Noel Park in north London is a planned community designed by Rowland
Plumbe in the late 19th century, consisting of 2,200 model dwellings. It
was developed in open countryside to the north of London between the
historic villages of Highgate and Tottenham by the Artizans, Labourers &
General Dwellings Company. One of the earliest garden suburbs in the
world, it provided affordable housing for working-class families wishing
to leave the inner city. Every property had a front and rear garden, and
it was close enough to the rail network to allow its residents to
commute to work. In line with the principles of the company's founder,
William Austin, it had no pubs, and there are still none today. As a
result of London's rapid expansion during the early 20th century, and
particularly after the London Underground was extended to the area in
1932, Noel Park was surrounded by later developments. In 1965, it was
incorporated into the newly created London Borough of Haringey. Despite
damage during World War II and demolition work during the construction
of Wood Green Shopping City in the 1970s, it remains largely
architecturally intact.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition began when
Austria invaded Bavaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Fifth_Coalition>
1858:
Big Ben, the bell in the Palace of Westminster's clock tower in
London, was cast after the original bell had cracked during testing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben>
1925:
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby>
1944:
The Holocaust: Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escaped from
Auschwitz; their report was one of the earliest and most detailed
descriptions of the mass killings in the camp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Vrba>
1992:
Nagorno-Karabakh War: At least 40 Armenian civilians were
massacred in Maraga, Azerbaijan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraga_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
taghairm:
1. (historical, Scotland) An ancient divination method of the Highland
Scots involving animal sacrifice.
2. A method of divination involving sewing a person into the hide of a
freshly-killed ox which was then placed beside a waterfall or other
desolate place, to enable the person to foresee the outcome of an
impending battle; the oracle of the hide.
3. A method of divination in which cats were roasted alive to call up the
spirit of the demon cat who would grant the wishes of the torturers.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taghairm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure
much.
--William Hazlitt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Hazlitt>
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France is dedicated to the memory
of Canadian Expeditionary Force members and other Canadians killed
during the First World War. Designed by Walter Seymour Allward, the
monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) battlefield
park, overlapping the site of the Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive (9
April 1917) that began the Battle of Arras. In that offensive, all four
divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated as a cohesive
battle formation for the first time, and it became a Canadian national
symbol of achievement and sacrifice. France ceded the land to Canada for
its memorial. Wartime tunnels, trenches, craters, and unexploded
munitions still honeycomb the grounds, which are largely closed off for
public safety. Preserved trench lines and several other memorials and
cemeteries are contained within the park. King Edward VIII unveiled it
in July 1936, and Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicated the restored monument
on the 90th anniversary of the offensive. The site, one of only two
National Historic Sites of Canada outside the country, is maintained by
Veterans Affairs Canada.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de
Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice,
when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune" (audio featured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>
1917:
First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of
attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
1947:
Sixteen white and black men began a two-week journey in the
American South, acting in defiance of local laws that enforced
segregated seating on public buses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_of_Reconciliation>
1967:
The first Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually
becoming the most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet airliner
in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737>
2005:
Charles, Prince of Wales, married his long-time mistress
Camilla Parker Bowles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Charles,_Prince_of_Wales,_and_Cami…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lovingkindness:
(archaic, uncountable) Kindness or mercy which is based on, or arises
from, love; (countable) an act of such kindness or mercy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lovingkindness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is in the word, in the logos, something sacred which forbids
us to gamble with it. To handle a language skilfully is to practice a
kind of evocative sorcery.
--Charles Baudelaire
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire>
"Yesterday's Enterprise" is the 63rd episode of the television series
Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was the 15th episode of the third
season, first airing in syndication the week of February 19, 1990. In
the story, the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) must decide
whether to send the time-traveling Enterprise-C back through a temporal
rift to its certain destruction, to prevent damaging changes to their
own timeline. The plot merged two story ideas, one featuring the crew of
the time-traveling ship and the other the return of Denise Crosby
(pictured), whose character had been killed in the show's first season.
Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell rewrote the merged story
to focus on Whoopi Goldberg's character, Guinan. Filming lasted a week.
In syndication, "Yesterday's Enterprise" outperformed most of the third
season's episodes with a 13.1 Nielsen rating, the third-highest for the
series at the time. The episode is cited as a favorite by reviewers, and
is widely regarded as one of the best episodes of the series.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Enterprise>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
217:
Roman emperor Caracalla was assassinated at a roadside near
Harran and succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect Macrinus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla>
876:
Forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated the army of the
Saffarid amir Ya'qub ibn Laith, forcing Ya'qub to halt his advance into
what is now Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dayr_al-%27Aqul>
1904:
Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, was
renamed Times Square after The New York Times building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square>
1961:
A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf
killed 238 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Dara>
2013:
Two Sunni Muslim Islamic extremist groups, the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Al-Nusra Front, merged to become the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant, also known as ISIS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
head-scratching:
(idiomatic) Confusing, perplexing, puzzling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/head-scratching>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we only have love We can reach those in pain We can heal all
our wounds We can use our own names.
--Jacques Brel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel>
Gabriel Pleydell was an English landowner and politician. Born before
1519 into a large, affluent family, he became a Member of Parliament for
Wootton Bassett in 1553, close to his family estate at Midgehall in
Wiltshire. His election to the Marlborough constituency two years later
may have been made possible by his father's influential connections. He
returned to the Wootton Bassett seat in 1563 at the request of Sir John
Thynne, whom he had supported in a dispute over the Knighthood of the
Shire in 1559. He was alleged to be one of the ringleaders of a plot to
exile Queen Mary I of England, and made a contentious claim of
parliamentary privilege after he was found guilty of this offence in
1555, an action which caused serious disagreement between the House of
Commons and the House of Lords. Legal accusations for most of his
political career and imprisonment in Fleet Prison and the Tower of
London helped "confirm for Gabriel Pleydell a niche in parliamentary
history", according to a modern historian. He died in 1590 or 1591.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Pleydell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1348:
Charles, King of Bohemia, issued a Golden Bull to establish
Charles University in Prague, the first university in Central Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_University>
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederates at the
Battle of Shiloh, the bloodiest battle in U.S. history at the time, in
Hardin County, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh>
1947:
The Arab Ba'ath Party was founded in Damascus, Syria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%27ath_Party>
1969:
The Internet was symbolically born with publication of RFC 1.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments>
2009:
Mass protests began across Moldova under the belief that
results from the parliamentary election were fraudulent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2009_Moldovan_parliamentary_election_pr…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bedside manner:
The ability of a doctor, medic, nurse, or other healthcare professional,
to interact with his or her patients.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bedside_manner>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced.
… It is that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be
cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which
is so very different from feeling sad. Sad hurts but it's a healthy
feeling. It's a necessary thing to feel. Depression is very different.
--J.K. Rowling
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J.K._Rowling>
The 7th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation, raised three days
before the German-led invasion of Yugoslavia of 6 April 1941, during
World War II. On the first day of the invasion, the army's commander
Dušan Trifunović was alarmed when the 4th Army, on the right flank of
the 7th, was undercut by fifth column activities by Croats within its
major units and higher headquarters. The Germans captured Maribor two
days later and expanded their bridgeheads, supported by the Luftwaffe.
On 10 April, the German 14th Panzer Division captured Zagreb. Italian
offensive operations began the following day, with thrusts towards
Ljubljana and down the Adriatic coast, capturing more than 30,000
Yugoslav troops near Delnice. When fifth column supporters of the
Croatian nationalist Ustaše movement arrested the headquarters staff of
the 7th Army later that day, the formation effectively ceased to exist.
On 12 April, the Germans linked up with the Italians near the Adriatic
coast, encircling the remnants of the 7th Army, which offered no further
resistance. Ceasefires were implemented on 15 April, and the Yugoslav
Supreme Command surrendered unconditionally.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Army_(Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1250:
Seventh Crusade: Egyptian Ayyubids annihilated the crusader
army and captured King Louis IX of France as a hostage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fariskur>
1886:
Vancouver, one of British Columbia's youngest cities, was
incorporated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver>
1909:
American explorer Robert Peary allegedly became the first
person to reach the North Pole; his claim was accepted for many years,
although modern research has determined that he most likely did not.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peary>
1947:
The first Tony Awards, recognizing achievement in American
theatre, were handed out at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award>
2012:
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally
declared the region of Azawad independent from Mali.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azawadi_declaration_of_independence>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
that dog won't hunt:
(US) That idea will not work; that is an inadequate explanation or
proposition.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/that_dog_won%27t_hunt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today I started loving you again I'm right back where I've really
always been; I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend,
Then today I started loving you again.
--Merle Haggard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard>
The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition (1921–22) was Sir Ernest
Shackleton's last Antarctic project, and the final episode in the Heroic
Age of Antarctic Exploration. The venture, with vaguely defined
geographic and scientific objectives, was financed by John Quiller
Rowett, and is otherwise known as the Quest Expedition after its ship
Quest, a converted Norwegian sealer. Shackleton had originally intended
to go to the Arctic and explore the Beaufort Sea, but abandoned this
plan when the Canadian government withheld financial support. Shortly
after Quest's arrival at South Georgia, Shackleton died of a heart
attack, aged 47. The expedition continued under the leadership of Frank
Wild, with a three-month cruise to the eastern Antarctic, but the
shortcomings of Quest as a polar vessel kept it from proceeding further
than longitude 20°E, or from penetrating southward through the pack
ice. After returning to South Georgia, Wild hoped for a second, more
productive season in the ice, and took the ship to Cape Town for a
refit, where he found a message from Rowett ordering them home. The
expedition ended quietly, with limited achievements.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackleton%E2%80%93Rowett_Expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1081:
The Komnenian dynasty came to full power when Alexios I
Komnenos was crowned Byzantine Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos>
1614:
Native American Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe
in Virginia, and was christened Rebecca.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas>
1936:
Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado hit
Tupelo, Mississippi, killing at least 216 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Tupelo%E2%80%93Gainesville_tornado_outbr…>
1998:
Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe,
opened to traffic, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world
to date with a main span length of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaiky%C5%8D_Bridge>
2009:
The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from
the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking
concerns by other nations that it may have been a trial run of
technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smell a rat:
(idiomatic) To sense something suspicious.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smell_a_rat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My whole life has largely been one of surprises. I believe that
any man's life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements
of this kind if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day of
his life — that is, tries to make each day reach as nearly as possible
the high-water mark of pure, unselfish, useful living.
--Booker T. Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>
The Heart of a Woman (1981) is the fourth of seven autobiographies by
American writer Maya Angelou (pictured). She recounts events in her life
between 1957 and 1962, as she travels to California, New York, Cairo and
Ghana, and raises her teenage son. She becomes a published author active
in the US civil rights movement, and is romantically involved with a
South African freedom fighter. The book explores Angelou's theme of
motherhood, and ends as she looks forward to newfound independence and
freedom when her son leaves for college. Although most critics consider
Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings more
favorably, The Heart of a Woman has received positive reviews and was
chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1997. The title is taken
from a poem by Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson.
"Faithful to the ongoing themes of survival, sense of self, and
continuing education," according to critic Lyman B. Hagen, "The Heart of
a Woman moves its central figures to a point of full personhood".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heart_of_a_Woman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1949:
Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO,
an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby
its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by
any external party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO>
1968:
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.>
1973:
The World Trade Center in New York City was officially
dedicated, about a year after the second of the building complex's twin
towers was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_(1973%E2%80%932001)>
1976:
Norodom Sihanouk abdicated from the role of leader of Cambodia
and was arrested by the Khmer Rouge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk>
2002:
The Angolan government and UNITA rebels signed a peace treaty,
agreeing to follow the 1994 Lusaka Protocol and ending the decades-long
Angolan Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
logarithmancy:
(obsolete, rare) Divination using logarithms.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/logarithmancy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We never get anywhere in this world without the forces of history
and individual persons in the background helping us to get there. If you
have the privilege of a fine education, well, you have it because
somebody made it possible. If you have the privilege to gain wealth and
a bit of the world’s goods, well, you have it because somebody made it
possible. So don’t boast, don’t be arrogant. You, at that moment,
rise out of your self-centeredness to the type of living that makes you
an integrated personality.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
The camas pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus) is a rodent native to the
Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon in the United States. The
herbivorous mammal collects its food in large, fur-lined, external cheek
pouches, then hoards any surplus in underground tunnels. The coat, dull
brown to lead gray, changes color and texture over the year. The
gophers' large, protuberant incisors are well adapted for use in tunnel
construction, particularly in the hard clay soils of the Willamette
Valley. They make chattering sounds with their teeth; males and females
make purring (or crooning) sounds when they are together, and the young
make twittering sounds. Born toothless, blind and hairless, the young
grow rapidly before being weaned at about six weeks of age. The species
is prey for raptors and carnivorous mammals, and host to several
parasitic arthropods and worms. While population trends are generally
stable, threats to the species' survival include urbanization, habitat
conversion for agricultural use and active attempts at eradication with
trapping and poisons. Fiercely defensive when cornered, the gopher may
become tame in captivity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camas_pocket_gopher>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
The Pony Express, a mail service that became the most direct
means of long distance communication to the American West, began
operation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express>
1888:
The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed
in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of
London, occurred.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders>
1948:
An uprising began on Jeju Island, eventually leading to the
deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000 individuals due to fighting between
its various factions, and the violent suppression of the rebellion by
the South Korean army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_uprising>
1961:
An individual Leadbeater's possum, thought to have been extinct
for over 50 years, was discovered in New South Wales, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbeater%27s_possum>
1981:
The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, was
unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
elephantry:
(military, historical) That branch of an army that uses elephants.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elephantry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You may not believe in evolution, and that is all right. How we
humans came to be the way we are is far less important than how we
should act now to get out of the mess we have made for ourselves.
--Jane Goodall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall>
Courtney Love (born 1964) is an American singer and actress. Combining
uninhibited live performances with confrontational lyrics, she was
prolific in the punk and grunge scenes of the 1990s as the frontwoman of
the alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989. She was
married to Kurt Cobain, frontman for Nirvana, until his suicide in 1994.
Hole's second release, Live Through This (1994), achieved critical
accolades and multi-platinum sales. In 1995, Love earned a Golden Globe
Award nomination for her performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt
(1996). Hole's third album, Celebrity Skin (1998), was nominated for
multiple Grammy Awards. After roles in the big-budget pictures Man on
the Moon (1999) and Trapped (2002), she released her first solo album,
America's Sweetheart (2004). She was sentenced to a rehabilitation
facility in 2005 on drug charges. She returned to the music industry
with Nobody's Daughter (2010), a Hole album, but without any members of
the original lineup. In 2014 and 2015, she released two solo singles and
returned to acting in the network series Empire and Sons of Anarchy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Love>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1755:
A naval fleet led by Commodore William James of the East India
Company captured the fortress Suvarnadurg from the Marathas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvarnadurg>
1885:
North-West Rebellion: Led by Wandering Spirit, young Cree
warriors attacked the village of Frog Lake, North-West Territories (now
in Alberta), where they killed nine settlers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Lake_Massacre>
1911:
The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the country's
first national census.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_Australia>
1992:
Bosnian War (Yugoslav Wars): At least 42 civilians were killed
in the town of Bijeljina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijeljina_massacre>
2015:
Gunmen attacked Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at
least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dead cat bounce:
(trading) A temporary recovery in the price of an instrument which has
fallen rapidly and is expected to fall further in the long run.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dead_cat_bounce>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The man who forgets does not forgive, he only loses the
remembrance of the harm inflicted on him; forgiveness is the offspring
of a feeling of heroism, of a noble heart, of a generous mind, whilst
forgetfulness is only the result of a weak memory, or of an easy
carelessness, and still oftener of a natural desire for calm and
quietness. Hatred, in the course of time, kills the unhappy wretch who
delights in nursing it in his bosom.
--Giacomo Casanova
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giacomo_Casanova>
Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people are drawn to
professions that fit their name. The term was first used in the magazine
New Scientist in 1994, after its humorous Feedback column mentioned a
book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology
by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. The hypothesis had been
suggested by psychologist Carl Jung, citing as an example Sigmund Freud
(German for "joy"), who studied pleasure. A few recent empirical studies
have indicated that certain professions are disproportionately
represented by people with appropriate surnames, though the methods of
these studies have been challenged. One explanation for nominative
determinism is the theory of implicit egotism, which states that humans
have an unconscious preference for things they associate with
themselves. An alternative explanation is genetic: an ancestor might
have been named Smith or Taylor according to their occupation, and the
genes they passed down might correlate to aptitudes for those
professions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1293:
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by
the Pope, only to find that there wasn't one.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winchelsey>
1871:
Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-
Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos opened a new train line,
using horses instead of locomotives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brill_Tramway>
1924:
Wrigley Jr. opened a company, packaging chewing gum with each
can of baking powder.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrigley_Company>
1947:
Over 20% of the Royal New Zealand Navy took the day off.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_Royal_New_Zealand_Navy_mutinies>
1997:
Marriage in the Netherlands became more samey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_Netherlands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Banbury story of a cock and a bull:
(idiomatic, obsolete, slang, Britain) A roundabout, nonsensical story.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Banbury_story_of_a_cock_and_a_bull>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All of us, if we are of reflective habit, like and admire men
whose fundamental beliefs differ radically from our own. But when a
candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of
sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact
that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of
comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking
is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what
they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark
with the pack or count himself lost. … All the odds are on the man who
is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can
most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The
Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is
perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious
day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last,
and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
--H. L. Mencken
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken>