"Nightswimming" is the eighth episode of the American television police
procedural fantasy drama Awake, which originally aired on NBC in 2012.
Written by Leonard Chang and co-executive producer Davey Holmes, and
directed by executive producer Jeffrey Reiner, the episode received
mixed reviews. Awake stars Jason Isaacs (pictured) as Michael Britten, a
detective living in two separate realities after a car crash. In one
reality, his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) survived the crash; in the other,
his son Rex (Dylan Minnette) survived. In this episode, Michael helps
accountant Marcus Ananyev (Elijah Alexander) and his wife Alina (Ayelet
Zurer) start a new life in the Witness Protection Program after a gang
member attempts to kill Marcus in Rex's reality. In the other reality,
Michael and Hannah prepare for a new life in Oregon, and go swimming at
a college pool to celebrate their love. During filming, a woman who was
near the swimming pool confronted Isaacs about his nudity. The episode
featured Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart". "Nightswimming" drew 2.8
million viewers on its debut.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightswimming_(Awake)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began the massacre of
over 20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_massacre>
1899:
Philippine–American War: Malolos, capital of the First
Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Malolos>
1910:
Six English towns amalgamated to form a single county borough
called Stoke-on-Trent, the first union of its type.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Stoke-on-Trent>
1964:
Brazilian Armed Forces led an overthrow of Brazilian President
João Goulart and established a military government that lasted for 21
years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1995:
American singer-songwriter, Selena, known as "The Queen of
Tejano music", was murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president
of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
worshipful:
1. Tending to worship; showing reverence.
2. (chiefly Britain) Used as respectful form of address for a person or
body of persons, especially in the name of a livery company.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/worshipful>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don’t think the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has much
chance of actually affecting the government. It’s one of the first
things you have to face up to. But we do it to keep our self-respect to
show to ourselves, each one to himself or herself, that we care. And to
let other people, all the lazy, sulky, hopeless ones like you, know that
someone cares. We’re trying to shame you into thinking about it, about
acting.
--John Fowles
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fowles>
DJ AM (A. M. Goldstein; March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009) was an
American disc jockey (DJ). Obsessed with deejaying as a child, Goldstein
developed a drug addiction as a teenager and was sent to the
controversial rehabilitation center Straight, Incorporated. His drug
problems worsened until a failed suicide attempt in 1997. He became
sober, and later sponsored other addicts through Alcoholics Anonymous.
He began deejaying and joined the band Crazy Town in 1999 before
focusing on a career as a solo DJ. In 2006, he accepted a million-dollar
contract to perform weekly at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. In 2008,
Goldstein and Travis Barker formed the duo TRV$DJAM. They were the only
two survivors of a Learjet 60 crash later that year. Goldstein hosted
the 2009 drug intervention television series Gone Too Far, and appeared
to be struggling with his addiction during filming. In August 2009, he
was found dead from a drug overdose. The DJ AM Memorial Fund was
launched that year for people recovering from drug addiction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_AM>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
The United States merged East Florida and West Florida to
create the Florida Territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Territory>
1918:
Fighting began during the March Days revolt in Baku,
Azerbaijan, resulting in over 14,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days>
1950:
Usmar Ismail began filming Darah dan Doa, formally recognised
as the first Indonesian film.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darah_dan_Doa>
1972:
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive
in an attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the
South Vietnamese Army as possible.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Offensive>
2009:
Twelve gunmen attacked the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore,
Pakistan, and held it for several hours before security forces could
retake it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lahore_police_academy_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clerihew:
A humorous rhyme of four lines with the rhyming scheme AABB, usually
regarding a person mentioned in the first line.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clerihew>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh
and blood — Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
--Four Quartets
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Four_Quartets>
Casey Stengel (1890–1975) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB)
right fielder, and a manager for the New York Yankees championship teams
of the 1950s and for the New York Mets in the early 1960s. He was an
outfielder for the 1912 Brooklyn Dodgers, and played on their 1916
National League championship team. After serving in the navy during
World War I, he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York
Giants and the Boston Braves. In 1925 he began a career as a manager,
with mostly poor finishes for the next twenty years, especially with the
Dodgers (1934–1936) and Braves (1938–1943). In 1948 he was hired as
Yankee manager. In his twelve seasons, his teams garnered ten pennants,
winning seven World Series, including a record-setting streak of five in
a row (1949–1953). He was known for his humorous and sometimes
disjointed banter. His showmanship helped the Mets, an expansion team,
when they hired him in late 1961, but the team finished last for four
years in a row, and he retired in 1965. Remembered as one of the great
characters in baseball history, Stengel was elected to the Baseball Hall
of Fame in 1966.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Stengel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1430:
Byzantine–Ottoman wars: After an eight-year siege, the
Ottoman Empire captured the Venetian city of Thessalonica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Thessalonica_(1422%E2%80%931430)>
1800:
William Matthews was ordained as the first British America-born
Catholic priest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_(priest)>
1871:
The Royal Albert Hall in Albertopolis, London, was officially
opened by Queen Victoria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall>
1974:
A group of farmers in Shaanxi province, China, discovered a
vast collection of terracotta statues depicting the armies of the first
Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army>
2010:
Islamist Chechen separatists set off two bombs on the Moscow
Metro, killing 40 and injuring 102 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Moscow_Metro_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wrest:
1. (transitive) To pull or twist violently.
2. (transitive) To obtain by pulling or violent force.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To seize.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To distort, to pervert, to twist.
5. (transitive, music) To tune with a wrest, or key.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wrest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The nearest we approach God … is as creative beings. The poet,
by echoing the primary imagination, recreates. Through his work he
forces those who read him to do the same, thus bringing them … nearer
to the actual being of God as displayed in action.
--R. S. Thomas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas>
Lady Gaga (born March 28, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and
actress. She rose to prominence in 2008 with her debut album The Fame
and its singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". Her EP The Fame Monster
followed the next year, and featured the successful singles "Bad
Romance", "Telephone", and "Alejandro". The title track from her second
album Born This Way (2011) became the fastest selling song on iTunes at
the time of its release. With this as well as Artpop (2013), Cheek to
Cheek (2014), and Joanne (2016), Gaga became the first woman to have
four albums reach number one on the US Billboard 200 during the 2010s.
In television, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her
work in American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016). Gaga is known for
her unconventionality, provocative work, and experimentation with her
appearance and image. She supports a variety of activist causes, and
created the Born This Way Foundation to empower youth and combat
bullying.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
193:
Praetorian Guards assassinated Roman emperor Pertinax and sold
the Imperial office in an auction to Didius Julianus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinax>
1814:
War of 1812: Off the coast of Valparaíso, Chile, two Royal
Navy ships easily captured two American ones.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valpara%C3%ADso>
1933:
After an on-board fire that may have been the first incident of
airliner sabotage, the Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool broke
apart in mid-air, killing fifteen people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Imperial_Airways_Diksmuide_crash>
1942:
Second World War: In occupied France, British naval forces
successfully disabled the key port of Saint-Nazaire (HMS Campbeltown
pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: In a friendly fire incident, two members of
the United States Air Force attacked the United Kingdom's Blues and
Royals regiment, killing one soldier and injuring five.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron,_Blues_and_Royals_frie…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
braggart:
Someone who constantly brags or boasts.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/braggart>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee: All things
pass; God never changes. Patience attains All that it strives for. He
who has God Finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.
--Teresa of Ávila
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila>
Coalhouse Fort is an English artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard
the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point in
Essex on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury
that was vulnerable to raiders and invaders. It was the last in a series
of fortifications dating back to the 15th century and was the direct
successor to a smaller mid-19th century fort on the same site. It was
initially a front-line fortification, supported by Shornemead Fort and
Cliffe Fort on the Kent shore. Over time, as batteries and forts further
downriver became the front line of the Thames defences, its main weapons
were replaced with smaller quick-firing guns intended for use against
fast-moving surface and aerial targets. Its last military use was as a
training facility after the Second World War. Decommissioned in 1949,
the fort fell into dereliction, despite its historical and architectural
significance. Its restoration has been funded in part by the Heritage
Lottery Fund and the Warner Bros. film studio, which used it as a
location for the opening scenes of the 2005 film Batman Begins.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhouse_Fort>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
San Diego, the first European settlement in what is now
California, was incorporated as a city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego>
1899:
Philippine–American War: For the only time during the course
of the war, Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo personally led troops
against the U.S. in the Battle of Marilao River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marilao_River>
1941:
Encouraged by the British Special Operations Executive, a group
of pro-Western Serb-nationalist Royal Yugoslav Air Force officers
planned and conducted a coup d'état after Yugoslavia joined the Axis
powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1958:
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev also took over the role of Premier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev>
1998:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug
sildenafil (chemical structure pictured), better known by the trade name
Viagra, for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill
to be approved for this condition in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sildenafil>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wan:
1. Pale, sickly-looking.
2. Dim, faint.
3. Bland, uninterested.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The thought of every group is seen as arising out of its life
conditions. Thus, it becomes the task of the sociological history of
thought to analyse without regard for party biases all the factors in
the actually existing social situation which may influence thought. This
sociologically oriented history of ideas is destined to provide modern
men with a revised view of the whole historical process.
--Karl Mannheim
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim>
The fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a tropical and
subtropical bird in the family of ducks, geese and swans. It breeds in
much of Mexico and South America, the West Indies, the southern US, sub-
Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. It has mainly reddish brown
plumage, long legs and a long grey bill, and shows a distinctive white
band across its black tail in flight. Like other members of its ancient
lineage, it has a whistling call. The preferred habitat is shallow
lakes, paddy fields or other wetlands with plentiful vegetation. The
nest, placed among dense vegetation or in a tree hole, typically holds
around ten whitish eggs, which hatch in 24–29 days. The downy grey
ducklings leave the nest within a day or so of hatching, but the parents
continue to protect them until they fledge around nine weeks later. The
fulvous whistling duck feeds in wetlands by day or night on seeds and
other parts of plants. It has a huge range and is not threatened,
despite hunting, poisoning by pesticides and natural predation by
mammals, birds and reptiles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulvous_whistling_duck>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
590:
Byzantine emperor Maurice proclaimed his son Theodosius as his
co-emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_(son_of_Maurice)>
1351:
War of the Breton Succession: Thirty knights each from France
and England fought to determine who would rule the Duchy of Brittany,
which later was celebrated as a noble display of the ideals of chivalry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_of_the_Thirty>
1885:
Feeling that Canada had failed to address the protection of
their rights, the Métis people, led by Louis Riel, began the North-West
Rebellion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-West_Rebellion>
1953:
Jonas Salk announced the successful test of his polio vaccine
on a small group of adults and children (vaccination pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine>
1971:
East Pakistan declared its independence from Pakistan to become
Bangladesh, starting the Bangladesh Liberation War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sarpanch:
The elected head of a panchayat (village government) in Bangladesh,
India, or Pakistan.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sarpanch>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I may have wept that any should have died Or missed their chance,
or not have been their best, Or been their riches, fame, or love denied;
On me as much as any is the jest. I take my incompleteness with the
rest. God bless himself can no one else be blessed. I hold your
doctrine of Memento Mori. And were an epitaph to be my story I’d have
a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I
had a lover’s quarrel with the world.
--Robert Frost
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost>
The Walt Disney World Railroad is a 3-foot (914 mm) narrow-gauge
American heritage railroad and attraction that encircles most of the
Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida.
Constructed by WED Enterprises, it has three train stations along 1.5
miles (2.4 km) of track, and four historic steam locomotives,
originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. On a typical day, two or
three locomotives will complete round trips in 20 minutes on the main
line. The railroad's development was led by Roger E. Broggie. The
attraction's locomotives were acquired from the Ferrocarriles Unidos de
Yucatán, a narrow-gauge railroad system in Mexico, and altered to
resemble locomotives built in the 1880s. The passenger cars were built
from scratch. The railroad opened to the public for the first time on
the theme park's opening day, October 1, 1971. Since then, it has become
one of the world's most popular steam-powered railroads, with about 3.7
million passengers each year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Railroad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1410:
The Yongle Emperor launched the first of his military campaigns
against the Mongols, resulting in the fall of the Mongol khan
Bunyashiri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongle_Emperor%27s_campaigns_against_the_Mong…>
1807:
The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in
the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807>
1917:
Following the overthrow of the Russian tsar Nicholas II,
Georgia's bishops unilaterally restored the autocephaly of the Georgian
Orthodox Church.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Orthodox_Church>
1948:
Meteorologists at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City,
United States, issued the world's first tornado forecast after noticing
conditions similar to another tornado that had struck five days earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tinker_Air_Force_Base_tornadoes>
1975:
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew
Faisal bin Musaid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Homeric:
1. Resembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer.
2. Of or pertaining to Greece during the Bronze Age, as described in
Homer's works.
3. Fit to be immortalized in poetry by Homer; epic, heroic.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Homeric>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every process which arises from our physical being and is related
to it, is an event which lies outside of our volition. Every social
process, however, arises from human intentions and human goal setting
and occurs within the limits of our volition. Consequently, it is not
subject to the concept of natural necessity. … We are here stating no
prejudiced opinion, but merely an established fact. Every result of
human purposiveness is of indisputable importance for man's social
existence, but we should stop regarding social processes as
deterministic manifestations of a necessary course of events. Such a
view can only lead to the most erroneous conclusions and contribute to a
fatal confusion in our understanding of historical events.
--Rudolf Rocker
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker>
Jessica Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and film
producer. She has earned critical praise for her portrayals of strong-
willed women in films with feminist themes. Born and raised in
Sacramento County, California, Chastain studied acting at Juilliard. She
made her film debut in the drama Jolene (2008), and gained wide
recognition in 2011 for starring roles in half a dozen films, including
The Help, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress. In 2012, she won a Golden Globe Award for playing a
CIA agent in the thriller Zero Dark Thirty. Her highest-grossing
releases were the science fiction films Interstellar (2014) and The
Martian (2015). She continued to draw praise for her performances in the
dramas A Most Violent Year (2014), Miss Sloane (2016), and Molly's Game
(2017). Chastain is the founder of the production company Freckle Films,
which promotes diversity in film. She is vocal about mental health
issues, and gender and racial equality.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Chastain>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1603:
King James VI of Scotland acceded to the thrones of England and
Ireland, becoming James I of England and unifying the crowns of the
kingdoms for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I>
1860:
Rōnin samurai of the Mito Domain assassinated Japanese Chief
Minister Ii Naosuke, upset with his role in the opening of Japan to
foreign powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuradamon_Incident_(1860)>
1921:
The 1921 Women's Olympiad, the first international women's
sports event, opened at the International Sporting Club of Monaco in
Monte Carlo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_Women%27s_Olympiad>
1934:
The Tydings–McDuffie Act came into effect, which provided for
self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence from
the United States after a period of ten years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tydings%E2%80%93McDuffie_Act>
2008:
The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, led by Jigme Thinley,
won 45 out of 47 seats in the National Assembly of Bhutan in the
country's first-ever general election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutanese_National_Assembly_election,_2008>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kersey:
A type of rough woollen cloth.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kersey>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We
must make it our top priority to save these lives. March For Our Lives
is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who
will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action
to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too
familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short
in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk
about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.
--March For Our Lives
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/March_For_Our_Lives>
The Age of Reason is a work by English and American political activist
Thomas Paine (pictured), arguing for the philosophical position of
deism. Following in the tradition of eighteenth-century British deism,
it challenges institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the
Bible. It was published in three parts in 1794, 1795, and 1807, and
became a best-seller in the United States, where it caused a short-lived
deistic revival. Fearing its revolutionary ideas, the British government
prosecuted printers and book-sellers who tried to publish and distribute
it. The Age of Reason highlights what Paine saw as corruption among
Christian churches and criticizes their efforts to acquire political
power. Paine advocates reason over revelation, leading him to reject
miracles and to view the Bible as "an ordinary piece of literature
rather than as a divinely inspired text". He promotes natural religion
and argues for the existence of a creator-God. Most of Paine's arguments
had long been available to educated people, but his engaging, irreverent
and inexpensive pamphlets made deism appealing and accessible to a mass
audience.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reason>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
Scottish settlers on the John Wickliffe, captained by William
Cargill, arrived at what is now Port Chalmers in the Otago Region of New
Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cargill>
1888:
Led by William McGregor, ten football clubs met in London for
the purpose of founding the English Football League, the oldest league
competition in world football.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGregor_(football)>
1908:
American diplomat Durham Stevens, an employee of Japan's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was assassinated in San Francisco by two
Korean American immigrants unhappy with his recent support of the
increasing Japanese presence in Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_Stevens>
1994:
Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into a hillside in Kemerovo Oblast,
Russia, after the pilot's 16-year-old son, while seated at the controls,
had unknowingly disabled the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593>
2001:
The Russian Federal Space Agency deorbited the 15-year-old
space station Mir, causing it to reenter the Earth's atmosphere and
break up over the Pacific Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thole:
1. (intransitive, dated) To suffer.
2. (transitive, now Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland) To
endure, to put up with, to tolerate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thole>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If
you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.
--Wernher von Braun
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun>
The Thaddeus McCotter presidential campaign of 2012 began when he filed
papers on July 1, 2011, to run for the Republican Party's 2012
nomination for President of the United States. He officially announced
his candidacy the next day at a rock festival near Detroit. McCotter,
who had been a congressman from Michigan since 2003, was first mentioned
as a potential presidential candidate on an April 2011 episode of the
Fox News show Red Eye. During the campaign, he focused on reform of
government and Wall Street. Commentators noted that McCotter's lack of
name recognition hindered his chances for nomination. When included in
Republican presidential preference polls, he regularly received less
than one percent support. Following a last place finish in the Ames
Straw Poll and the lack of any invitation to presidential debates, he
dropped his candidacy on September 22, 2011, and endorsed Mitt Romney.
He resigned from Congress in July 2012 amid a fraud investigation
surrounding his congressional re-election campaign.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_McCotter_presidential_campaign,_2012>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
238:
Because of his father's advanced age, Gordian II was proclaimed
joint Roman emperor with Gordian I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_I>
1765:
The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Stamp Act, requiring
that many printed materials in the Thirteen Colonies in British America
carry a tax stamp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Act_1765>
1943:
World War II: Almost the entire population of the village of
Khatyn in Belarus was massacred by Nazi forces, with participation from
their Ukrainian and Belarusian collaborators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatyn_massacre>
1995:
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov of the Soyuz programme
returned from the Mir space station after 437 days in space, setting a
record for the longest spaceflight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeri_Polyakov>
2004:
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian imam who was a founder and
the spiritual leader of Hamas, was killed by a missile from an Israeli
helicopter gunship as he left early morning prayers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Yassin>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
long drink of water:
(Scotland, US, slang) A tall person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_drink_of_water>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Most Americans, in their sweet innocence, think that class has to
do with money. But a glance at Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley will
indicate that it has very little to do with money. It has to do with
taste and style, and it has to do with the development of those features
by acts of character.
--Paul Fussell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Fussell>