Dwayne Jones was a Jamaican 16-year-old who was killed by a violent mob
in Montego Bay on the night of 21 July 2013, after he attended a dance
party dressed in women's clothing. Perceived as effeminate, Jones had
been bullied in school and rejected by his father, and had moved into a
derelict house in Montego Bay with transgender friends. When some men at
the dance party discovered that the cross-dressing Jones was not a
woman, they confronted and attacked him. He was beaten, stabbed, shot,
and run over by a car. Police investigated, but the murder remains
unsolved. The death made news internationally. While voices on social
media accused Jones of provoking his killers by cross-dressing in
public, the murder was condemned by Jamaican educators and by Justice
Minister Mark Golding. In the wake of the attack, domestic and
international organisations devoted to LGBT rights and human rights –
among them Human Rights Watch and Jamaicans for Justice – asked the
Jamaican authorities for a proper investigation and for legal
recognition of LGBT rights on the island.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dwayne_Jones>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
365:
A large earthquake that occurred near Crete and its subsequent
tsunami caused widespread destruction throughout the eastern
Mediterranean region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/365_Crete_earthquake>
1877:
During the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, much of central
Pittsburgh was burned and looted in the Pittsburgh railway riots.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_railway_riots>
1925:
American high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found
guilty of violating Tennessee's Butler Act by teaching evolution in
class.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial>
1970:
The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 11 years of
construction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam>
2007:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the
popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, was released to record
sales of 15 million copies in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest-
selling book in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
imbroglio:
A complicated situation; an entanglement.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imbroglio>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Peace Train" is a song I wrote, the message of which continues to
breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions. There is a powerful
need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again. As a member of
humanity and as a Muslim, this is my contribution to the call for a
peaceful solution.
--Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam)
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens>
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in
2001. The four-piece band consisted of Chris Cornell, Soundgarden's lead
singer and rhythm guitarist (pictured), and Rage Against the Machine
members Tom Morello (lead guitar), Tim Commerford (bass and backing
vocals), and Brad Wilk (drums). Their sound was created by blending
1970s hard rock with 1990s alternative rock, using only guitar, bass,
drums, and vocals. The group released three albums, received three
Grammy nominations, and became the first American rock band to perform
an open-air concert in Cuba. They disbanded in February 2007 when
Cornell announced he was leaving "due to irresolvable personality
conflicts as well as musical differences". The 2007 Rage Against the
Machine reunion and tour involving the rest of the band cemented the
supergroup's demise, as did the solo albums released that same year by
Morello and Cornell. The group announced a reunion in January 2017, and
performed together for the first time in over a decade at Prophets of
Rage's Anti-Inaugural Ball. Cornell died in May 2017.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audioslave>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1779:
Tekle Giyorgis I began the first of his six reigns as Emperor
of Ethiopia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekle_Giyorgis_I>
1807:
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent
for their Pyréolophore (diagram pictured), one of the world's first
internal combustion engines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore>
1922:
The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League
of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>
1987:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 was adopted,
calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Iran–Iraq War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_598>
1997:
After being fully restored, the USS Constitution, one of the
United States Navy's first ships, sailed for the first time in 116
years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moon shot:
1. The launching of a spacecraft or an object to orbit or land on the Moon.
2. (sports) An act of throwing or hitting a ball with a high trajectory.
3. (figuratively) An expensive, hard, or unlikely task of great potential
impact.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moon_shot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent,
than in the extent of my power and dominion.
--Alexander the Great
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great>
The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk, a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
attack aircraft, was developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and
first flown on 19 July 1967. Ten were delivered in 1967 and another ten
in 1971, and the type was in service with the RAN until 1984. They
joined the air group of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, and were
primarily used to provide air defence for the fleet and take part in
exercises throughout the Pacific region. They did not see combat. Ten
A-4Gs were destroyed as a result of equipment failures and non-combat
crashes during the type's service with the Navy, causing the deaths of
two pilots. The RAN had no need for most of its fixed-wing aircraft
after Melbourne was decommissioned in 1982, and the ten remaining A-4Gs
were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984; they were
initially used for training purposes, and were retired in 2001. Eight
A-4Ks, including six former A-4Gs, were sold to Draken International in
2012, and are in service supporting United States military training
exercises.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_A-4G_Skyhawk>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1817:
Having been unsuccessful in his attempt to seize the Kingdom of
Hawaii for Russia, Georg Anton Schäffer was forced to depart for China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Anton_Sch%C3%A4ffer>
1845:
The last major fire to affect Manhattan destroyed 345 buildings
and caused at least $5 million in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_New_York_City_Fire_of_1845>
1916:
First World War: "The worst 24 hours in Australia's entire
history" occurred when Australian forces suffered heavy losses in their
unsuccessful assault on the Germans at the Battle of Fromelles in
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fromelles>
1992:
A car bomb killed anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino and five
policemen in Palermo, Italy, less than two months after the murder of
his friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_D%27Amelio_bombing>
1997:
The Provisional Irish Republican Army permanently resumed its
ceasefire to end its 25-year campaign against British rule in Northern
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army_campaign>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
flerd:
A mixed group of ruminants, such as sheep and cattle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flerd>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It seems to me that today, if the artist wishes to be serious —
to cut out a little original niche for himself, or at least preserve his
own innocence of personality — he must once more sink himself in
solitude. There is too much talk and gossip; pictures are apparently
made, like stock-market prices, by competition of people eager for
profit; in order to do anything at all we need (so to speak) the wit and
ideas of our neighbors as much as the businessmen need the funds of
others to win on the market. All this traffic sharpens our intelligence
and falsifies our judgment.
--Edgar Degas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas>
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region
of North America. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, it flows south into
Washington, then turns west to form most of that state's border with
Oregon before emptying into the Pacific, 1,243 miles (2,000 km) from
its source. By volume it is the fourth-largest river in the US and the
largest in North America that enters the Pacific. The river system hosts
salmon and other fish that migrate between freshwater habitats and the
saline waters of the Pacific Ocean. In the late 18th century, a private
American ship became the first non-indigenous vessel to enter the river.
Overland explorers entered the Willamette Valley through the scenic but
treacherous Columbia River Gorge. Railroads were built in the valley in
the late 19th century, many running along the river. Since the early
20th century, the river has been dammed for power generation,
navigation, irrigation, and flood control. The 14 hydroelectric dams on
the Columbia (Bonneville Dam pictured), the Snake River, and the
Columbia's other tributaries produce more than 44 percent of total US
hydroelectric power.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, killed around
200 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_Birgu_polverista_explosion>
1841:
Pedro II, the last Emperor of Brazil, having reigned in
minority since 1831, was acclaimed, crowned and consecrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_II_of_Brazil>
1969:
After a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts, United
States Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, killing his
passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident>
1976:
At the Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci became the
first person to score a perfect 10 in a modern Olympics gymnastics
event.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci>
2012:
A suicide bomber attacked an Israeli tour bus at Burgas
Airport, Bulgaria, which led the European Union to list the military
branch of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Burgas_bus_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hostis humani generis:
(international law) A person who has committed a criminal act so
grave – originally maritime piracy and slave-trading, and now
torture as well – that any nation may put on trial and, upon
conviction, punish him or her.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hostis_humani_generis>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When I first made Night of the Living Dead, it got analyzed and
overanalyzed way out of proportion. The zombies were written about as if
they represented Nixon’s Silent Majority or whatever. But I never
thought about it that way. My stories are about humans and how they
react, or fail to react, or react stupidly. I’m pointing the finger at
us, not at the zombies. I try to respect and sympathize with the zombies
as much as possible.
--George A. Romero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_A._Romero>
The dire wolf (Canis dirus, "fearsome dog") was a prehistoric carnivore
of the Western Hemisphere in the late Pleistocene Epoch
(125,000–10,000 years ago). The extinct species probably evolved from
Armbruster's wolf (Canis armbrusteri). The dire wolf was about the same
size as the Yukon and Northwestern wolves, the largest modern gray
wolves (Canis lupus). Its skull and dentition matched those of the gray
wolf, but its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability, and its
bite force at the canine tooth was the strongest of any known Canis
species. These adaptations allowed it to hunt, probably in packs, for
Late Pleistocene megaherbivores. In North America it competed with the
sabre-toothed cat for prey including horses, sloths, mastodons, bison,
and camels. Dire wolf remains have been found across a broad range of
habitats including the plains, grasslands, and some forested mountain
areas of North America, and in the arid savannah of South America. The
largest collection of dire wolf fossils comes from the La Brea Tar Pits
in Los Angeles; its latest remains date from 9,440 years ago.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_wolf>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
The Battle of Castillon, the last conflict of the Hundred
Years' War, ended with the English losing all landholdings in France,
except Calais.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon>
1771:
Dene men, acting as guides to Samuel Hearne on his exploration
of the Coppermine River in present-day Nunavut, Canada, massacred a
group of about 20 Copper Inuit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Falls_massacre>
1918:
RMS Carpathia, which had rescued the survivors of the RMS
Titanic sinking, was itself sunk by a German U-boat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia>
1944:
Two ships laden with ammunition for World War II exploded at
the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, killing 320
sailors and civilians, and injuring more than 400 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster>
1992:
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Manchester Metrolink,
the first modern street running light rail system in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unused:
1. (not comparable) Not used.
2. Not accustomed (to), unfamiliar with.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unused>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of all the people who failed to buy one of my books today, the
vast majority did so because they never heard of them, not because they
got a free digital copy from the Internet.
--Cory Doctorow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow>
The Los Alamos Laboratory was a secret laboratory in a remote part of
New Mexico established by the Manhattan Project during World War II and
operated by the University of California. Its mission was to design and
build the first atomic bombs. The laboratory was designing a plutonium
gun-type fission weapon called Thin Man until April 1944, when it
determined that the nuclear reactor-bred plutonium in the bomb could
predetonate before the core was fully assembled. Robert Oppenheimer
reorganized the laboratory, and orchestrated an all-out effort on an
alternative design, an implosion-type nuclear weapon called Fat Man. The
gun-type Little Boy was developed using uranium-235. The laboratory also
built an aqueous homogeneous reactor, and researched the hydrogen bomb.
The Fat Man design was used in the Trinity nuclear test on 16 July 1945,
and laboratory personnel participated in the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki as pit crews, weaponeers and observers. Oppenheimer was
succeeded as director by Norris Bradbury in December 1945. After the
war, assembly activities moved to Sandia. The Los Alamos Laboratory
became the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1947.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Y>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1769:
Spanish friar Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de
Alcalá, the first Franciscan mission in the Alta California region of
New Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Diego_de_Alcal%C3%A1>
1782:
Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail made its
premiere, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally made the comment
that it had "too many notes".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail>
1931:
Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie signed the nation's first
constitution, intended to officially replace the Fetha Nagast, which had
been the supreme law since the Middle Ages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Constitution_of_Ethiopia>
1983:
A British Airways Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed in the
Celtic Sea in thick fog, killing 20 of the 26 on board, and sparking a
review of helicopter safety in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_British_Airways_Sikorsky_S-61_crash>
2007:
A magnitude 6.6 MW earthquake struck Niigata Prefecture, Japan,
causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear
Power Plant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Ch%C5%ABetsu_offshore_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
massasauga:
The rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus, syn. Crotalus catenatus) in the
family Viperidae, found in three subspecies.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/massasauga>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm not too sure old Phoebe knew what the hell I was talking
about. I mean she's only a little child and all. But she was listening,
at least. If somebody at least listens, it's not too bad.
--The Catcher in the Rye
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye>
God of War III is a third person action-adventure video game released in
2010 for the PlayStation 3 console, with a remastered version released
for PlayStation 4 on July 14, 2015. The player controls Kratos, the
former God of War, who was betrayed by his father Zeus. Reigniting the
War of the Titans, Kratos ascends Mount Olympus and battles monsters,
gods, and Titans in a quest to open Pandora's Box, defeat Zeus, and end
the reign of the Olympian Gods. The gameplay focuses on combo-based
combat and features quick time events to defeat stronger enemies and
bosses. The game also features magical attacks, puzzles, and platforming
elements. Critically acclaimed upon release, it won several awards,
including "Most Anticipated Game of 2010" and "Best PS3 Game" at the
2009 and 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, respectively, and the "Artistic
Achievement" award at the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television
Arts Video Game Awards. It is the best-selling game in the God of War
series and ninth among all PlayStation 3 games, with nearly 5.2 million
copies sold worldwide.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_III>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone in Fort Julien,
near the Egyptian port city of Rashid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone>
1815:
Aboard HMS Bellerophon, Napoleon surrendered to Royal Navy
Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland to finally end the Napoleonic Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)>
1910:
In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gave a name to
Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease>
1959:
Five hundred thousand American steelworkers went on strike,
closing nearly every steel mill in the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_strike_of_1959>
1997:
American serial killer Andrew Cunanan gunned down fashion
designer Gianni Versace in Miami, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Versace>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dollop:
1. (transitive) To apply haphazardly in generous lumps or scoops.
2. (intransitive) To drip in a viscous form.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dollop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We know that the Jews were prohibited from investigating the
future. The Torah and the prayers instruct them in remembrance, however.
This stripped the future of its magic, to which all those succumb who
turn to the soothsayers for enlightenment. This did not imply, however,
that for the Jews the future turned into homogeneous empty time. For
every second of time was the strait gate through which the Messiah might
enter.
--Walter Benjamin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin>
Noye's Fludde is a one-act opera written largely for young amateur
performers, created by the British composer Benjamin Britten. First
performed in 1958 at the annual Aldeburgh Festival, it is based on the
15th-century Chester "mystery" play which recounts the biblical story of
Noah, the flood and the ark. Britten had written numerous works for
mixed professionals and amateurs, and had also used text from the
Chester play cycle, for his 1952 Canticle II. For Noye's Fludde he added
to the Chester text three congregational hymns, together with the Greek
prayer Kyrie eleison and an Alleluia chorus. Of the solo sung roles,
only the parts of Noye (Noah) and his wife are intended to be sung by
professionals; the remaining roles are taken by child and adolescent
performers. The mainly amateur orchestra contains numerous
unconventional instruments. At its premiere Noye's Fludde was acclaimed
by critics and the public alike, both for the inspiration of the music
and for the design and production. Since then it has been staged
worldwide; the performance in Beijing in October 2012 was the first in
China of any Britten opera.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noye%27s_Fludde>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
French Revolution: Parisians stormed the Bastille, freeing its
inmates and taking the prison's large quantities of arms and ammunition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille>
1950:
In an early battle of the Korean War, North Korean troops began
attacking the headquarters of the American 24th Infantry Division in
Taejon, South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taejon>
1958:
Faisal II, the last king of Iraq, was overthrown by a military
coup d'état led by Abd al-Karim Qasim.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_July_Revolution>
1987:
Over 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain fell in a two-and-a-half-hour
period in Montreal, causing severe flooding and over C$220 million in
damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_flood_of_1987>
1995:
The MPEG-2 Audio Layer III audio coding format was given the
filename extension by which it became known: MP3.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
galette:
1. A type of flat, round cake from France.
2. Short for Breton galette: a crêpe or pancake made with buckwheat flour,
and often with a savoury filling, originally from Upper Brittany in
France.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/galette>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Arise, children of the Fatherland, The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's Bloody banner is raised … Do you hear, in the
countryside, The roar of those ferocious soldiers? They're coming right
into your arms To slaughter your sons, your companions!! To arms,
citizens, Form your battalions, Let's march, let's march!
--Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claude_Joseph_Rouget_de_Lisle>
Blade Runner is a 1982 American neo-noir science fiction film directed
by Ridley Scott, starring Harrison Ford (pictured), Rutger Hauer, Sean
Young, and Edward James Olmos. It depicts a dystopian world in 2019,
where genetically engineered humanoid replicants are used for dangerous
work on off-world colonies. Four of them have illegally come to Los
Angeles to confront the man who designed them. They are hunted by Rick
Deckard (Ford), who is troubled by his relationship with Rachael, an
advanced replicant. The film, a loose adaptation of the 1968 novel Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, was written by
Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. It polarized critics and
underperformed in theaters, but won many awards and has since become a
cult film. It was one of the first films released on DVD. Hailed for its
tech noir production design, it was inducted into the National Film
Registry in 1993, and is now highly regarded by many critics. In 2007
Warner Bros. released a remastered version. A sequel, Blade Runner
2049, is set for release in October 2017.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1260:
The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th
century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Durbe>
1878:
At the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin, the major powers
in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the map of the Balkans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berlin_(1878)>
1962:
In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives_(1962)>
1973:
Watergate scandal: Under questioning by Senate investigators,
White House deputy chief of staff Alexander Butterfield revealed the
existence of a secret taping system (tape recorder pictured) in the Oval
Office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_White_House_tapes>
2003:
French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian
politician Íngrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the
press six days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_14_juillet>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
assassinatrix:
(rare) A female assassin.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assassinatrix>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is by the straight line and the circle that the first and most
simple example and representation of all things may be demonstrated,
whether such things be either non-existent or merely hidden under
Nature's veils.
--John Dee
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dee>
The Battle of Prokhorovka (12 July 1943), one of the largest tank
battles in history, was fought between Waffen-SS units of Nazi Germany
and Red Army units of the Soviet Union during the Second World War on
the Eastern Front. The climax of the German offensive Operation Citadel,
it resulted when the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army intercepted the II SS-
Panzer Corps of the German Wehrmacht near Prokhorovka. The Soviet forces
were decimated in the attack, but succeeded in preventing the Wehrmacht
from capturing Prokhorovka and breaking through the last heavily
fortified defensive belt. With the Germans unable to accomplish their
objective for Operation Citadel, they cancelled it and began redeploying
their forces to deal with new pressing developments elsewhere. The
failure of the operation marked the first time in the war that a major
German offensive was halted before it could break through enemy
defences. The Soviet Union permanently gained the strategic initiative,
and Germany permanently lost the capacity to launch offensives of this
scale on the Eastern Front.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Prokhorovka>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1561:
Saint Basil's Cathedral, located at the geographic center of
Moscow, was consecrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral>
1801:
French Revolutionary Wars: A squadron of British Royal Navy
ships of the line defeated a larger squadron of ships from the Spanish
Navy and French Navy in the Gut of Gibraltar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Algeciras>
1917:
Vigilantes forcibly deported about 1,300 striking mine workers,
their supporters, and bystanders from Bisbee, Arizona, U.S., to New
Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation>
1963:
In Gorton, England, 16-year-old Pauline Reade disappeared, the
first victim of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors_murders>
2007:
Two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters conducted a series of
air-to-ground attacks in Baghdad; classified cockpit gunsight footage
was released to the Internet in 2010.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007_Baghdad_airstrike>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
haptic:
1. Of or relating to the sense of touch; tactile.
2. (computing) Of or relating to haptics (“the study of user interfaces
that use the sense of touch”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haptic>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Politicians are always realistically maneuvering for the next
election. They are obsolete as fundamental problem-solvers.
--Buckminster Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller>