The European hare (Lepus europaeus) is one of the largest hare species.
Native to Europe and parts of Asia, it is adapted to temperate, open
country. Hares feed mainly on grasses and herbs, supplementing these
with twigs, buds, bark and field crops, particularly in winter. They
rely on high-speed endurance running to escape predators, including
large birds of prey, canids and felids. Generally nocturnal and shy,
hares can be seen in the spring in broad daylight chasing one another
around in fields, and sometimes striking each other with their paws
("boxing"). The female nests in a depression on the surface of the
ground, giving birth to three or four kits that are active as soon as
they are born. The European hare has a wide range and is moderately
abundant, but populations have been declining in mainland Europe since
the 1960s. The hare has been a traditional symbol of fertility and
reproduction in some cultures.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hare>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1786:
Francis Light founded George Town, the first British settlement
in Southeast Asia and the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Penang>
1929:
The first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and
largest African-American parade in the United States, was held in
Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Billiken_Parade_and_Picnic>
1979:
Two Aeroflot passenger jets (similar aircraft pictured)
collided in mid-air near Dniprodzerzhynsk in the Ukrainian SSR, killing
all 178 people on both aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Dniprodzerzhynsk_mid-air_collision>
1999:
Ken Levine's System Shock 2 was released to mediocre sales, but
was critically acclaimed and highly influenced subsequent first-person
shooter game design.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock_2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Weimarization:
(politics, American spelling, Oxford British English) A state of
economic crisis leading to political upheaval and extremism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Weimarization>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Great is the rose That challenges the crypt, And quotes
milleniums Against the grave.
--Nathalia Crane
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathalia_Crane>
Keswick, Cumbria, is an English market town and civil parish,
historically in Cumberland, and since 1974 in the Borough of Allerdale.
The town, in the Lake District National Park, just north of
Derwentwater, and 4 miles (6.4 km) from Bassenthwaite, had a population
of 4,821 at the time of the 2011 census. There is considerable evidence
of prehistoric occupation of the Keswick area. The first recorded
mention of the town dates from the 13th century, when Edward I granted
a charter for Keswick's market, which has maintained a continuous
700-year existence. In Tudor times the town was an important mining
area, and from the 18th century onwards it has increasingly been known
as a holiday centre; tourism has been its principal industry for more
than 150 years. Two of the Lake Poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
Robert Southey, lived in Keswick in the early 19th century and made the
scenic beauty of the area widely known to readers in Britain and beyond.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keswick,_Cumbria>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: Insurrectionists in Paris stormed the
Tuileries Palace, effectively ending the French monarchy until it was
restored in 1814.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_of_10_August_1792>
1864:
After Uruguay's governing Blanco Party refused Brazil's
demands, José Antônio Saraiva announced that the Brazilian military
would exact reprisals, beginning the Uruguayan War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_War>
1966:
The Heron Road Bridge in Ottawa, Canada, collapsed during its
construction, killing nine workers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heron_Road_Workers_Memorial_Bridge>
1981:
The severed head of kidnapped six-year-old Adam Walsh was found
in a canal in Vero Beach, Florida, prompting his father John to become a
victims' rights advocate and helping to spur the formation of the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sere:
1. (archaic or literary, poetic) Without moisture; dry.
2. (obsolete) Of fabrics: threadbare, worn out. [...]
3. (obsolete or Britain, dialectal) Individual, separate, set apart.
4. (obsolete or Britain, dialectal) Different; diverse.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sere>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You will not arrest the reactionary momentum by ignoring it or
dismissing it entirely as a function of bigotry or stupidity. You’ll
only defuse it by appreciating its insights and co-opting its appeal.
Reaction can be clarifying if it helps us better understand the huge
challenges we now face. But reaction by itself cannot help us manage the
world we live in today — which is the only place that matters. You
start with where you are, not where you were or where you want to be.
There are no utopias in the future or Gardens of Eden in our past. There
is just now — in all its incoherent, groaning, volatile messiness. Our
job, like everyone before us, is to keep our nerve and make the best of
it.
--Andrew Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan>
The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be
issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint. El Paso coin dealer
L. W. Hoffecker (pictured) wanted a coin issued he could control and
distribute. He gained the support of several members of Congress, and a
bill was introduced. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon sent a letter
and two officials in opposition to the bill at its committee hearing,
but it passed both houses of Congress without dissent. On April 21,
1930, President Herbert Hoover vetoed the bill, deeming commemorative
coins abusive; the House of Representatives sustained his veto. No
commemorative coins were struck during the remainder of the Hoover
administration, and although they began again after Franklin D.
Roosevelt was inaugurated, in 1938, Roosevelt vetoed one, citing
Hoover's action, as would Truman and Eisenhower. No commemorative coins
were struck from 1955 until after the Treasury Department changed its
position in 1981.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1944:
The United States Forest Service authorized the use of Smokey
Bear as its mascot to replace Bambi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Bear>
1974:
On the verge of impeachment and removal from office amidst the
Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first president of the
United States to resign his office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>
2001:
A suicide bomber attacked a Sbarro pizza restaurant in
Jerusalem, killing 15 people and wounding 130 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sbarro_restaurant_suicide_bombing>
2014:
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American man, was killed
by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, resulting in widespread
protests and unrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
impeachment:
1. (countable) The act of calling into question or challenging the
accuracy or propriety of something.
2. (countable, law) A demonstration in a court of law, or before another
finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and is therefore
less likely to tell the truth now.
3. (countable, law, Britain) An accusation that a person has committed a
crime against the state, such as treason.
4. (countable, law, chiefly US) The act of impeaching or charging a
public official with misconduct, especially if serious, often with the
aim of having the official dismissed from office.
5. (uncountable) The state of being impeached.
6. (uncountable, archaic) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/impeachment>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The need to speak the truth and even to seek it for oneself is
only conceivable in so far as the individual thinks and acts as one of a
society, and not of any society … but of a society founded on
reciprocity and mutual respect, and therefore on cooperation.
--Jean Piaget
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget>
Portrait Diptych of Dürer's Parents is the collective name for two
late-15th-century portrait panels by the German painter Albrecht Dürer.
They show his parents, Barbara Holper and Albrecht Dürer the Elder,
when she was around 39 and he was 63, and are among four paintings or
drawings Dürer made of the couple. The portraits are unflinching
records of the physical and emotional effects of ageing, which Dürer
may have intended either to display his skill to his parents or as
keepsakes while he travelled as a journeyman painter. His father's panel
is considered the superior work and has been described as one of
Dürer's most exact and honest portraits. The Dürer family was close,
and his later writings show the love and respect he felt toward his
parents. The panels, separated since at least 1628, were reunited in the
Germanisches Nationalmuseum's 2012 exhibition "The Early Dürer".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_Diptych_of_D%C3%BCrer%27s_Parents>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1919:
The Third Anglo-Afghan War ended with the United Kingdom
signing a treaty recognising the independence of the Emirate of
Afghanistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Afghan_War>
1969:
At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan took
the photo that was used for the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road>
2009:
Nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private
airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in
Hoboken, New Jersey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hudson_River_mid-air_collision>
2014:
The World Health Organization declared the Western African
Ebola virus epidemic, which began in December 2013, a Public Health
Emergency of International Concern.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_African_Ebola_virus_epidemic>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sidle:
1. (transitive, intransitive, also figuratively) To (cause something to)
move sideways.
2. (transitive, intransitive, also figuratively) In the intransitive
sense often followed by up: to (cause something to) advance in a coy,
furtive, or unobtrusive manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sidle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I lift my heart as spring lifts up A yellow daisy to the rain;
My heart will be a lovely cup Altho' it holds but pain. For I shall
learn from flower and leaf That color every drop they hold, To change
the lifeless wine of grief To living gold.
--Sara Teasdale
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sara_Teasdale>
The Siberian accentor (Prunella montanella) is a small passerine bird
that breeds in northern Russia from the Ural Mountains eastwards across
Siberia. It is migratory, wintering in Korea and eastern China.
Typically breeding in subarctic deciduous forests and open coniferous
woodland, often near water, it is also found in bushes and shrubs in
winter, frequently near streams. It has brown upperparts and wings, with
bright chestnut streaking on its back and a greyish-brown rump and tail.
The head has a dark brown crown and a long pale yellow "eyebrow". All
plumages are similar. The nest is an open cup into which the female lays
four to six eggs that hatch in about ten days. Adults and chicks feed
mainly on insects, typically picked off the ground, and may also eat
seeds in winter. Breeding over a huge area, this accentor has a large
and apparently stable population. October and November 2016 saw an
unprecedented influx of this species into western Europe as far west as
the UK.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_accentor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the Emperor
Yingzong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>
1909:
Fifty-nine days after leaving New York City with three
passengers, Alice Huyler Ramsey arrived in San Francisco to become the
first woman to drive an automobile across the contiguous United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Huyler_Ramsey>
1914:
World War I: France launched its first attack of the war in an
ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mulhouse>
1944:
IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to
Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Mark_I>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
calabash:
1. A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to
Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida,
bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit
of this tree.
2. The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), a vine
believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that
are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of
this plant.
3. A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of
the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some
other material.
4. A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
5. (music) A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made
from a calabash fruit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calabash>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It’s important … to know who the real enemy is, and to know
the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction.
It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over
again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so
you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t
shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is.
Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says
that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is
necessary. There will always be one more thing.
--Toni Morrison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison>
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine,
first published in 1930 as Astounding Stories of Super-Science. After F.
Orlin Tremaine was hired as editor in 1933, it became the leading
magazine in the nascent pulp science fiction field, with well-regarded
stories such as Jack Williamson's Legion of Space and "Twilight" by John
W. Campbell. Campbell took over editorial duties from 1937 to 1971,
running many stories that became classics in the field, including Isaac
Asimov's Foundation series, A. E. van Vogt's Slan, and novels and
stories by Robert A. Heinlein. By 1950, Astounding was no longer
regarded as the leader in the field, though it did continue to publish
popular and influential stories, including Hal Clement's novel Mission
of Gravity (1953) and Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" (1954). Ben Bova
took over as editor from 1972 to 1978, winning five consecutive Hugo
Awards. Trevor Quachri currently edits the magazine for Crosstown
Publications.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_Science_Fiction_and_Fact>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1991:
British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee first posted files
describing his ideas for a system of interlinked, hypertext documents
accessible via the Internet, to be called a "World Wide Web".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee>
1996:
A team of researchers led by NASA scientists announced that the
meteorite known as ALH84001, discovered in the Allan Hills of
Antarctica, may contain evidence of life on Mars, but further tests were
inconclusive.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hills_84001>
2013:
An explosion in Rosario, Argentina, caused by a large gas leak
collapsed a nearby building and led to the deaths of 22 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Rosario_gas_explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
planning permission:
(Britain, construction, law) Legal permission granted by a government
authority to construct on one's land, or to change the use of the land.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/planning_permission>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Who are wise in love Love most, say least.
--Idylls of the King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Idylls_of_the_King>
Stephen, King of England (c. 1094 – 1154), ruled from 1135 until
his death. Born in the County of Blois in central France, he was brought
up by his mother, Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Placed into
the court of his uncle, Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence
and was granted extensive lands. When Henry died in 1135, Stephen
crossed the English Channel and took the throne in spite of his earlier
oaths to support the claim of Henry's daughter, the Empress Matilda. In
1138 the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester rebelled against
Stephen, and in 1139 the Empress and Robert invaded England. The revolt
took hold in the south-west, and Stephen was captured at the battle of
Lincoln in 1141. He was abandoned by many of his followers and lost
control of Normandy. He was freed after Robert was captured at the Rout
of Winchester, but the civil war dragged on for many years. Upon his
death, he was succeeded by the Empress's son, Henry II, the first of
the Angevin kings.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen,_King_of_England>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
Beaver Wars: Aggravated by increased French incursions into
their territory, a large force of Mohawk warriors substantially
destroyed the settlement of Lachine, New France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachine_massacre>
1772:
Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria began the First Partition
of Poland to help restore the regional balance of power in Eastern
Europe among those three countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Partition_of_Poland>
1864:
American Civil War: Rear Admiral David Farragut successfully
led the Union fleet through a mine field to victory in the Battle of
Mobile Bay.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mobile_Bay>
1949:
A magnitude 6.8 ML earthquake struck near Ambato, Ecuador,
killing 5,050 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Ambato_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
side-eye:
(transitive) To look at out of the corner of one's eye, particularly
with animosity, or in a judgmental or suspicious manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/side-eye>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am the one who passed unnoticed before you, Invisible, in a
cloud of secret pain.
--Conrad Aiken
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Conrad_Aiken>
Ms Dhu was a 22-year-old Australian Aboriginal woman who died in police
custody in Western Australia on August 4, 2014. Dhu had been arrested
two days earlier for unpaid fines, and was required to serve four days
in custody to clear part of the debt. While detained, Dhu complained of
pain and was taken to hospital. Police accused her of faking her
condition, and medical staff believed her complaints were exaggerated
and suspected drug withdrawal. Dhu died shortly after arriving on her
third visit to hospital. The cause of death was an infection due to
three-month-old rib fractures caused by her partner. An internal police
investigation found 11 officers had not complied with regulations or
were guilty of misconduct. A coronial inquest found that she suffered
"unprofessional and inhumane" handling by police and "deficient"
treatment from hospital staff. The inquest recommended not imprisoning
people for unpaid fines and introducing a Custody Notification Scheme.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ms_Dhu>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
A climactic eruption of Mount Asama, one of the most active
volcanoes in Japan, killed roughly 1,400 people and exacerbated a
famine, resulting in another 20,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Asama>
1914:
World War I: Adhering to the terms in the 1839 Treaty of
London, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in response to the
latter's invasion of Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Belgium>
1964:
The National Security Agency falsely claimed that a U.S. Navy
destroyer was attacked a second time by North Vietnam in the Gulf of
Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident>
2007:
An airport police officer discovered a suitcase containing
US$800,000 as it went through security at Jorge Newbery Airfield,
sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_del_Luj%C3%A1n_Telpuk>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Spidey-sense:
(humorous) An intuitive feeling, usually of something being dangerous or
risky; (more generally) instinct, intuition.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Spidey-sense>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We are
distracted from our real failures and told to blame the other party, or
gay people, or immigrants, and as people have looked away in frustration
and disillusionment, we know who has filled the void. The cynics, the
lobbyists, the special interests, who've turned government into only a
game they can afford to play.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
"The Truth" was the two-hour ninth-season finale of the American science
fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on May 19, 2002.
Written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners, the
finale was the most-watched episode of the ninth season, with
13.25 million viewers. It received mixed reviews, with many
commentators criticizing its lack of closure. Others were pleased with
the episode's conclusion and with the full return of actor David
Duchovny (pictured) as Fox Mulder, following his departure from the
series after the eighth-season finale. The ninth season focused on the
paranormal investigations of FBI special agents John Doggett (Robert
Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian
Anderson). In the finale, Scully learns that Mulder—who had been
missing for almost a year—was being held for the supposed murder of a
bioenhanced soldier in a secret government program. "The Truth" served
to conclude many story arcs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_%28The_X-Files%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1903:
Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaimed a republic, which
existed for only ten days before Ottoman forces destroyed the town.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kru%C5%A1evo_Republic>
1929:
Jiddu Krishnamurti, believed likely to be the messianic "World
Teacher" by Charles Webster Leadbeater, shocked the Theosophy movement
by dissolving the Order of the Star, the organisation established to
support him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_in_the_East>
1940:
World War II: Italy began an invasion of British Somaliland and
captured the region in 16 days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_conquest_of_British_Somaliland>
2005:
President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was
overthrown in a military coup while he was attending the funeral of King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Mauritanian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kite:
1. (transitive) To cause (something) to move upwards rapidly like a toy
kite; also (chiefly US, figuratively) to cause (something, such as
costs) to increase rapidly.
2. (transitive, slang) To tamper with a document or record by increasing
the quantity of something beyond its proper amount so that the
difference may be unlawfully retained; in particular, to alter a medical
prescription for this purpose by increasing the number of pills or other
items.
3. (transitive, video games) To keep ahead of (an enemy) in order to
attack repeatedly from a distance, without exposing oneself to danger.
4. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) glide in the manner of a
kite (“bird”).
5. (transitive, intransitive, banking, slang) To write or present (a
cheque) on an account with insufficient funds, either to defraud or
expecting that funds will become available by the time the cheque
clears.
6. (transitive, intransitive, US, slang, by extension) To steal.
7. (transitive, intransitive, rare) To manipulate like a toy kite; also,
usually preceded by an inflection of go: to fly a toy kite.
8. (intransitive) To travel by kite, as when kitesurfing.
9. (intransitive, figuratively) To move rapidly; to rush.
10. (intransitive, engineering, nautical) To deflect sideways in the
water.
11. (intransitive, US, prison slang) To pass a (usually concealed)
letter or oral message, especially illegally into, within, or out of a
prison.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The river rolled below him and the river did not care. Nothing
mattered to the river. It would take the tusk of mastodon, the skull of
sabertooth, the rib cage of a man, the dead and sunken tree, the thrown
rock or rifle and would swallow each of them and cover them in mud or
sand and roll gurgling over them, hiding them from sight. A million
years ago there had been no river here and in a million years to come
there might be no river — but in a million years from now there would
be, if not Man, at least a caring thing. And that was the secret of the
universe, Enoch told himself — a thing that went on caring.
--Clifford D. Simak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak>
Ryūjō ("Prancing Dragon") was a light aircraft carrier built for the
Imperial Japanese Navy during the early 1930s. Small and lightly built
in an attempt to exploit a loophole in the Washington Naval Treaty of
1922, she proved to be top-heavy and only marginally stable, and was
back in the shipyard for modifications within a year of completion. With
her stability improved, Ryūjō returned to service and was employed in
operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During World War II,
she provided air support for operations in the Philippines, Malaya, and
the Dutch East Indies, where her aircraft participated in the Second
Battle of the Java Sea. During the Indian Ocean raid in April 1942, the
carrier attacked British merchant shipping with both her guns and her
aircraft. Ryūjō participated in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands in
June. She was sunk by American carrier aircraft at the Battle of the
Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Ry%C5%ABj%C5%8D>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
216 BC:
Second Punic War: Outnumbered Carthaginian forces led by
Hannibal defeated a Roman army, near the town of Cannae, Apulia, in
southeast Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae>
1916:
An explosion, blamed on Austro-Hungarian saboteurs, sank the
Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Leonardo_da_Vinci>
1939:
Leo Szilard wrote a letter, signed by Albert Einstein and
addressed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning that Germany may
develop atomic bombs, leading to the U.S. establishing the Manhattan
Project.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szil%C3%A1rd_letter>
1989:
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Indian Peace Keeping Force began a
massacre that led to the deaths of 64 minority Sri Lankan Tamil
civilians over a two-day period in Valvettithurai, Sri Lanka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Valvettiturai_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hello girl:
(telephony, informal, dated) A female telephone operator.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hello_girl>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
They are not long, the days of wine and roses; Out of a misty
dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.
--Ernest Dowson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Dowson>