolation_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
forspeak:
1. (transitive, dialectal, Northern England and Scotland) To injure or
cause bad luck through immoderate praise or flattery; to affect with the
curse of an evil tongue, which brings ill luck upon all objects of its
praise.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To bewitch, to charm.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To forbid, to prohibit; to oppose.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To say bad things about; to slander.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forspeak>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ignorance is king. Many would not profit by his abdication. Many
enrich themselves by means of his dark monarchy. They are his Court, and
in his name they defraud and govern, enrich themselves and perpetuate
their power. Even literacy they fear, for the written word is another
channel of communication that might cause their enemies to become
united. Their weapons are keen-honed, and they use them with skill. They
will press the battle upon the world when their interests are
threatened, and the violence which follows will last until the structure
of society as it now exists is leveled to rubble, and a new society
emerges. I am sorry: But that is how I see it.
--Walter M. Miller, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_M._Miller,_Jr.>
In Australian service, Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft have
been operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A total of
forty-eight of the aircraft have served the RAAF since 1958, when
No. 36 Squadron began replacing its Douglas C-47 Dakotas, and the
C-130J model is still in Australian service today. As the RAAF's first
strategic airlifters, the aircraft have frequently been used to deliver
disaster relief in Australia and the Pacific region, as well as to
support military deployments overseas. They saw extensive service during
the Vietnam War, transporting troops and cargo to South East Asia and
undertaking aeromedical evacuation. Nineteen of the RAAF's fleet of
twenty-four C-130s took part in relief efforts in 1974–75 after
Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin. Since then, the aircraft have been involved
in humanitarian missions to New Guinea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cambodia,
Bali, Sumatra, and New Zealand. They have also seen service during the
Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Fijian coups in 1987, operations in
Somalia in 1993, INTERFET operations in East Timor in 1999–2000, and
beginning in 2001, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules_in_Australian_service>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1517:
Ottoman–Mamluk War: Ottoman forces defeated the Egyptian
Mamluk army in the Battle of Ridaniya and brought the severed head of
the last Mamluk sultan Tuman bay II into Cairo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ridaniya>
1689:
The Convention Parliament convened to justify the overthrow of
James II, the last Roman Catholic King of England, who had vacated the
throne when he fled to France in 1688.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England>
1906:
The SS Valencia was wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island,
British Columbia, Canada, in a location so treacherous it was known as
the Graveyard of the Pacific.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Valencia>
1957:
New York City police arrested George Metesky, better known as
the "Mad Bomber", for planting over 30 bombs over 16 years throughout
the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Metesky>
1969:
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev survived an assassination
attempt, an incident that was not revealed to the public until after the
fall of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brezhnev_assassination_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
posology:
1. (pharmacy) The study of the dosages of drugs, especially the
determination of appropriate dosages.
2. (mathematics, historical, rare) In the works of English philosopher
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832): the study of quantity; mathematics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/posology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men must know that in this theater of Man's life it is reserved
only for God and Angels to be lookers on.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>