Gubby Allen (1902–1989) was a cricketer who captained England in
eleven Test matches. Born in Sydney, Australia, on 31 July 1902, his
family moved to London when he was six. In first-class matches, he
played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-
hitting lower-order batsman for England, Allen was appointed captain in
1936 and led the team during the unsuccessful 1936–37 tour of
Australia. He captained England in a Test series in the West Indies in
1947–48. He later became an influential cricket administrator who held
key positions in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which effectively
ruled English cricket at the time. He was instrumental in the creation
of an MCC coaching manual, and worked hard to eliminate illegal bowling
actions. As chairman of selectors from 1955 to 1961, he presided over a
period of great success for English cricket, during which he worked
closely with the Test captain Peter May. In 1963, he became MCC's
president, and was made the club's treasurer the following year. In this
role, he was deeply involved in the D'Oliveira affair, a controversy
over the potential selection of Basil D'Oliveira to tour South Africa.
He was knighted in 1986.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gubby_Allen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1201:
John Komnenos the Fat briefly seized the throne of the
Byzantine Empire from Alexios III Angelos, but he was soon caught and
executed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Komnenos_the_Fat>
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>
1917:
First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres
in West Flanders, Belgium, with the Allied Powers aiming to force German
troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele>
1972:
The Troubles: Free Derry (Free Derry Corner pictured), an
autonomous self-declared area of Derry, Northern Ireland, was brought to
an end by the British Army's Operation Motorman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Motorman>
2002:
Hamas detonated a bomb at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, killing nine students and injuring about 100
more.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_University_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ha-ha:
1. A laugh.
2. Something funny; a joke. […]
3. A ditch with one vertical side, acting as a sunken fence, designed to
block the entry of animals into lawns and parks without breaking
sightlines.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ha-ha>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
NEVER let your guard down! You expect a battle to be fair! — A
battle will never be fair!
--Wonder Woman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_(2017_film)>
Giganotosaurus ("giant southern lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur
that lived in what is now Argentina, around 99.6 to 97 million years
ago. It was one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores, but the
exact size has been hard to determine from the incomplete remains found
so far. The holotype specimen, discovered in Patagonia in 1993, is
almost 70% complete, and indicates a length of 12 to 13 m (39 to
43 ft), a skull 1.53 to 1.80 m (5.0 to 5.9 ft) in length, and a
weight of 4.2 to 13.8 t (4.6 to 15.2 short tons). A length of 13.2 m
(43 ft) has been extrapolated from another individual's dentary bone.
Some researchers believe the animal to be larger than Tyrannosaurus,
generally considered the largest theropod. The skull was low, with a
ridge-like crest in front of the eye. The teeth were serrated, and the
front of the lower jaw was flattened. Giganotosaurus is thought to have
had a homeothermic metabolism, between that of a mammal and a reptile,
which would have enabled rapid growth but not fast movement. It was
probably the apex predator of its ecosystem, feeding on juvenile
sauropod dinosaurs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giganotosaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1676:
Virginia colonist Nathaniel Bacon and his makeshift army issued
a Declaration of the People of Virginia, instigating a rebellion against
the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bacon_(Virginia_colonist_and_rebel)>
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>
1930:
Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 at Estadio Centenario in
Montevideo to win the first Football World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_FIFA_World_Cup>
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>
2012:
The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian
states, affecting over 620 million people, or about 9% of the world's
population.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_India_blackouts>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
swank:
1. A fashionably elegant person.
2. Ostentation; bravado.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swank>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We let the weirdness in.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>
Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898–1988) was an American physicist and Nobel
laureate. Born on 29 July 1898 into a traditional Jewish family in what
was then part of Austria-Hungary, Rabi came to the United States as a
baby and was raised in New York's Lower East Side. In collaboration with
Gregory Breit, he developed the Breit-Rabi equation, and predicted that
the Stern–Gerlach experiment could be modified to confirm the
properties of the atomic nucleus. During World War II he worked on radar
at the MIT Radiation Laboratory, and on the Manhattan Project. He was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear
magnetic resonance, used in spectroscopy and imaging. He was also one of
the first scientists in the US to work on the cavity magnetron, a key
component in microwave radar and microwave ovens. After the war, he
served on the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy
Commission, and was its chairman from 1952 to 1956. He was Science
Advisor to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and was involved in the
creation of the Brookhaven National Laboratory (1947) and CERN (1954).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidor_Isaac_Rabi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1148:
The Siege of Damascus ended in a decisive crusader defeat,
leading to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Damascus_(1148)>
1836:
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, commemorating those who fought
and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars,
was formally inaugurated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe>
1914:
Connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of
Massachusetts, the Cape Cod Canal opened on a limited basis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Canal>
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>
2010:
An overloaded passenger ferry capsized on the Kasai River in
Bandundu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, resulting in at
least 80 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasai_River_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tertiary:
1. Of third rank or order; subsequent.
2. (chemistry) Possessing some quality in the third degree; especially
having been subjected to the substitution of three atoms or radicals.
3. (ornithology) Of quills: growing on the innermost joint of a bird's
wing; tertial.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tertiary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have many names, and none of them matter. … Names are not
important ... To speak is to name names, but to speak is not important.
A thing happens once that has never happened before. Seeing it, a man
looks upon reality. He cannot tell others what he has seen. Others wish
to know, however, so they question him saying, "What is it like, this
thing you have seen?" So he tries to tell them. Perhaps he has seen the
very first fire in the world. He tells them, "It is red, like a poppy,
but through it dance other colors. It has no form, like water, flowing
everywhere. It is warm, like the sun of summer, only warmer. It exists
for a time upon a piece of wood, and then the wood is gone, as though it
were eaten, leaving behind that which is black and can be sifted like
sand. When the wood is gone, it too is gone." Therefore, the hearers
must think reality is like a poppy, like water, like the sun, like that
which eats and excretes. They think it is like to anything that they are
told it is like by the man who has known it. But they have not looked
upon fire. They cannot really know it. They can only know of it. But
fire comes again into the world, many times.
--Lord of Light
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_of_Light>
The ship that became the Yugoslav monitor Sava began as SMS Bodrog, a
river monitor built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and two other
monitors fired the first shots of World War I on the night of 28 July
1914, when they shelled Serbian defences near Belgrade. She fought the
Serbian and Romanian armies during the war, and was captured in its
closing stages. She was transferred to the newly created Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), and renamed Sava. During
the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she fought off several
air attacks, but was scuttled on 11 April. Sava was later raised by the
Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet state, and continued to
serve under that name until 1944 when she was again scuttled. Following
World War II, Sava was raised again, and was refurbished to serve in the
Yugoslav Navy from 1952 to 1962. After that she became a commercial
gravel barge. In 2005, the government of Serbia granted her limited
heritage protection after citizens demanded that she be preserved as a
floating museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_monitor_Sava>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de
Saint-Just, architects of the Reign of Terror, were executed after
having been arrested the previous day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Antoine_de_Saint-Just>
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>
1939:
During an excavation of a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk,
England, archæologists discovered a helmet likely belonging to King
Rædwald of East Anglia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Hoo_helmet>
1995:
Two followers of Rajneesh were convicted for the attempted
assassination of the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Rajneeshee_assassination_plot>
2010:
In the deadliest air accident in Pakistan's history, Airblue
Flight 202 crashed into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, killing
all 152 aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airblue_Flight_202>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
in silico:
(computing, sciences) In computer simulation or in virtual reality.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_silico>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall Frightful, sheer,
no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap May who ne’er hung there. Nor does
long our small Durance deal with that steep or deep. Here! creep,
Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind: all Life death does end
and each day dies with sleep.
--Gerard Manley Hopkins
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins>
The Roosevelt dime is the current ten-cent piece of the United States,
displaying President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the obverse. Authorized
soon after his death in 1945, it has been produced by the Mint
continuously since 1946 in large numbers. Roosevelt had been stricken
with polio, and was one of the moving forces of the March of Dimes. The
ten-cent coin could legally be changed by the Mint without the need for
congressional action, and officials moved quickly to replace the Mercury
dime. Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock prepared models, but faced repeated
criticism from the Commission of Fine Arts. He modified his design in
response, and the coin went into circulation in January 1946. The Mint
transitioned from striking the coin in silver to base metal in 1965, and
the design remains essentially unaltered from when Sinnock created it.
Without rare dates or silver content, the dime is less widely sought by
coin collectors than other modern American coins.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_dime>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1054:
Siward, Earl of Northumbria, led an invasion of Scotland and
defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland, in a battle north of the Firth of
Forth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siward,_Earl_of_Northumbria>
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)>
1942:
Second World War: Allied forces halted the Axis invasion of
Egypt (Erwin Rommel pictured with aides).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_El_Alamein>
1990:
Members of Jamaat al Muslimeen attempted to overthrow the
government of Trinidad and Tobago by taking hostages at the Red House
including Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson, before surrendering six days
later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaat_al_Muslimeen_coup_attempt>
2007:
While covering a police pursuit in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., two
news helicopters collided in mid-air, killing both crews.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Phoenix_news_helicopter_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
meo more:
(rare or obsolete) As is my wont (custom, habit).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meo_more>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There was silence deep as death, And the boldest held his breath,
For a time.
--Thomas Campbell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Campbell>
Calvatia sculpta, commonly known as the sculpted puffball, is a species
of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Up to 8 to 15 cm (3.1 to
5.9 in) tall by 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) wide, the pear- or egg-
shaped puffball is readily recognizable from the large pyramidal or
polygonal warts covering its surface. It is edible when young, before
the spores inside the fruit body disintegrate into a brownish powder.
Originally described from the Sierra Nevada, C. sculpta is found in
mountainous areas in western North America, and was found in a Brazilian
dune in 2008. It may be easily confused with Calbovista subsculpta, a
similar puffball that—in addition to differences observable only with
microscopy—is larger, and has slightly raised warts with a felt-like
texture. Other similar species include Calvatia arctica and immature
specimens of Amanita magniverrucata. The species was first described in
1885 by American mycologist Harvey Willson Harkness, who called it "a
curious and strikingly beautiful species".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia_sculpta>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1533 – : Conquistador Francisco Pizarro executed the last independent
Inca Emperor Atahualpa in Cajamarca during the Spanish conquest of the
Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atahualpa>
1759:
French and Indian War: Rather than defend Fort Carillon near
present-day Ticonderoga, New York, from an approaching 11,000-man
British force, French Brigadier General François-Charles de Bourlamaque
withdrew his troops and attempted to blow up the fort.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ticonderoga_(1759)>
1908:
Unable to use U.S. Secret Service agents as investigators,
Attorney General Charles Bonaparte established what is now the Federal
Bureau of Investigation as his own staff of special agents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation>
1953:
Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately
135 rebels in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus
beginning the Cuban Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moncada_Barracks>
2007:
After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black
Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was
slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mantelletta:
(Roman Catholicism) A sleeveless, knee-length vestment open at the front
which is worn by Roman Catholic prelates.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mantelletta>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No language exists that cannot be misused … Every interpretation
is hypothetical, for it is a mere attempt to read an unfamiliar text.
--Carl Jung
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Jung>
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band
Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, by the independent record label
Megaforce Records. It is a groundbreaking album for thrash metal, which
fuses riffs of the new wave of British heavy metal with hardcore punk
tempos. Its musical approach and lyrics, markedly different from rock's
mainstream of the early Eighties, inspired other thrash metal bands. The
album did not enter the Billboard 200 until 1986, when it peaked at
number 155, following Metallica's commercial success with its third
studio album Master of Puppets; the 1988 Elektra reissue peaked at
number 120. Kill 'Em All was critically praised at the time of its
release and was ranked at number 35 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest
Metal Albums of All Time list. It was certified 3× Platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America in 1999 for shipping three
million copies in the United States. The album generated two singles:
"Whiplash" and "Jump in the Fire". Metallica promoted the album on the
Kill 'Em All for One tour with Raven in the United States.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_%27Em_All>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1261:
Alexios Strategopoulos led the Nicaean forces of Michael VIII
Palaiologos to recapture Constantinople, re-establish the Byzantine
Empire, and end the Latin Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_Strategopoulos>
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>
1965:
Bob Dylan, who had previously been known for folk music, gave a
controversial performance at the Newport Folk Festival, playing songs
with an electric guitar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy>
1976:
In a classic example of pareidolia, the Viking 1 spacecraft
took a photo of what appeared to be a face on Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydonia_(region_of_Mars)>
2007:
Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female President of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Patil>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
praziquantel:
An anthelmintic medication used to treat a number of types of parasitic
worm infections, including clonorchiasis, cysticercosis,
opisthorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and tapeworm infections.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/praziquantel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The only index by which to judge a government or a way of life is
by the quality of the people it acts upon. No matter how noble the
objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens
human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion — it is an evil
government.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
Monte Ne is a former health resort and planned community in the U.S.
state of Arkansas, open from 1901 to the mid-1930s. It was owned and
operated by William Hope Harvey, a financial theorist and writer, in the
Ozark hills of the White River valley east of Rogers on the edge of
Beaver Lake. Two of its hotels, Missouri Row and Oklahoma Row, were the
largest log buildings in the world at the time, and Oklahoma Row's tower
is one of the earliest examples of a multi-story concrete structure. The
resort was not a financial success, due in part to Harvey's management
style, and shortly after his death the property was sold off. The
remainder of the resort and town was almost completely submerged after
Beaver Lake was created in 1964. The severely vandalized Oklahoma Row
tower is the only remaining structure that can be seen at normal lake
levels. The area on the edge of Beaver Lake still referred to as Monte
Ne, owned and managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers,
serves mainly as a boat ramp.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Ne>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
Forces of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, and Alexander
Stewart, Earl of Mar, fought at the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie,
Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlaw>
1701:
French explorer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac established Fort
Pontchartrain du Détroit, which later grew into the city of Detroit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit>
1910:
Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër to put down the
Albanian revolt of 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_revolt_of_1910>
1967:
During a speech in Montreal, French President Charles de Gaulle
declared "Long live free Quebec!", a statement that was interpreted as
support for Quebec independence from Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vive_le_Qu%C3%A9bec_libre>
2013:
A Spanish high-speed train derailed at Santiago de Compostela;
79 died and around 140 were injured (rescue efforts pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela_derailment>
_____________________________
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:
Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind
or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if
you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never
will. Integrity is not a search for the rewards of integrity. Maybe all
you ever get for it is the largest kick in the ass the world can
provide. It is not supposed to be a productive asset. Crime pays a lot
better. I can bend my own rules way, way over, but there is a place
where I finally stop bending them.
--John D. MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald>
The 1983 Atlantic hurricane season was the least active Atlantic
hurricane season in 53 years. Although the season begins by convention
on June 1, there were no tropical depressions until July 23, and only
four of the season's seven depressions became tropical storms. Tropical
Depression Three became Hurricane Alicia (satellite image pictured) on
August 17 and made landfall in Texas the next day, breaking thousands of
glass windows in Houston's skyscrapers, killing 22 people and causing
$1.7 billion in damage. The storm that became Hurricane Barry formed on
August 25, crossed Florida, and made landfall near Brownsville, Texas,
dissipating five days later. Hurricane Chantal stayed out at sea, and
was absorbed by a front on September 15. Tropical Depression Six formed
on September 19 and caused heavy rains in the Caribbean. Tropical Storm
Dean, the final storm of the season, attained peak winds of 65 mph
(105 km/h), and made landfall on the Delmarva Peninsula on September
29.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Atlantic_hurricane_season>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: Henry Halleck was appointed general-in-
chief of the Union Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Halleck>
1921:
The Communist Party of China was founded at the founding
National Congress in Shanghai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_China>
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>
1974:
Following the collapse of the Greek military junta, the
Metapolitefsi period began as the country transitioned to a democratic
government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metapolitefsi>
2002:
On the 50th anniversary of its founding, the European Coal and
Steel Community disbanded, and its activities and resources were
absorbed by the European Community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Community>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bon mot:
A clever saying, phrase or witticism; often, a witty riposte in
dialogue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bon_mot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you
press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up
in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.
--Raymond Chandler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>
The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the race, one of
cycling's Grand Tours. The 21 race stages, including the prologue,
covered 3,496.9 km (2,173 mi), from the Belgian city of Liège on 30
June to the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. Bradley Wiggins
(pictured) from Team Sky won the overall general classification,
becoming the first British rider to win the Tour. Wiggins's teammate
Chris Froome placed second, and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas–Cannondale)
was third. Wiggins maintained leadership of the race after stage seven,
the first mountainous stage. The points classification was won by
Nibali's teammate Peter Sagan, who won three stages, as did André
Greipel of Lotto–Belisol and Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish. Team
Europcar's Thomas Voeckler won the mountains classification. BMC Racing
Team's Tejay van Garderen, in fifth place overall, won the young rider
classification. The team classification was won by RadioShack–Nissan,
and Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank) was given the award
for the most combative rider.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Tour_de_France>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1802:
Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam, which
had experienced centuries of feudal warfare.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gia_Long>
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>
1944:
In opposition to the Polish government-in-exile, the Soviet-
sponsored Polish Committee of National Liberation published its
manifesto, calling for radical reforms, a continuation of fighting in
World War II against Nazi Germany, nationalisation of industry, and a
"decent border in the West".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Committee_of_National_Liberation>
1992:
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxurious
private prison and spent the next 17 months on the run.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar>
2011:
Two sequential terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya claimed the
lives of 77 people in the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pave the way:
(idiomatic, often followed by for) To make future development easier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pave_the_way>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to
complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship,
we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up
with somebody more promising. This can go on and on — series polygamy
— until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimension to our
lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody
else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude
ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every
relationship we enter.
--Tom Robbins
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins>