Bill Brown (31 July 1912 – 16 March 2008) was an Australian cricketer.
A right-handed opening batsman, he played 22 Tests between 1934 and
1948, captaining his country in one of them. His partnership with Jack
Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian
Test history. In the 1938 tour of England, Brown had 1,854 runs,
including an unbeaten 206 that saved Australia from defeat in the second
Test, and was honoured as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
The outbreak of the Second World War cost Brown his peak years as a
player, time that he spent in the Royal Australian Air Force. After the
war, he was a member of Don Bradman's Invincibles, who toured England in
1948 without defeat. He performed reasonably well in the tour matches,
but struggled while batting out of position in the middle order during
the first two Tests, and was dropped from the Test team.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Brown_%28cricketer%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing
French nobleman the Marquis de Lafayette to enter the American
revolutionary forces as a major general.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette>
1954:
A team of Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit
of K2, the world's second-highest mountain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2>
1975:
The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members
of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were
killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Showband_killings>
1991:
Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven
Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of
their campaign against Lithuanian border posts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_OMON_assaults_on_Lithuanian_border_pos…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
adret:
(geography) The sun-facing side of a mountain.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adret>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A country is considered the more civilised the more the wisdom
and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak and
a powerful one too powerful.
--Primo Levi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Primo_Levi>
The octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed mollusc of the order Octopoda,
with around 300 known species. Along with squids, cuttlefish and
nautiloids, they are classed as cephalopods. The mouth with its hard
beak is at the base of the arms, which trail behind the animal as it
swims. A siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by
expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and
excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally
diverse of all invertebrates. They inhabit all parts of the ocean, from
the intertidal zone and coral reefs to the abyssal depths. They can
escape from predators by hiding in a cloud of ink, camouflaging
themselves, or contorting their bodies to squeeze through narrow gaps.
They are all venomous, but only the blue-ringed octopus is known to be
deadly to humans. Octopus is sold as food around the world, especially
in the Mediterranean and along the coasts of Asia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
Off the coast of Crescent City, California, U.S., the steamship
Brother Jonathan struck an uncharted rock and sank, killing 225 people;
its cargo of a large number of gold coins was not retrieved until 1996.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Jonathan_%28steamer%29>
1930:
Uruguay defeated Argentina at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo
to win the first Football World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_FIFA_World_Cup>
1981:
Amid widespread economic crisis and food shortages in Poland,
up to 50,000 people, mostly women and children, took part in the largest
of the hunger demonstrations in Łódź.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_1981_hunger_demonstrations_in_Poland>
2014:
At least 151 people were killed when heavy rains triggered a
landslide in Pune district, Maharashtra, India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Malin_landslide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
memory lane:
(idiomatic, sometimes capitalized) A set of recollections available to
be reviewed, especially accompanied by a feeling of nostalgia.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/memory_lane>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The great thing about art on any level is that it can speak to
all people if it’s achieved properly. When I’ve heard a piece of
music or seen a painting that moves me, it gives me something. That’s
such an incredibly special experience. I have intentions as a writer,
but people — when they’re listening to a track — will take from it
what they interpret. Sometimes people mishear my lyrics and think a
song’s about something it isn’t. That doesn’t matter. If it speaks
to them and they get something positive from it, it’s great.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>
Maurice Wilder-Neligan (1882–1923) was a British-born Australian
soldier who commanded the 10th Battalion during the latter stages of
World War I. Emigrating to Australia before the war, he enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Force. He was decorated for bravery and commissioned
during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. He received a severe head wound
while leading a successful raid on German trenches near Fleurbaix,
France, in early 1916, earning a second decoration for gallantry and the
praise of war historians. In July 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant
colonel and received command of the battalion. He led it during the
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge in September and was made a Companion of
the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1918. He was again
decorated for courage for the capture of the commune of Merris on 29
July. After the war, he worked as a district officer in the Territory of
New Guinea, where he died at the age of 40, probably of complications
from his war wounds.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Wilder-Neligan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1818:
French physicist Augustin Fresnel submitted his "Memoir on the
Diffraction of Light", providing strong support for the wave theory of
light.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel>
1914:
The first shots of World War I were fired by the Austro-
Hungarian river monitor SMS Bodrog upon Serbian defences near Belgrade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_monitor_Sava>
1958:
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National
Aeronautics and Space Act into law, establishing a new federal non-
military space agency known as NASA.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA>
1981:
An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million
people watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at
St Paul's Cathedral in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Prince_Charles_and_Lady_Diana_Spen…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
deadfall:
1. (uncountable, Canada, US) Coarse woody debris; deadwood. (countable,
specifically) A fallen tree.
2. (countable, specifically) A fallen tree.
3. (countable, Canada, US, hunting) A kind of trap for large animals,
consisting of a heavy board or log that falls on to the prey.
4. (countable, US, slang) A cheap, rough bar or saloon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deadfall>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
䷳ KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still So that he no longer
feels his body. He goes into his courtyard And does not see his
people. No blame. True quiet means keeping still when the time has
come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go
forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the
demands of the time, and thus there is light in life
--I Ching
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/I_Ching>
The Nine Stones is a stone circle near the village of Winterbourne Abbas
in the south-western English county of Dorset. The circle was probably
erected during the Bronze Age; stone circles were built throughout much
of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany between 3,300 and 900 BCE, during the
Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The stone circle tradition was
accompanied by the construction of timber circles and earthen henges,
reflecting a growing emphasis on circular monuments. At least nine of
these stone circles are known in modern Dorset. They are smaller than
those found elsewhere in Britain and are typically built from sarsen
stone. Located in the bottom of a narrow valley, the Nine Stones circle
consists of nine irregularly spaced sarsen megaliths, with a small
opening on the circle's northern side. Two of the stones on the north-
western side are considerably larger than the other seven. The site,
adjacent to the A35 road, is owned by English Heritage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Stones,_Winterbourne_Abbas>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1821:
Peruvian War of Independence: Argentine general José de San
Martín declared the independence of Peru from Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_de_San_Mart%C3%ADn>
1939:
During an excavation of a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk,
England, archæologists discovered a helmet likely belonging to King
Rædwald of East Anglia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Hoo_helmet>
1996:
The remains of the prehistoric Kennewick Man were discovered on
a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennewick_Man>
2005:
The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced an end to its
armed campaign to overthrow British rule in Northern Ireland to create a
United Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
numinous:
1. Of or relating to a numen (divinity); indicating the presence of a
divinity.
2. Evoking a sense of the mystical, sublime, or transcendent; awe-
inspiring.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/numinous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Before we as individuals are even conscious of our existence we
have been profoundly influenced for a considerable time (since before
birth) by our relationship to other individuals who have complicated
histories, and are members of a society which has an infinitely more
complicated and longer history than they do (and are members of it at a
particular time and place in that history); and by the time we are able
to make conscious choices we are already making use of categories in a
language which has reached a particular degree of development through
the lives of countless generations of human beings before us. . . . We
are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that
one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or
unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong.
--Karl Popper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper>
Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by American heavy metal
band Metallica. It was produced by Flemming Rasmussen in Copenhagen,
Denmark, and released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label
Megaforce Records. Rooted in the thrash metal genre, the album showcased
bassist Cliff Burton's songwriting and the band's musical growth and
lyrical sophistication, with acoustic guitars, extended instrumentals,
and complex harmonies. Music critics considered the album a more
ambitious effort than its predecessor. In 1985 the band performed at
major music festivals such as Monsters of Rock and Day on the Green. Two
months after the album's release, Elektra Records reissued it and signed
Metallica to a multi-year deal. It peaked at number 100 on the Billboard
200 with no radio exposure. It was certified 6× platinum in 2012 for
shipping six million copies in the United States. Many rock publications
have ranked Ride the Lightning on their best album lists.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_the_Lightning>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1214:
Philip II of France decisively won the Battle of Bouvines, the
conclusive battle of the 1213–1214 Anglo-French War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bouvines>
1949:
The de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet
airliner to reach production, made its maiden flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet>
1953:
An armistice was signed to end hostilities in the Korean War,
officially making the division of Korea indefinite by creating an
approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide demilitarized zone across the Korean
Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone>
2002:
A Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft crashed during an
aerobatics presentation at an airshow near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 77
people and injuring over 500 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sknyliv_air_show_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fetial:
1. Of or relating to a fetial (member of the Roman college of priests
who acted as representatives in disputes with foreign nations); (by
extension) ambassadorial, heraldic.
2. Concerned with declarations of war and treaties of peace.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fetial>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of courtesy it is much less Than courage of heart or holiness
Yet in my walks it seems to me That the Grace of God is in courtesy.
--Hilaire Belloc
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hilaire_Belloc>
The cooperative pulling paradigm is an experimental design in which
animals cooperate to pull food towards themselves. Researchers use these
experiments to try to understand how cooperation works and how and when
it may have evolved. Meredith Crawford ran the first such experiment in
1937, attaching two ropes to a rolling platform that was too heavy to be
pulled by a single chimpanzee. In another design, a rope comes loose if
only one animal pulls it, and the platform can no longer be retrieved.
Researchers look for signs of cooperation, such as when an animal waits
for another animal's actions before pulling the rope. Chimpanzees,
bonobos, orangutans, capuchins, tamarins, wolves, elephants, ravens, and
keas appear to understand the requirements of the task, and other
animals sometimes manage to retrieve the food. The superior scale and
range of human cooperation comes mainly from the ability to use language
to exchange social information.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_pulling_paradigm>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1887:
L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to
describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unua_Libro>
1918:
Emmy Noether introduced what became known as Noether's theorem,
from which conservation laws are deduced for symmetries of angular
momentum, linear momentum, and energy, at Göttingen, Germany
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether>
1968:
After coming second to Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in a rigged
presidential election in 1967, Trương Đình Dzu was jailed by a
military court for illicit currency transactions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_%C4%90%C3%ACnh_Dzu>
2016:
In one of the worst crimes committed in modern Japanese
history, a former employee went on a knife rampage at a care home for
disabled people in Sagamihara, killing 19 people and wounding 26 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagamihara_stabbings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sassywood:
1. A form of trial by ordeal in Liberia, typically involving a suspect
drinking a poisonous concoction made from the bark of the ordeal tree
Erythrophleum guineense, Erythrophleum ivorense, or Erythrophleum
suaveolens (called sassy bark); by extension, other forms of trial by
ordeal such as applying a heated machete to the suspect's legs, or
dipping the suspect's hand into hot oil.
2. The ordeal tree itself, the bark of which is used in the sassywood
procedure.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sassywood>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is
hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with
this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the
boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them —
our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment.
However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
--Stanley Kubrick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick>
The Shorwell helmet (replica pictured) is a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon
helmet found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It
was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was
found with other objects such as a pattern-welded sword and hanging
bowl. One of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, alongside those from
Benty Grange, Sutton Hoo, Coppergate, Wollaston, and Staffordshire, it
is the sole example to derive from the continental Frankish style rather
than the contemporaneous Northern crested style used in England and
Scandinavia. Exhibiting hardly any decoration other than a speculative
exterior leather covering, this was a utilitarian fighting helmet. It
was simply and sturdily designed out of eight pieces of riveted iron,
and its only decorative elements were paired with functional uses. The
helmet's plainness belies its significance; helmets were rare in Anglo-
Saxon England, and appear to have been limited to the higher classes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorwell_helmet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1861:
American Civil War: The United States Congress passed the
Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, asserting that the war was solely to
prevent the dissolution of the nation, although this was repealed five
months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crittenden%E2%80%93Johnson_Resolution>
1893:
The Corinth Canal, which bisects the narrow Isthmus of Corinth,
was formally opened, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean
Sea's Saronic Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal>
1978:
Two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists were killed in a
police ambush at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Maravilla_murders>
2000:
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde en route from Paris to New
York City, crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all one hundred
passengers and nine crew members, as well as four people on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mink:
1. (plural mink or minks) Any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous
mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily, similar to weasels, with dark fur,
native to Europe and America, of which two species in different genera
are extant: the American mink (Neovison vison) and the European mink
(Mustela lutreola).
2. (plural mink) The fur or pelt of a mink, used to make apparel.
3. (plural minks) An article of clothing made of mink.
4. (slang, pejorative, Scotland) (plural minks) An individual with poor
personal hygiene; a smelly person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mink>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
People unfit for freedom — who cannot do much with it — are
hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have"
type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and
realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of
a "have-not" type of self. If Hitler had had the talents and the
temperament of a genuine artist, if Stalin had had the capacity to
become a first-rate theoretician, if Napoleon had had the makings of a
great poet or philosopher they would hardly have developed the all-
consuming lust for absolute power. Freedom gives us a chance to realize
our human and individual uniqueness. Absolute power can also bestow
uniqueness: to have absolute power is to have the power to reduce all
the people around us to puppets, robots, toys, or animals, and be the
only man in sight. Absolute power achieves uniqueness by dehumanizing
others.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
Three municipalities in the U.S. state of New Jersey resisted the
construction of an eruv within their borders in 2017 and 2018. An eruv
is used by Orthodox Jews as a ritual boundary that facilitates travel on
the Jewish Sabbath, and the one in Bergen County was marked by plastic
pipes attached to utility poles. Mahwah, Upper Saddle River and Montvale
ordered it dismantled, as their permission had not been obtained. During
the controversy, many Mahwah residents angrily protested against the
prospect of Orthodox Jews from Rockland County, New York, using local
parks or seeking to buy homes there. The eruv association brought
federal lawsuits against each of the municipalities. In Mahwah, an
ordinance was passed barring nonresidents of New Jersey from its parks,
leading to accusations of anti-Semitism. A settlement was reached
allowing the eruv to remain, but Mahwah still faces a lawsuit from the
New Jersey Attorney General accusing it of discrimination.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%80%9318_Bergen_County_eruv_controversy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër to put down the
Albanian revolt of 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_revolt_of_1910>
1923:
The Treaty of Lausanne was signed to settle the Anatolian part
of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, establishing the boundaries
of modern Turkey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lausanne>
1998:
A gunman entered the United States Capitol and opened fire,
killing two police officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_United_States_Capitol_shooting_incident>
2014:
Fifty minutes after departing Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Air
Algérie Flight 5017 disappeared from radar, and its wreckage was found
the next day in Mali, with no survivors of the 116 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Alg%C3%A9rie_Flight_5017>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tank up:
1. (transitive, intransitive, Canada, US) To fill up (for example, a
tank in a vehicle with gas, petrol, etc.).
2. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To intoxicate (especially with
alcohol).
3. (intransitive) To install a tank.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tank_up>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In many ways life is less random than we think. In your past and
mine, there have been times when we have, on some lonely trail,
constructed a device aimed into our future. Perhaps nothing ever comes
along to trigger it. We live through the safe years. But, for some
people, something moves on the half-forgotten path, and something arches
out of the past and explodes in the here and now.
--John D. MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald>
Suillus spraguei, the painted suillus, is a species of fungus in the
family Suillaceae. Its readily identifiable fruit bodies have caps that
are dark red when fresh, dry to the touch, and covered with mats of
hairs and scales that are separated by yellow cracks. On the underside
of the cap are small, yellow, angular pores that become brownish as the
mushroom ages. The stalk bears a grayish cottony ring, and is typically
covered with soft hairs or scales. S. spraguei grows in symbiosis with
roots of several pine species, particularly the eastern white pine. The
fruit body grows on the ground, appearing from early summer to autumn.
It is found in eastern Asia, northeastern North America, and Mexico
throughout the range of the host tree. The mushroom is edible, although
opinions about its quality vary. It bears a resemblance to several other
Suillus species, including the closely related S. decipiens, although
the species can be differentiated by variations in color and size.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus_spraguei>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
The trial in the Eastbourne manslaughter began, which became an
important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of
corporal punishment in schools.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastbourne_manslaughter>
1921:
The Communist Party of China was founded at the inaugural
National Congress in Shanghai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_China>
1968:
In Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., a two-day gun battle between police
and a Black Power group began, which in turn sparked three days of
rioting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenville_shootout>
2001:
Megawati Sukarnoputri became the first female president of
Indonesia after the People's Consultative Assembly removed Abdurrahman
Wahid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
maverick:
1. An unbranded range animal.
2. (by extension) Anything dishonestly obtained.
3. (by extension) One who is unconventional or does not abide by rules.
4. (by extension) One who creates or uses controversial or
unconventional ideas or practices.
5. (military) A person in the military who became an officer by going to
college while on active duty as an enlisted person.
6. (poker slang) A queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold
'em.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maverick>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The perfect detective story cannot be written. The type of mind
which can evolve the perfect problem is not the type of mind that can
produce the artistic job of writing.
--Raymond Chandler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>
Megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon), an extinct species of shark, lived
around 23 to 2.6 million years ago, from the Early Miocene to the Late
Pliocene. Once thought to be closely related to the great white shark
(C. carcharias), it may be a member of the extinct family Otodontidae.
It may have looked like a stocky great white, measuring at most 18
meters (59 ft), and averaging 10.5 metres (34 ft). Its large jaws
exerted an estimated bite force of 108,500 to 182,200 newtons (24,400 to
41,000 lbf), coupled with thick teeth to grab large, struggling prey,
crushing the heart and lungs of the marine mammals – mainly baleen
whales – that it fed on in oceans around the world. It is thought
that its decline was due to competition from other large predators (such
as Livyatan), the ice ages, and the shift in whale populations. The
shark has made appearances in media such as the Discovery Channel's
docufiction Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie inscribed his name on a
rock near Dean Channel after becoming the first recorded person to
complete a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_%28explorer%29>
1975:
Stanley Forman took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Fire
Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire
escapes across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Escape_Collapse>
2005:
London metropolitan police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a
Brazilian immigrant, after misidentifying him as being involved in the
previous day's failed bombing attempts on the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
forex:
Short for foreign exchange.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forex>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is so amusing the way that mortals misunderstand the shape, or
shapes, of time. … In the realms of the ultimate, each person must
figure out things for themselves. … Teachers who offer you the
ultimate answers do not possess the ultimate answers, for if they did,
they would know that the ultimate answers cannot be given, they can only
be received.
--Tom Robbins
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins>
In Iowa, Interstate 80 (I-80) enters at the Missouri River in Council
Bluffs, extends east through the southern Iowa drift plain, passes
around Des Moines and through Iowa City, and crosses into Illinois at
the Mississippi River near Le Claire. I-80 is an American
transcontinental Interstate Highway stretching from San Francisco,
California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. Before the Interstate was built, US
Route 6 was the busiest highway in Iowa. In the early 1950s, a turnpike
along the US 6 corridor was slated to be the first modern four-lane
highway in the state, but those plans were shelved when the Interstate
Highway System was created in 1956. The first section of I-80 opened in
1958 in the western suburbs of Des Moines, and new sections of the
Interstate opened up regularly over the next twelve years. The final
segment in Iowa, the Missouri River bridge to Omaha, Nebraska, opened in
1972. About one-third of Iowa's population lives along the I-80
corridor, most of which runs through farmland.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_80_in_Iowa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
905:
Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, was captured during his attempt
to restore Carolingian power over Italy by King Berengar I and blinded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_the_Blind>
1925:
American high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found
guilty (trial pictured) of violating Tennessee's Butler Act by teaching
evolution in class.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial>
1973:
Mossad agents mistakenly assassinated a Moroccan waiter in
Lillehammer, Norway, whom they believed had been involved in the 1972
Munich Olympics massacre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillehammer_affair>
2012:
Turkish adventurer Erden Eruç became the first person in
history to complete a solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erden_Eru%C3%A7>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bluff out:
(transitive) To deceive (someone) in order to convince them to give up.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bluff_out>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's the people and the cause that matter and right now there's
an important need, which is bridge-building. I wanted to support the
cause of humanity, because that's what I always sang about. Music can
be healing, and with my history and my knowledge of both sides of what
looks like a gigantic divide in the world, I feel I can point a way
forward to our common humanity again. It's a big step for me but it's a
natural step. I don't feel at all irked by the responsibility — I feel
inspired.
--Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens>
Ramesses VI was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He
succeeded Ramesses V and reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-
late 12th century BC before dying in his forties. Egypt lost control
of its last strongholds in Canaan around the time of his reign. The
pharaoh's power waned in Upper Egypt during his rule, while the high
priest of Amun, Ramessesnakht, was turning Thebes in Upper Egypt into
the religious capital and a second center of power on par with Pi-
Ramesses in Lower Egypt, where the pharaoh resided. He was fond of cult
statues of himself; more are known to portray him than any other
Twentieth-Dynasty king after his father, Ramesses III. He usurped KV9,
a tomb in the Valley of the Kings planned by and for Ramesses V, and had
it enlarged and redecorated for himself. His mummy lay untouched for
fewer than 20 years before pillagers damaged it. The Egyptologist Amin
Amer characterises him as "a king who wished to pose as a great pharaoh
in an age of unrest and decline".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramesses_VI>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent
for their Pyréolophore, one of the world's first internal combustion
engines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore>
1922:
The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League
of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>
1968:
The first Special Olympics games (athletes at 2013 games
pictured) were held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Olympics>
2001:
Twenty-three-year-old Italian anti-globalist Carlo Giuliani was
shot dead by a police officer while protesting during the 27th G8 summit
in Genoa, Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Carlo_Giuliani>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lucre:
Money, riches, or wealth, especially when seen as having a corrupting
effect or causing greed, or obtained in an underhanded manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lucre>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our
victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?
--Alexander the Great
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great>
The Battle of Verrières Ridge was part of the Battle of Normandy, in
northwestern France, during the Second World War. Two Canadian infantry
divisions—with additional support from the 2nd Canadian Armoured
Brigade—fought elements of three German SS Panzer divisions. The
battle began on 19 July 1944 as part of the British and Canadian
attempts to break out of Caen. The immediate Allied objective was
Verrières Ridge, a belt of high ground dominating the route from Caen
to Falaise, which was invested by battle-hardened German veterans. Over
six days, Canadian and British forces made repeated attempts to capture
the ridge, with heavy Allied casualties for little strategic gain. The
battle is remembered for its tactical and strategic miscalculations,
including a controversial attack by The Black Watch (Royal Highland
Regiment) of Canada on 25 July, the costliest single day for a Canadian
battalion since the 1942 Dieppe Raid.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verri%C3%A8res_Ridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going ship that had both an
iron hull and a screw propeller, was launched in Bristol, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain>
1903:
French cyclist Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1903_Tour_de_France>
1989:
After suffering an uncontained failure of an engine which
destroyed all of its hydraulic systems, United Airlines Flight 232 broke
up during an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa, U.S., killing 111
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232>
2014:
Unidentified gunmen perpetrated an armed assault against an
Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert, killing at least 22
border guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2014_Al-Wadi_Al-Gedid_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
crowd in on:
(transitive, idiomatic) To join when not wanted; to force one's way into
a situation where one is unwelcome.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crowd_in_on>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hell is that state where one has ceased to hope.
--A. J. Cronin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A._J._Cronin>
Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African
anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader. A Xhosa, in the 1940s
he joined the African National Congress (ANC) party and campaigned
against the white-only government's system of apartheid, a form of
racial segregation that privileged whites. An African nationalist and
socialist, in 1961 he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe, which
led a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government. He was
arrested in 1962, convicted of conspiring to overthrow the state, and
imprisoned for 27 years. Released in 1990 amid growing ethnic strife and
violence, he became leader of the ANC and helped negotiate an end to
apartheid with President F. W. de Klerk. In the country's first multi-
racial election, in 1994, he was elected President of South Africa. His
administration stressed racial reconciliation and measures to alleviate
poverty. He retired in 1999 to focus on philanthropic causes.
Controversial throughout much of his life, in South Africa he is widely
regarded as the "Father of the Nation".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, killed around
200 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_Birgu_polverista_explosion>
1949:
Francisco Javier Arana, Chief of the Armed Forces of Guatemala,
was killed in a shootout with supporters of President Juan José
Arévalo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Javier_Arana>
1966:
Angered by racism and poverty, African American residents of
the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, began to riot for six days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hough_riots>
2014:
Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, who had
previously been found guilty of paying for an underage prostitute, had
his conviction overturned on appeal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi_prostitute_trial>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
prowess:
1. (uncountable) Skillfulness and manual ability; adroitness or
dexterity.
2. (uncountable) Distinguished bravery or courage, especially in battle;
heroism.
3. (countable) An act of prowess. An act of adroitness or dexterity. An
act of distinguished bravery or courage; a heroic deed.
4. An act of adroitness or dexterity.
5. An act of distinguished bravery or courage; a heroic deed.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prowess>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved
the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken
the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even
more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s
chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of
others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. I
have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I
have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that
after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more
hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of
the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I
have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come
responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet
ended.
--Nelson Mandela
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela>
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (18 June 1901 – 17 July
1918) was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign
of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. She was
murdered with her family by members of the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret
police. The location of her burial was unknown during the decades of
Communist rule, and rumors that she had escaped circulated after her
death. A mass grave near Yekaterinburg which held the remains of the
Tsar, his wife, and three of their daughters was revealed in 1991, and
the bodies of the remaining daughter and the Tsarevitch Alexei were
discovered in 2007. Forensic analysis and DNA testing have confirmed
that the remains are those of the imperial family, showing that
Anastasia and the other grand duchesses were killed in 1918. Several
women have claimed to be Anastasia, including Anna Anderson, who died in
1984, but DNA testing in 1994 showed that she was not related to the
Romanov family.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
The New Zealand Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand
led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Waikato>
1918:
RMS Carpathia, which had rescued the survivors of the RMS
Titanic sinking, was itself sunk by a German U-boat with the loss of
five crew.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia>
1945:
Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, and Joseph Stalin (all
pictured), leaders of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the
Soviet Union respectively, met in Potsdam to decide what should be done
with post-war Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference>
1998:
A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake devastated
several villages in Papua New Guinea, killing more than 2,100 people,
and destroying the homes of thousands more.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Papua_New_Guinea_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
emoji:
A digital graphic icon with a unique code point used to represent a
concept or object, originally used in Japanese text messaging but since
adopted internationally in other contexts such as social media.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/emoji>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most
disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage
inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence,
and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. … President
Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and
Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a
conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free
press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and
lies to the world. … No prior president has ever abased himself more
abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the
truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our
president failed to defend all that makes us who we are — a republic
of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad.
American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to
succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace
that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting
totally in vain.
--John McCain
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_McCain>
Hurricane Daniel was the second strongest storm of the 2006 Pacific
hurricane season. The fourth named storm of the season, it originated on
July 16 from a tropical wave off the coast of Mexico. It tracked
westward and intensified steadily, reaching Category 4 on the
Saffir–Simpson scale on July 20 and attaining peak winds of 150 mph
(240 km/h) on July 22. An annular hurricane with a large and symmetric
eye surrounded by a thick ring of intense convection, it gradually
weakened as it entered an area of cooler water temperatures and
increased wind shear. After crossing into the Central Pacific Ocean, it
degenerated into a remnant low pressure area on July 26, and dissipated
southeast of Hawaii within two days. The storm brought light to moderate
precipitation to the Island of Hawaii and Maui, causing minor flooding,
with no fatalities or major damage reported.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Daniel_(2006)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1790:
U.S. President George Washington signed the Residence Act,
selecting a new permanent site along the Potomac River for the capital
of the United States, which later became Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Act>
1994:
Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 began hitting the planet
Jupiter (impact site pictured), with the first one causing a fireball
which reached a peak temperature of about 24,000 K.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9>
2008:
A tainted milk powder scandal broke in China which ultimately
involved an estimated 300,000 victims, the vast majority infants, with
54,000 hospitalized with kidney problems and 6 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
champagne:
1. (countable, uncountable) A sparkling white wine made from a blend of
grapes, especially Chardonnay and pinot, produced in Champagne, France,
by the méthode champenoise.
2. (countable, uncountable, informal) Any sparkling wine made with
the méthode champenoise.
3. (countable, uncountable, informal) Any sparkling white wine.
4. (countable) A glass of champagne.
5. (countable) A very pale brownish-gold colour, similar to that of
champagne.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/champagne>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Not many years before the Happening, one of your country's
largest religious bodies officially declared that their book was holier
than their God, thus simultaneously and corporately breaking several
commandments of their own religion, particularly the first one. Of
course they liked the book better! It was full of magic and
contradictions that they could quote to reinforce their bigoted and
hateful opinions, as I well know, for I chose many parts of it from
among the scrolls and epistles that were lying around in caves here and
there. They're correct that a god picked out the material; they just
have the wrong god doing it.
--Sheri S. Tepper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper>
Nigel Williams (15 July 1944 – 21 April 1992) was a British
conservator. From 1961 until his death he worked at the British Museum,
where he became the Chief Conservator of Ceramics and Glass in 1983. He
was one of the first people to study conservation, before it was
recognised as a profession. In the 1960s he assisted with the re-
excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, and in his twenties he
conserved many of the objects found therein, including a shield,
drinking horns, and maplewood bottles. Restoration of the Sutton Hoo
helmet alone occupied a year of his time. After nearly 31,000 fragments
of shattered Greek vases were found in 1974 amidst the wreck of
HMS Colossus, Williams set to work piecing them together, and the
process was televised for a BBC programme. His crowning achievement, the
reassembly of the Portland Vase (pictured) in 1988 and 1989, took nearly
a year to complete, and was also televised. The Ceramics & Glass group
of the Institute of Conservation awards a biennial prize in his honour.
(Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Williams_(conservator)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Aboard HMS Bellerophon, Napoleon surrendered to Royal Navy
Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland to finally end the Napoleonic Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)>
1916:
William Boeing incorporated the Pacific Aero Products Co.,
which was later renamed Boeing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing>
1983:
Armenian extremist organization ASALA bombed the Turkish
Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport, killing 8 and injuring 55, as
part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the
Armenian Genocide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Orly_Airport_attack>
2006:
The online social networking and news service Twitter was
launched (early sketch pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
man-mark:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/man-mark>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To articulate what is past does not mean to recognize "how it
really was." It means to take control of a memory, as it flashes in a
moment of danger. For historical materialism it is a question of holding
fast to a picture of the past, just as if it had unexpectedly thrust
itself, in a moment of danger, on the historical subject. The danger
threatens the stock of tradition as much as its recipients. For both it
is one and the same: handing itself over as the tool of the ruling
classes. In every epoch, the attempt must be made to deliver tradition
anew from the conformism which is on the point of overwhelming it. For
the Messiah arrives not merely as the Redeemer; he also arrives as the
vanquisher of the Anti-christ. The only writer of history with the gift
of setting alight the sparks of hope in the past, is the one who is
convinced of this: that not even the dead will be safe from the enemy,
if he is victorious. And this enemy has not ceased to be victorious.
--Walter Benjamin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin>
The Somerset Levels are about 160,000 acres (650 km2) of coastal plains
and wetlands in Somerset, South West England, running south from the
Mendip Hills to the Blackdown Hills. About 70 per cent of the land is
used as grassland and the rest is arable. Willow and teazel are grown
commercially, and peat is extracted. Neolithic people exploited the
resources of the reed swamps and started to construct wooden trackways,
including the world's oldest known timber trackway, the Post Track,
dating from the 3800s BC. Several settlements and hill forts were built
on slightly raised land, including at Brent Knoll and Glastonbury. The
Shapwick Hoard, 9,238 silver Roman coins discovered at the village of
Shapwick, is the second largest Roman coin collection ever found in
Britain. In 1685 the Battle of Sedgemoor ended the Monmouth Rebellion.
The area has been extensively studied for its biodiversity and history,
and has a growing tourism industry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Levels>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1791:
The Priestley Riots began, in which Joseph Priestley and other
religious Dissenters were driven out of Birmingham, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestley_Riots>
1958:
Faisal II, the last king of Iraq, was overthrown by a military
coup d'état led by Abd al-Karim Qasim.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_July_Revolution>
2003:
In an effort to discredit U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who
had written an op-ed critical of the invasion of Iraq, his wife Valerie
Plame's identity as a CIA operative was leaked to and published by
Washington Post columnist Robert Novak.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair>
2015:
The New Horizons probe became the first spacecraft to explore
Pluto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chasse-café:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chasse-caf%C3%A9>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No matter how bad the wicked world has hurt you, in the long run,
there is something gained, and it is all for the best … The note of
hope is the only note that can help us or save us from falling to the
bottom of the heap of evolution, because, largely, about all a human
being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine, a working machine, and any
song that says, the pleasures I have seen in all of my trouble, are the
things I never can get — don't worry — the human race will sing this
way as long as there is a human to race. The human race is a pretty old
place.
--Woody Guthrie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie>
Euryoryzomys emmonsae, Emmons's rice rat, is a rodent from the Amazon
rainforest of Brazil in the genus Euryoryzomys of the family Cricetidae.
Initially misidentified as E. macconnelli or E. nitidus, it was
formally described in 1998. A ground-dwelling rainforest species, it may
also be adapted to climbing trees. It occurs in a limited area south of
the Amazon River in the state of Pará, a distribution that is
apparently unique among the muroid rodents of the region. E. emmonsae is
a relatively large rice rat, weighing 46 to 78 g (1.6 to 2.8 oz), with
long, tawny brown fur and a distinctly long tail. The skull is slender
and the incisive foramina (openings in the bone of the palate) are
broad. The animal has 80 chromosomes, and its karyotype is typical of
its genus. Its conservation status is listed as data deficient, meaning
more information is needed, but deforestation may pose a threat to the
species. Its name honors Louise H. Emmons, who, among other
contributions to Neotropical mammalogy, collected three of the known
examples of the species in 1986.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euryoryzomys_emmonsae>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1878:
At the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin, the major powers
in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the map of the Balkans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berlin_(1878)>
1962:
In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives_(1962)>
1973:
Watergate scandal: Under questioning by Senate investigators,
White House deputy chief of staff Alexander Butterfield revealed the
existence of a secret taping system (tape recorder pictured) in the Oval
Office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_White_House_tapes>
2008:
War in Afghanistan: Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops in
the far eastern province of Nuristan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wanat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
regmaglypt:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/regmaglypt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In time of war all countries behave equally badly, because the
power of action is handed over to stupid and obstinate men.
--Kenneth Clark
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark>
Buckton Castle was a medieval enclosure castle and one of the earliest
stone castles in North West England, near present-day Carrbrook in
Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. It was surrounded by a 2.8-metre-wide
(9 ft) stone curtain wall (excavation pictured) and a ditch 10 metres
(33 ft) wide by 6 metres (20 ft) deep. It was probably built and
demolished in the 12th century, but may never have been completed, and
survives only as buried remains, overgrown with heather and peat. In the
16th century, the site may have been used as a beacon for the Pilgrimage
of Grace. During the 18th century, the ruins were of interest to
treasure hunters following rumours that gold and silver had been
discovered at Buckton. The site was used as an anti-aircraft decoy
during the Second World War. Between 1996 and 2010 the ruins were
investigated by archaeologists and community archaeology volunteers as
part of the Tameside Archaeology Survey. The site has been designated as
a Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1924.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckton_Castle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement,
proclaimed a revelation recommending polygamy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamy>
1918:
An explosion in the ammunition magazine of the Japanese
battleship Kawachi resulted in the loss of over 600 officers and
crewmen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Kawachi>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Defense Forces officer Yitzhak
Rabin signed the order to expel Palestinians from the towns of Lod and
Ramla.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_exodus_from_Lydda_and_Ramle>
1971:
The Australian Aboriginal Flag, one of the official flags of
Australia, was flown for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_Flag>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shrill:
1. Having a shrill voice.
2. Sharp or keen to the senses.
3. (figuratively, derogatory) Especially of a complaint or demand:
fierce, loud.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shrill>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and
persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark
Ages prison has no steel bars, chains, or locks. Instead, it is locked
by misorientation and built of misinformation.
--Buckminster Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller>
The South Carolina-class battleships, South Carolina and Michigan
(pictured), were built during the first decade of the twentieth century.
They were the first American dreadnoughts, far outstripping older
battleships that relied on smaller fast-firing guns at close range. The
two ships were designed by Rear Admiral Washington L. Capps with a
homogeneous battery of superfiring large guns and relatively thick
armor, both favored by naval theorists. They were smaller than foreign
dreadnoughts because of congressionally mandated limits on displacement
(weight), and the inherent design trade-offs between armament, armor,
and propulsion left them with a top speed of about 18.5 kn (21 mph;
34 km/h). Both ships were soon surpassed by faster battleships and by
ever-larger and stronger super-dreadnoughts, relegating them to serving
with older, obsolete battleships during the First World War. Both ships
were scrapped after the war with the signing of the Washington Naval
Treaty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina-class_battleship>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1833:
Noongar warrior Yagan, wanted for leading attacks on white
colonists in Western Australia, was killed, becoming a symbol of the
unjust and sometimes brutal treatment of the indigenous peoples of
Australia by colonial settlers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yagan>
1848:
London Waterloo station, Britain's busiest railway station by
passenger usage, was opened by the London and South Western Railway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Waterloo_station>
1991:
Shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International
Airport, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 caught fire and
crashed, killing all 261 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_Airways_Flight_2120>
2011:
An explosion at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base killed 13
people, including the head of the Cyprus Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelos_Florakis_Naval_Base_explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
acquis:
1. (international law) The accumulated legislation and decisions of any
international community.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acquis>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am a member of a party of one, and I live in an age of fear.
--E. B. White
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._B._White>
Science-Fiction Plus was a U.S. science fiction magazine published by
Hugo Gernsback for seven issues in 1953, his first involvement in the
genre since 1936, when he sold Wonder Stories. The managing editor, Sam
Moskowitz, published many writers who had been popular before World War
II, such as Raymond Gallun, Eando Binder, and Harry Bates. Combined with
Gernsback's earnest editorials on the educational power of science
fiction, the stories gave the magazine an anachronistic feel. Sales
were initially good, but soon fell. Moskowitz was able to obtain fiction
from some of the better-known writers of the day, including Clifford D.
Simak, Murray Leinster, Robert Bloch, and Philip José Farmer, and some
of their stories were well-received, including "Spacebred Generations",
by Simak, "Strange Compulsion", by Farmer, and "Nightmare Planet", by
Leinster. Science fiction historians consider the magazine a failed
attempt to reproduce the early days of the science fiction pulps.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science-Fiction_Plus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1806:
Indian sepoys mutinied against the East India Company at
Vellore Fort, killing at least 100 British troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore_mutiny>
1940:
The Luftwaffe began attacks on British convoys in the English
Channel to start the Battle of Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain>
1973:
John Paul Getty III, grandson of American oil magnate J. Paul
Getty, was kidnapped in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Getty_III>
2011:
The Russian river cruise liner Bulgaria was caught in a storm
in Tatarstan on the Volga River and sank in several minutes, resulting
in 122 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria_(ship)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
faze:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/faze>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If at least, time enough were alloted to me to accomplish my
work, I would not fail to mark it with the seal of Time, the idea of
which imposed itself upon me with so much force to-day, and I would
therein describe men, if need be, as monsters occupying a place in Time
infinitely more important than the restricted one reserved for them in
space, a place, on the contrary, prolonged immeasurably since,
simultaneously touching widely separated years and the distant periods
they have lived through — between which so many days have ranged
themselves — they stand like giants immersed in Time.
--Marcel Proust
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcel_Proust>
Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret is an oil painting on canvas by English
artist William Etty, first exhibited in 1833. Intended to illustrate the
virtues of honour and chastity, it depicts a scene from Edmund Spenser's
The Faerie Queene in which the female warrior Britomart slays the evil
magician Busirane and frees his captive, the beautiful Amoret. In
Spenser's poem Amoret has been tortured and mutilated by the time of her
rescue, but Etty portrayed her as unharmed. Despite its depiction of an
occult ritual, a violent death, a near-nude woman and strongly implied
sexual torture, Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret was uncontroversial on
its first exhibition in 1833 and was critically well received. In 1958
it was acquired by the Tate Gallery, and it remains in the collection of
Tate Britain.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britomart_Redeems_Faire_Amoret>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1868:
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,
including the Citizenship Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, was
ratified by the minimum required twenty-eight states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Con…>
1943:
World War II: The Allies began their invasion of Sicily
(American tank pictured), a large scale amphibious and airborne
operation, followed by six weeks of land combat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily>
1958:
A 525 m (1,722 ft) high megatsunami, the highest ever
recorded, struck Lituya Bay, Alaska, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Lituya_Bay_megatsunami>
2008:
Under the belief that Israel and the United States were
planning to attack its nuclear program, Iran conducted the Great Prophet
III missile test and war games exercise.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Prophet_III>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gramarye:
1. (archaic) Mystical learning; the occult, magic, sorcery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gramarye>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As a child I was taught that to tell the truth was often painful.
As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful,
and that the fear of telling the truth — whatever the truth may be —
that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life.
--June Jordan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/June_Jordan>
Percy Grainger (8 July 1882 – 20 February 1961) was an Australian-born
composer, arranger and pianist who played a prominent role in the
revival of interest in British folk music in the early 20th century.
Grainger left Australia in 1895 to study at the Hoch Conservatory in
Frankfurt. Between 1901 and 1914 he was based in London, where he
established himself first as a society pianist and later as a concert
performer, composer and collector of original folk melodies. He met many
of the significant figures in European music, forming friendships with
Frederick Delius and Edvard Grieg, and became a champion of Nordic music
and culture. In 1914, Grainger moved to the United States, where he took
citizenship in 1918. He experimented with music machines that he hoped
would supersede human interpretation. Although much of his work was
experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally
associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country
Gardens".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Grainger>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1879:
Led by George W. De Long, the ill-fated Jeannette Expedition
departed San Francisco to reach the North Pole by pioneering a route
through the Bering Strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Expedition>
1898:
American con artist and gangster Soapy Smith was killed in
Skagway, Alaska, when an argument with fellow gang members turned into
an unexpected gunfight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shootout_on_Juneau_Wharf>
1962:
Following student protests at Rangoon University, Burmese
General Ne Win ordered the demolition of the school's Students Union
building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Rangoon_University_protests>
2014:
In response to the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers,
Israel launched a military operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel%E2%80%93Gaza_conflict>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chic:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The thought system that dominates our culture is laced with
selfish values, and relinquishing those values is a lot easier said than
done. The journey to a pure heart can be highly disorienting. For years
we may have worked for power, money and prestige. Now all of a sudden
we’ve learned that those are just the values of a dying world. … The
news isn’t how bad things are. The news is how good they could be. And
our own activity could be part of the unfolding of Heaven on earth.
There is no more powerful motivation than to feel we’re being used in
the creation of a world where love has healed all wounds. We are no
longer ambitious for ourselves, but are rather inspired by the vision of
a healed world. Inspiration rearranges our energies. It sources within
us a new power and direction.
--Marianne Williamson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson>
The banded stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a nomadic wader of the
stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It gets
its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though
this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles.
Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling
banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader.
Breeding is triggered by the filling of inland salt lakes by rainfall,
creating large shallow lakes rich in tiny shrimp on which the birds
feed. Banded stilts migrate to these and assemble in large breeding
colonies. The female lays three to four brown- or black-splotched
whitish eggs on a scrape. The species is not threatened, but it is
subject to predation by silver gulls, black falcons and wedge-tailed
eagles, and is designated as vulnerable under the South Australian
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_stilt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1834:
In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists
began, fueled by rumors that they were encouraging miscegenation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-abolitionist_riots_(1834)>
1937:
The Peel Commission published a report stating the British
Mandate for Palestine had become unworkable and recommended the
partition of Mandatory Palestine into two states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Commission>
1963:
The police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political
adviser of President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a
group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the
Buddhist crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle>
2005:
Suicide bombers killed 52 people in a series of four explosions
on London's public transport system (emergency responders pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cirque:
1. (dated or literary) Something in the shape of a circle or ring,
such as a Roman circus.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cirque>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must
decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an
outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown
children, can never be anything else.
--Stranger in a Strange Land
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land>
Peter Jeffrey (6 July 1913 – 6 April 1997) was a senior officer and
fighter ace in the Royal Australian Air Force. Posted to the Middle East
in July 1940, he saw action with No. 3 Squadron and took command of the
unit the following year, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his
energy and fighting skills. He was appointed wing leader of No. 234
Wing RAF in November 1941, and became an ace the same month with his
fifth solo victory. The next month he was awarded the Distinguished
Service Order for his achievements, which included rescuing a fellow
pilot who had crash-landed in the desert. In 1942, Jeffrey was posted to
the South West Pacific, where he helped organise No. 75 Squadron for
the defence of Port Moresby, and No. 76 Squadron prior to the Battle of
Milne Bay. He served two stints in charge of No. 2 Operational Training
Unit in southern Australia before the end of the war, broken by command
of No. 1 (Fighter) Wing in the Northern Territory and Western Australia
during 1943–44, at which time he was promoted to temporary group
captain.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jeffrey_(RAAF_officer)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
French Revolutionary Wars: A Royal Navy squadron attempted to
eliminate a smaller French Navy squadron at Algeciras before they could
join their Spanish allies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Algeciras>
1940:
The Story Bridge in Brisbane, the longest cantilever bridge in
Australia, was opened by Sir Leslie Wilson, Governor of Queensland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_Bridge>
1978:
A sleeping car train at Taunton, England, caught fire, killing
12 people and causing British Rail to install state-of-the art fire
prevention measures.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton_sleeping_car_fire>
2013:
Gunmen attacked a secondary school in Mamudo, Yobe State,
Nigeria, killing at least 42 people, mostly students.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yobe_State_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
behove:
1. (transitive, formal) To be necessary for (someone).
2. (transitive, formal) To be in the best interest of; to benefit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/behove>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our identity as a nation — unlike many other nations — is not
determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood. Being an
American involves the embrace of high ideals and civic responsibility.
We become the heirs of Thomas Jefferson by accepting the ideal of human
dignity found in the Declaration of Independence. We become the heirs of
James Madison by understanding the genius and values of the U.S.
Constitution. We become the heirs of Martin Luther King, Jr., by
recognizing one another not by the color of their skin, but by the
content of their character. This means that people of every race,
religion, and ethnicity can be fully and equally American. It means that
bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American
creed. And it means that the very identity of our nation depends on the
passing of civic ideals to the next generation. ... It is the great
advantage of free societies that we creatively adapt to challenges,
without the direction of some central authority. Self-correction is the
secret strength of freedom. We are a nation with a history of resilience
and a genius for renewal. Right now, one of our worst national problems
is a deficit of confidence. But the cause of freedom justifies all our
faith and effort. It still inspires men and women in the darkest corners
of the world, and it will inspire a rising generation. The American
spirit does not say, “We shall manage,” or “We shall make the best
of it.” It says, “We shall overcome.” And that is exactly what we
will do, with the help of God and one another.
--George W. Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_W._Bush>
Simone Russell is a fictional character that appeared from 1999 to 2007
on the American soap opera Passions on NBC. A member of the show's
Russell family, Simone is the daughter of Eve and T. C. and the younger
sister of Whitney. Conceived by the soap's founder and head writer James
E. Reilly, the role was portrayed by three actresses: Lena Cardwell
(1999–2001), Chrystee Pharris (2001–2004), and Cathy Jenéen Doe
(2004–2007). The character's love interest in the early years is Chad
Harris-Crane, but Doe's character comes out as lesbian and pursues a
relationship with Rae Thomas. Passions became the first soap opera to
show two women (Simone and Rae) having sex, and the first to feature an
African-American lesbian. The show won GLAAD's 2006 Outstanding Daily
Drama award for its portrayal of Simone. The representation of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender topics, and Doe's performance as Simone,
received mixed responses from critics.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Russell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
The Portuguese governor of Ceylon Pedro Lopes de Sousa began a
failed attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Kandy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_of_Danture>
1775:
The Second Continental Congress of Britain's Thirteen Colonies
adopted the Olive Branch Petition in the hopes of avoiding war with
Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Branch_Petition>
1937:
The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned
precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture,
folklore, and urban legend.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)>
1948:
Aneurin Bevan, the Health Minister of the United Kingdom,
launched the National Health Service, one of the major social reforms
following the Second World War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service>
2012:
The Shard in London was inaugurated as the tallest building in
Europe, with a height of 310 m (1,020 ft), but was surpassed by
Moscow's Mercury City Tower four months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
enormity:
1. (countable) An act of extreme evil or wickedness.
2. (uncountable) Great size; enormousness, hugeness, immenseness.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enormity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We
have ours, they have theirs. That is what’s known as infinity.
--Jean Cocteau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau>
Hilary (c. 1110 – 1169) was a medieval English Bishop of Chichester.
He served as Dean of the church of Christchurch in Hampshire and as a
clerk for Henry of Blois, who was the Bishop of Winchester and brother
of King Stephen, and probably received both offices through the
influence of Henry. As a papal clerk in Rome, he got to know the future
Pope Adrian IV and the writer John of Salisbury. After Hilary's
unsuccessful nomination to become Archbishop of York, Pope Eugene III
promoted him to the bishopric of Chichester in 1147. Hilary spent many
years in a struggle with Battle Abbey, attempting to assert his right to
oversee it as bishop. He supported King Henry II's position in a
conflict with Thomas Becket, who was then the king's chancellor and
later the Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry appointed Hilary a sheriff,
and employed him as a judge in the royal courts; he was also a papal
judge-delegate, hearing cases referred back to England.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_of_Chichester>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1054:
Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest
star", later identified as the supernova that created the Crab Nebula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula>
1776:
In Philadelphia, the Continental Congress adopted the
Declaration of Independence (signing pictured), announcing that the
thirteen American colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence>
1918:
World War I: An Allied force led by the Australian general John
Monash was victorious in the Battle of Hamel, demonstrating the
effectiveness of combined arms techniques in trench warfare.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hamel>
1943:
The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of
the Polish government-in-exile, crashed, killing him and fifteen others,
leading to several conspiracy theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski%27s_death_contro…>
1954:
In what is known as the "The Miracle of Bern", the underdogs
West Germany defeated the favourites Hungary 3–2 to win the FIFA World
Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_FIFA_World_Cup_Final>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moccasin:
1. A modern shoe with either a low or no heel resembling a traditional
Native American moccasin in that the leather forming the sides of the
shoe is stitched at the top.
2. A light beige colour, like that of a moccasin.
3. Any of several North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon,
particularly the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and the cottonmouth
or water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moccasin>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us forget the other names of American statesmen, that have
been stamped upon these hills, but still call the loftiest —
WASHINGTON. Mountains are Earth's undecaying monuments. They must stand
while she endures, and never should be consecrated to the mere great men
of their own age and country, but to the mighty ones alone, whose glory
is universal, and whom all time will render illustrious.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne>
Vultee Vengeance dive bombers operated in Australian service between
1942 and 1950, and saw combat during World War II. A total of 400 of the
type were ordered for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1942.
Large-scale deliveries commenced in 1943, and 342 arrived before the
order was cancelled. RAAF Vengeance-equipped units entered combat in
mid-1943. The main frontline deployment of the type began in January
1944, but ended after only six weeks as the Vengeance was considered
inferior to other available aircraft. All combat units equipped with
Vengeances were converted to operate heavy bombers. The type remained in
RAAF service for training and support purposes until 1946, and some were
used by the Royal Australian Navy until 1950. While there is consensus
among historians that the Vengeance was obsolete at the time it entered
Australian service, some argue that it proved successful. Others,
including the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre, have judged that the
type was unsuitable.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_Vengeance_in_Australian_service>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
324:
Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated former colleague
Licinius in the Battle of Adrianople.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople_(324)>
1754:
French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his entire
career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity>
1938:
On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg,
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace
Memorial (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Light_Peace_Memorial>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on
Belfast, Northern Ireland, which resulted in greater Irish republican
resistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
1988:
United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air
Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mythos:
1. A story or set of stories relevant to or having a significant truth or
meaning for a particular culture, religion, society, or other group; a
myth, a mythology.
2. (by extension) A set of assumptions or beliefs about something.
3. (literature) A recurring theme; a motif.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mythos>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All writers in some insane place believe that to write is a holy
chore — that what one wishes to do is speak to one’s time, to make a
difference, to say: "I was here. I was a force for good in some way."
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>
The Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar was an American fifty-cent
piece struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1923, bearing portraits of
former presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. Sculptor Chester
Beach is credited with the design, although the reverse closely
resembles an earlier work by Raphael Beck. The commemorative coin was
issued to raise funds for an exposition in Los Angeles honoring the
100th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine; the event was organized in
part to generate good press for Hollywood during a time of highly
publicized scandals, including manslaughter charges against film star
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. The exposition was a financial failure. The
coins did not sell well, and the bulk of the mintage of over 270,000 was
released into circulation. Many of the pieces that had been sold at a
premium and saved were spent during the Depression; most surviving coins
show evidence of wear.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine_Centennial_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
706:
In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang interred the final bodies in
the Qianling Mausoleum, which remained unopened until the 1960s.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianling_Mausoleum>
1881:
U.S. President James A. Garfield was fatally shot at the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_James_A._Garfield>
1900:
Finlandia, a tone poem by Jean Sibelius which forms the basis
of one the national songs of Finland, was first performed in Helsinki.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandia>
1950:
A mentally ill Buddhist monk set fire to the Golden Pavilion at
Kinkaku-ji (restoration pictured), destroying what is now one of the
most popular tourist destinations in Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji>
2013:
The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth
and fifth moons of Pluto would be named Kerberos and Styx respectively.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx_(moon)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
self-referential:
1. (specifically) In a literary work: referring to the author or the
author's other works.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/self-referential>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For the sake of research, the big picture and definitive
conclusions, one would have to transcend time, in which everything
scurries and whirls.
--Wisława Szymborska
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wis%C5%82awa_Szymborska>
The Westminster Assembly (1 July 1643 – 1653) was a council of
theologians and members of the English Parliament appointed to
restructure the Church of England. As many as 121 ministers were called
to the Assembly, with 19 replacements added later. The Assembly worked
in the Reformed Protestant theological tradition, also known as
Calvinism. It produced new standards for church governance, a Confession
of Faith or statement of belief, two catechisms or manuals for religious
instruction, and a liturgical manual, the Directory for Public Worship,
for the Church of England and Church of Scotland. The Confession and
catechisms were adopted as doctrinal standards in the Church of Scotland
and other Presbyterian churches, where they remain normative. Amended
versions of the Confession were also adopted in Congregational and
Baptist churches in England and New England in the 17th and 18th
centuries. The Confession became influential throughout the English-
speaking world, but especially in American Protestant theology.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Assembly>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1770:
Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet
in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.015 AU.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexell%27s_Comet>
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee
unsuccessfully launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly
impregnable Union position on Malvern Hill in Henrico County, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malvern_Hill>
1943:
Tokyo City was dissolved, with its territory divided into the
special wards of the newly created Tokyo Metropolis (Tokyo Metropolitan
Government Building pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo>
1999:
Legislative governance of Scotland was transferred from the
Scottish Office in Westminster to the Scottish Parliament.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament>
2008:
Rioting erupted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in response to
allegations of fraud surrounding the recent legislative elections.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_riot_in_Mongolia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tortoni:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tortoni>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We often have need of a profound philosophy to restore to our
feelings their original state of innocence, to find our way out of the
rubble of things alien to us, to begin to feel for ourselves and to
speak ourselves, and I might almost say to exist ourselves. Even if my
philosophy does not extend to discovering anything new, it does
nevertheless possess the courage to regard as questionable what has long
been thought true.
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg>