Scoops was a weekly British science fiction magazine in tabloid format
that was published by Arthur Pearson (pictured) for 20 issues in 1934.
Its editor was Haydn Dimmock, who also edited The Scout, a weekly
magazine for boys. Scoops was launched as a boy's paper, and it was not
until several issues had appeared that Dimmock discovered there was an
adult audience for science fiction. Circulation was poor, and Dimmock
attempted to change the magazine's focus to more mature material. He
reprinted Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt, improved the cover art,
and obtained fiction from the British science fiction writers John
Russell Fearn and Maurice Hugi. Pearson cancelled Scoops because of poor
sales. The failure of the magazine contributed to the belief that
Britain could not support a science fiction magazine, and it was not
until 1937, with Tales of Wonder, that another attempt was made.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoops_%28magazine%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
Seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the
Origin of Species, several prominent British scientists and philosophers
participated in an evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_Oxford_evolution_debate>
1934:
Adolf Hitler violently purged members of the Sturmabteilung
(SA), its leader Ernst Röhm, and other political rivals in the Night of
the Long Knives, executing at least 85 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives>
1972:
The International Time Bureau added the first leap second to
the Coordinated Universal Time time scale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second>
2009:
Schoolgirl Bahia Bakari was the sole survivor when Yemenia
Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean killing 152 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenia_Flight_626>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
plat:
1. A plot of land; a lot.
2. A map showing the boundaries of real properties (delineating one or
more plots of land), especially one that forms part of a legal document.
3. (obsolete) A plot, a scheme.
4. (transitive) To create a plat; to lay out property lots and streets;
to map. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What I'm saying here is not, I agree, poetry, as poems should be
written rarely and reluctantly, under unbearable duress and only with
the hope that good spirits, not evil ones, choose us for their
instrument.
--Czesław Miłosz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Czes%C5%82aw_Mi%C5%82osz>
Crater is a small constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere,
one of 48 listed by the second-century astronomer Ptolemy. It depicts a
krater, a type of cup used by the Greeks to water down wine, perched on
the back of Hydra, the water snake, to its south and west. It has been
associated with the mythological god Apollo. It is also bordered by Leo
and Virgo to the north, Corvus to the east, and Sextans to the
northwest. There is no star brighter than third magnitude in the
constellation. Its two brightest stars, Delta Crateris of magnitude 3.56
and Alpha Crateris of magnitude 4.07, are ageing orange giant stars that
are cooler and larger than the Sun. Beta Crateris is a binary star
system composed of a white giant star and a white dwarf. Seven star
systems have been found to host planets. A few galaxies, including
Crater 2 and NGC 3981, and a quasar lie within the borders of the
constellation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_%28constellation%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
Canada's worst railway accident took place when a passenger
train fell through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River near
present-day Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Hilaire_train_disaster>
1927:
The United States Army Air Corps aircraft Bird of Paradise
landed at Wheeler Field on the Hawaiian island of Oahu to complete the
first transpacific flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_Paradise_%28aircraft%29>
1974:
Isabel Perón was sworn in as the first female acting President
of Argentina, replacing her ill husband Juan, who died two days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Mart%C3%ADnez_de_Per%C3%B3n>
1995:
The Shuttle–Mir Program began when Space Shuttle Atlantis
became the first space shuttle to dock with the Russian space station
Mir.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle%E2%80%93Mir_Program>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
citerior:
(literary) Chiefly in place names: situated on the nearer side.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/citerior>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man
contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
--Antoine de Saint Exupéry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry>
The Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar is a half dollar
commemorative coin struck by the United States Mint in 1937, though it
bears the date 1936. Designed by William Marks Simpson and Marjory Emory
Simpson, the coin commemorates the 200th anniversary of Norfolk being
designated as a royal borough, and the 100th anniversary of it becoming
a city. Virginia Senator Carter Glass sponsored a bill for a Norfolk
half dollar, but it was amended in committee to provide for
commemorative medals instead. Unaware of the change, Glass and other
advocates shepherded it through Congress. A bill calling for coins was
passed in 1937, but by then, the anniversaries had passed, and sales
were poorer than hoped; almost a third of the coins could not be sold.
The Norfolk half dollar is the only U.S. coin to depict the British
crown, shown on the reverse on the city's ceremonial mace.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk,_Virginia,_Bicentennial_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of
Hohenberg, were assassinated by a Yugoslav nationalist named Gavrilo
Princip in Sarajevo, sparking the outbreak of World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrilo_Princip>
1969:
In response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York
City, groups of gay and transgender people began to riot, a watershed
event for the worldwide gay rights movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots>
1989:
President Slobodan Milošević gave a speech in which he
described the possibility of "armed battles" in the future of Serbia's
national development.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazimestan_speech>
2009:
Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a local military
coup following his attempt to hold a referendum to rewrite the
constitution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
onager:
1. The Asiatic wild ass or hemione (Equus hemionus), an animal of the
horse family native to Asia; specifically, the Persian onager, Persian
wild ass, or Persian zebra (Equus hemionus onager).
2. (military, historical) A military engine acting like a sling which
threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a
bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/onager>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let's not be dazzled by the sententious glitter with which error
and lying often cover themselves. Society is not created by the crowd,
and bodies come together in vain when hearts reject each other. The
truly sociable man is more difficult in his relationships than others;
those which consist only in false appearances cannot suit him. He
prefers to live far from wicked men without thinking about them, than to
see them and hate them. He prefers to flee his enemy rather than seek
him out to harm him. A person who knows no other society than that of
the heart will not seek his society in your circles.
--Jean-Jacques Rousseau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau>
Coprinellus micaceus is a common species of fungus in the family
Psathyrellaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. The species typically
grows in dense clusters on or near rotting hardwood tree stumps or
underground tree roots. Depending on their stage of development, the
tawny-brown mushroom caps may range in shape from oval to bell-shaped to
convex, and reach diameters up to 3 cm (1.2 in). In young specimens,
the cap surface is coated with a fine layer of reflective mica-like
cells, inspiring the species name as well as the common names "mica
cap", "shiny cap", and "glistening inky cap". A few hours after
collection, the gills will start to dissolve into a black, inky, spore-
laden liquid. The fruit bodies are edible before the gills blacken and
dissolve, and cooking will stop the process. Chemical analysis of the
fruit bodies has revealed the presence of antibacterial and enzyme-
inhibiting compounds.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinellus_micaceus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
One day after surrendering at the Battle of Hakodate, Enomoto
Takeaki turned over Goryōkaku to Japanese forces, signaling the
collapse of the Republic of Ezo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ezo>
1905:
The crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin began a mutiny
against their oppressive officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Potemkin>
1989:
The International Labour Organization Convention 169, a major
binding international convention concerning indigenous peoples, and a
forerunner of the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_and_Tribal_Peoples_Convention,_1989>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lour:
1. (intransitive) To frown; to look sullen.
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To be dark, gloomy, and threatening, as
clouds; of the sky: to be covered with dark and threatening clouds; to
show threatening signs of approach, as a tempest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lour>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it
be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards
it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
--Helen Keller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Keller>
A bank robbery was committed by Bolsheviks on 26 June 1907 in the city
of Tiflis, Russian Empire, what is now Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.
Planned by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Maxim Litvinov, Leonid Krasin,
and Alexander Bogdanov, it was carried out by revolutionaries led by
Stalin's early associate Kamo. The attack killed forty people and
injured fifty others; the robbers escaped with 341,000 rubles. The
Bolsheviks were unable to use most of the large banknotes they had
stolen because the serial numbers were known to the police. Lenin
thought of a plan to have the notes cashed simultaneously throughout
Europe, but this strategy failed. Kamo was imprisoned for this and other
crimes, but was released after the Russian Revolution; no other major
conspirator was ever tried. After his death, Kamo was buried under a
monument constructed near the robbery site, but the grave and monument
have since been removed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_Tiflis_bank_robbery>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
Bangui (city centre pictured), the capital and largest city of
the Central African Republic, was founded in French Congo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui>
1906:
The 1906 French Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix motor racing
competition, was held outside Le Mans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_French_Grand_Prix>
1936:
The first prototype of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first fully
controllable helicopter, made its maiden flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_61>
2013:
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act,
granting federal recognition to same-sex marriage; furthermore, it
struck down Proposition 8, legalizing same-sex marriage in California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollingsworth_v._Perry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
indri:
One of the largest living lemurs, Indri indri, which is native to
Madagascar.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indri>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally
found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things.
--Chesty Puller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller>
Raymond Leane (1878–1962) was an Australian Army brigadier general.
Twice decorated for gallantry, he was wounded three times during the
Gallipoli campaign of World War I, and temporarily commanded the 11th
Battalion there before the Australian force was withdrawn to Egypt.
Leane led the 48th Battalion in fighting on the Western Front from 1916
to 1918 before commanding the 12th Brigade during the last part of the
war. He was described by the Australian Official War Historian, Charles
Bean, as "the foremost fighting leader" in the Australian Imperial
Force. Leane was also called "the head of the most famous family of
soldiers in Australian history", as four of his brothers and six of his
nephews served in World War I, with two of each being killed. After the
war, he served as Commissioner of the South Australia Police from 1920
to 1944, for which he was knighted in 1945.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Leane>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1678:
Venetian mathematician Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first
woman to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Cornaro_Piscopia>
1940:
World War II: The evacuation of nearly 200,000 Allied soldiers
from French ports was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Aerial>
1950:
The Korean War began with North Korean forces launching a pre-
dawn raid over the 38th parallel into South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War>
2009:
Singer Michael Jackson died as a result of the combination of
drugs in his body.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Michael_Jackson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
a mite:
(informal) To a small extent; in a small amount; rather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_mite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In a Society in which there is no law, and in theory no
compulsion, the only arbiter of behaviour is public opinion. But public
opinion, because of the tremendous urge to conformity in gregarious
animals, is less tolerant than any system of law. When human beings are
governed by "thou shalt not", the individual can practise a certain
amount of eccentricity: when they are supposedly governed by "love" or
"reason", he is under continuous pressure to make him behave and think
in exactly the same way as everyone else.
--George Orwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell>
Shergar (1978–1983) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred
racehorse. In 1981 Shergar ran in six races, winning five of them. In
June that year he won the 202nd Epsom Derby by ten lengths—the longest
winning margin in the race's history. Three weeks later he won the Irish
Sweeps Derby by four lengths; a month after that he won the King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by four lengths. He was retired to
the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, but was stolen by an
armed gang in February 1983. In 1999 Sean O'Callaghan, a former member
of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, published details of the theft
and said it was an operation to raise money for arms. An investigation
by The Sunday Telegraph concluded that the horse was shot four days
after the theft. No arrests were made for the theft, and Shergar's body
was never recovered. In his honour the Shergar Cup was inaugurated in
1999.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shergar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée under Napoleon
crossed the Neman river, marking the start of their invasion of Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia>
1880:
"O Canada" (audio featured), today the national anthem of
Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Day banquet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada>
1939:
The first of the Thai cultural mandates was issued, officially
changing the country's name from Siam to Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_cultural_mandates>
1994:
A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed at
Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane County, Washington, killing all four
crew members, and later providing a case study on the importance of
compliance with safety regulations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
adynaton:
(rhetoric) A form of hyperbole that uses exaggeration so magnified as to
express impossibility; an instance of such hyperbole.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adynaton>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in
human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's
activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but
"pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything;
his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste,
dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a
dead-line.
--Ambrose Bierce
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce>
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies is a music
reference book by American music journalist and essayist Robert
Christgau (pictured). It was first published in October 1981 by Ticknor
& Fields. Covering a variety of genres with a focus on rock music, the
book compiles approximately 3,000 capsule album reviews, most of which
were originally written for his "Consumer Guide" column in The Village
Voice throughout the 1970s. Many of the older reviews were rewritten for
the guide to reflect his matured perspective and style, informed by an
interest in the aesthetic and political dimensions of popular music and
a desire to communicate his ideas to readers in an entertaining,
provocative way. The guide was critically well received, with praise
given for its extensive discography, Christgau's judgment, and colorful
writing. A staple of rock-era reference works, it became a source for
popular music studies and a guide for fellow critics, record collectors,
and music shops.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christgau%27s_Record_Guide:_Rock_Albums_of_th…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender in
the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_Watie>
1926:
The College Board administered the first SAT, a major
standardized test for university and college admissions in the United
States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT>
1985:
A bomb attributed to the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa
destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329
on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182>
2016:
Citizens of the United Kingdom voted to support a non-binding
resolution to leave the European Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brexit>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ithyphallic:
1. (historical, Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that
was carried in bacchic processions.
2. (specifically) Of a poem or song: having the metre of an ode sung in
honour of the bacchic phallus.
3. Of or pertaining to an upward pointing, erect penis; (specifically)
of an artistic depiction of a deity or other figure: possessing an erect
penis.
4. (by extension) Lascivious, obscene.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ithyphallic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
People with real power never fear of losing it. People with
control think of little else.
--Joss Whedon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon>
SOLRAD 1 was a science and surveillance satellite launched into orbit
on June 22, 1960. Developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory, it was
the first satellite to successfully observe solar X-rays, the first to
conduct surveillance from orbit, and the first to be launched with
another instrumented satellite (the unrelated navigation satellite,
Transit 2A). The scientific mission was a success, sending data that
determined normal solar X-ray output and confirmed the connection
between increased solar X-ray activity and radio fade-outs. The Galactic
Radiation and Background electronic surveillance package on board had a
covert mission: mapping the Soviet Union's air defense radar network.
This mission was also successful, operating through September 22, 1960,
and revealing that the network was more extensive than had been
expected. SOLRAD 1 was switched off in April 1961, making it the first
satellite to be remotely deactivated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLRAD_1>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
The British warship HMS Leopard pursued and attacked the
American frigate USS Chesapeake in the belief that the latter had
deserters from the Royal Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake%E2%80%93Leopard_affair>
1911:
George V and Mary of Teck (both pictured) were crowned King and
Queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck>
1941:
World War II: As Axis troops began their invasion of the
Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front started an uprising to
liberate Lithuania from Soviet occupation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Uprising_in_Lithuania>
2009:
Two Metro trains in Washington, D.C., collided, killing nine
people and injuring eighty others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2009_Washington_Metro_train_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smorgasbord:
1. A Swedish-style buffet comprising a variety of cold sandwiches and
other dishes; (by extension) any buffet with a wide selection of dishes.
2. (figuratively) An abundant and diverse collection of things.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smorgasbord>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every mission constitutes a pledge of duty. Every man is bound to
consecrate his every faculty to its fulfilment. He will derive his rule
of action from the profound conviction of that duty.
--Giuseppe Mazzini
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Mazzini>
Irakli Tsereteli (1881–1959) was a Georgian politician and Menshevik
during the Russian Revolution. He was born and raised in Georgia when it
was part of the Russian Empire. A member of the Russian Social
Democratic Labour Party, Tsereteli was elected to the Duma in 1907, but
was soon charged with conspiracy to overthrow the Tsarist government and
exiled to Siberia. After the 1917 February Revolution, he took a
position in the Russian Provisional Government as Minister of Post and
Telegraph, and briefly as Minister of the Interior. After the Bolsheviks
seized power during the October Revolution, Tsereteli returned to
Georgia. At the Paris Peace Conference he lobbied for international
recognition and assistance for the newly independent Democratic Republic
of Georgia; these efforts largely failed before the Bolshevik-led Red
Army invaded in 1921. He spent the rest of his life in exile, working
with socialist organisations and writing on socialism, and died in New
York.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irakli_Tsereteli>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and
Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallachian_Revolution_of_1848>
1919:
Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttled the German High Seas Fleet
in Scapa Flow to prevent the ships from being seized and divided amongst
the Allied Powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_German_fleet_at_Scapa_Flow>
1957:
Ellen Fairclough became the first woman appointed to the
Canadian Cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Fairclough>
1973:
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision in the landmark
case Miller v. California, establishing the "Miller test" for
determining what is obscene material.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ski-through:
1. (skiing) Of a ski lodge or other hotel establishment: providing
skiers with the service of transporting their equipment, luggage, and
vehicles to other establishments so they can ski directly to those
establishments.
2. (skiing) Of a restaurant, shop, or other establishment or facility:
providing service to skiers while they are still wearing their skis.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ski-through>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our dreams of bringing the whole of human history under the
control of the human will are ironically refuted by the fact that no
group of idealists can easily move the pattern of history toward the
desired goal of peace and justice. The recalcitrant forces in the
historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr>