Washington v. Texas (1967) is a US Supreme Court case about the right of
criminal defendants to have witnesses testify on their behalf. The Court
decided that the Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the
Constitution applied in state courts as well as federal courts. At his
trial Jackie Washington had attempted to call his co-defendant as a
witness but was blocked because state law prevented co-defendants from
testifying for each other, under the theory that they might lie for each
other on the stand. The Supreme Court reasoned that the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment gives defendants the right to fair
proceedings, including the right to compel defense witnesses to testify.
In previous cases, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Fourteenth
Amendment, which was adopted after the Civil War, makes many federal
guarantees in the Bill of Rights applicable to the states. The impact of
Washington was narrowed by a later case, Taylor v. Illinois (1988), in
which the Court said that "countervailing public interests" could be
balanced against a defendant's right to present witnesses.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_v._Texas>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
737:
Muslim conquest of Transoxiana: Turgesh tribes attacked the
exposed Umayyad baggage train, which had been sent ahead of the main
force, and captured it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Baggage>
1551:
Sue Takafusa, a military leader for the Ōuchi clan in western
Japan, led a coup against daimyo Ōuchi Yoshitaka, leading to the
latter's forced suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tainei-ji_incident>
1939:
World War II: General Władysław Sikorski became Prime
Minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski>
1975:
The AH-64 Apache, the primary attack helicopter for a number of
countries, made its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_AH-64_Apache>
2005:
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial
editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad, sparking protests across the
Muslim world by many who viewed them as Islamophobic and blasphemous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bombast:
1. (archaic) Cotton, or cotton wool.
2. (archaic) Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for
garments; stuffing, padding.
3. (figuratively) High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the
occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bombast>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When you see anyone complaining of such and such a person's ill-
nature and bad temper, know that the complainant is bad-tempered,
forasmuch as he speaks ill of that bad-tempered person, because he alone
is good-tempered who is quietly forbearing towards the bad-tempered and
ill-natured.
--Rumi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
Michael Francis Egan (September 29, 1761 – July 22, 1814) was a
prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Ireland, he joined the
Franciscan Order at a young age. He was ordained a priest, probably in
Prague, in 1785 or 1786. He advanced rapidly to positions of
responsibility in the Franciscan order, becoming custos (guardian) in
the province of Munster in Ireland, then at the Pontifical College at
the home of Irish Franciscans in Rome, and later at Ennis in Ireland.
Egan arrived in the United States in January 1802 to serve as an
assistant pastor near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His reputation as a
gifted preacher secured him a position in 1803 as a pastor at St. Mary's
Church in Philadelphia. In 1808, he was appointed the first Bishop of
Philadelphia, holding that position until his death in 1814. His tenure
as bishop saw the construction of new churches and the expansion of the
Catholic Church membership in his diocese, but much of his time was
consumed by disputes with the lay trustees of St. Mary's Church.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Francis_Egan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1918:
World War I: At the Battle of St Quentin Canal, the British
Fourth Army made the first breach of the German defensive Hindenburg
Line.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_Line>
1940:
Two Avro Ansons of No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF
collided in mid-air over Brocklesby, New South Wales, Australia,
remained locked together after colliding, and landed safely.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Brocklesby_mid-air_collision>
1957:
An explosion at the Soviet nuclear reprocessing plant Mayak
released 74 to 1850 PBq of radioactive material.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster>
1962:
Alouette 1, Canada's first satellite, and the first satellite
constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United
States, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_1>
1991:
The Haitian Army deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
eight months after the nation's first democratic elections.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
whopping:
(colloquial) Exceptionally great or large.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whopping>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be
our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against
principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness,
spirits of evil.
--Pope Leo XIII
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIII>
Gods' Man is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985)
published in 1929. In 139 captionless woodblock prints it tells the
Faustian story of an artist who signs away his soul for a magic
paintbrush. It was the first American wordless novel, and is seen as a
precursor of, and influence on, the graphic novel. Ward first
encountered the wordless novel with Frans Masereel's The Sun (1919)
while studying art in Germany in 1926. He returned to the United States
in 1927 and established a career for himself as an illustrator. He found
Otto Nückel's wordless novel Destiny (1926) in New York City, and it
inspired him to create a similar work. Gods' Man appeared a week before
the Wall Street Crash of 1929; it nevertheless enjoyed strong sales and
remains the best-selling American wordless novel. Its success inspired
other Americans to experiment with the medium, including cartoonist Milt
Gross, who parodied it in He Done Her Wrong (1930). In the 1970s Ward's
example inspired cartoonists Art Spiegelman and Will Eisner to create
their first graphic novels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Man>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
235:
Having been exiled to labor in the mines of Sardinia by Roman
emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pope Pontian resigned to make the election of a
new pope possible.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pontian>
1821:
The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from
Spain was drafted in the National Palace in Mexico City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Mexican_Em…>
1912:
Over 470,000 people from Ulster, Ireland, signed the Ulster
Covenant in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill (Edward Carson
pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Covenant>
1972:
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Canadian ice hockey
team defeated the Soviet team in the Summit Series.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Series>
2012:
War in Somalia: Somali National Army forces and their AMISOM
and Raskamboni allies launched an offensive against Al-Shabaab in the
latter's last major stronghold of Kismayo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kismayo_(2012)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
medicaster:
(dated, now chiefly literary) A quack doctor; someone who pretends to
have medical knowledge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/medicaster>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end
and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will lead
near to what is taught in the Great Learning.
--Confucius (孔子 · Kongzi)
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
The spotted green pigeon is a species of pigeon that is most likely
extinct. It was first mentioned and described in 1783 by John Latham,
who claimed to have seen two specimens and a drawing depicting the bird.
Today, the species is only known from a specimen kept in World Museum,
Liverpool. Overlooked for much of the 20th century, it was only
recognised as a valid extinct species by the IUCN Red List in 2008. In
2014 a genetic study confirmed it as a distinct species related to the
Nicobar pigeon, and showed that the two were the closest relatives of
the extinct dodo and Rodrigues solitaire. The remaining specimen is
32 cm (12.5 in) long, and has very dark, brownish plumage with a green
gloss. The neck-feathers are elongated, and most of the feathers on the
upperparts and wings have a yellowish spot on their tips. It has a black
bill with a yellow tip, and the end of the tail has a pale band. It has
relatively short legs and long wings. It may have been native to an
island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean, and it
has been suggested that a bird referred to in 1928 as titi by Tahitian
islanders was this bird.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_green_pigeon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1422:
The Treaty of Melno was signed, establishing the
Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for
about 500 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Melno>
1875:
The Ellen Southard wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England;
the United States Congress subsequently awarded 27 gold Lifesaving
Medals to the lifeboat men who rescued her crew.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Southard>
1949:
Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference unanimously selected Zeng Liansong's design for the flag of
China (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_China>
1975:
Two members of ETA political-military and three of the
Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front became the last people to be
executed in Spain, having been sentenced to death for murders of
policemen and civil guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_use_of_capital_punishment_in_Spain>
2007:
NASA launched the Dawn probe, its first purely exploratory
mission to use ion propulsion, from Cape Canaveral.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_(spacecraft)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Elysian:
1. Of or pertaining to Elysian or Elysium, the location.
2. (idiomatic) Blissful, happy, heavenly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Elysian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall
possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need
of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.
--Samuel Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican place of worship in the village of
Quarrington, part of the civil parish of Sleaford in Lincolnshire,
England. By the time Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, a church in
Quarrington was part of Ramsey Abbey's fee, and around 1165 it was
granted to Haverholme Priory. The right to present the rector was
claimed by the Abbey in the 13th century, by the Bishop of Lincoln in
the early 16th century, and by Robert Carre and his descendants after
Carre acquired a manor at Quarrington. The oldest parts of the current
building date to the 13th century, although substantial rebuilding took
place over the following century. Renovations followed and the local
architect Charles Kirk the Younger carried out restoration work in 1862
and 1863, when he added a chancel in his parents' memory. The church
consists of a tower and spire with a nave and north aisle spanning
eastwards to the chancel. With capacity for 124 people, the church
serves the ecclesiastic parish of Quarrington with Old Sleaford.
Recognised for its age and tracery, the church has been designated a
grade II* listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Botolph%27s_Church,_Quarrington>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1493:
Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull Dudum siquidem, the
last of the Bulls of Donation, marking the beginning of the Spanish
colonization of the Americas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudum_siquidem>
1580:
The Golden Hind (replica pictured) sailed into Plymouth,
England, as explorer Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the
globe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind>
1917:
World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Battle of
Passchendaele, began near Ypres, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Polygon_Wood>
1942:
The Holocaust: Nazi official August Frank issued a memorandum
setting out how the belongings of murdered Jews were to be disposed of.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Frank>
2010:
Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues
were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in the Kunar Province of
eastern Afghanistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Linda_Norgrove>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pie in the sky:
A fanciful notion; an unrealistic or ludicrous concept; the illusory
promise of a desired outcome that is unlikely to happen.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pie_in_the_sky>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent If the
unheard, unspoken Word is unspoken, unheard; Still is the unspoken word,
the Word unheard, The Word without a word, the Word within The world and
for the world; And the light shone in darkness and Against the Word the
unstilled world still whirled About the centre of the silent Word.
O my people, what have I done unto thee. Where shall the word
be found, where will the word Resound? Not here, there is not enough
silence
--T. S. Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot>
Catherine Zeta-Jones (born 25 September 1969) is a film and stage
actress. Raised in Swansea, Wales, she studied musical theatre at the
Arts Educational Schools, London, and made her adult stage breakthrough
with a leading role in 1987 in 42nd Street. She found great success as a
regular in the British television series The Darling Buds of May
(1991–93). Dismayed at being typecast as the token pretty girl in
British films, Zeta-Jones relocated to Los Angeles. Critics praised her
portrayal of a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic (2000) and a murderous
singer in the musical film Chicago (2002), winning her the Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress. She continued to star in high-profile films
for much of the 2000s, including the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty
(2003), the heist film Ocean's Twelve (2004), the comedy The Terminal
(2004), and the romantic comedy No Reservations (2007). During a
decrease in workload, she returned to the stage and portrayed an ageing
actress in A Little Night Music (2009), winning the Tony Award for Best
Actress.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Zeta-Jones>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1237:
Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland signed the
Treaty of York, establishing the Anglo-Scottish border, which mostly
remains the same today.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_York>
1790:
Peking opera (modern performer pictured) was born when the Four
Great Anhui Troupes introduced Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the
Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera>
1911:
An explosion of badly degraded propellant charges on board the
French battleship Liberté detonated the forward ammunition magazines
and destroyed the ship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Libert%C3%A9>
1944:
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from
the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation
Market Garden in defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1974:
The first surgery to replace the ulnar collateral ligament,
commonly known as the Tommy John surgery after the first patient, was
performed by Dr. Frank Jobe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John_surgery>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
exemplary:
1. Deserving honour, respect and admiration.
2. Of such high quality that it should serve as an example to be imitated;
ideal, perfect.
3. Serving as a warning; monitory.
4. Providing an example or illustration.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exemplary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Time is a fluid condition which has no existence except in the
momentary avatars of individual people. There is no such thing as was
— only is. If was existed, there would be no grief or sorrow. I like
to think of the world I created as being a kind of keystone in the
universe; that, small as that keystone is, if it were ever taken away
the universe itself would collapse.
--William Faulkner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner>
The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel is a public transit tunnel for buses
and light rail trains in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It
runs north–south through Downtown Seattle, connecting five stations on
3rd Avenue and Pine Street. It is the busiest section of Sound Transit's
Link light rail network, with an average of over 10,000 weekday train
boardings at the four stations served by light rail. The $469 million
tunnel was planned in the late 1970s and built between 1987 and 1990,
using tunnel boring machines and cut-and-cover excavation. Between 1990
and 2004, the tunnel was exclusively used by dual-mode buses that ran on
overhead wires; they were later replaced with hybrid electric buses
using batteries within the tunnel. After a two-year renovation, the
tunnel reopened on September 24, 2007, and light rail service began in
July 2009, sharing the platforms with existing buses. Planned expansion
of the light rail system, along with the closure of one station, will
necessitate the removal of buses from the tunnel by 2019.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Seattle_Transit_Tunnel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1645:
English Civil War: Royalists under the personal command of King
Charles I suffered a significant defeat in the Battle of Rowton Heath.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rowton_Heath>
1841:
The Sultan of Brunei granted Sarawak to British adventurer
James Brooke.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sarawak>
1957:
Barcelona's Camp Nou, currently the largest stadium in Europe
with a seating capacity of 99,354, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Nou>
1992:
Oba Chandler was arrested three years after he committed a
triple murder in Tampa Bay, Florida, U.S., when his neighbor identified
handwriting samples that police had placed on local billboards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oba_Chandler>
2007:
During the Saffron Revolution in Myanmar, the largest anti-
government protests in 20 years took place in Yangon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Revolution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rainbows and unicorns:
(idiomatic) A wonderful (but often unrealistic) scenario.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rainbows_and_unicorns>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that
feel.
--Horace Walpole
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace_Walpole>
Literary Hall is a brick library building and museum in Romney, West
Virginia, built in 1869 and 1870 by the Romney Literary Society. Founded
in 1819, the society was the first literary organization of its kind in
the present-day state of West Virginia, and one of the first in the
United States. In 1846, the society constructed a building which housed
the Romney Classical Institute and its library. During the Civil War the
library's contents were plundered by Union Army forces, and many of its
3,000 volumes were scattered or destroyed. The society transferred
ownership of its Romney Classical Institute campus to the West Virginia
Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1870 and in that year completed
Literary Hall, where the society reconstituted its library collection
and revived its literary activities. The Romney Literary Society's last
meeting was held there in 1886. In 1979 the hall was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Its basic design incorporates
Federal and Greek Revival styles along with Victorian details.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_Hall>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1780:
American Revolutionary War: British officer John André was
captured by Patriot forces, thereby revealing a plot by Continental Army
General Benedict Arnold to hand over West Point, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold>
1803:
Maratha troops were defeated by British forces at the Battle of
Assaye, one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt
against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1983:
A bomb placed by the Abu Nidal organisation destroyed Gulf Air
Flight 771, flying from Karachi, Pakistan, to Abu Dhabi, UAE, killing
all 112 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Air_Flight_771>
2008:
A gunman shot and killed ten students at Seinäjoki University
of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Western Finland, before committing
suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauhajoki_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
derisively:
In a derisive manner; demeaningly, mockingly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/derisively>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Don't wake me for the end of the world unless it has very good
special effects.
--Prince of Chaos
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber#Prince_of_Chaos_.2819…>
INS Vikrant (from Sanskrit for "courageous") was a Majestic-
class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as
HMS Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II and launched
on 22 September 1945, but construction was put on hold when the war
ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction
was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft
carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval
blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. In its
later years, the ship underwent major refits to embark modern aircraft,
before being decommissioned in January 1997. Vikrant was preserved as a
museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, until 2012. The ship was sold
through an online auction in January 2014 and scrapped in November 2014
after final clearance from the Supreme Court. The Indian Navy is
currently constructing its first home-built carrier, also named INS
Vikrant, scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2018.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vikrant_(R11)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1586:
Eighty Years' War: Spanish forces were victorious against a
combined Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle of Zutphen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zutphen>
1914:
World War I: German naval forces bombarded Papeete in French
Polynesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Papeete>
1922:
After nine days, the great fire of Smyrna was extinguished,
having caused tens of thousands of deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_fire_of_Smyrna>
1957:
François "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected President of Haiti as
a populist before consolidating power and ruling as a dictator for the
rest of his life.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier>
1993:
A tugboat towing a barge collided with a rail bridge in Mobile,
Alabama, U.S., deforming the tracks and causing the derailment of a
passenger train eight minutes later, which killed 47 people and injured
an additional 103.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Big_Bayou_Canot_train_wreck>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
imbongi:
(chiefly South Africa) A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu
culture.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imbongi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I call the phantoms of a thousand hours Each from his voiceless
grave: they have in vision'd bowers Of studious zeal or love's delight
Outwatch'd with me the envious night: They know that never joy illum'd
my brow Unlink'd with hope that thou wouldst free This world from its
dark slavery, That thou, O awful LOVELINESS, Wouldst give whate'er these
words cannot express. The day becomes more solemn and serene When noon
is past; there is a harmony In autumn, and a lustre in its sky, Which
through the summer is not heard or seen, As if it could not be, as if it
had not been! Thus let thy power, which like the truth Of nature on my
passive youth Descended, to my onward life supply Its calm, to one who
worships thee, And every form containing thee, Whom, SPIRIT fair, thy
spells did bind To fear himself, and love all human kind.
--Percy Bysshe Shelley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley>
The Blue Flame is a four-act play written by George V. Hobart and John
Willard, who revised an earlier version by Leta Vance Nicholson. In
1920, producer Albert H. Woods staged the play on Broadway and on tour
across the United States. Ruth Gordon, the main character, is a
religious young woman who dies and is revived by her scientist fiancé
as a soulless femme fatale. She seduces several men and involves them in
crimes, including drug use and murder. In the final act, her death and
resurrection are revealed to be a dream. The production starred Theda
Bara (pictured), a popular silent film actress who was known for playing
similar roles in movies. Critics panned the play, ridiculing the plot,
the dialog, and Bara's acting. Theater historian Ward Morehouse called
it "one of the worst plays ever written". Bara's movie fame drew large
crowds to theaters, and the play was a commercial success, breaking
attendance records at some venues. Ruth Gordon was Bara's only Broadway
role, and The Blue Flame was one of her last professional acting
projects.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Flame_(play)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1170:
Combined English and Irish forces seized Dublin, forcing Ascall
mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin, into exile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascall_mac_Ragnaill>
1897:
In response to a letter written by eight-year-old Virginia
O'Hanlon, The New York Sun published an editorial by Francis Pharcellus
Church stating, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus>
1937:
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which
later served as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, was first published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit>
1993:
Nirvana released their third and final studio album, In Utero,
which went on to sell 15 million copies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Utero_(album)>
2001:
With racial tensions high after the September 11 attacks, a
gang of British Muslim youths in Peterborough, England, murdered 17
-year-old Ross Parker.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Ross_Parker>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
olive branch:
1. A branch of an olive tree offered as an emblem of peace.
2. (figuratively) Any symbol of peace, or a peace offering to an adversary
to show goodwill and in the hope of securing peace. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/olive_branch>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Maybe… there aren't any such things as good friends or bad
friends — maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when
you're hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they're always
worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth
dying for, too, if that's what has to be. No good friends. No bad
friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their
houses in your heart.
--Stephen King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_King>