Jane Austen's novels have risen in popularity in recent decades,
becoming the subject of intense scholarly study and the centre of a
diverse fan culture. Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice (1813)
and Emma (1815), is one of the most widely read novelists in the English
language. During her lifetime, her novels brought her little personal
fame; like many women writers, she published anonymously. When they were
published, her works received few positive reviews. By the mid-19th
century, her novels were admired by members of the literary elite, but
it was not until the 1940s that Austen was widely accepted in academia
as a "great English novelist". The second half of the 20th century saw a
proliferation of scholarship exploring artistic, ideological and
historical aspects of her works. The 1940 film Pride and Prejudice was
the first of many television and film adaptations. In the 21st century,
Austen fandom supports an industry of printed sequels and prequels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception_history_of_Jane_Austen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered
to be the first American novel, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1919:
The First Dáil Éireann (members pictured) first convened at
the Mansion House in Dublin, adopting a Declaration of Independence
calling for a new sovereign state: the Irish Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_D%C3%A1il>
1972:
Tripura, part of the former independent Twipra Kingdom, became
a full-fledged state in India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura>
2017:
An estimated five million people worldwide participated in
demonstrations to advocate legislation and policies regarding human
rights and other issues.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Women%27s_March>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pomander:
1. (countable, uncountable, historical) A mixture of aromatic
substances, made into a ball and carried by a person to impart a sweet
smell or as a protection against infection.
2. (countable, historical) A small case in which an aromatic ball was
carried.
3. (countable) A perforated container filled with pot-pourri for placing
in a drawer, wardrobe, room, etc., to provide a sweet smell.
4. (countable) An apple or orange studded with cloves used for the same
purpose.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pomander>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Undoubtedly it is our duty, and for our best good, that we occupy
and improve the faculties, with which our creator has endowed us, but so
far as prejudice, or prepossession of opinion prevails over our minds,
in the same proportion, reason is excluded from our theory or practice.
Therefore if we would acquire useful knowledge, we must first divest
ourselves of those impediments and sincerely endeavor to search out the
truth: and draw our conclusions from reason and just argument, which
will never conform to our inclination, interest or fancy but we must
conform to that if we would judge rightly.
--Ethan Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>
"San Junipero" is the fourth episode of the third series of the science
fiction anthology programme Black Mirror. Premiering on Netflix on 21
October 2016 with the rest of series three, the episode stars Gugu
Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis (pictured) as the outgoing Kelly and the
more introverted Yorkie. They meet at a 1980s nightclub in San Junipero,
a beach resort town. Written by series creator Charlie Brooker as an
optimistic love story, it is more positive in tone than previous
episodes. "San Junipero" was the first episode written following the
show's departure from Channel 4; it was inspired by nostalgia therapy
and originally featured a heterosexual couple. Some pieces of music,
such as "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle, hint at the
episode's plot twist. Filming took place in Cape Town, South Africa, and
London, England, with Owen Harris as director. The episode received
critical acclaim, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards and two British
Academy Television Craft Awards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Junipero>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the
de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Hermeto_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o,_Marq…>
1942:
The Holocaust: Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi
officials met at the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee
to discuss implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish
question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference>
1969:
Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and
killed by East Pakistani police, one of the events that led to the
Bangladesh Liberation War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanullah_Asaduzzaman>
2009:
In Washington, D.C., more than 1 million people attended the
inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African American president of
the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Barack_Obama>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
acquit:
1. (transitive) To declare or find innocent or not guilty.
2. (transitive) To discharge (for example, a claim or debt); to clear
off, to pay off; to fulfil.
3. (transitive) Followed by of (and formerly by from): to discharge,
release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or
from an accusation or charge.
4. (reflexive) To bear or conduct oneself; to perform one's part.
5. (reflexive) To clear oneself.
6. (transitive, archaic) past participle of acquit.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To release, to rescue, to set free.
8. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To pay for; to atone for.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acquit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don't think about technique. The ideas dictate everything. You
have to be true to that or you're dead.
--David Lynch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lynch>
Thomasomys ucucha is a rodent in the family Cricetidae. Found only in
the Cordillera Oriental mountain range of Ecuador (map shown), it is
known from forests and grasslands from 3,380 to 3,720 meters (11,090 to
12,200 ft) above sea level. It may share its habitat with seven other
species of Thomasomys. First collected in 1903 and formally described as
a new species in 2003, T. ucucha most closely resembles the woodland
Oldfield mouse, which occurs further to the north. Medium-sized, dark-
furred, and long-tailed, T. ucucha can be distinguished from other
species of Thomasomys by its large, broad, procumbent upper incisors.
Head-and-body length is 94 to 119 mm (3.7 to 4.7 in), and body mass is
24 to 46 grams (0.85 to 1.62 oz). The front part of the skull is flat,
short, and broad. The incisive foramina, openings at the front of the
palate, are short, and the palate itself is broad and smooth. It is
listed as a vulnerable species due to the threat of habitat destruction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomasomys_ucucha>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1607:
San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest extant church in the
Philippines, was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agustin_Church_%28Manila%29>
1972:
The French newspaper L'Aurore revealed that the former Nazi SS
officer Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon", had been found to be living
in Peru.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie>
1996:
A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in South Kingstown,
Rhode Island, U.S., spilling an estimated 828,000 US gallons
(3,130,000 l) of home heating oil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cape_oil_spill>
2007:
A four-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a
1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Southern Pole of
Inaccessibility for the first time since 1967, and for the first time
ever without mechanical assistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_Inaccessibility_%28Antarctic_research…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gumption:
1. (Britain) Common sense, initiative, resourcefulness.
2. (US) Boldness of enterprise; aggressiveness or initiative.
3. (US) Energy of body and mind, enthusiasm.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gumption>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Through all time, so far as history informs us, wherever mankind
have attempted to live in peace with each other, both the natural
instincts, and the collective wisdom of the human race, have
acknowledged and prescribed, as an indispensable condition, obedience to
this one only universal obligation: viz., that each should live honestly
towards every other. The ancient maxim makes the sum of a man’s legal
duty to his fellow men to be simply this: " To live honestly, to hurt no
one, to give to every one his due." This entire maxim is really
expressed in the single words, to live honestly; since to live honestly
is to hurt no one, and give to every one his due.
--Lysander Spooner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner>
Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) is an oil mural by the Spanish
artist Francisco Goya. Satan is depicted as a goat in moonlit silhouette
who hulks over a coven of terrified witches; a young woman in black sits
at far right, withdrawn from the others, perhaps in defiance. The mural
is one of the fourteen Black Paintings Goya created on the plaster walls
of his home, the Quinta del Sordo, around 1822. He was in his mid-70s,
living alone and suffering mental and physical distress. As in some of
his earlier works, Witches' Sabbath seems to explore themes of aging,
death, violence and intimidation. It is generally seen by art historians
as a satire on the credulity of the age and as a condemnation of
superstitions, such as the witch trials of the Spanish Inquisition. Some
fifty years after Goya's death, the murals were removed from the home by
transferring them to canvas supports. Today the paintings are in the
collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches%27_Sabbath_%28The_Great_He-Goat%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1884:
Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to
cremate his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent
trial, which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Price_%28physician%29>
1943:
World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army
eased the Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the
city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra>
1958:
African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his
first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in
professional ice hockey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree>
1990:
In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Marion Barry, the
Mayor of Washington, D.C., was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
banausic:
1. (formal) Of or pertaining to technical matters; mechanical.
2. (formal) Uncultured, unrefined, utilitarian.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banausic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Dr. Reich vastly offended many people by his sociological theory,
which holds that fascism is just an exaggerated form of the basic
structure of sex-negative societies and has existed under other names in
every civilization based on sexual repression. In this theory, the
character and muscular armor of the average citizen — a submissive and
frightened attitude anchored in body reflexes — causes the average
person to want a strong authority figure above them. Tyranny, in this
model, is not created by tyrants alone but by neurotic masses who want
tyrants.
--Robert Anton Wilson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson>
"Talk That Talk" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her
2011 studio album of the same name. It features a rap verse by Jay-Z,
who had previously collaborated with her on "Umbrella" in 2007 and "Run
This Town" in 2009. A hip hop song with R&B; beats, rough drums and
unrefined synths, it was written by Jay-Z, Ester Dean, The Notorious
B.I.G., Buckwild, Sean Combs, and Chucky Thompson together with the
Norwegian production duo StarGate. Def Jam Recordings serviced the track
to urban radio in the United States on January 17, 2012. The single was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2013
ceremony. It reached number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 25
on the UK Singles Chart, and made top ten lists in Israel, Norway, and
South Korea. Over one million copies were downloaded in the US. Rihanna
performed the song on The Jonathan Ross Show and Saturday Night Live,
and included it on set lists on tour with Eminem.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_That_Talk_%28Rihanna_song%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1893:
Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of
Public Safety led the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the
government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Kingdom_of_Hawaii>
1945:
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of
Jews from the Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary,
and was never publicly seen again.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg>
1961:
Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was murdered in
circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments
of Belgium and the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba>
1989:
Patrick Purdy opened fire in an elementary school in Stockton,
California, killing 5 and at wounding 32 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_%28Stock…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snatch and run:
An unsophisticated method of committing robbery by grabbing someone's
property and attempting to flee with it.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snatch_and_run>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If your family doesn't have much money, I want you to remember
that in this country, plenty of folks, including me and my husband —
we started out with very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good
education, anything is possible — even becoming President. That's what
the American Dream is all about. If you are a person of faith, know
that religious diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact,
that's why people first came to this country — to worship freely. And
whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh — these
religions are teaching our young people about justice, and compassion,
and honesty. So I want our young people to continue to learn and
practice those values with pride. You see, our glorious diversity —
our diversities of faiths and colors and creeds — that is not a threat
to who we are, it makes us who we are.
--Michelle Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama>
The political career of John C. Breckinridge included service in the
governments of Kentucky, the United States, and the Confederate States
of America. Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was
inaugurated in 1857 as James Buchanan's vice president, and remains the
youngest person to ever hold the office. In 1860 he ran as the
presidential candidate of a dissident group of Southern Democrats and
won the electoral votes of most of the Southern states, but he finished
a distant second among four candidates, losing the election to the
Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln. Most Southern states seceded, but
Kentucky stayed in the Union. Previously elected to a U.S. Senate term
that began in 1861, Breckenridge fled the state, joined the Confederate
States Army, and was expelled from the Senate. Confederate President
Jefferson Davis appointed him Secretary of War in February 1865.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_career_of_John_C._Breckinridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1780:
Anglo-Spanish War: The Royal Navy gained their first major
naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated
a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_%281780%29>
1905:
Despite being blind in one eye, ice hockey player Frank McGee
set the record for most goals in a Stanley Cup game when he scored 14
against the Dawson City Nuggets.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McGee_%28ice_hockey%29>
1920:
The League of Nations, the first worldwide intergovernmental
organisation with a focus on peace and security, held its first council
meeting in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations>
1964:
The musical Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on
Broadway, and went on to win ten Tony Awards, a record that stood for 37
years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello,_Dolly!_%28musical%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bounden:
1. Made obligatory; binding.
2. (archaic) Bound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bounden>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The principal instances of mass violence in the world today are
those committed by governments within their own legally recognized
borders. Can we really say there is no response to this? Is it
acceptable that such slaughters be dismissed as civil wars, also known
as "age-old ethnic hatreds." (After all, anti-Semitism was an old
tradition in Europe; indeed, a good deal older than ancient Balkan
hatreds. Would this have justified letting Hitler kill all the Jews on
German territory?) Is it true that war never solved anything? (Ask a
black American if he or she thinks our Civil War didn't solve anything.)
War is not simply a mistake, a failure to communicate. There is radical
evil in the world, which is why there are just wars.
--Susan Sontag
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag>
Wōdejebato is an undersea volcanic mountain with a flat top (a guyot),
and probably a shield volcano, in the northern Marshall Islands of the
Pacific. Formed of basaltic rocks, it is connected through a
74-kilometre (46 mi) submarine ridge to the smaller Bikini Atoll to its
southeast. Named for a sea god of Bikini, Wōdejebato rises 4,420 metres
(14,500 ft) above the ocean floor, to within 1,335 metres (4,380 ft)
of the surface. It was probably formed by a hotspot in present-day
French Polynesia before being shifted by plate tectonics. A volcanic
episode in the Late Cretaceous led to the formation of an island and a
carbonate platform that disappeared below the sea. A second volcanic
episode between 85 and 78.4 million years ago created an island that was
eventually eroded, generating an atoll or atoll-like structure that
covered the former island with carbonates. The second carbonate platform
drowned about 68 million years ago.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%8Ddejebato>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1933:
A teenage girl in Banneux, Belgium, reported the first of
several Marian apparitions, now known as Our Lady of Banneux.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Banneux>
1991:
Elizabeth II, as Queen of Australia, signed letters patent
allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute
its own separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross_for_Australia>
2009:
US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of Canada geese during
its initial climb out from New York City and made an emergency landing
in the Hudson River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
field of vision:
The area that a person, an animal, etc., can see with its eyes (or each
eye individually) without turning the head.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/field_of_vision>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All parties without exception, when they seek for power, are
varieties of absolutism.
--Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon>
Roxy Ann Peak is a 3,576-foot-tall (1,090 m) mountain in the Western
Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Composed of several geologic
layers, the peak is mostly of volcanic origin and dates roughly to the
early Oligocene, 30–35 million years ago. It is primarily covered by
oak savanna and open grassland on its lower slopes, and mixed coniferous
forest on its upper slopes and summit. Despite the peak's relatively
small topographic prominence of 753 feet (230 m), it rises 2,200 feet
(670 m) above Medford and is the city's most important open space
reserve and recreational resource. Roxy Ann Peak was originally settled
8,000 to 10,000 years ago by ancestors of the native Latgawa tribe. In
the early 1850s, a sudden influx of non-indigenous settlers led to the
Rogue River Wars. The peak was named after one of its first landowners,
Roxy Ann Bowen, in the late 1850s. In 1937, the 1,740-acre (700 ha)
Prescott Park was created on the peak's upper slopes and summit.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxy_Ann_Peak>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1724:
Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, abdicated in favor
of his eldest son Louis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_Spain>
1907:
A 6.5 Mw earthquake struck Kingston, Jamaica, resulting in at
least 800 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_Kingston_earthquake>
1939:
Norway claimed Queen Maud Land in Antarctica as a dependent
territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Maud_Land>
1969:
A major fire and series of explosions broke out aboard the U.S.
Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, killing 28 sailors, injuring 314,
and destroying 15 aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_fire>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
darkly:
1. With a dark appearance.
2. Faintly seen in the dark.
3. (figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly.
4. (figuratively) Mysteriously; forebodingly, ominously.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/darkly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Affirmation of the world, which means affirmation of the will-to-
live that manifests itself around me, is only possible if I devote
myself to other life. From an inner necessity, I exert myself in
producing values and practising ethics in the world and on the world
even though I do not understand the meaning of the world. For in world-
and life-affirmation and in ethics I carry out the will of the universal
will-to-live which reveals itself in me. I live my life in God, in the
mysterious divine personality which I do not know as such in the world,
but only experience as mysterious Will within myself. Rational thinking
which is free from assumptions ends therefore in mysticism.
--Albert Schweitzer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer>
The Parliament of 1327 was instrumental in the transfer of the English
crown from King Edward II to his first son, Edward III, on 13 January.
Edward II had become increasingly unpopular with the English nobility,
and by 1325 even his wife Isabella despised him. Toward the end of the
year, she took their first son to France, where she joined and probably
entered into a relationship with the powerful and wealthy nobleman Roger
Mortimer, whom her husband had exiled. The following year, they invaded
England to depose Edward II, who was soon captured and imprisoned.
Isabella and Mortimer summoned a parliament, which began gathering at
the Palace of Westminster on 7 January. The king was accused of offences
ranging from the promotion of favourites to the destruction of the
church, a betrayal of his coronation oath to the people. An unruly mob
may have helped intimidate those attending parliament into agreeing to
oust the king.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_1327>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1878:
Ada Anderson, a record-setting pedestrian from England,
completed her U.S. debut, walking 2,700 quarter-miles (1,086 km total)
in 2,700 quarter-hours.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Anderson>
1915:
About 30,000 people in L'Aquila, Italy, were killed when an
earthquake struck the province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Avezzano_earthquake>
1953:
An article published in Pravda accused nine eminent doctors in
Moscow of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet
political and military leadership.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors%27_plot>
1963:
Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated by
military officers in a coup d'état led by Emmanuel Bodjollé, Étienne
Eyadéma, and Kléber Dadjo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Togolese_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
walk-on girl:
(darts) A woman who escorts a player to the stage at a darts event.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/walk-on_girl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Objective knowledge, the idea of unity included, belongs to
objective consciousness. The forms which express this knowledge when
perceived by subjective consciousness are inevitably distorted and,
instead of truth, they create more and more delusions. With objective
consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything.
But for subjective consciousness the world is split up into millions of
separate and unconnected phenomena. Attempts to connect these phenomena
into some sort of system in a scientific or philosophical way lead to
nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting
from separate facts and they cannot divine the principles of the
division of the whole without knowing the laws upon which this division
is based.
--G. I. Gurdjieff
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff>
Banksia oblongifolia, the fern-leaved banksia, is a many-stemmed shrub
up to 3 m (9.8 ft) high, with leathery serrated leaves and rusty-
coloured new growth. It is found along the eastern coast of Australia
from Wollongong, New South Wales, in the south to Rockhampton,
Queensland, in the north, generally growing in sandy soils in heath,
open forest or swamp margins and wet areas. The yellow flower spikes
commonly appear in autumn and early winter, developing up to 80 seed
pods. The pods open and release seed when burnt, and the shrub resprouts
from its woody lignotuber after bushfires. Spanish botanist Antonio
José Cavanilles described B. oblongifolia in 1800. Two varieties were
recognised in 1987, but these have not been generally accepted. A wide
array of mammals, birds, and invertebrates visit the flower spikes.
Though easily grown as a garden plant, the shrub is not commonly seen in
horticulture.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_oblongifolia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
Mission Santa Clara de Asís, a Spanish mission that formed the
basis of both the city of Santa Clara, California, and Santa Clara
University, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Santa_Clara_de_As%C3%ADs>
1899:
During a storm, the crew of the Lynmouth Lifeboat Station
transported their 10-ton lifeboat 15 mi (24 km) overland in order to
rescue a damaged schooner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynmouth_Lifeboat_Station>
1969:
British rock band Led Zeppelin released their eponymous first
album in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin_%28album%29>
2007:
Comet McNaught reached perihelion and became the brightest
comet in over 40 years with an apparent magnitude of −5.5.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2006_P1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
charlotte russe:
A dessert of custard or whipped cream enclosed in sponge cake, often in
the form of ladyfingers.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charlotte_russe>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Liberty, if I understand it at all, is a general principle, and
the clear right of all the subjects within the realm, or of none.
Partial freedom seems to me a most invidious mode of slavery. But,
unfortunately, it is the kind of slavery the most easily admitted in
times of civil discord; for parties are but too apt to forget their own
future safety in their desire of sacrificing their enemies. People
without much difficulty admit the entrance of that injustice of which
they are not to be the immediate victims … great determined measures
are not commonly so dangerous to freedom. They are marked with too
strong lines to slide into use. … But the true danger is, when
liberty is nibbled away, for expedients, and by parts.
--Edmund Burke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke>