Jean Bolikango (1909–1982) was a Congolese educator, writer, and
conservative politician. He was Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo), in September 1960
and from February to August 1962. Enjoying substantial popularity among
the Bangala people, he headed the Parti de l'Unité Nationale and worked
as a key opposition member in Parliament in the early 1960s. Beginning
his career in the Belgian Congo as a teacher in Catholic schools, he
wrote a novel and worked as a journalist before turning to politics in
the late 1950s. Though he held a top communications post in the colonial
administration, he became a leader in the push for independence. After
the Republic of the Congo became independent in 1960, he promoted both a
united Congo and strong ties with Belgium. The President of the Congo
posthumously awarded Bolikango a medal in 2005 for his long career in
public service.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bolikango>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1882:
The Vulcan Street Plant, the first hydroelectric central
station to serve a system of private and commercial customers in North
America, went on line in Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Street_Plant>
1939:
Second World War: General Władysław Sikorski became Prime
Minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski>
1965:
Members of the 30 September Movement attempted a coup against
the Indonesian government, which was crushed by the military under
Suharto, leading to a mass anti-communist purge with more than 500,000
people killed over the following months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_mass_killings_of_1965%E2%80%931966>
1998:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), a nonprofit organization that manages the assignment of domain
names and IP addresses in the Internet, was incorporated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
your mileage may vary:
1. (idiomatic) It may work differently in your situation, or be
different in your experience.
2. (idiomatic) Used to express a possible difference in taste: this is
just my opinion, your opinion may be different.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/your_mileage_may_vary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of
fire, Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair.
--Rumi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
John de Gray (died 1214) was a medieval English Bishop of Norwich. He
was employed in the service of King John even before the coronation, for
which de Gray was rewarded with various ecclesiastical offices,
culminating in his pro forma election to Norwich in 1200. He continued
in royal service after his elevation to the episcopate, lending John
money and undertaking diplomatic missions on his behalf. In 1205 John
attempted to further reward de Gray by making him Archbishop of
Canterbury, but a disputed election process led to de Gray's selection
being quashed by Pope Innocent III in 1206. Stephen Langton was
consecrated as archbishop against John's wishes, triggering a long
dispute with the papacy. The pope imposed various sanctions on England
and John. In 1209 de Gray became governor of Ireland for John, and spent
until 1213 attempting to impose royal government there on the Anglo-
Norman barons and the native Irish. He travelled to Rome to secure a
papal pardon after the final settlement of the dispute with John. After
the pardon, de Gray was appointed Bishop of Durham, but he died on his
way back to England.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_de_Gray>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1938:
At a conference in Munich, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,
Neville Chamberlain, and Édouard Daladier reached a settlement, signing
it at about 1:30 a.m. the next day, stipulating that Czechoslovakia must
cede the Sudetenland to Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement>
1954:
Willie Mays of Major League Baseball's New York Giants made one
of the most famous defensive plays in baseball history, known as "The
Catch".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catch_%28baseball%29>
1991:
The Haitian Army deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
eight months after the nation's first democratic elections.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
2006:
Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collided in mid-air with an
Embraer Legacy business jet near Peixoto de Azevedo, Mato Grosso,
Brazil, killing 154 people, and triggering a Brazilian aviation crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Transportes_A%C3%A9reos_Flight_1907>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
spot of bother:
(idiomatic) A slight problem; a small predicament.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spot_of_bother>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy
name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the
intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the
glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against
Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the
injury of the human race and the ruin of souls.
--Pope Leo XIII
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIII>
Myst IV: Revelation is the fourth installment in the Myst series,
developed by the French video game publisher Ubisoft. First released on
September 28, 2004, it uses pre-rendered graphics and digital video, as
in Myst III: Exile, but adds real-time 3D effects. The player is sent to
question the sons and recover the daughter of Atrus, a man who creates
links to other worlds by writing special linking books (illustration
shown). Development of Revelation lasted more than three years,
requiring as many as eighty Ubisoft employees. The original score was
written by Exile's composer, Jack Wall. Musician Peter Gabriel lent his
voice and a song to the audio. Overall, reception to the game was
positive; reviewers lauded the visuals, sound, and puzzles, but some
took issue with the control scheme. Revelation is the last game in the
Myst series to use both pre-rendered backgrounds and full-motion video.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst_IV:_Revelation>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1821:
The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from
Spain was drafted in the National Palace in Mexico City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Mexican_Em…>
1924:
A team of U.S. Army Air Service aviators landed in Seattle,
Washington, to complete the first aerial circumnavigation of the world
(one of the aircraft pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation>
1978:
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due
to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the first year of
three popes since 1605.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I>
2008:
SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket achieved orbit on its fourth attempt
to become the first successful liquid-propelled orbital launch vehicle
developed with private funding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
supernumerary:
1. Greater in number than.
2. Beyond the prescribed or standard amount or number; excess, extra.
3. (biology, specifically) Of an organ or structure: additional to what
is normally present.
4. Beyond what is necessary; redundant.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/supernumerary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is always more goodness in the world than there appears to
be, because goodness is of its very nature modest and retiring.
--Evelyn Beatrice Hall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evelyn_Beatrice_Hall>
>From Russia, with Love is the fifth novel by the English author Ian
Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James
Bond. Fleming wrote the story in early 1956 at his Goldeneye estate in
Jamaica; at the time he thought it might be his final Bond book. The
story centres on a plot by SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence
agency, to assassinate Bond in such a way as to discredit both him and
his organisation. As bait, the Russians use a beautiful cipher clerk and
the Spektor, a Soviet decoding machine. Much of the action takes place
in Istanbul and on the Orient Express (pictured). The book was inspired
by Fleming's visit to Turkey on behalf of The Sunday Times to report on
an Interpol conference; he returned to Britain by the Orient Express.
>From Russia, with Love deals with the East–West tensions of the Cold
War, and the decline of British power and influence after the Second
World War. In 1963 it was adapted into the second film in the Bond
series, starring Sean Connery.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Russia,_with_Love_%28novel%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
The paddle steamer SS Arctic sank after a collision with
SS Vesta 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, killing
approximately 320 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arctic_disaster>
1930:
With his victory in the United States Amateur Championship,
Bobby Jones became the only person to complete a Grand Slam in golf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jones_%28golfer%29>
1964:
The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2, an advanced Cold War
tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft that was later cancelled,
made its maiden flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAC_TSR-2>
1988:
Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the political
party National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_League_for_Democracy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xebec:
A small two-masted, and later three-masted, Mediterranean transport ship
with an overhanging bow and stern.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xebec>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to
appear weak.
--Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques-B%C3%A9nigne_Bossuet>
US Highway 25 (US 25) was a highway in the state of Michigan that ran
northeasterly from the Ohio state line near Toledo through Monroe and
Detroit to Port Huron. Continuing near the foot of the Blue Water
Bridge, it proceeded north and northwesterly along the Lake Huron
shoreline to the tip of The Thumb in Port Austin. Created with the
initial US Highway System in 1926, US 25 followed some roadways dating
from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and replaced several state
highway designations. The highway was extended to Port Austin in 1933.
Starting in the early 1960s, segments of Interstate 75 and
Interstate 94 were built, and US 25 was shifted to follow them
concurrently south of Detroit to Port Huron. On September 26, 1973, the
entire designation was removed from the state. The final routing of the
highway is still maintained by the state under eight different
designations, some unsigned.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_25_in_Michigan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed (ruins
pictured) during an armed conflict between the Venetians under Francesco
Morosini and Ottoman forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
1907:
The British Colony of New Zealand officially became a dominion
to reflect its political independence since the 1850s.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_New_Zealand>
1983:
The racing yacht Australia II, captained by John Bertrand, won
the America's Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defense of
the trophy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_II>
2008:
Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy flew a wingpack powered by
jet engines across the English Channel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Rossy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apricate:
1. (intransitive, rare) To bask in the sun.
2. (transitive, also figuratively, rare) To disinfect and freshen by
exposing to the sun; to sun.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apricate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is
that we are still not thinking.
--Martin Heidegger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger>
Æthelbald was the King of Mercia in what is now the English Midlands
from 716 until he was killed in 757. He came to the throne after the
death of his cousin, King Ceolred, who had driven him into exile. During
his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons,
and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the
strong reigns of Mercian kings Penda and Wulfhere between about 628 and
675. When Æthelbald came to the throne, both Wessex and Kent were ruled
by stronger kings, but within fifteen years Æthelbald was ruling all
England south of the river Humber, according to the contemporary
chronicler Bede. Æthelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was
succeeded briefly by Beornred, of whom little is known. Within a year,
Offa, the grandson of Æthelbald's cousin Eanwulf, had seized the
throne, possibly after a brief civil war. Under Offa, Mercia entered its
most prosperous and influential period.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelbald_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1790:
Peking opera (modern performer pictured) was born when the Four
Great Anhui Troupes introduced Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the
Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera>
1944:
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from
the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation
Market Garden in defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1977:
About 4,200 people took part in the first modern Chicago
Marathon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Marathon>
1990:
The Ram Rath Yatra, a political-religious march organised to
erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid,
began in the Indian state of Gujarat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Rath_Yatra>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ruse:
1. (countable, often hunting) A turning or doubling back, especially of
animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
2. (countable, by extension) An action intended to deceive; a trick.
3. (uncountable) Cunning, guile, trickery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ruse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The trouble begins when we start to be so impressed by the
strategies of our systematized thought that we forget that it does
relate to an obverse, that it is hewn from negation, that it is but very
small security against the void of negation which surrounds it. And when
that happens, when we forget these things, all sorts of mechanical
failures begin to disrupt the function of human personality.
--Glenn Gould
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould>
Operation Ke was the largely successful withdrawal of Japanese forces
from Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during World War II. All
attempts by the Japanese army to recapture Henderson Field, the only
airfield on the island being used by Allied aircraft, had been repulsed
with heavy losses. Japanese ground forces had been reduced from 36,000
to 11,000 through starvation, disease, and battle casualties. Attempting
to reinforce and resupply the ground forces on the island, Japanese
naval forces were also suffering heavy losses of troops and matériel,
including a submarine sunk in late January (wreckage pictured). The main
withdrawal was carried out on the nights of 1, 4, and 7 February by
destroyers. The Japanese evacuated 10,652 men from Guadalcanal, of whom
600 died during the withdrawal. On 9 February, Allied forces realized
that the Japanese were gone and declared Guadalcanal secure, ending the
six-month campaign for control of the island.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ke>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Raja Muda Hashim, uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, granted
Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sarawak>
1903:
Alfred Deakin became the second Prime Minister of Australia,
succeeding Edmund Barton who left office to become a founding Justice of
the High Court of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Deakin>
1964:
The Warren Commission released its report to the U.S.
president, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the
assassination of John F. Kennedy. The report was made public three days
later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission>
1975:
Dougal Haston and Doug Scott on the Southwest Face expedition
became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by
ascending one of its faces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_British_Mount_Everest_Southwest_Face_exp…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gamboge:
1. One of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South
and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.
2. The resin of the gamboge tree; a preparation of the resin used as a
pigment or for medicinal purposes.
3. A deep yellow colour. gamboge colour:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gamboge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever you feel like criticizing any one... just remember that
all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.
--F. Scott Fitzgerald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald>
The red-billed tropicbird is a seabird, one of three species in the
family Phaethontidae. Resembling a tern, it has mostly white plumage
with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask and a red
bill. Most adults have tail streamers that are about two times their
body length, and generally longer in males than in females. Described by
Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758), this
species ranges across the Indian Ocean, the tropical Atlantic, and the
eastern Pacific. Nesting takes place in loose colonies. A single egg is
laid, and incubated by both sexes for about six weeks. After a chick
fledges, the parents will usually stop visiting the nest and the chick
will leave. Red-billed tropicbirds of all ages feed on fish and squid,
catching them by diving from the air into the water. The birds sometimes
follow surface-feeding predators that drive prey to the surface, where
they can be seized.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-billed_tropicbird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1803:
Maratha troops were defeated by British forces at the Battle of
Assaye, one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt
against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal
directly to the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard
Nixon delivered the "Checkers speech", refuting accusations of
improprieties with contributions to his campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
2008:
A gunman shot and killed ten students at Seinäjoki University
of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Western Finland, before committing
suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauhajoki_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
raunchiness:
The characteristic of being raunchy; sleaze, titillation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raunchiness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poor man want to be rich Rich man want to be king And a king
ain't satisfied Till he rules everything. I want to go out tonight I
want to find out what I got. Well, I believe in the love that you gave
me I believe in the faith that can save me I believe in the hope And
I pray that some day it may raise me Above these badlands.
--Bruce Springsteen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen>
Guy Burgess (1911–1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, a
member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s
to the early years of the Cold War. His defection in 1951 to the Soviet
Union, with his fellow-spy Donald Maclean, led to a serious breach in
Anglo-American intelligence co-operation, and caused long-lasting
demoralisation in Britain's foreign and diplomatic services. Born into
a wealthy middle-class family, Burgess was educated at Eton College and
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he embraced left-wing politics and
joined the British Communist Party. He was recruited by Soviet
intelligence in 1935, on the recommendation of the future double-agent
Kim Philby. After working for the BBC as a producer, Burgess joined the
Foreign Office in 1944 and served in several sensitive posts, including
a spell as secretary to Hector McNeil, the deputy to Ernest Bevin, the
Foreign Secretary. In the critical postwar period Burgess had access to
information on all aspects of Britain's foreign policy, and may have
passed thousands of documents to his Soviet controllers. He fled to
Moscow in May 1951 and never left the Soviet Union.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Burgess>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des
Nibelungen by German composer Richard Wagner, was first performed in
Munich.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold>
1948:
Led by Gail Halvorsen, the U.S. Army Air Forces began Operation
"Little Vittles", delivering candy to children as part of the Berlin
Airlift.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Halvorsen>
1965:
The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a
resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in the Indo-Pakistani
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965>
1993:
A tugboat towing a barge collided with a rail bridge in Mobile,
Alabama, U.S., deforming the tracks and causing the derailment of a
passenger train eight minutes later, which killed 47 people and injured
an additional 103.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bayou_Canot_rail_accident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abase:
1. (transitive) To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc.,
so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble,
to humiliate.
2. (transitive, archaic) To lower physically; to depress; to cast or
throw down; to stoop.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To lower in value, in particular by altering
the content of alloys in coins; to debase.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abase>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let it be your maxim through life, to know all you can know,
yourself; and never to trust implicitly to the informations of others.
--Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield>
Future Science Fiction and Science Fiction Stories were two American
magazines published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again
from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig for
the first few issues; Robert W. Lowndes took over in late 1941, and
remained editor until the end. The initial launch of the magazines came
as part of a boom in science fiction pulp magazine publishing at the end
of the 1930s, but in 1943 wartime paper shortages ended their run. In
the 1950s, with the market improving again, both magazines were
relaunched. Lowndes set a friendly and engaging tone in the magazines,
with letter columns and reader departments that interested fans. He was
successful in obtaining good stories partly because he had good
relationships with several well-known and emerging writers. Among the
stories he published were "The Liberation of Earth" by William Tenn and
"If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Science_Fiction_and_Science_Fiction_St…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1938:
The Great New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island,
New York, killing an estimated 682 people and injuring 1,754 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_England_hurricane>
1943:
Second World War: The German Army began the Massacre of the
Acqui Division on the Greek island of Cephalonia, executing 5,155
Italian soldiers by 26 September.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Acqui_Division>
1965:
Portugal accepted a Rhodesian mission in Lisbon despite
objections by Britain, which had required its colony to implement
democratic majority rule as a condition of independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesian_mission_in_Lisbon>
2013:
Unidentified gunmen began a three-day attack on the upmarket
Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting in the deaths of 67
people with at least another 175 wounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate_shopping_mall_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
utopographer:
One who describes a utopia.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/utopographer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is, though I do not know how there is or why there is, a
sense of infinite peace and protection in the glittering hosts of
heaven. There it must be, I think, in the vast and eternal laws of
matter, and not in the daily cares and sins and troubles of men, that
whatever is more than animal within us must find its solace and its
hope.
--H. G. Wells
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._G._Wells>