The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in
York in northern England designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It commemorates
employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who were killed while
serving in the First World War. The NER, one of the largest employers in
the north of England, released over 18,000 of its employees to serve in
the armed forces. By the end of the war, 2,236 men from the company had
died on military service overseas; others were killed at home by
bombardments of east coast ports, including a raid on Scarborough,
Hartlepool and Whitby, and three Zeppelin raids on York. After the war,
thousands of memorials were built across Britain. Among the most
prominent designers of memorials was Lutyens, described by Historic
England as "the leading English architect of his generation". The NER
memorial, unveiled in 1924, consists of a 54-foot-high (16-metre)
obelisk rising from the rear portion of a three-sided screen wall. The
wall forms a recess in which stands Lutyens' characteristic Stone of
Remembrance. The memorial is a grade II* listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Eastern_Railway_War_Memorial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1547:
Anglo-Scottish Wars: English forces defeated the Scots at the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh near Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pinkie_Cleugh>
1897:
A peaceful labor demonstration made up of mostly Polish and
Slovak anthracite coal miners in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, U.S., was
fired upon by a sheriff's posse in the Lattimer massacre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattimer_massacre>
1937:
Led by the United Kingdom and France, nine nations met in the
Nyon Conference to address international piracy in the Mediterranean
Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyon_Conference>
1960:
Running barefoot in the marathon event at the Rome Olympics,
Abebe Bikila became the first person from Sub-Saharan Africa to win an
Olympic gold medal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila>
2007:
Nawaz Sharif, the thirteenth Prime Minister of Pakistan,
returned to the country after being ousted in a coup and exiled eight
years earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawaz_Sharif>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
from A to B:
>From one point to the next; from the beginning of a trip to the end.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/from_A_to_B>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You'd better hope and pray That you make it safe back to your own
world You'd better hope and pray That you'll wake one day in your own
world Because when you sleep at night They don't hear your cries in your
own world Only time will tell If you can break the spell back in your
own world.
--Siobhan Fahey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Siobhan_Fahey>
The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was a US commemorative fifty
cent piece, struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1925. The San Francisco
Citizens' Committee wanted to use coin sales to fund a celebration of
the 75th anniversary of California statehood. A California congressman
attached the authorization to another coinage bill, which was approved
in early 1925. Designs by sculptor Jo Mora met a hostile reception at
the Commission of Fine Arts, but the Citizens' Committee would not
change them, and they were approved. The coin has been widely praised
for its beauty; the obverse depicts a Gold Rush-era prospector, and the
reverse is an adaptation of the Flag of California, showing a grizzly
bear. Some 150,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 coins were
struck in August 1925 in San Francisco. They were offered for sale the
following month, but nearly half went unsold, and were later melted. The
coin is catalogued at between $200 and $1,300, though exceptional
specimens have sold for more.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Diamond_Jubilee_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1493:
Ottoman Empire forces defeated the Croatian army at the Battle
of Krbava Field.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Krbava_Field>
1936:
Opposed to António de Oliveira Salazar's support of the
Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, the crews of the Portuguese Navy
ships NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and Dão mutinied while anchored in
Lisbon harbour.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Naval_Revolt_(Portugal)>
1954:
The 6.7 Mw Chlef earthquake struck Algeria, leaving at least
1,243 people dead and 5,000 injured, and forced the government to
implement comprehensive reforms in building codes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Chlef_earthquake>
1969:
Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 collided in mid-air with a Piper
PA-28 Cherokee flown by a student pilot near Fairland, Indiana, U.S.,
destroying both planes and killing all 83 occupants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Airlines_Flight_853>
1971:
John Lennon's solo album Imagine was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine_(John_Lennon_album)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reinvent the wheel:
(idiomatic) To do work unnecessarily when it has already been done
satisfactorily by others; to attempt to devise a solution to a problem
when a solution already exists.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reinvent_the_wheel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Even after killing ninety nine tigers the Maharaja should beware
of the hundredth.
--Kalki Krishnamurthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kalki_Krishnamurthy>
Peter Martyr Vermigli (8 September 1499 – 12 November 1562) was an
Italian-born Reformed theologian. His early work as a reformer in
Catholic Italy and decision to flee for Protestant northern Europe
influenced many other Italians to convert and flee as well. English
reformer Thomas Cranmer invited him to leave a teaching position at
Strasbourg in Alsace to take an influential post at the University of
Oxford, where he defended his Eucharistic beliefs against Catholic
proponents of transubstantiation in a public disputation. He influenced
the Edwardian Reformation, including the Eucharistic service of the 1552
Book of Common Prayer. Forced to leave England on the accession of the
Catholic Queen Mary I, he eventually settled in Reformed Zürich, where
he taught until his death. He was considered an authority on the
Eucharist among the Reformed churches, and engaged in controversies on
the subject by writing treatises. His Loci Communes, a compilation of
excerpts from his biblical commentaries organized by the topics of
systematic theology, became a standard Reformed theological textbook.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Martyr_Vermigli>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
617:
Li Yuan defeated a Sui dynasty army in the Battle of Huoyi,
opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the
eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Huoyi>
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: The French defeated Austrian forces
in Bassano, Venetia, present-day Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bassano>
1921:
In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Margaret Gorman was crowned the
"Golden Mermaid", the forerunner to the Miss America pageant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_America>
1954:
Eight nations signed an agreement to create the Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization, a Southeast Asian version of NATO.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia_Treaty_Organization>
1966:
The American science fiction show Star Trek premiered with its
pilot episode, launching a media franchise that has since created a cult
phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current technologies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Trap>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
split infinitive:
(grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the
to and the verb.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/split_infinitive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don't know how to break the news, but It's pretty clear you'll
be asked to choose between What you lack and what you excuse In this tug
of war You can't say that they didn't warn you Though you'd rather that
they just ignore you Cause your devices are not working for you anymore.
What you want, you don't know You're with stupid now.
--Aimee Mann
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aimee_Mann>
Corvus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere.
Its name means "raven" in Latin. In the Babylonian star catalogues
dating from at least 1100 BCE, it was called the Babylonian Raven. One
of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy,
it depicts a raven, a bird associated with stories about the god Apollo,
perched on the back of Hydra the water snake. It is also bordered by the
constellations Virgo and Crater. Its four brightest stars, Gamma, Delta,
Epsilon, and Beta Corvi, form a distinctive quadrilateral in the night
sky. With an apparent magnitude of 2.59, Gamma Corvi—also known as
Gienah—is the brightest star in the constellation. It is an aging blue
giant around four times as massive as the Sun. The young star Eta Corvi
has been found to have two debris disks. Three star systems have
exoplanets, and a fourth planetary system is unconfirmed. TV Corvi is a
dwarf nova—a white dwarf and brown dwarf in very close orbit.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_(constellation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1159:
Pope Alexander III was chosen as the successor of Pope Adrian
IV in a disputed election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_election,_1159>
1778:
Anglo-French War: France invaded the island of Dominica and
captured its British fort before the latter even knew that France had
allied with the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Dominica_(1778)>
1936:
The last thylacine died in captivity in Hobart Zoo in
Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine>
1940:
Second World War: The Luftwaffe changed their strategy in the
Battle of Britain and began bombing London and other British cities and
towns for more than 50 consecutive nights (Heinkel bomber pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz>
2010:
A Chinese fishing trawler, operating in disputed waters,
collided with Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats near the Senkaku
Islands, sparking a major diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Senkaku_boat_collision_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fester:
1. (intransitive) To become septic; to become rotten.
2. (intransitive) To worsen, especially due to lack of attention.
3. (transitive) To cause to fester or rankle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fester>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn
the truth . . . but let us beware of publishing our dreams before they
have been put to the proof by the waking understanding.
--August Kekulé
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9>
The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was the 101st edition of the
oldest competition in American soccer, played on September 6, 2014, at
PPL Park (pictured) in Chester, Pennsylvania. Seattle Sounders FC won
the match before a crowd of 15,256, defeating the Philadelphia Union.
Philadelphia and Seattle both play in the top tier of American soccer,
Major League Soccer, and bypassed the initial stages of the tournament
with entries into the third round of play. The Sounders were in the
midst of a Supporters' Shield-winning regular season, while the Union's
start was so poor that their coach was replaced a week prior to their
first game in the competition. The Union's Maurice Edu gave his team the
lead with a goal in the first half, but the Sounders equalized with a
second half strike by Chad Barrett, and the match went into extra time.
Clint Dempsey took the lead for Seattle, and Obafemi Martins sealed the
victory with a late goal. Seattle earned a $250,000 cash prize, as well
as a berth in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup_Final>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
American Revolutionary War: General Benedict Arnold led British
forces to victory in the Battle of Groton Heights.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Groton_Heights>
1901:
U.S. President William McKinley was fatally wounded by
anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New
York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_William_McKinley>
1952:
A prototype aircraft crashed at the Farnborough Airshow in
Hampshire, England, killing the pilot and test observer on board, and 29
spectators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Farnborough_Airshow_DH.110_crash>
1976:
Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko landed his MiG-25 in Hakodate,
Japan, and declared his intention to defect.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Belenko>
2007:
The Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike on a suspected
nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orchard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trope:
1. (art, literature) Something recurring across a genre or type of art or
literature, such as the ‘mad scientist’ of horror movies or the use
of the phrase ‘once upon a time’ as an introduction to fairy tales;
a motif.
2. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which words or phrases are used with a
nonliteral or figurative meaning, such as a metaphor. […]
3. (music) Musical senses.
4. A short cadence at the end of the melody in some early music.
5. A pair of complementary hexachords in twelve-tone technique.
6. (Judaism) A cantillation pattern, or one of the marks that represents
it.
7. (Roman Catholicism) A phrase or verse added to the Mass when sung by a
choir. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trope>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Till the hour when the trump of the Archangel shall sound to
announce that Time shall be no more, the name of Lafayette shall stand
enrolled upon the annals of our race, high on the list of the pure and
disinterested benefactors of mankind.
--John Quincy Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams>
Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. A
member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, it is a highly
reactive nonmetal and oxidizing agent that forms oxides with most
elements as well as other compounds. By mass, oxygen is the most
abundant element in the Earth's crust and the third-most abundant in the
universe, after hydrogen and helium. Two atoms of the element can bind
to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless gas that constitutes 20.8% of
the Earth's atmosphere, produced by photosynthesis from water and carbon
dioxide. Oxygen is present in water, proteins, nucleic acids,
carbohydrates, and fats. Its name was coined in 1777 by Antoine
Lavoisier, whose experiments helped to discredit the then-popular
phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. Common uses of oxygen
include residential heating, internal combustion engines, production of
steel, plastics and textiles, brazing, welding and cutting of steels and
other metals, rocket propellant, oxygen therapy, and life support
systems in aircraft, submarines, spaceflight and diving.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
917:
Liu Yan declared himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han
state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu (present-day
Guangzhou).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Yan_(emperor)>
1781:
American Revolutionary War: French naval forces handed Britain
a major strategic defeat in the Battle of the Chesapeake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chesapeake>
1882:
A group of London school boys led by Bobby Buckle founded
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. so they could continue to play sports during the
winter months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur_F.C.>
1921:
Popular American comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle attended a
party during which a woman was fatally injured; although he was
eventually acquitted of manslaughter, the trial's scandal derailed his
career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Arbuckle>
1977:
NASA launched the robotic space probe Voyager 1, currently the
farthest spacecraft from Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
skitter:
1. (intransitive) To move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to
scamper, to scurry.
2. (intransitive) To make a scratching or scuttling noise while, or as if,
skittering.
3. (transitive) To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that
it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skitter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also
what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then
he should also refrain from painting what he sees before him. Otherwise
his pictures will be like those folding screens behind which one expects
to find only the sick or the dead.
--Caspar David Friedrich
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich>
Northern England roughly coincides with the statistical regions of North
East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber, which
have a combined population of 14.9 million as of the 2011 Census. It
contains much of England's national parkland as well as the conurbations
of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyneside, Wearside, and
South and West Yorkshire. Until the unification of Britain under the
Stuarts, the area experienced Anglo-Scottish border fighting. Many of
the innovations of the Industrial Revolution began in Northern England,
and its cities were the crucibles of many of the political changes that
accompanied this social upheaval, from trade unionism to Manchester
Capitalism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economy of
the North was dominated by heavy industry such as weaving, shipbuilding,
steelmaking and mining, but deindustrialisation in the late 20th century
hit hard. Urban renewal projects and the transition to a service economy
have resulted in strong economic growth in some areas, but a
North–South divide remains in both the economy and the culture of
England.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_England>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
British explorer James Cook became the first European to sight
the island of New Caledonia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia>
1843:
Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies married Pedro II of Brazil
at a state ceremony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Cristina_of_the_Two_Sicilies>
1886:
After more than 25 years of fighting against the United States
Army and the armed forces of Mexico, Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache
surrendered at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo>
1957:
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National
Guard to prevent nine African American students from attending Little
Rock Central High School.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas_National_Guard_and_the_integration_o…>
2010:
A 7.1 Mw earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand
(damage pictured), causing up to NZ$3.5 billion in damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Canterbury_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ghit:
(Internet) Contraction of Google hit: a hit obtained using the search
engine Google.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
These things will destroy the human race: politics without
principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning
without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without
awareness.
--Anthony de Mello
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_de_Mello>
Percy Chapman (3 September 1900 – 16 September 1961) captained the
England cricket team between 1926 and 1931. Representing the Cambridge
cricket team in 1920, he once scored centuries against Oxford and in the
Gentlemen v Players match within the space of a week. Chapman made his
Test debut in 1924, although he had yet to play County Cricket. A left-
handed batsman, he went on to play 26 Test matches for England. After he
took over from Arthur Carr as captain in 1926, England defeated
Australia for the first time since 1912. He achieved victory in his
first nine matches in charge but lost two and drew six of his remaining
games. An amateur cricketer, Chapman played first-class cricket for
Kent, eventually as captain. He had a respectable batting record, could
score runs quickly, and was popular with spectators. Contemporaries
rated him highly as a fielder. Although opinions were divided on his
tactical ability as a captain, he was seen as an inspirational leader.
Chapman's success gave him access to fashionable society for a time, but
in the 1930s, his health and cricketing form declined. For the rest of
his life, he suffered from alcoholism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Chapman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
36 BC:
Sicilian revolt: A victory by the fleet of Marcus Vipsanius
Agrippa over that of Sextus Pompeius in the Battle of Naulochus ended
Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Naulochus>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The British Army and their Hessian
allies defeated an American militia in the Battle of Cooch's Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cooch%27s_Bridge>
1935:
On the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, British racing motorist
Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive an automobile over
300 mph (480 km/h).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Campbell>
1942:
The Holocaust: In possibly the first Jewish ghetto uprising,
residents of the Łachwa Ghetto in occupied Poland, informed of the
upcoming "liquidation" of the ghetto, unsuccessfully fought against
their Nazi captors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81achwa_Ghetto>
2001:
The Troubles: Protestant loyalists began picketing a Catholic
primary school for girls in the Protestant portion of Ardoyne, Belfast,
Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_dispute>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
amateur hour:
(chiefly US, idiomatic) A situation or activity in which the
participants show a lack of skill, sound judgment, or professionalism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amateur_hour>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
High ideals make a people strong. … decay comes when ideals
wane.
--Louis Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Sullivan>
Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was a sirenian that lived until
1768 around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, named for the
naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. He discovered the species in 1741 on
Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition, when the crew was shipwrecked
on Bering Island, and described it in The Beasts of the Sea, published
after his death. The sea cow reached weights of 8–10 metric tons
(8.8–11.0 short tons) and lengths of up to 9 metres (30 ft). Its
closest living relative, the 3-metre-long (9.8 ft) dugong, is the sole
surviving member of its family, Dugongidae. It had a thicker layer of
blubber than other sirenians, and its tail was forked like those of
whales and other cetaceans. Instead of teeth, the sea cow had an array
of white bristles on its upper lip and two keratinous mouth plates for
chewing. It fed mainly on kelp, and communicated via sighs and snorting
sounds. There is evidence that it was a monogamous and social animal,
living in small family groups and raising its young. Twenty-seven years
after its discovery, the slow-moving species had been hunted to
extinction for its meat, fat, and hide.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_cow>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: Due to an overwhelming fear that foreign
armies would attack Paris and prisoners would revolt, thousands of
people were summarily executed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Massacres>
1864:
American Civil War: Union forces entered Atlanta, Georgia, a
day after the Confederate defenders fled the city, bringing the Atlanta
Campaign to a close.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Campaign>
1946:
The interim government of India, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru,
was formed to assist the transition of India from British rule to
independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interim_Government_of_India>
1957:
President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam became the first
foreign head of state to make a state visit to Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem_presidential_visit_to_Australia>
1992:
An estimated magnitude 7.2 earthquake off the coast of
Nicaragua was the first tsunami earthquake to be captured on modern
broadband seismic networks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Nicaragua_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wigwag:
1. To move gently in one direction and then another; to wig or wiggle, to
wag or waggle.
2. To oscillate between two states.
3. (US, military, historical) To send a signal by waving a flag to and fro.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wigwag>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Social reform is not to be secured by noise and shouting; by
complaints and denunciation; by the formation of parties, or the making
of revolutions; but by the awakening of thought and the progress of
ideas. Until there be correct thought, there cannot be right action; and
when there is correct thought, right action will follow. Power is always
in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their
own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
--Henry George
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_George>
King's Highway 71 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian
province of Ontario. Part of the Trans-Canada Highway, the 194-kilometre
(121 mi) route travels west from the Fort Frances-International Falls
International Bridge in Fort Frances, concurrently with Highway 11, for
40 kilometres (25 mi). At Chapple, Highway 71 branches from
Highway 11, travelling 154 kilometres (96 mi) north to a junction with
Highway 17 just east of Kenora. The concurrent portion of the highway
follows the Cloverleaf Trail, which was completed by the end of the
1880s and improved over the next several decades. The portion between
Highway 11 and Highway 17 follows the Heenan Highway, which connects
the Rainy River region with Kenora and the remainder of Ontario's road
network; before its opening the area was accessible only via the United
States. Both highways were incorporated into the provincial highway
system in 1937 following the merger of the Department of Highways and
the Department of Northern Development.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_71>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
Thomas Gage, royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts
Bay, ordered soldiers to remove gunpowder from a magazine, causing
Patriots to prepare for war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_Alarm>
1804:
German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding discovered one of the
largest main belt asteroids, naming it Juno after the Roman goddess.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Juno>
1914:
The passenger pigeon, which once had a population of at least 3
billion birds, became extinct, when the last individual died in
captivity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon>
1969:
A bloodless coup led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew Idris I of
Libya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi>
1983:
A Soviet jet interceptor shot down the civilian airliner Korean
Air Lines Flight 007 near Sakhalin Island in the North Pacific, killing
all 246 passengers and 23 crew on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
desire line:
A path that pedestrians or vehicles take informally rather than taking a
sidewalk or set route, for example, a well-worn ribbon of dirt cutting
across a patch of grass, or a path in the snow.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/desire_line>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There’s very good news from the asteroids. It appears that a
large fraction of them, including the big ones, are actually very rich
in H2O. Nobody imagined that. They thought they were just big rocks …
It’s easier to get to an asteroid than to Mars, because the gravity is
lower and landing is easier. Certainly the asteroids are much more
practical, right now. If we start space colonies in, say, the next 20
years, I would put my money on the asteroids.
--Freeman Dyson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson>