The 1969 Curaçao uprising was a series of riots from 30 May to 1 June
on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands
Antilles, a semi-independent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
A protest rally during a strike by oil workers turned violent, leading
to widespread looting and destruction in the center of Curaçao's
capital, Willemstad, as well as two deaths and hundreds of arrests. The
protesters achieved their demands for higher wages and the government's
resignation. The uprising's leaders gained seats in parliamentary
elections in September. A commission investigating the riots put the
blame on economic issues, racial tensions, and police and government
misconduct. The uprising prompted the Dutch government to undertake new
efforts to fully decolonize the remnants of its colonial empire.
Suriname, another constituent country of the Netherlands, became
independent in 1975, but leaders of the Antilles resisted independence
out of fear of economic repercussions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Cura%C3%A7ao_uprising>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee saw the
invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent
general retreat of the Continental Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lee_Historic_Park>
1902:
While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto, sports
journalist Géo Lefèvre came up with the idea of holding a cycling race
that later became known as the Tour de France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France>
1969:
A group of Native American activists began a 19-month
occupation of Alcatraz Island (graffiti pictured) in San Francisco Bay.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz>
1994:
In accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government
signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the
Angolan Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusaka_Protocol>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Nuremberg defense:
1. (ethics, international law, idiomatic) An explanation offered as an
excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that
acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly
superiors) to do so.
2. (US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to
criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not
obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law
is itself unlawful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nuremberg_defense>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we would lead outside our borders, if we would help those who
need our assistance, if we would meet our responsibilities to mankind,
we must first, all of us, demolish the borders which history has erected
between men within our own nations — barriers of race and religion,
social class and ignorance. Our answer is the world's hope; it is to
rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing
planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot
be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who
prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes
with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities
of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will,
a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity,
of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
--Robert F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy>
Odaenathus (c. 220 – 267) was the founder of the Palmyrene Kingdom.
Born into an aristocratic family of Palmyra, Syria, he became the lord
of the city in the 240s. By 258, he was a consularis, a position of high
status in the Roman Empire. In 260 the Roman emperor Valerian was
captured by the Sassanian emperor Shapur I, leaving the eastern Roman
provinces at the mercy of the Persians. Odaenathus fought the Persians,
reclaiming the entirety of the Roman lands they occupied. By 263,
following a successful campaign in which he besieged their capital
Ctesiphon, Odaenathus took the title traditionally held by Persian
emperors, King of Kings, and gained effective control of the Levant,
Roman Mesopotamia and Anatolia's eastern region. He was assassinated in
267 during or immediately after a campaign in Anatolia. He was succeeded
by his son Vaballathus under the regency of his widow Zenobia, who used
the power base established by Odaenathus to forge the Palmyrene Empire
in 270.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaenathus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the
German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran destroyed each other in the Indian
Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_between_HMAS_Sydney_and_German_auxilia…>
1969:
Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazilian footballer Pelé scored his thousandth goal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9>
1985:
Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. president
Ronald Reagan held the first of five summits between them in Geneva.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Summit_%281985%29>
2013:
A double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut,
Lebanon, killed 23 people and injured 160 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Iranian_embassy_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ordure:
1. Dung, excrement.
2. (by extension) Dirt, filth.
3. (by extension) Something regarded as contaminating or perverting the
morals; obscene material.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ordure>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You can, after all, reduce the reasons for watching TV to but
two: to be lulled, and to be stimulated. Some people do one sometimes,
the other sometimes. Some people do all of one or all of the other.
--Dick Cavett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dick_Cavett>
Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club
based in Cardiff, Wales. They entered the Southern Football League in
1910 and joined the English Football League (EFL) in 1920. Since then,
the club has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football,
including nine seasons in the 1920s and the 2018–19 Premier League
season. In 1927 they became the only team from outside England to have
won the FA Cup. They reached the FA Cup Final in 1925 and 2008, and the
EFL Cup Final in 2012. They have won the Welsh Cup 22 times, making them
the second-best performers in the competition's history behind Wrexham.
Ninian Park (grandstand pictured) was their home ground for 99 years,
until they moved into the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009. They have long-
standing rivalries with two nearby clubs, the South Wales derby with
Swansea City and the Severnside derby with Bristol City. The club's top
goalscorer is Len Davies with 179 goals.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_City_F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1987:
An underground fire killed 31 people at King's Cross St Pancras
tube station in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Cross_fire>
1999:
Texas A&M; University's Aggie Bonfire collapsed (aftermath
pictured), killing 12 people and injuring 27 others, and causing the
university to officially declare a hiatus on the 90-year-old annual
event.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggie_Bonfire>
2017:
Cyclone Numa, a rare "medicane", made landfall in Greece to
become the worst weather event that the country had experienced since
1977.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Numa>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Minecrafter:
(video games) A person who plays the game Minecraft.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Minecrafter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A lot of people facing fascism didn’t become fascists. I
don’t happen to believe that we are all monsters.
--Margaret Atwood
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood>
HMS Royal Oak was one of five British Revenge-class battleships built
for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Launched on 17 November
1914, the ship first saw combat at the Battle of Jutland. On 14 October
1939, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-47 while anchored at
Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland; 835 were killed that night or died later
of their wounds. The loss of the outdated ship—the first of the five
Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World
War—did little to affect the numerical superiority enjoyed by the
British navy and its allies, but the sinking had a considerable effect
on wartime morale. Günther Prien, the U-boat commander, became the
first German submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the
Iron Cross. Demonstrating that the German navy was capable of bringing
the war to British home waters, the raid resulted in rapid changes to
dockland security and the construction of the Churchill Barriers around
Scapa Flow.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_Oak_%2808%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1894:
H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, was
arrested in Boston after having killed at least nine people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes>
1978:
The television show Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast in
the United States and became notorious for its extremely negative
reception.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special>
2009:
Administrators at the University of East Anglia's Climatic
Research Unit discovered that their servers had been hacked and
thousands of emails and files on climate change had been stolen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_Research_Unit_email_controversy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ulp:
1. The sound of a person gulping in fear. [...]
2. (computer science, mathematics) The value that the least significant
digit of a floating-point number represents, used as a measure of
accuracy in numeric calculations.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ulp>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Workers, the most absolutely necessary part of the whole social
structure, without whose services none can either eat, or clothe, or
shelter himself, are just the ones who get the least to eat, to wear,
and to be housed withal — to say nothing of their share of the other
social benefits which the rest of us are supposed to furnish, such as
education and artistic gratification.
--Voltairine de Cleyre
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltairine_de_Cleyre>
Bramshill House, in Bramshill, northeast Hampshire, is one of the
largest Jacobean prodigy house mansions in England. It was built in the
early 17th century by Baron Edward la Zouche of Harringworth, but was
partly destroyed by fire a few years later. It was designated a Grade I
listed building in 1952. The decorative architecture on the mansion's
southern façade includes at its centre a large oriel window above the
principal entrance. Interior features include a great hall displaying 92
coats of arms on a Jacobean screen, an ornate drawing room, and a
126.5-foot (38.6 m) gallery containing many portraits. Numerous columns
and friezes are found throughout the mansion, and several rooms have
large tapestries depicting historical figures and events on their
panelled walls. The 262-acre (106 ha) grounds contain an 18-acre
(7.3 ha) lake and early 17th-century formal gardens. During the Second
World War, the mansion was used as a Red Cross maternity home.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramshill_House>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
Qantas, Australia's national airline, was founded as Queensland
and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Qantas>
1944:
World War II: Operation Queen commenced with one of the
heaviest Allied tactical bombings of the war, attacking German targets
in the Rur valley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Queen>
1974:
The Arecibo message, devised by Frank Drake and Carl Sagan, was
transmitted towards the globular star cluster M13, carrying basic
information about humanity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
circuitry:
1. (countable) A specific system of electrical circuits in a particular
device; (uncountable) the design of such a system.
2. (uncountable) Electrical circuits considered as a group.
3. (uncountable, figuratively) The brain's neural network.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/circuitry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Consciences keep silence more often than they should, that's why
laws were created.
--José Saramago
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago>
No. 33 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) strategic
transport and air-to-air refuelling squadron. It operates Airbus KC-30A
Multi Role Tanker Transports from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The
squadron was formed in February 1942 during World War II, operating
Short Empire flying boats and a variety of smaller aircraft until 1944,
and flying Douglas C-47 Dakota transports in New Guinea before
disbanding in May 1946. The unit was re-established in February 1981 as
a flight, and re-formed as a full squadron in July 1983. By 1988 it was
operating six Boeing 707s, four of which were later converted for
aerial refuelling (pictured). The 707s saw active service during
operations in Namibia, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan.
No. 33 Squadron relocated to Amberley, and in June 2011 began re-
equipping with KC-30As. One of its aircraft has been deployed to the
Middle East since September 2014, as part of Australia's contribution to
the military coalition against ISIS.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._33_Squadron_RAAF>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: Union Army General William T. Sherman began
his "March to the Sea", inflicting significant damage to property and
infrastructure on his way from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman>
1922:
During a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador, police and
military fired into a crowd, killing at least 300 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Guayaquil_general_strike>
1959:
Two men murdered a family in Holcomb, Kansas; the events became
the subject of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, a
pioneering work of the true crime genre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood>
2012:
After ten years as General Secretary of the Communist Party of
China, Hu Jintao stepped down and was replaced by Xi Jinping (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unwearied:
1. Not wearied, not tired.
2. Never tiring; tireless.
3. Not stopping; persistent, relentless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unwearied>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Where there is much pretension, much has been borrowed: nature
never pretends.
--Johann Kaspar Lavater
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Lavater>
Bernard Hinault (born 14 November 1954) is a former professional cyclist
from France. With 147 professional victories, he is often named among
the greatest cyclists of all time. Hinault started cycling as an amateur
in his native Brittany before turning professional in 1975. His
successes in the Grand Tours include five victories at the Tour de
France, three at the Giro d'Italia and two at the Vuelta a España. He
was also successful in one-day races, winning, among others, the 1980
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (run on snow-covered roads), the 1981
Paris–Roubaix and the World Road Race title in 1980. His principal
rivals included Joop Zoetemelk, as well as former teammates Laurent
Fignon and Greg LeMond, with whom he battled during the Tours in 1985
and 1986, before retiring at the end of that year. He remains the most
recent French winner of the Tour de France. Throughout his career,
Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau, or "badger", for his
aggressive racing.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Hinault>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performed the first takeoff from a
ship, flying from a makeshift deck on USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads,
Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Burton_Ely>
1952:
Al Martino's song "Here in My Heart" became the first number
one on the UK Singles Chart.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart>
2003:
Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L.
Rabinowitz discovered the trans-Neptunian object Sedna.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pandect:
1. (Ancient Rome, law, historical) Usually in the plural form Pandects:
a compendium or digest of writings on Roman law divided in 50 books,
compiled in the 6th century C.E. by order of the Eastern Roman emperor
Justinian I (c. 482–565).
2. (by extension, rare) Also in the plural form pandects: a
comprehensive collection of laws; specifically, the whole body of law of
a country; a legal code.
3. (by extension, also figuratively) A treatise or similar work that is
comprehensive as to a particular topic; specifically (Christianity) a
manuscript of the entire Bible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pandect>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One of the annoying things about believing in free will and
individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame
your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how
often his picture turns up on your driver's license.
--P. J. O'Rourke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._J._O%27Rourke>
Atlanersa was a Kushite ruler of the Napatan kingdom of Nubia in modern-
day Sudan, reigning for about a decade in the mid-7th-century BC. He
was the successor of Tantamani, the last ruler of the 25th Dynasty of
Egypt, and possibly a son of Taharqa. Atlanersa's reign immediately
followed the collapse of Nubian control over Egypt, which witnessed the
conquest by the Assyrians and then the beginning of the Late Period
under Psamtik I. The same period also saw the progressive cultural
integration of Egyptian beliefs into the Kushite civilization. Atlanersa
built a pyramid in the necropolis of Nuri, which produced many small
artefacts now on display in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Atlanersa's most prominent construction is his temple to the syncretic
god Osiris-Dedwen in Jebel Barkal, which he was able to finish and
partially decorate. The temple entrance was to be flanked with two
colossal statues of the king, one of which was completed and set in
place and is now in the National Museum of Sudan.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanersa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Scottish surgeon James Braid observed a demonstration of animal
magnetism, which inspired him to study the subject he eventually called
hypnotism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Braid_%28surgeon%29>
1914:
Zaian War: Zaian Berber tribesmen routed French forces in
Morocco at the Battle of El Herri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_El_Herri>
1974:
In Amityville, New York, Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed the other six
members of his family, later inspiring the book The Amityville Horror
and subsequent film series.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_DeFeo_Jr.>
1982:
South Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo suffered fatal brain injuries
during a match with American Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, leading to
significant rule changes in the sport.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Duk-koo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
insatiate:
(archaic or literary) That is not satiated; insatiable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insatiate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes
to mankind.
--William Shenstone
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Shenstone>
Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that resulted
in the destruction of the German battleship Tirpitz (depiction shown).
On 12 November 1944, 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers targeted the
battleship at an anchorage near the Norwegian city of Tromsø. The ship
capsized after being struck by at least two bombs and damaged by the
explosions of others, killing between 940 and 1,204 members of the crew.
Rescuers picked up hundreds of her crew from the water, but few of those
trapped within the hull were saved. The British bombers were unmolested
by a unit of German fighter aircraft stationed near Tromsø, and only
one was significantly damaged by anti-aircraft artillery. The attack
marked the end of a long-running series of air and naval operations
against Tirpitz. The battleship's destruction was celebrated in Allied
countries, as well as by Norwegian civilians, and is commemorated by
several memorials and displays in museums.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1912:
The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were
discovered, roughly eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated
British Antarctic Expedition 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott>
1970:
The Oregon Highway Division unsuccessfully attempted to destroy
a rotting beached sperm whale near Florence, Oregon, with dynamite.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale#Oregon>
1996:
A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines
cargo plane collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Charkhi_Dadri_mid-air_collision>
2006:
Although the Georgian government declared it illegal, South
Ossetia held a referendum on independence, with about 99 percent of
voters in favour of preserving the region's status as a de facto
independent state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_South_Ossetian_independence_referendum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fichu:
(chiefly historical) A woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over
the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the
exposed part of the neck and chest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fichu>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When the true lover and devoted friend reacheth to the presence
of the Beloved, the sparkling beauty of the Loved One and the fire of
the lover’s heart will kindle a blaze and burn away all veils and
wrappings. Yea, all he hath, from heart to skin, will be set aflame, so
that nothing will remain save the Friend. He who hath attained this
station is sanctified from all that pertaineth to the world. Wherefore,
if those who have come to the sea of His presence are found to possess
none of the limited things of this perishable world, whether it be outer
wealth or personal opinions, it mattereth not. For whatever the
creatures have is limited by their own limits, and whatever the True One
hath is sanctified therefrom; this utterance must be deeply pondered
that its purport may be clear.
--Bahá'u'lláh
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h>
Northampton War Memorial is a First World War memorial on Wood Hill in
the centre of Northampton, the county town of Northamptonshire, in
central England. Designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled on
11 November 1926, it stands in a small garden in what was once part of
the churchyard of All Saints' Church. It is one of the more elaborate
town memorials in England, with a pair of obelisks, characteristic of
the Lutyens war memorials, and a Stone of Remembrance, which he designed
for the Imperial War Graves Commission. Stone flags appear as if draped
on the obelisks; this feature is shared by several of his memorials, but
was rejected for his Cenotaph in London. Today the Northampton War
Memorial is a Grade I listed building; it was upgraded from Grade II in
2015 when the Lutyens war memorials were declared a "national
collection" and all were granted listed building status or had their
listing renewed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northampton_War_Memorial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Iroquois
allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York,
killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Valley_massacre>
1918:
Józef Piłsudski was appointed commander-in-chief of Polish
forces by the Regency Council and was entrusted with creating a national
government for the newly independent country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Pi%C5%82sudski>
1960:
A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against
President Ngo Dinh Diem was crushed after Diem falsely promised reform,
allowing loyalists to rescue him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
1999:
The House of Lords Act was given royal assent, removing most
hereditary peers from the British House of Lords.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords_Act_1999>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
war-weary:
1. Weary or tired of war.
2. Tired from fighting in a war.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/war-weary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The eleventh day of the eleventh month has always seemed to me to
be special. Even if the reason for it fell apart as the years went on,
it was a symbol of something close to the high part of the heart.
Perhaps a life that stretches through two or three wars takes its first
war rather seriously, but I still think we should have kept the name
"Armistice Day." Its implications were a little more profound, a little
more hopeful.
--Walt Kelly
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly>