Flight Unlimited III is a 1999 flight simulator video game developed by
Looking Glass Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It allows
players to pilot reproductions of real-world commercial and civilian
aircraft in and around Seattle in the US state of Washington. Players
may fly freely or engage in challenges such as thwarting a theft or
locating Bigfoot. The development team built on the general aviation
gameplay of Flight Unlimited II, with more detailed physics and terrain,
more planes and a real-time weather system. Lead designer Peter James
described Flight Unlimited III's development as a struggle, due to a
lack of interest from Electronic Arts and from Looking Glass's
management. Directly competing with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and
Fly!, the game became one of Looking Glass's biggest commercial flops.
After selling only around 20,000 units in the United States during 1999,
the company closed the next year. The game was well received by critics,
who praised its terrain rendering and dynamic weather. A few reviewers
lauded its simulated physics, but others objected to the exceptional
system requirements.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Unlimited_III>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
202 BC:
Rebel leader Liu Bang was enthroned as Emperor Gaozu of Han
after overthrowing the Qin dynasty, the first imperial dynasty of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty>
1893:
USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first
battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships
of the time, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indiana_(BB-1)>
1975:
In London an underground train failed to stop at Moorgate
terminus station and crashed into the end of the tunnel, killing 43
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorgate_tube_crash>
1997:
Two heavily armed bank robbers exchanged gunfire with officers
of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, in one of the
longest and bloodiest shootouts in American police history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout>
2013:
Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to
resign from the papacy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resignation_of_Pope_Benedict_XVI>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
saloop:
1. (dated) An aromatic drink originally prepared from salep and later from
sassafras bark with other ingredients such as milk and sugar added,
which was once popular in London, England.
2. The berry saltbush or red berry saltbush (Chenopodium hastatum, syns.
Einadia hastata and Rhagodia hastata), a small plant found in coastal
and inland areas of eastern Australia.
3. Alternative form of salep (“starch or jelly made from orchid
plants”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saloop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The way of the world is to make laws, but follow customs.
--Michel de Montaigne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michel_de_Montaigne>
Olivia Manning (1908–1980) was a British novelist, poet, writer and
reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and
personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and
the Middle East. Her first serious novel, The Wind Changes, was
published in 1937. She lived in Bucharest, Romania, and in Greece, Egypt
and Palestine, as Nazi Germany overran Eastern Europe. Her experiences
helped form the six novels making up The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant
Trilogy, known collectively as Fortunes of War. The overall quality of
her output was considered uneven by critics, but this series, published
between 1960 and 1980, was described by Anthony Burgess as "the finest
fictional record of the war produced by a British writer". Manning
returned to London after the war, writing poetry, short stories, novels,
non-fiction, reviews, and drama for the British Broadcasting
Corporation. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death,
when an adaptation of Fortunes of War was televised in 1987.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Manning>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
380:
Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire as a
result of the Edict of Thessalonica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: A Patriot victory in the Battle of
Moore's Creek Bridge resulted in the arrests of 850 Loyalists over the
following days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moore%27s_Creek_Bridge>
1900:
FC Bayern Munich (logo pictured), Germany's most successful
football club, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich>
1962:
Two dissident Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the Independence
Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam
President Ngo Dinh Diem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_South_Vietnamese_Independence_Palace_bom…>
1988:
The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was the target
of a violent pogrom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumgait_pogrom>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
minaudière:
1. (obsolete) A woman who is exaggeratedly affected or coquettish.
2. A type of formal, decorative women's clutch bag without handles or a
strap.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/minaudi%C3%A8re>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one wants advice, only corroboration.
--John Steinbeck
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck>
Stegoceras, a pachycephalosaurid (dome-headed) dinosaur, lived in what
is now North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 77.5 to 74
million years ago. (This genus is unrelated to Stegosaurus, which lived
more than 70 million years earlier.) Small and bipedal, Stegoceras was
about 2 to 2.5 metres (6.6 to 8.2 ft) long and weighed around 10 to 40
kilograms (22 to 88 lb). It had a rigid vertebral column and a
stiffened tail. The pelvic region was broad, perhaps due to an extended
gut. The skull was roughly triangular with a short snout, topped by a
thick, broad, and relatively smooth dome. The skull jutted out in the
back over the occiput, and had a thick ridge over the eyes. The teeth
were small and serrated. The skull is thought to have been flat in
juvenile animals, growing into a dome with age. The dome may have been
used for combat, display, or recognition. Specimens have been found in
the Dinosaur Park and Oldman Formations in Alberta, and the Fruitland
and Kirtland Formations in the US.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stegoceras>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1233:
Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols captured Kaifeng, the capital of
the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_siege_of_Kaifeng>
1815:
Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba (return pictured), an
island off the coast of Italy, where he had been exiled after the
signing of the Treaty of Fontainebleau one year earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon>
1914:
HMHS Britannic, the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner
of the White Star Line after RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched
at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Britannic>
1935:
With the aid of a radio station in Daventry, England, and two
receiving antennas, Scottish engineer and inventor Robert Watson-Watt
first demonstrated the use of radar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Watson-Watt>
2008:
In the first significant cultural visit from the United States
to North Korea since the Korean War, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
performed in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_New_York_Philharmonic_visit_to_North_Kor…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
evitable:
(uncommon) Possible to avoid; avertible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evitable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the
fraternity of strangers.
--Les Misérables
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables>
USS West Bridge (ID-2888) was a cargo ship during World War I, one of
the steel-hulled West ships built for the U.S. Shipping Board on the
West Coast. Launched in April 1918, the ship joined a convoy of cargo
ships headed to France in August. After the convoy was attacked by two
German submarines and West Bridge was torpedoed, a salvage crew from the
American destroyer Smith and four tugs dispatched from France
successfully brought the ship into port. After seven months of repairs,
West Bridge resumed Navy service until December 1919. The ship was laid
up for nearly seven years from 1922 to 1929, when she was sold to an
intercoastal cargo service under the name SS Barbara Cates. By 1938, the
ship had been renamed Pan Gulf for service with a subsidiary of the
Waterman Steamship Company. During World War II, Pan Gulf made nine
round trips across the North Atlantic without incident in convoys. In
May 1945, the ship was transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease.
Renamed SS Lermontov, the ship continued in civilian service for the
Soviets until 1966.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_West_Bridge_(ID-2888)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Captain Lord George Paulet of the Royal Navy began a five-month
occupation of land in the Hawaiian Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulet_affair_(1843)>
1866:
Miners in Calaveras County, California, discovered a human
skull that a prominent geologist claimed was proof (later disproven)
that humans had existed during the Pliocene age.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaveras_Skull>
1948:
Fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention in recent unrest,
Czechoslovakian president Edvard Beneš ceded control over the
government to the Communist Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Czechoslovak_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1951:
After being postponed since 1943 due to World War II, the
first Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_Games>
1992:
Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian armed forces killed at least 161
ethnic Azerbaijani civilians from the town of Khojaly in the Nagorno-
Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khojaly_Massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Nadsat:
The Russian-influenced argot used by the teenage protagonists in Anthony
Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (1962).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nadsat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I had no ambition when I was a kid other than to play guitar and
get in a rock 'n' roll band. I don't really like to be the guy in the
white suit at the front. Like in the Beatles, I was the one who kept
quiet at the back and let the other egos be at the front.
--George Harrison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Harrison>
Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. The name
comes from Pyxis Nautica, Latin for a mariner's compass (as opposed to a
draftsman's compass, represented by the constellation Circinus).
Introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, Pyxis is
counted among the 88 modern constellations. In the 19th century,
astronomer John Herschel suggested renaming Pyxis to Malus, the mast,
since it appears near the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis, but
the suggestion was not followed. Pyxis is completely visible from
latitudes south of 53 degrees north, with its best evening-sky
visibility in February and March. The plane of the Milky Way passes
through it. Its three brightest stars—Alpha, Beta and Gamma
Pyxidis—are in a rough line; the brightest of these is Alpha
(magnitude 3.68), a blue-white star around 22,000 times as luminous as
the Sun. Near Alpha is T Pyxidis, a recurrent nova that has flared up to
magnitude 7 every few decades. Three star systems have planets, all
discovered by Doppler spectroscopy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyxis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
303:
Roman emperor Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians"
was published, beginning the Diocletianic Persecution, the last and most
severe episode of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution>
1809:
After standing only 15 years, London's Drury Lane theatre, the
third building of that name, burned down (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Royal,_Drury_Lane>
1826:
The Treaty of Yandabo was signed, ending the First Anglo-
Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war in the history of
British India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Yandabo>
1868:
Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. President to be impeached.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson>
1943:
World War II: The Battle of Kasserine Pass, the first major
engagement between American and Axis forces in Africa, ended with the
Allied forces suffering heavy losses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kasserine_Pass>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stochastically:
In a stochastic manner; by means of a process involving a randomly
determined sequence of events.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stochastically>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man is innately a creature of love … love is the most powerful
force in the universe, and eventually — it's a very slow process —
it will conquer.
--Dennis Weaver
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dennis_Weaver>
A Cure for Pokeritis is an American short silent film starring John
Bunny and Flora Finch (pictured), released on February 23, 1912. A
domestic comedy, it depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling
habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on his weekly poker
game. It was one of many shorts produced by Vitagraph Studios, whose
popularity made Bunny and Finch early film stars. Although its style of
humor is dated, it is a historically important representative of its
period and genre. The film was an early example of efforts to move
beyond the conventions of stage plays: during the police raid, action
took place in both the foreground and the background, with the actors
moving between them. This cinematography technique improved the realism
and pacing of the scene. A Cure for Pokeritis may be the first depiction
of poker in film. Like Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's Dogs Playing Poker
paintings, it reflects the early 20th-century perception of the game as
a male-dominated social vice.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cure_for_Pokeritis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
American Revolutionary War: Prussian military officer Friedrich
Wilhelm von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge as a volunteer for the
Continental Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_von_Steuben>
1854:
Britain signed the Orange River Convention to formally
recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in the present-day
Free State Province, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Free_State>
1944:
In response to an insurgency in Chechnya, the Soviet Union
began the forced deportation of native Chechen and Ingush of North
Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_the_Chechens_and_Ingush>
1987:
Light from SN 1987A (remnant pictured), a supernova in the
Large Magellanic Cloud, reached the Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A>
2008:
A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber crashed on the runway shortly after
takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in the most expensive crash
in U.S. Air Force history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B-2_accident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gunzel:
1. (Australia) A railway or tram enthusiast; particularly (formerly
derogatory) one who is overly enthusiastic or foolish.
2. (Australia, by extension) An enthusiast or geek with a specific
interest. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gunzel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"What is the greatest surprise you have found about life?” a
university student asked me several years ago. "Its brevity" I replied
without hesitation. … Time moves so quickly, and no matter who we are
or what we have done, the time will come when our lives will be over. As
Jesus said, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent
me. Night is coming, when no one can work" . … Life is short, and
every day is a gift from God.
--Billy Graham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Billy_Graham>
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c. 870 – 918), ruled Mercia in the
English Midlands from 911 until her death. The oldest daughter of King
Alfred the Great of Wessex, she married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians,
who ruled western Mercia when the eastern part was occupied by the
Vikings. After her husband's death, she ruled Mercia and played a
leading role in recovering southern England from the Vikings in
cooperation with her brother, King Edward the Elder. She fortified many
towns, sent an army to capture Derby, and secured the surrender of
Leicester without a fight. The Viking leaders of York offered her their
loyalty, but she died before she could take up the offer. Her daughter
Ælfwynn briefly ruled Mercia, but was seized by Edward, who took her
into Wessex and brought Mercia under his direct rule. Historians
disagree whether Mercia was an independent kingdom under Æthelred and
Æthelflæd, but they agree that Æthelflæd played an important part in
ending Viking rule in England. As a rare English warrior queen, and a
successful one, she has captivated Medieval and modern writers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1316:
The forces of the infante Ferdinand of Majorca fought against
those loyal to Princess Matilda of Hainaut in the Battle of Picotin on
the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Picotin>
1876:
The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, named
after philanthropist Johns Hopkins, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University>
1921:
After White Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-
Sternberg drove the Chinese out of Mongolia, the Bogd Khan was
reinstalled as emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_von_Ungern-Sternberg>
1957:
The President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem survived a Viet
Cong assassination attempt by a gunman in Buôn Ma Thuột.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem>
2002:
Jonas Savimbi, leader of the Angolan anti-Communist rebel and
political party UNITA, was killed in a battle with Angolan government
troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Savimbi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avoid like the plague:
(simile, idiomatic) To evade or shun, if at all possible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avoid_like_the_plague>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain
(what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an
honest man.
--George Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Washington>
The North Ronaldsay is a breed of domestic sheep from the northernmost
island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to the
Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved
without much cross-breeding with modern breeds. It is a smaller sheep
than most, with the rams (males) horned and ewes (females) mostly
hornless. It was formerly kept primarily for wool, but now the two
largest flocks are feral, one on North Ronaldsay and another on the
Orkney island of Linga Holm. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists the
breed as "vulnerable", with fewer than 600 registered breeding females
in the United Kingdom. The sheep on North Ronaldsay are confined to the
shoreline by a 1.8 m tall (6 ft) dry-stone wall, which completely
encircles the island. The wall was built originally to protect the
shoreline and keep the sheep inside it, but when seaweed farming on the
shore became uneconomical, the sheep were banished outside the wall to
protect the fields and crofts inside. Because of their restricted
environment, the sheep evolved to subsist almost entirely on seaweed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Ronaldsay_sheep>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1543:
Led by the Ethiopian Emperor Galawdewos, the combined army of
Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Imam Ahmad
ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wayna_Daga>
1862:
American Civil War: The Confederate Army began an attempt to
gain control of the Southwest with a major victory in the Battle of
Valverde.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valverde>
1919:
Bavarian socialist Kurt Eisner, who had organized the German
Revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy and established
Bavaria as a republic, was assassinated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Eisner>
1958:
British artist Gerald Holtom unveiled a logo for the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament that became internationally recognised as the
peace sign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_symbols>
1965:
Black nationalist Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a
speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
isogloss:
(sociolinguistics, geography) A line on a map indicating the
geographical boundaries of a linguistic feature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isogloss>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I belong to no nation, no civilization, no society, no race, but
to the Divine. I obey no master, no rules, no law, no social convention,
but the Divine. To Him I have surrendered all, will, life and self; for
Him I am ready to give all my blood, drop by drop, if such is His will,
with complete joy, and nothing in his service can be sacrifice, for all
is perfect delight.
--Mirra Alfassa
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mirra_Alfassa>
Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky
(pictured), released on 20 February 1995. By the time he recorded the
album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the group
Massive Attack and had discovered vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he
felt would offer another dimension to his lyrics. He signed a solo
contract with 4th & B'way Records in 1993 and recorded Maxinquaye the
following year primarily at his home studio in London with Topley-Bird
as the predominant vocalist. The record's groove-oriented and low-tempo
sound incorporates elements from hip hop, soul, rock, ambient techno,
reggae, and experimental music. The songs explore themes of cultural
decline, dysfunctional sexual relationships, fear of intimacy, and
recreational drug use. In writing them, Tricky drew on his experiences
in the British drug culture and the influence of his late mother Maxine
Quaye, after whom the album is titled. The album has sold 500,000 copies
worldwide and has ranked frequently on greatest-album lists, being
viewed as a significant influence on electronica, underground, and
British hip hop.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxinquaye>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's opera buffa The Barber of
Seville was hissed at by the audience during its debut at the Teatro
Argentina in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville>
1846:
Polish insurgents led an uprising in the Free City of Kraków
to incite a fight for national independence that was put down by the
Austrian Empire nine days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_uprising>
1864:
American Civil War: The Union suffered one of its bloodiest
losses at the Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Olustee>
1943:
A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of
Michoacán and turned into the cinder cone volcano Parícutin, which
continued to erupt for nine years, growing 424 m (1,391 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin>
1988:
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from
Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
down but not out:
Temporarily incapacitated but not permanently defeated.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/down_but_not_out>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You just never know. You drift along, year after year, presuming
certain values to be fixed; like being able to drive on a public
thoroughfare without somebody trying to murder you. You came to depend
on that sort of thing. Then something occurs and all bets are off. One
shocking incident and all the years of logic and acceptance are
displaced and, suddenly, the jungle is in front of you again. Man, part
animal, part angel.
--Richard Matheson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson>
Dungeon Siege is an action role-playing game developed by Gas Powered
Games and published by Microsoft for Windows (2002) and by Destineer for
MacOS (2003). Set in the pseudo-medieval kingdom of Ehb, the high
fantasy game follows a young farmer and his companions as they journey
to defeat an invading force. Instead of manually controlling characters,
the player sets their overall tactics, weapons and magic usage. Chris
Taylor and Jacob McMahon aimed for a role-playing game stripped of the
typical genre elements they found slow or frustrating, including all
loading screens, to keep the player focused on the action. Development
took over four years, often with 12- to 14-hour workdays. The game is
listed by review aggregator Metacritic as the third-highest rated
computer role-playing game of 2002. Critics praised the graphics and
seamless world, as well as the fun and accessible gameplay, but were
dismissive of the plot. The game sold over 1.7 million copies. An
expansion pack, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna, was released in 2003,
followed by Dungeon Siege II (2005), Dungeon Siege III (2011), and other
titles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Siege>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the largest
volcanic explosion in South America in historical times.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaynaputina>
1811:
Peninsular War: An outnumbered French force under Édouard
Mortier routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish at the Battle of the
Gebora near Badajoz, Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Gebora>
1910:
Old Trafford, a football stadium in Greater Manchester,
England, hosted its first match between Manchester United and Liverpool.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Trafford>
1948:
The Southeast Asian Youth Conference, which is believed to have
inspired armed communist rebellions in different Asian countries, opened
in Calcutta, India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Youth_and_Students_of_Southeast…>
1999:
U.S. President Bill Clinton issued a posthumous pardon to Henry
Ossian Flipper, the first African American graduate of West Point, who
had been accused of embezzlement in 1881.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ossian_Flipper>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nearest and dearest:
(idiomatic) One's closest and most intimate family members, friends,
etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nearest_and_dearest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
So vast, without any question, is the divine handiwork of the most
excellent Almighty.
--Nicolaus Copernicus
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus>