Khalid al-Mihdhar (1975–2001) was one of five hijackers of American
Airlines Flight 77, which was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon as
part of the September 11 attacks. He was born in Saudi Arabia and fought
in the Bosnian War during the 1990s. In early 1999, he traveled to
Afghanistan where, as an experienced al-Qaeda member, he was selected by
Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Mihdhar attended the
Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit in Malaysia and then went to California
with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000. Arriving in San
Diego, they were to train as pilots, but spoke English poorly and did
not do well with flight lessons. In June 2000, Mihdhar left the United
States for Yemen; after spending time in Afghanistan, he returned to the
U.S. in early July 2001. On the morning of September 11, he boarded
Flight 77. The attack killed all 64 people aboard, along with 125 on the
ground.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_al-Mihdhar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1837:
Richard Mentor Johnson became the only person to be elected
Vice President of the United States by the Senate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mentor_Johnson>
1879:
Enraged by a controversial umpiring decision, cricket
spectators rioted and attacked the England cricket team during a match
in Sydney, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Riot_of_1879>
1910:
Newspaper and magazine publisher William D. Boyce established
the Boy Scouts of America, expanding the Scout Movement into the United
States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America>
1965:
After taking evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision just
after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and
exploded, killing all 84 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_663>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pipe:
1. (music) A wind instrument consisting of a tube, often lined with
holes to allow for adjustment in pitch, sounded by blowing into the
tube. […]
2. A rigid tube that transports water, steam, or other fluid, as used in
plumbing and numerous other applications. […]
3. (Australia, colloquial, now historical) An anonymous satire or essay,
insulting and frequently libellous, written on a piece of paper which
was rolled up and left somewhere public where it could be found and thus
spread, to embarrass the author's enemies.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pipe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is never vulgarity in a whole truth, however commonplace.
It may be unimportant or painful. It cannot be vulgar. Vulgarity is only
in concealment of truth, or in affectation.
--John Ruskin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Ruskin>
Billy Joe Tolliver (born February 7, 1966) is a former American football
quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and
Canadian Football League. Over the course of his NFL career, he played
in 79 games, completed 891 of 1,707 passes for 10,760 yards, threw 59
touchdowns and 64 interceptions, and retired with a passer rating of
67.7. A graduate of Texas Tech University, Tolliver was selected 51st in
the 1989 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. He started 19 games in two
seasons at San Diego before being traded to the Atlanta Falcons, where
he saw playing time as a backup for three seasons. In 1994, he became
one of three starting quarterbacks for the Houston Oilers. He played
quarterback for the Canadian league's Shreveport Pirates during their
final season of activity in 1995, and played for the Falcons and Kansas
City Chiefs in 1997. He then started in 11 games for the New Orleans
Saints in two seasons.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joe_Tolliver>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
American Revolutionary War: After three years and seven months,
Spain and France abandoned their attempt to capture Gibraltar from the
British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Siege_of_Gibraltar>
1900:
A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco fell ill to bubonic plague
in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_plague_of_1900%E2%80%931904>
1986:
President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country after
a popular uprising, ending 28 years of one-family rule in the nation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Duvalier>
2014:
Researchers announced the discovery of the Happisburgh
footprints in Norfolk, England, the oldest known hominid footprints
outside Africa at more than 800,000 years old.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happisburgh_footprints>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
finesse:
1. (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem,
situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or strategem.
2. (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To handle or manage carefully or
skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way.
4. (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing.
5. (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an
opponent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/finesse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's
no better rule.
--Charles Dickens
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens>
New York State Route 373 is a short state highway in Essex County, New
York, within Adirondack State Park. It begins at U.S. Route 9 at the
Ausable Chasm, a deep, wooded canyon in the town of Chesterfield. The
road proceeds eastward, ending at a ferry landing on Lake Champlain. It
is the only connector between U.S. Route 9 and the hamlet of Port Kent
and the ferry that serves it. Port Kent and the connecting road were
originally built in 1823, intended to provide labor for iron
manufacturing and other industries of Essex County. The hamlet grew, and
was eventually connected to Burlington, Vermont, via an hour-long ferry
ride across Lake Champlain. The road that accessed Port Kent originally
began in Keeseville, but became part of the longer Port Kent and
Hopkinton Turnpike in the 1830s. The highway that is now Route 373 was
designated as part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway in
1919.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_373>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
Union forces earned one of their first important victories in
the American Civil War at the Battle of Fort Henry in western Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Henry>
1952:
Elizabeth II ascended to the thrones of the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and three other Commonwealth countries
upon the death of her father, George VI.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI>
1976:
In testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, Lockheed
president Carl Kotchian admitted that the company had paid out
approximately US$3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime
Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals>
1987:
Mary Gaudron was appointed as the first female Justice of the
High Court of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Gaudron>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
koha:
1. (New Zealand) A Māori tradition of reciprocal giving of gifts.
2. (New Zealand, by extension) A voluntary donation given for a service
that has been provided.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/koha>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I
don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But
in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans,
wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in
harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and
creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and
the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.
That's how I saw it and see it still.
--Ronald Reagan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan>
William Bostock (5 February 1892 – 28 April 1968) was a senior
commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). During World War II
he led RAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational formation, earning
the Distinguished Service Order and the American Medal of Freedom. A
veteran of World War I, Bostock first saw combat at Gallipoli, then as a
pilot in the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front, where he earned
the Belgian Croix de guerre. In the 1930s he served as Director of
Training, commanding officer of No. 3 Squadron, and Director of
Operations, becoming Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1939. Appointed
Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command in 1942, he feuded with Chief of the
Air Staff George Jones over control of the Air Force in the South West
Pacific Area. Following his retirement from the RAAF in 1946, he became
a journalist and later a Federal Member of Parliament.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bostock>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the
largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger"
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Stranger>
1917:
The U.S. Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto to
pass the Immigration Act of 1917, establishing new restrictions on
immigrants, including the wholesale ban of people from much of Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1917>
1941:
Second World War: British and Free French forces began the
Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of Keren in Italian
Eritrea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Keren>
2009:
The United States Navy guided missile cruiser Port Royal ran
aground on a coral reef off the island of Oahu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_USS_Port_Royal_grounding>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
who would have thunk it:
(colloquial, sometimes sarcastic) A rhetorical question used to express
incredulity: who would have guessed it?; who would have thought that
would happen?
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/who_would_have_thunk_it>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to
hear the music of our own opinions. But there is also, it seems to me, a
moment at which democracy must prove its capacity to act. Every man has
a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with
a single set of vocal chords.
--Adlai Stevenson II
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson_II>
Gwen Stefani (born 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress,
and the lead vocalist of the band No Doubt. Their album Tragic Kingdom
(1995) was a critical and commercial success, spawning the singles "Just
a Girl", "Don't Speak", "Hey Baby", and "It's My Life". Stefani's three
solo albums have also been successful: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004)
includes "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", and "Hollaback Girl"; The
Sweet Escape (2006) produced the singles "Wind It Up" and "The Sweet
Escape"; and her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like
(2016), reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Billboard
magazine ranked her as the 54th most successful artist and 37th most
successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–09 decade, and VH1 ranked her
13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. Stefani has
won three Grammy Awards and has sold more than 30 million albums
worldwide, including her work with No Doubt.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_Stefani>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovered the
Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in
Saint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus>
1969:
Yasser Arafat was elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation
Organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat>
1999:
The Panamanian-flagged freighter New Carissa ran aground near
Coos Bay, Oregon, causing one of the worst oil spills in the state's
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Carissa>
2015:
Shortly after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Airport, the crew of
TransAsia Airways Flight 235 shut down the wrong engine in response to a
flameout, leading to a crash that resulted in 43 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransAsia_Airways_Flight_235>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cachexia:
(pathology) A systemic wasting of muscle tissue, with or without loss of
fat mass, that accompanies a chronic disease.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachexia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When I go onstage as Alice to this day, I play Alice to the hilt
— I play him for everything he is worth, but when I’m offstage, I
never think about Alice Cooper. He never occurs to me. … I walk off
stage though and I turn away from the audience, I go back to being me
again. Whenever I see an audience, that’s when I turn into Alice. If
there was no audience there, there would be no reason to be Alice. …
If I tried to be Alice Cooper all the time — I’d either be in an
insane asylum or in jail or dead. Alice is just too intense, and you
just can’t be Alice all the time.
--Alice Cooper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper>
Felix Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847) was a German
composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period,
who wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music, and chamber
music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music
for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, his mature Violin
Concerto, his String Octet, and his Songs Without Words for solo piano.
He was born into a prominent Jewish family in Berlin, baptised as a
Reformed Christian at age seven, and recognised early as a musical
prodigy. Mendelssohn revived interest in Bach's music, notably with a
performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. He enjoyed success in
Germany and in his travels throughout Europe as a composer, conductor
and soloist. Many of his major works premiered during his ten visits to
Britain. He founded the Leipzig Conservatory, which became a bastion of
his rather conservative tastes. After a long period of relative
denigration, he is among the most popular romantic composers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
The Argentine Confederation were defeated in the Platine War by
an alliance consisting of Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of
Entre Ríos and Corrientes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platine_War>
1930:
The Communist Party of Indochina, the Communist Party of Annam,
and the Communist League of Indochina merged to form the Communist Party
of Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Vietnam>
1959:
American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens,
and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their plane
crashed shortly after taking off from Mason City Municipal Airport in
Iowa (wreckage pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died>
2014:
Russia's first school shooting took place when a student opened
fire at School No. 263 in Otradnoye District, Moscow, resulting in the
deaths of a teacher and a police officer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Moscow_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
flare:
1. (transitive) To cause to burn.
2. (transitive) To cause inflammation; to inflame.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To open outward in shape.
4. (transitive, intransitive, aviation) To (operate an aircraft to)
transition from downward flight to level flight just before landing.
5. (intransitive) To blaze brightly.
6. (intransitive) To shine out with a sudden and unsteady light; to emit
a dazzling or painfully bright light.
7. (intransitive, figuratively) To shine out with gaudy colours; to be
offensively bright or showy.
8. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly happen or intensify.
9. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly erupt in anger.
10. (intransitive, obsolete) To be exposed to too much light.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flare>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The longing in the depth of the heart for absolute good, and the
power, though only latent, of directing attention and love to a reality
beyond the world and of receiving good from it — constitutes a link
which attaches every man without exception to that other reality.
Whoever recognizes that reality recognizes also that link. Because of
it, he holds every human being without any exception as something sacred
to which he is bound to show respect. This is the only possible motive
for universal respect towards all human beings. Whatever formulation of
belief or disbelief a man may choose to make, if his heart inclines him
to feel this respect, then he in fact also recognizes a reality other
than this world's reality. Whoever in fact does not feel this respect is
alien to that other reality also.
--Simone Weil
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil>
Coenwulf was King of Mercia, in Anglo-Saxon England, from December 796
until his death in 821. He ascended the throne five months after the
death of Offa, one of the most powerful kings of early medieval England,
when Offa's son, Ecgfrith, died after a brief reign. In the early years
of Coenwulf's reign he had to deal with a revolt in Kent, which had been
under Offa's control. After Eadberht Præn returned from exile in
Francia to claim the Kentish throne, Coenwulf invaded and retook the
kingdom. He probably lost control of the kingdom of East Anglia during
the early part of his reign, as evidenced by an independent coinage
appearing under King Eadwald, but Coenwulf's coinage reappeared in 805.
Coenwulf was the last king of Mercia to exercise substantial dominance
over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms; within a decade of his death, the rise
of Wessex had begun under King Ecgberht, and Mercia never recovered its
former position of power.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenwulf_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
Brigham Young announced his decision to go to war against
Timpanogos who were hostile to the Mormon settlement at Fort Utah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_at_Fort_Utah>
1920:
The signing of the Treaty of Tartu ended the Estonian War of
Independence, with Russia agreeing to recognize the independence of
Estonia and renounce in perpetuity all rights to that territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tartu_%28Russian%E2%80%93Estonian%29>
1974:
The F-16 Fighting Falcon, the most numerous fixed-wing aircraft
in military service, made its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon>
2004:
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the top-ranked men's
singles player, a position he held for a record 237 consecutive weeks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Imbolc:
(Britain, Ireland) A Gaelic and Wiccan festival celebrated on 1 or 2
February which marks the beginning of spring.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Imbolc>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark
and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the
cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and
basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a
better fate than a long and lustrous winter.
--Groundhog Day
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_%28film%29>
Tropical Storm Marco was the only tropical cyclone to make landfall in
the United States during the 1990 Atlantic hurricane season. The 13th
named storm of the season, Marco formed from a cold-core low pressure
area along the northern coast of Cuba on October 9, and tracked
northwestward through the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Its circulation
produced 65 mph (100 km/h) winds over the western portion of Florida
before weakening to a tropical depression and moving ashore near Cedar
Key. The cyclone combined with a cold front and the remnants of
Hurricane Klaus to produce heavy rainfall in Georgia and the Carolinas.
After interacting with the nearby Hurricane Lili, Marco continued
northward until being absorbed by a cold front. In Florida, the cyclone
triggered flooding of some roadways. Rainfall across its path peaked at
19.89 inches (505 mm) in Louisville, Georgia. The flooding caused
12 deaths, mostly due to drowning, as well as $57 million in damage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Marco_%281990%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War>
1960:
Four African American students staged the first Greensboro sit-
ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins>
1972:
Kuala Lumpur gained city status, the first settlement in
Malaysia to do so after the nation's independence from the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur>
2009:
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female Prime
Minister and the world's first openly gay head of government of the
modern era.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3hanna_Sigur%C3%B0ard%C3%B3ttir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
inexorable:
1. Impossible to prevent or stop; inevitable.
2. Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting.
3. Adamant; severe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inexorable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Liberty sets the mind free, fosters independence and unorthodox
thinking and ideas. But it does not offer instant prosperity or
happiness and wealth to everyone. This is something that politicians in
particular must keep in mind.
--Boris Yeltsin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin>