Microscopium is a minor constellation in the Southern Celestial
Hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French
astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting
scientific instruments. Its stars are faint and hardly visible from most
of the non-tropical Northern Hemisphere. The constellation's brightest
star is Gamma Microscopii, of apparent magnitude 4.68, a yellow giant
2.5 times the Sun's mass. Now around 381 light-years distant, it may
have been only 1.14 light-years from the Sun some 3.9 million years ago,
possibly disturbing the outer Solar System. Two star systems—WASP-7
and HD 205739—have planets, while two others—the young red dwarf
star AU Microscopii and the sunlike HD 202628—have debris disks. AU
Microscopii and the binary red dwarf system AT Microscopii are probably
a wide triple system and members of the Beta Pictoris moving group. BO
Microscopii, nicknamed "Speedy Mic", is a star with an extremely fast
rotation period of 9 hours 7 minutes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscopium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1517:
According to traditional accounts, Martin Luther first posted
his Ninety-five Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
present-day Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses>
1917:
World War I: Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beersheba
in Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, with the battle
involving one of the last successful cavalry charges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_%281917%29>
1941:
Approximately 400 workers completed the 60-foot (18 m) busts of
U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt,
and Abraham Lincoln at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore>
1984:
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of
her own Sikh bodyguards, sparking riots that resulted in the deaths of
thousands of Sikhs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Indira_Gandhi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bloodthirsty:
Thirsty for blood: inexorably violent or eager for bloodshed; murderous.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bloodthirsty>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am beginning to have a healthy dread of possessions, be it of a
country, a house, a being or even an idea. If we are bothered by
possessions we cannot really live either from without or from within; we
are the possession of our possessions. All wars and most loves come from
the possessive instinct. Why grab possessions like thieves, or divide
them like socialists when you can ignore them like wise men: that you
may belong to everything and everything be yours inclusive of yourself.
Could we, and we can, have the vital necessities for all, we should do
away with this cry of class and begin to differentiate between
individuals.
--Natalie Clifford Barney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Clifford_Barney>
The Gevninge helmet fragment is the dexter eyepiece of a Danish helmet
from the Viking Age or end of the Nordic Iron Age. It was found in 2000
during the excavation of a Viking farmstead at Gevninge. The fragment is
moulded from bronze and gilded, and consists of a stylised eyebrow with
eyelashes above an oval opening. There are three holes at the top and
bottom of the fragment to affix the eyepiece to a helmet. One of two
Scandinavian eyepieces discovered alone, it may have been deposited in
an invocation of the one-eyed god Odin. Gevninge is three kilometres
(1.9 mi) upriver from Lejre, a one-time centre of power believed to be
the setting for Heorot, the fabled mead hall to which the epic hero
Beowulf journeys in search of the monster Grendel; on his way, Beowulf
passes through an armed outpost comparable to Gevninge. The eyepiece has
been in the collection of the Lejre Museum since its discovery, and has
been exhibited internationally as part of a traveling exhibition on
Vikings.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gevninge_helmet_fragment>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
Seventeen-year-old Vilhelm, Prince of Denmark, arrived in
Athens to become George I, King of Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Greece>
1918:
The Armistice of Mudros was signed in Greece, ending the
hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, and paving
the way for the occupation of Constantinople and the subsequent
partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_Mudros>
1938:
The radio drama The War of the Worlds, based on the science
fiction novella by H. G. Wells, frightened many listeners in the United
States into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in progress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio_drama%29>
1993:
The Troubles: Three members of the Ulster Defence Association
opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight
civilians and wounding nineteen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greysteel_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
talaria:
(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) The winged sandals worn by certain
gods and goddesses, especially the Roman god Mercury (and his Greek
counterpart Hermes).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/talaria>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Virtue is not always amiable. Integrity is sometimes ruined by
prejudices and by passions.
--John Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams>
A binary search algorithm is a method to determine the position of a
target value within a sorted array (an ordered list). Binary search
compares the target value to the middle element of the array. If they
are not equal, the half in which the target cannot lie is eliminated and
the search continues on the remaining half, again taking the middle
element to compare to the target value, and so on. If the remaining half
at any stage is found to be empty, then the target is not in the array.
Even though the idea is simple, implementing binary search correctly
requires attention to some subtleties about its exit conditions and
midpoint calculation. Binary search runs in logarithmic time in the
worst case. It is faster than linear search except for small arrays, but
the array must be sorted first. Although specialized data structures
designed for fast searching, such as hash tables, can be searched more
efficiently, binary search applies to a wider range of problems.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_search_algorithm>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1787:
The opera Don Giovanni, based on Don Juan, the legendary
fictional libertine, and composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered
in the Estates Theatre in Prague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: As the Israel Defense Forces captured the
Palestinian Arab village of Safsaf, they massacred at least 52
villagers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safsaf_massacre>
1998:
At 77 years old as a crew member aboard the Space Shuttle
Discovery on the STS-95 mission, John Glenn became the oldest person to
go to space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn>
2015:
China announced the abolition of its one-child policy, allowing
families to have two children instead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shunt:
1. (transitive) To cause to move (suddenly), as by pushing or shoving;
to give a (sudden) start to.
2. (transitive) To divert to a less important place, position, or state.
3. (transitive) To provide with a shunt.
4. (transitive, computing) To move data in memory to a physical disk.
5. (transitive, electricity) To divert electric current by providing an
alternative path.
6. (transitive, rail transport) To move a train from one track to
another, or to move carriages, etc. from one train to another.
7. (transitive, chiefly road transport, informal, Britain) To have a
minor collision, especially in a motor car.
8. (transitive, surgery) To divert the flow of a body fluid.
9. (transitive, obsolete, Britain, dialectal) To turn aside or away; to
divert.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shunt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even
the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are
the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections,
encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing; but so shadow and
paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will,
discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And, because all men are
apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's
praises is most perilous. Do not therefore praise thyself, except thou
wilt be counted a vain-glorious fool; neither take delight in the
praises of other men, except thou deserve it, and receive it from such
as are worthy and honest, and will withal warn thee of thy faults; for
flatterers have never any virtue — they are ever base, creeping,
cowardly persons. … But it is hard to know them from friends, they
are so obsequious and full of protestations; for as a wolf resembles a
dog, so doth a flatterer a friend.
--Walter Raleigh
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh>
The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League
Baseball's 2009 season. Opening on October 28, it was a best-of-seven
playoff between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National
League and defending World Series champions, and the New York Yankees,
champions of the American League. The Yankees defeated the Phillies, 4
games to 2, with a Game 6 victory in which Hideki Matsui hit his third
home run of the series. He was named Most Valuable Player of the series,
making him the first Japanese-born player to win the award. Several
records were tied, extended, or broken during this World Series,
including team championships (Yankees with 27), career postseason wins
(Andy Pettitte with 18), career World Series saves (Mariano Rivera with
11), home runs in a World Series (Chase Utley with five), strikeouts by
a hitter in a World Series (Ryan Howard with 13), and runs batted in
during a single World Series game (Matsui with six).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_World_Series>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1886:
In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicated
the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, to commemorate the centennial
of the Declaration of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty>
1940:
World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister
Ioannis Metaxas rejected Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the
cession of Greek territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War>
1995:
A fire in the Baku Metro, Azerbaijan, killed at least 286
passengers and injured 270 more in the world's deadliest subway
disaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Baku_Metro_fire>
2007:
In the Argentine general election, Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner became the first woman to be elected President of Argentina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Kirchner>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Skyriot:
One of the inhabitants of the Greek island of Skyros.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Skyriot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some people might look at something and let it go by, because
they don't recognize the pattern and the significance. It's the
sensitivity to pattern recognition that seems to me to be of great
importance. It's a matter of being able to find meaning, whether it's
positive or negative, in whatever you encounter. It's like a journey.
It's like finding the paths that will allow you to go forward, or that
path that has a block that tells you to start over again or do something
else.
--Jonas Salk
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk>
The Mascarene parrot (Mascarinus mascarin), now extinct, was endemic to
the Mascarene island of Réunion in the western Indian Ocean. It has
historically been grouped taxonomically with the Psittaculini parrots or
the vasa parrots, with the latest genetic study favouring the former
group. It was 35 cm (14 in) in length with a large red bill and long,
rounded tail feathers. Its legs were red, and it had naked red skin
around the eyes and nostrils. It had a black facial mask and partially
white tail feathers. Very little is known about the bird in life. The
Mascarene parrot was first mentioned in 1674, and live specimens were
later brought to Europe, where they lived in captivity. The species was
scientifically described in 1771. Only two stuffed specimens exist
today, in Paris and Vienna. The date and cause of extinction for the
Mascarene parrot are unclear; it is probable that the species became
extinct prior to 1800, and may have become extinct in the wild even
earlier.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascarene_parrot>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
World War I: The Royal Navy dreadnought HMS Audacious was sunk
by a mine, but its loss was kept secret for four years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Audacious_%281912%29>
1946:
Inter-religious riots, in which Hindu mobs targeted Muslim
families, began in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in anywhere
between 2,000 and 30,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Bihar_riots>
1958:
General Ayub Khan deposed Iskander Mirza to become the second
President of Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_%28President_of_Pakistan%29>
2004:
The Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals
to win the World Series, breaking the so-called "Curse of the Bambino".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_World_Series>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fruitless:
1. Bearing no fruit; barren.
2. (figuratively) Unproductive, useless.
3. (figuratively, archaic) Of a person: unable to have children; barren,
infertile.
4. (rare) Of a diet, etc.: without fruit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fruitless>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All of us, no matter from what land our parents came, no matter
in what way we may severally worship our Creator, must stand shoulder to
shoulder in a united America for the elimination of race and religious
prejudice. We must stand for a reign of equal justice to both big and
small.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
Taapaca is a volcanic complex in northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota
Region. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, one of
four distinct volcanic chains in South America. The town of Putre lies
at the southwestern foot of the volcano. Like other volcanoes of the
Central Volcanic Zone, Taapaca formed from the subduction of the Nazca
Plate beneath the South America Plate. It lies on the western margin of
the Altiplano high plateau, on top of older volcanic and sedimentary
units. Taapaca reaches a height of 5,860 metres (19,230 ft) above sea
level. It is usually covered by snow but does not feature glaciers. It
consists primarily of many overlapping lava domes that formed during
several stages of eruptions, starting during the Pliocene. The
emplacement of lava domes was often followed by their collapse and
block-and-ash avalanches. The most recent eruption is dated to 320 BCE.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taapaca>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
War of 1812: A British force and its Mohawk allies under
Charles de Salaberry repulsed an American attempt to invade Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chateauguay>
1902:
A group of Russian explorers led by Baron Eduard Toll left
their camp on Bennett Island and disappeared without a trace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_polar_expedition_of_1900%E2%80%9302>
1921:
The Chicago Theatre, the oldest surviving grand movie palace,
opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Theatre>
1994:
Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty settling relations
between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its
territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third
country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_peace_treaty>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
widow's mite:
1. (idiomatic) A very small gift or donation which, however, represents
a great sacrifice on the part of the giver.
2. (numismatics) The lepton coin.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/widow%27s_mite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
America needs every one of us to lend our energy, our talents,
our ambition to making our nation better and stronger. I believe that
with all my heart. That's why “Stronger Together” is not just a
lesson from our history. It's not just a slogan for our campaign. It's a
guiding principle for the country we've always been and the future we're
going to build. A country where the economy works for everyone, not just
those at the top. Where you can get a good job and send your kids to a
good school, no matter what zip code you live in. A country where all
our children can dream, and those dreams are within reach. Where
families are strong… communities are safe… And yes, love trumps
hate. That's the country we're fighting for. That's the future we're
working toward.
--Hillary Clinton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton>
The Yugoslav torpedo boat T5 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by
the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 87 F, a 250t-
class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy commissioned on 25
October 1915 during World War I, she was armed with two 66 mm
(2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. Following
Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 87 F was allocated to what became the
Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T5. The ship was captured by the
Italians during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April
1941. After her main armament was modernised, she served with the Royal
Italian Navy under the Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal and
second-line escort duties in the Adriatic Sea. Following the Italian
capitulation in September 1943, the ship was returned to the Royal
Yugoslav Navy-in-exile and served as T5. At the end of the war she was
transferred to the new Yugoslav Navy and served as Cer, and in 1962 was
broken up.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_torpedo_boat_T5>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
Crimean War: Lord Cardigan led his cavalry on a disastrous
assault in the Battle of Balaclava.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Balaclava>
1924:
The Daily Mail published the Zinoviev letter, purportedly a
directive from Moscow to increase communist agitation, pushing the
Conservative Party to a landslide victory in the UK general election
four days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinoviev_letter>
1950:
Korean War: The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South
Korean II Corps and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division, marking
China's entry into the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Unsan>
2001:
Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of
the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released for retail sale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
patronize:
1. (transitive) To make a patron.
2. (transitive) To act as a patron; to defend, protect, or support.
3. (transitive) To assume a tone of unjustified superiority; to talk
down to, to treat condescendingly.
4. (transitive) To make oneself a customer of a business, especially a
regular customer.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To blame, to reproach.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/patronize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If government, or those in positions of power and authority, can
silence criticism by the argument that such criticism might be
misunderstood somewhere, there is an end to all criticism, and perhaps
an end to our kind of political system. For men in authority will always
think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always
equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
--Henry Steele Commager
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Steele_Commager>
Fragment of a Crucifixion is a 1950 painting by the Irish-born
figurative painter Francis Bacon (portrait shown). Although its title
has religious connotations, it reflects Bacon's nihilistic view of the
human condition; as an atheist he did not believe in either divine
intervention or an afterlife. It shows two animals engaged in an
existential struggle, with an upper figure, which may be a dog or a cat,
crouching over a chimera and at the point of kill. The predator stoops
on the horizontal beam of a T-shaped structure, which may signify
Christ's cross. The chimera's despair forms the centrepiece of the work,
and in its agony it can be compared to Bacon's later works focusing on
the motif of an open mouth. The work contains thinly sketched passers-
by, who seem oblivious to the central drama. He abandoned the theme of
the crucifixion for the following 12 years, returning to it in the
equally bleak triptych Three Studies for a Crucifixion..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Studies_for_a_Crucifixion>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of the Colony of New South Wales,
gave a speech where he called for the federation of the six Australian
colonies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenterfield_Oration>
1931:
The George Washington Bridge, today the world's busiest motor
vehicle bridge, connecting New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, was
dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Bridge>
1945:
The UN Charter, the constitution of the United Nations, entered
into force after being ratified by the five original permanent members
of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Charter>
1975:
To protest wage discrepancy and unfair employment practices,
90% of the female population in Iceland went on strike for a day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Icelandic_women%27s_strike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
false negative:
1. A result of a test that shows as absent something that is present.
2. (statistics) A type II error (“accepting the null hypothesis when it
is false”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/false_negative>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The power to distinguish between person and performance and to
communicate intrinsic worth flows naturally out of our own sense of
intrinsic worth.
--Stephen Covey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey>
The Battle for Henderson Field (23–26 October 1942) on Guadalcanal in
the Solomon Islands was the third of three land offensives conducted by
the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. U.S. Army
and Marine forces under Major General Alexander Vandegrift defended
Henderson Field against attacks by the Japanese 17th Army under
Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake (pictured). Hyakutake's mission
was to recapture the airfield from the Allies and drive them off the
island. Numerous assaults over three days were repulsed with heavy
Japanese losses, and Allied aircraft operating from the airfield
successfully defended U.S. positions from attacks by Japanese naval air
and sea forces. After a failed attempt to deliver reinforcements in
November, Japan conceded the island and successfully evacuated many of
its remaining forces in February.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Henderson_Field>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
The first National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, began in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Rights_Convention>
1934:
Jeannette Piccard piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached
57,579 feet (17,550 m), and became the first woman to fly in the
stratosphere.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard>
1983:
Lebanese Civil War: Suicide bombers destroyed two barracks in
Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers of the
international peacekeeping force, and 6 civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings>
2002:
Chechen separatists seized a crowded theater in Moscow, taking
approximately 700 patrons and performers hostage, at least 130 of whom
were later killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
daft:
1. (chiefly Britain, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid.
2. Crazy, insane, mad.
3. (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The purpose of the I Ching or the tarot … is to help you get
access to yourself, by providing ambiguity for you to interpret. And
this quality of ambiguity is shared with nearly all forms of divination
— cast artifacts, or entrails, or weather formations, or events such
as the flight of birds, that one could choose either to see as "omens"
or to ignore. The very thing that makes these divination techniques
seem so unscientific is what makes it possible for them to work.
--Travels
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Travels_%28book%29>
Charles Scott (April 1739 – October 22, 1813) was an 18th-century
American soldier who was elected the fourth governor of Kentucky in
1808. Orphaned at an early age, Scott served during the French and
Indian War and returned to active military service in 1775 in the
American Revolution. In August 1776, he was promoted to colonel and
given command of the 5th Virginia Regiment, serving George Washington
for the duration of the Philadelphia campaign. In March 1779 Scott was
sent to Charleston, South Carolina, to assist General Benjamin Lincoln
in the southern theater, but was taken as a prisoner of war when
Charleston surrendered. After the war he resettled near present-day
Versailles, Kentucky. Following the separation of Kentucky from Virginia
in 1792, Scott commanded the 2nd Division of the Kentucky militia, which
fought in the Northwest Indian War. In his run for governor in 1808, he
won a convincing victory over John Allen and Green Clay.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Scott_%28governor%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1707:
In one of the worst maritime disasters in the history of the
British Isles, more than 1,400 sailors on four Royal Navy ships were
lost in stormy weather off the Isles of Scilly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707>
1895:
At Gare Montparnasse station in Paris, an express train
derailed after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing the concourse
before crashing through a wall and falling to the plaza below
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montparnasse_derailment>
1924:
The educational non-profit organization Toastmasters
International was founded at a YMCA in Santa Ana, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toastmasters_International>
2015:
Sweden suffered its deadliest school attack when a sword-
wielding man attacked students and teachers in a high school in
Trollhättan, killing three people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollh%C3%A4ttan_school_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
corkage:
A fee charged by a restaurant to serve wine that a diner has provided.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corkage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Perfection is a costly flower and is cultured only by an
uncompromising, strict husbandry.
--Burton Rascoe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Burton_Rascoe>