The meteorological history of Hurricane Ivan (2004) spans 26 days, the
tenth longest storm duration of any Atlantic hurricane on record. The
tropical cyclone developed on August 31 from a tropical wave that moved
off the coast of Africa. Tracking westward due to a ridge, it developed
into Tropical Depression Nine on September 2, gradually intensifying
until September 5, when it underwent rapid deepening and reached
Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. At the time
Ivan was the southernmost major North Atlantic hurricane on record. It
was weakened by dry air but gradually reorganized, passing just south of
Grenada as a major hurricane on September 7. The hurricane attained
Category 5 status in the central Caribbean Sea, and passed just south of
Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and western Cuba with winds at or slightly
below that. Ivan gradually weakened before making landfall just west of
Gulf Shores, Alabama, on September 16 with winds of 120 mph
(195 km/h). After weakening, crossing Florida, restrengthening, and
making another landfall in Louisiana, its circulation dissipated in
Texas on September 25.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorological_history_of_Hurricane_Ivan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1897:
Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a
precursor to the movie projector.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope>
1939:
Nazi forces, posing as Poles, staged an attack against the
German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia,
Germany, creating an excuse to invade Poland the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident>
1969:
Approximately 150,000 people attended the Isle of Wight
Festival, which featured Bob Dylan in his first gig since 1966.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival_1969>
1982:
Anti-government demonstrations were held in 66 Polish cities to
commemorate the second anniversary of the Gdańsk Agreement, which
allowed the Solidarity trade union to be established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_demonstrations_in_Poland>
1997:
Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their
driver Henri Paul were killed in a high speed car accident in the Pont
de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Diana,_Princess_of_Wales>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shambolic:
(Australia, Britain) Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shambolic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have always been a Laugher, disturbing people who are not
laughers, upsetting whole audiences at theatres … I laugh, that's all.
I love to laugh. Laughter to me is being alive. I have had rotten times,
and I have laughed through them. Even in the midst of the very worst
times I have laughed.
--William Saroyan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan>
Pallas's leaf warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) is a migratory bird that
breeds in mountain forests from southern Siberia east to northern
Mongolia and northeastern China. It is named for German zoologist Peter
Simon Pallas, who first described it. It winters mainly in and near
southern China, although in recent decades increasing numbers have been
found in Europe in autumn. One of the smallest Eurasian leaf warblers,
it has a relatively large head and short tail. It has greenish
upperparts and white underparts, a lemon-yellow rump, and yellow double
wingbars and supercilia. The female builds a cup nest in a tree or bush,
and incubates four to six eggs that hatch after 12 or 13 days. The
chicks are fed mainly by the female and fledge when they are 12–14
days old. Pallas's leaf warbler feeds on small insects and spiders. It
forages in bushes and trees, picking items from leaves or catching prey
in short flights or while hovering. The species has a large range, its
numbers are believed to be stable, and it is not endangered.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas%27s_leaf_warbler>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
526:
Upon the death of her father, Theoderic the Great, Amalasuntha
of the Ostrogoths became the regent for her 10-year-old son Athalaric.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalasuntha>
1862:
American Civil War: In separate actions, Confederate forces
were victorious in both the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky and the
Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run>
1896:
Philippine Revolution: In the Battle of San Juan del Monte, the
first real battle of the war, a Katipunan force temporarily captured a
powder magazine before being beaten back by a Spanish garrison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_del_Monte>
1942:
Second World War: Erwin Rommel launched the last major Axis
offensive of the Western Desert Campaign, attacking the British Eighth
Army's position near El Alamein, Egypt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alam_el_Halfa>
1992:
German driver Michael Schumacher, the most successful Formula
One driver in history, won his first race at the Belgian Grand Prix.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
janissary:
1. (historical) An infantry soldier, often Christian, in a former elite
Turkish (Osmannic) guard (disbanded in 1826); by extension, any Turkish
soldier, particularly one escorting a traveller.
2. (figuratively) An elite, highly loyal supporter.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/janissary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my
lifetime or at death. Measured by dollars, this commitment is large. In
a comparative sense, though, many individuals give more to others every
day. Millions of people who regularly contribute to churches, schools,
and other organizations thereby relinquish the use of funds that would
otherwise benefit their own families. The dollars these people drop into
a collection plate or give to United Way mean forgone movies, dinners
out, or other personal pleasures. In contrast, my family and I will give
up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge. Moreover, this
pledge does not leave me contributing the most precious asset, which is
time. Many people, including — I’m proud to say — my three
children, give extensively of their own time and talents to help others.
Gifts of this kind often prove far more valuable than money.
--Warren Buffett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett>
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) was a Russian composer, a member
of a group of prominent composers known as The Five, who worked together
in Saint Petersburg in the mid-19th century. Considered a master of
orchestration, his best-known compositions, which include Capriccio
Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite
Scheherazade, are considered staples of the classical music repertoire,
along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade
is an example of Rimsky-Korsakov's frequent use of fairy tale and folk
subjects; he also left a considerable body of original Russian
nationalist compositions. His preparation of works by The Five for
performance brought them into the active classical repertoire, although
his editing of the music of Modest Mussorgsky created controversy. As a
shaper of a generation of younger composers and musicians during his
decades as an educator, he is considered the main architect of what the
classical music public considers the Russian style of composition.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, leading
to the formation of his law of induction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction>
1842:
The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty ending the First Opium
War, was signed, forcing the Chinese Qing dynasty to give control of the
island that is now the site of Hong Kong, and other concessions to the
British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong>
1903:
The Russian battleship Slava, the last of the five Borodino-
class battleships, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Slava>
1930:
The last 36 residents of St Kilda, Scotland, now a UNESCO World
Heritage Site for its natural and cultural qualities, voluntarily
evacuated to Morvern.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland>
2007:
Six nuclear warheads were alleged to have been mistakenly
loaded onto a United States Air Force heavy bomber that flew from Minot
Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Skynet:
1. A family of United Kingdom military communications satellites.
2. (science fiction) A distributed artificial intelligence system that is
aware of the physical world and acts autonomously through cyborgs and
computer control systems.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Skynet>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Like most people of my age, I feel a longing for what is lost and
cannot be restored. But if the happy pursuits and casual beauty of youth
prove ephemeral, something better can endure, and endure until our last
moment on earth. And that is the honor we earn and the love we give if
at a moment in our lives we sacrifice for something greater than self-
interest. We cannot choose the moments. They arrive unbidden by us. We
can choose to let the moments pass, and avoid the difficulties they
entail. But the loss we would incur by that choice is much dearer than
the tribute we once paid to vanity and pleasure.
--John McCain
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_McCain>
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American sociologist, historian
and civil rights activist. The first African American to earn a
doctorate from Harvard, he became a professor of history, sociology and
economics at Atlanta University. He rose to national prominence as the
leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists
who wanted equal rights for blacks, and was one of the co-founders of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
in 1909. He wrote one of the first scientific treatises in the field of
American sociology, and published three autobiographies. Black
Reconstruction in America (1935) challenged the prevailing orthodoxy
that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era.
On August 28, 1963, a day after his death, his book The Souls of Black
Folk was highlighted by Roy Wilkins at the March on Washington, and
hundreds of thousands of marchers honored him with a moment of silence.
A year later, the US Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for
which he had campaigned his entire life, was enacted.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
With the first use of his new 1.2 m (3.9 ft) telescope, then
the largest in the world, William Herschel discovered a new moon of
Saturn, which was later named Enceladus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus>
1830:
Tom Thumb, the first American-built steam locomotive, engaged
in an impromptu race against a horse-drawn car in Maryland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thumb_(locomotive)>
1914:
In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships
ambushed a German naval patrol in the Heligoland Bight area of the North
Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight_(1914)>
1924:
An unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, known as the August Uprising, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Uprising>
1963:
During a large political rally in Washington, D.C., Martin
Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, describing his
desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously
as equals.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
syndicate:
1. A group of individuals or companies formed to transact some specific
business, or to promote a common interest; a self-coordinating group.
2. (crime) A group of gangsters engaged in organized crime.
3. (mass media) A group of media companies, or an agency, formed to acquire
content such as articles, cartoons, etc., and to publish it in multiple
outlets; a chain of newspapers or other media outlets managed by such an
organization.
4. The office or jurisdiction of a syndic; a body or council of syndics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/syndicate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe
they are free.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe>
Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. A heavy
metal with a density exceeding that of most common materials, it is
malleable and has a low melting point for a metal. Chemically, it is a
relatively unreactive post-transition metal. Lead was known to
prehistoric people. A principal ore of lead, galena, often bears silver;
interest in silver sparked lead extraction and use in ancient Rome. Lead
production declined after the fall of Rome and did not reach comparable
levels until the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, global production of
lead is about ten million tonnes annually. Its high density, low melting
point, high malleability, relative inertness to oxidation, relative
abundance, and low cost have resulted in its extensive use in
construction, plumbing, batteries, bullets and shot, weights, solders,
pewters, fusible alloys, and radiation shielding. In the late 19th
century, lead was recognized as highly toxic, and since then it has been
phased out for many uses. A neurotoxin that accumulates in soft tissues
and bones, it can damage the nervous system and cause brain and blood
disorders.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1810:
Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy,
preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de la
Passe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Port>
1893:
The Sea Islands hurricane made landfall near Savannah, Georgia,
U.S., causing at least 1,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1893_Sea_Islands_hurricane>
1927:
Five Canadian women filed a petition to ask the Supreme Court
of Canada, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North
America Act, 1867, include female persons," to which the court
eventually replied that it does not.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)>
1942:
Nazi troops and the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police began
systematically executing more than 14,000 people, mostly Jews, in and
around Sarny in occupied Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarny_Massacre>
2013:
Religious violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in
Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India, leaving 62 people dead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Muzaffarnagar_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chthonic:
Dwelling within or under the earth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chthonic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Development and diversity depend on independent initiatives and
competition. When everyone thinks alike not much gets thought.
--Johan Norberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johan_Norberg>
Operation Bernhard was an exercise by the Nazis to forge British bank
notes. The initial plan was to drop the notes over Britain to bring
about a collapse of the economy, but the operation was closed in early
1942 after its head, Alfred Naujocks (pictured), fell out of favour with
his superior officer, Reinhard Heydrich. It was reopened in July as a
counterfeiting operation to finance German intelligence operations.
Prisoners were sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp to work under SS
Major Bernhard Krüger, producing British notes until mid-1945 worth
between £130 and £300 million. Counterfeit notes from the operation
were used to pay the Turkish agent Elyesa Bazna—code-named
Cicero—for his work in obtaining secrets from the British ambassador
in Ankara, Turkey. Another £100,000 helped to free the Italian leader
Benito Mussolini in the Gran Sasso raid in September 1943. The operation
was dramatised in a 1981 BBC comedy-drama miniseries, Private Schulz,
and in a 2007 Austrian film, The Counterfeiters.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bernhard>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1071:
Byzantine–Seljuq wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan
captured Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert>
1810:
Juan José Castelli ordered the execution of Santiago de
Liniers, during the Argentine War of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Castelli>
1914:
First World War: The German colony of Togoland surrendered to
French and British forces after a 20-day campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland_Campaign>
1968:
The Beatles released "Hey Jude", which became the then-longest
single to top the UK charts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude>
1980:
Three men planted a bomb (explosion pictured) at Harvey's
Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, U.S., that the FBI described as the
most complex improvised explosive device ever created.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
steamer:
1. A device or object that works by the operation of steam.
2. A vessel in which articles are subjected to the action of steam, as in
washing and in various processes of manufacture.
3. (cooking) A cooking appliance that cooks by steaming.
4. (obsolete) A steam fire engine, that is, a steam boiler and engine
driving a pump, which are all mounted on wheels.
5. A mode of transportation propelled by steam.
6. (rail transport) A steam-powered road locomotive; a traction engine.
7. (nautical) A vessel propelled by steam; a steamboat or steamship. […]
8. A babycino (frothy milk drink).
9. A wetsuit with long sleeves and legs.
10. The name of various animals.
11. The soft-shell clam, sand gaper, or long-neck clam (Mya arenaria), an
edible saltwater clam; specifically the clam when steamed for eating.
12. A steamer duck: any of the four species of the duck genus Tachyeres
which are all found in South America, three of which are flightless.
[…]
13. (Australia, obsolete) A dish made by cooking diced meat very slowly in a
tightly sealed pot with a minimum of flavourings, allowing it to steam
in its own juices; specifically such a dish made with kangaroo meat.
[…]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steamer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Nazis hated culture itself, because it is essentially
international and therefore subversive of nationalism. What they called
Nazi culture was a local, perverted, nationalistic cult, by which a few
major artists and many minor ones were honored for their Germanness, not
their talent.
--Christopher Isherwood
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Isherwood>
The Fade Out is a crime comic created by writer Ed Brubaker and artist
Sean Phillips with the help of colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser and
research assistant Amy Condit. Twelve issues were published by Image
Comics between August 2014 and January 2016, and republished in
paperback and hardcover formats. The story, partly inspired by the life
of Brubaker's uncle, is set in 1948 and features Charlie Parish, a
Hollywood screenwriter suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and
fronting for his blacklisted best friend, Gil. When Charlie wakes from a
blackout in the same room as a murdered starlet, he and Gil set out to
bring her killer to justice. As they learn more about her troubled past,
they find themselves up against powerful Hollywood elites. Although
Brubaker had been concerned the premise was not commercial enough to
have wide appeal, The Fade Out sold better than any of the authors'
previous collaborations and early issues went through several printings.
The series received positive reviews from critics, who enjoyed the
tragic conclusion.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fade_Out>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1258:
George Mouzalon, regent of the Empire of Nicaea, was
assassinated as part of a conspiracy led by the nobles under future
emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mouzalon>
1758:
Seven Years' War: Prussian forces engaged the Russians at the
Battle of Zorndorf in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zorndorf>
1942:
World War II: Japanese forces attacked the Australian base at
Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay>
1950:
Althea Gibson entered into the U.S. Tennis Championships,
becoming the first African American woman to be a competitor on the
world tennis tour.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althea_Gibson>
1989:
The Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune
and provided definitive proof of the existence of the planet's rings
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Neptune>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apple of discord:
An object or topic which sows anger and dissension; something which
causes argument, rivalry, or strife.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apple_of_discord>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What is the only provocation that could bring about the use of
nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. What is the priority target for
nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. What is the only established defense
against nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. How do we prevent the use of
nuclear weapons? By threatening the use of nuclear weapons. And we can't
get rid of nuclear weapons, because of nuclear weapons. The
intransigence, it seems, is a function of the weapons themselves.
--Martin Amis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis>
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. (1928) is a leading case in
American tort law on the question of liability to an unforeseeable
plaintiff. Arising out of an unusual incident on August 24, 1924, the
case has been studied by generations of law students. The plaintiff,
Helen Palsgraf, was injured as she was boarding a train when a man
(aided by railroad employees) dropped a package that exploded, causing a
large coin-operated scale on the platform to hit her. She sued the
railroad, arguing that she had been harmed by the negligence of its
employees while they assisted the man. She won a jury verdict but lost
on appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, the highest state court in
New York; its opinion was written by Chief Judge Benjamin Cardozo
(pictured), a leading figure in the development of American common law
and later a Supreme Court justice. Cardozo wrote for a majority of the
Court of Appeals, ruling that the railroad was not negligent because its
employees, in helping the man board, did not have a duty of care to
Palsgraf as injury to her was not a foreseeable harm from aiding a man
with a package.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palsgraf_v._Long_Island_Railroad_Co.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
49 BC:
Caesar's Civil War: Forces loyal to Julius Caesar led by Gaius
Scribonius Curio were crushingly defeated by Pompeian Republicans under
Publius Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bagradas_(49_BC)>
1482:
Anglo-Scottish Wars: The border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and
its castle were captured by English forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Berwick_(1482)>
1889:
The predominantly Māori New Zealand Native football team
played the last match of their 107-game tour, the longest in rugby union
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888%E2%80%9389_New_Zealand_Native_football_t…>
1942:
World War II: Bombers from the United States aircraft carrier
Saratoga sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō near Santa Isabel,
Solomon Islands, helping to lead to an Allied victory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eastern_Solomons>
2004:
About 90 people died after suicide bombers attacked two
airliners flying out of Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Russian_aircraft_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lumination:
(rare) Illumination; specifically, artificial illumination.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lumination>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is known that Whistler when asked how long it took him to paint
one of his "nocturnes" answered: "All of my life." With the same rigor
he could have said that all of the centuries that preceded the moment
when he painted were necessary. From that correct application of the law
of causality it follows that slightest event presupposes the
inconceivable universe and, conversely, that the universe needs even the
slightest of events.
--Jorge Luis Borges
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges>
T3 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy
between 1921 and 1941. Originally 78 T, a 250t-class torpedo boat
commissioned on 23 August 1914 by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, she saw
active service during World War I, performing convoy, escort and
minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment
missions. Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, she was allocated
to Yugoslavia and renamed T3. She was captured by the Italians during
the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. After her main armament
was modernised, she served with the Royal Italian Navy as T3, although
she was only used for coastal and second-line tasks. Following the
Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was captured by Germany, and
after being fitted with additional anti-aircraft guns, she served with
the German Navy and the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia as
TA48. In German and Croatian service her crew of 52 consisted entirely
of Croatian officers and enlisted men. She was sunk by Allied aircraft
in February 1945 while in the port of Trieste, where she had been built.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_torpedo_boat_T3>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London>
1898:
The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departed from London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Expedition>
1927:
After a controversial trial, and despite worldwide protests,
Italian-born American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti (both pictured) were
executed via electrocution in Massachusetts for murder.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti>
1943:
World War II: The decisive Soviet victory in the Battle of
Kursk gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the
war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kursk>
2010:
A former Philippine National Police officer hijacked a tourist
bus in Manila and held its occupants hostage for nearly 11 hours before
being killed by police.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
paean:
1. (Ancient Greece, historical) A chant or song, especially a hymn of
thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another
god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle.
2. Any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph.
3. An enthusiastic expression of praise.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paean>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Who says that we shall pass, or the fame of us fade and die, While
the living stars fulfil their round in the living sky?
--William Ernest Henley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley>
The 2015 Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) was the 70th edition of the
three-week race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,358.1-kilometre
(2,086.6 mi) race included 21 stages, from Marbella on 22 August to
Madrid on 13 September. Astana Pro Team's Fabio Aru (pictured) won the
race, with Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) second and Rafał Majka
(Tinkoff–Saxo) third. The early leaders were Esteban Chaves
(Orica–GreenEDGE) and Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant–Alpecin). Aru took
over the lead in Andorra following Stage 11, and kept it for five stages
through the mountains of northern Spain before losing it to Rodríguez
on Stage 16. Dumoulin retook the lead on Stage 17, but was dropped by
Aru in the next-to-last stage, falling to sixth place overall. It was
Aru's first Grand Tour victory. The points classification, decided
during the final stage, was won by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team),
while Rodriguez won the combination classification. The mountains
classification was won by Omar Fraile (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA).
Dumoulin won the combativity award, while Movistar won the team prize.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Vuelta_a_Espa%C3%B1a>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1485:
Lancastrian forces under Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond,
defeated Yorkist forces under Richard III of England at the Battle of
Bosworth Field, decisively ending the Wars of the Roses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field>
1851:
The yacht America won the Cup of One Hundred Sovereigns race
(trophy pictured), later renamed the America's Cup, near the Isle of
Wight, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1851_America%27s_Cup>
1910:
Japan annexed Korea with the signing of the Japan–Korea
Annexation Treaty, beginning a period of Japanese rule of Korea that
lasted until the end of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Korea_Treaty_of_1910>
1961:
Ida Siekmann jumped from a window in her tenement building
trying to flee to West Berlin, becoming the first person to die at the
Berlin Wall.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Siekmann>
2015:
A Hawker Hunter aircraft crashed at an airshow at Shoreham-by-
Sea, United Kingdom, killing eleven people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Shoreham_Airshow_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
talking head:
(idiomatic, also attributive) A journalist or pundit, especially one on
television, who presents or discusses issues of the day.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/talking_head>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I learned from my dad that when you walk in front of an audience,
they are the kings and queens, and you’re but the jester — and if
you don’t think that way, you’re going to get very, very conceited.
--Jerry Lewis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Lewis>