IFF Mark II was the first operational identification friend or foe
system, developed by the Royal Air Force just before World War II. The
Mark I, its predecessor, amplified the signals of the British Chain
Home radar systems, triggering a radar display blip. It required manual
tuning, and operators could not always distinguish between an enemy
aircraft and a friendly one with a maladjusted IFF. The Mark II,
deployed at the end of the Battle of Britain in late 1940, fixed this
problem with an automatic gain control and three automatic tuners that
covered a wider selection of radars. The Mark II's frequencies were
sufficient for the early war period, but by 1942 many more radars were
in use, including incompatible ones based on the cavity magnetron. The
IFF Mark III eliminated the multiple tuners and operated on a single
frequency that could be used with any radar; it entered service in 1943
and quickly replaced the Mark II.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFF_Mark_II>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1551:
Sue Takafusa, a military leader for the Ōuchi clan in western
Japan, led a coup against the daimyō, Ōuchi Yoshitaka, leading to the
latter's forced suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tainei-ji_incident>
1882:
The Vulcan Street Plant, the first hydroelectric central
station to serve a system of private and commercial customers in North
America, went on line in Appleton, Wisconsin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Street_Plant>
1939:
NBC broadcast the first televised American football game,
between the Fordham Rams and the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Waynesburg_vs._Fordham_football_game>
2009:
A 7.6 MW earthquake struck off the southern coast of Sumatra,
Indonesia (damage pictured), killing 1,115 and impacting an estimated
1.2 million people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sumatra_earthquakes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Plutonian:
1. (Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Of or relating to Pluto, the Greek
and Roman god of the underworld; demonic, infernal.
2. (by extension) Of, relating to, or having characteristics associated
with the underworld; dark, gloomy; mournful.
3. (by extension, geology) Synonym of plutonic (“of or pertaining to
rocks formed deep in the Earth's crust, rather than by volcanoes at the
surface of the Earth”)
4. (by extension, geology, historical) Synonym of plutonic (“of,
pertaining to, or supporting plutonism, the theory that the rocks of the
Earth were formed in fire by volcanic activity, with a continuing
gradual process of weathering and erosion, then deposited on the sea
bed, re-formed into layers of sedimentary rock by heat and pressure, and
raised again”) [...]
5. (astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of Pluto,
formerly regarded as a planet.
6. (astronomy) Of or relating to the dwarf planet Pluto.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Plutonian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river. When the ocean is
searching for you, don't walk into the language-river. Listen to the
ocean, and bring your talky business to an end Traditional words are
just babbling in that presence, and babbling is a substitute for
sight.
--Rumi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
Chartwell is an English country house near the town of Westerham, Kent.
For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill, who lived
there until shortly before his death in January 1965. In the 1930s, when
Churchill was excluded from political office, Chartwell became the
centre of his world. At his dining table, he gathered those who could
assist his campaign against German re-armament and the British
government's response of appeasement; in his study, he composed speeches
and wrote books; in his garden, he built walls, constructed lakes and
painted. During the Second World War Chartwell was largely unused, until
Churchill lost the 1945 election. In 1953, when he was again Prime
Minister, the house became his refuge after a debilitating stroke. From
the garden front, the house has extensive views over the Weald of Kent.
It was opened to the public by the National Trust in 1966.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartwell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
The Holocaust: Nazi forces, aided by local collaborators, began
the Babi Yar massacre in Kiev, Ukraine, killing over 30,000 Jewish
civilians in two days and thousands more in the months that followed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar>
1954:
Willie Mays of Major League Baseball's New York Giants made one
of the most famous defensive plays in baseball history, known as "The
Catch".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catch_%28baseball%29>
1963:
The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich, England,
after talk of establishing such a university in the city began as early
as the 19th century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_East_Anglia>
1990:
The Lockheed YF-22, the prototype for the F-22 Raptor, made its
first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YF-22>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Neptunian:
1. (Roman mythology) Of or pertaining to Neptune, the Roman god of fresh
water and the sea, the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon.
2. (by extension, rare) Of or pertaining to water or the sea.
3. (by extension, geology) Formed by the action of water.
4. (by extension, geology, historical) Of, pertaining to, or supporting
Neptunism (“a discredited theory that rocks were formed from the
crystallisation of minerals in the early Earth's oceans”). [...]
5. (astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet
Neptune.
6. (astronomy) Of or pertaining to the planet Neptune.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Neptunian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The lives of all are in the hands of Him who knows best whether
to preserve it or no, and to His will do I resign myself. My character
and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A
glorious death is to be envied, and, if anything happens to me recollect
death is a debt we must all pay, and whether now or in a few years hence
can be but of little consequence.
--Horatio Nelson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson>
Stocksbridge Park Steels Football Club is an English association
football club based in the Stocksbridge area of Sheffield. They
currently compete in the Northern Premier League Division One South
East. The club was formed in 1986 from the merger of Stocksbridge Works,
the works team of the local British Steel Corporation plant, with Oxley
Park Sports. Sporting a yellow and blue home kit, they play at the
Bracken Moor ground. They initially played in the Northern Counties East
League, progressing through its divisions. They won promotion to
Division One of the Northern Premier League in 1996, and reached its
Premier Division in 2009, but were relegated back to Division One South
in 2014. Due to league re-organisation, they now play in Division One
South East. Steels have participated in the FA Cup every year since
1992, reaching the 4th qualifying round in 2003, and first entered the
FA Trophy in 1996 after previously participating in the FA Vase.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stocksbridge_Park_Steels_F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1821:
The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from
Spain was drafted in the National Palace in Mexico City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Mexican_Em…>
1928:
Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming
discovered penicillin when he noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing
in his laboratory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin>
1975:
An attempted robbery of the Spaghetti House restaurant in
Knightsbridge, London, went wrong, becoming a six-day hostage situation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_House_siege>
2009:
A protest held by 50,000 people in Conakry, Guinea, was
forcefully disrupted by the military junta, resulting in at least 157
deaths and over 1,200 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Guinea_protest>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Uranian:
1. (comparable, literary, poetic) Celestial, heavenly; uranic.
2. (comparable, literary, archaic) Homosexual; (specifically) relating
to a man's erotic love for adolescent boys; pederastic; also, of poetry:
conveying appreciation for young men.
3. (not comparable, Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Of Aphrodite
Urania, the heavenly aspect of Greek goddess of beauty and love
Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus: heavenly, spiritual, as
contrasted with the earthly aspect of Aphrodite Pandemos.
4. (not comparable, Greek mythology, dated) Relating to Urania, the Muse
of astronomy.
5. (not comparable, by extension, historical, rare) Of or pertaining to
astronomy; astronomical. [...]
6. (not comparable, astronomy) Of or pertaining to the planet Uranus.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Uranian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of
comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man
thinks of favors which he may receive.
--Confucius (孔子 · Kongzi)
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
Mount Mazama is a complex volcano in the American part of the Cascade
Range whose collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake (pictured), the nation's
deepest freshwater body, at 1,943 feet (592 m). In North America, only
Great Slave Lake in Canada is deeper. Mount Mazama, within Crater Lake
National Park, is in the Oregon segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The
mountain's elevation before its climactic eruption about 7,700 years ago
was around 12,000 feet (3,700 m), but is now 8,157 feet (2,486 m).
Mount Mazama formed as a group of overlapping volcanic edifices
including shield volcanoes and small composite cones, becoming active
intermittently until its big eruption. Mazama is dormant, but the United
States Geological Survey says that eruptions on a smaller scale are
likely, and that these could pose a threat to its surroundings.
Indigenous people have inhabited the area around Mazama and Crater Lake
for at least 10,000 years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mazama>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
In a letter to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
in Paris, Jean-François Champollion announced his initial successes in
deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Champollion>
1908:
The first production Ford Model T, the car credited with
initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States, was
completed at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Piquette_Avenue_Plant>
1949:
Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference unanimously selected Zeng Liansong's design for the flag of
China (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_China>
2014:
Mount Ontake in central Japan unexpectedly erupted, killing 63
people in the nation's deadliest eruption in more than 100 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Mount_Ontake_eruption>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
saturnine:
1. (comparable) Of a person: having a tendency to be cold, bitter,
gloomy, sarcastic, and slow to change and react.
2. (comparable) Of a setting: depressing, dull, gloomy.
3. (comparable, chemistry, archaic) Of, pertaining to, or containing
lead (which was symbolically associated with the planet Saturn by
alchemists).
4. (not comparable, pathology) Of a disease: caused by lead poisoning
(saturnism); of a person: affected by lead poisoning.
5. (not comparable, astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological
influence of the planet Saturn; having the characteristics of a person
under such influence (see sense 1).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saturnine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain
Meaning of Words!
--Samuel Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>
The Louisiana Purchase Sesquicentennial half dollar was a proposed
United States commemorative coin. Intended for the 150th anniversary of
the Louisiana Purchase, the coin was lobbied for by the Missouri
Historical Society (MHS) and the Louisiana Purchase 150th Anniversary
Association of New Orleans, led by Clay Shaw; they hoped to be able to
buy the entire coin issue from the government and sell it at a profit.
Numismatist Eric P. Newman advocated for the bill on behalf of the MHS.
The House of Representatives passed authorizing legislation in April
1953, but the Senate was slower to act, passing it in January 1954. The
Treasury Department strongly opposed the bill, and President Dwight D.
Eisenhower vetoed it and two other commemorative coin bills on February
3, 1954; Congress made no attempt to override the vetoes. No
commemorative coins were authorized or issued by the United States after
1954 until a new issue was authorized in 1981.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase_Sesquicentennial_half_doll…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Parthenon in Athens was partly destroyed (painting of ruins
shown) in an explosion while being used as a gunpowder magazine by
Ottoman forces during an armed conflict against the Venetians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
1959:
Japan was struck by Typhoon Vera, the strongest and deadliest
typhoon on record to make landfall on the country, causing damage in
excess of US$261 million and over 5,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Vera>
1968:
The Beatles completed the recording of John Lennon's song
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun", regarded by all the band members as their
favourite on the album The Beatles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_Is_a_Warm_Gun>
2014:
Forty-three students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College
in Iguala, Mexico, were kidnapped and presumably later killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
learn the ropes:
1. (originally nautical, informal) To learn the basics or master
introductory knowledge.
2. (informal) To learn some skill requiring specialist knowledge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/learn_the_ropes>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must always take risks. That is our destiny.
--The Cocktail Party
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Cocktail_Party>
SOLRAD 2 was a surveillance and scientific satellite developed by the
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Like the similar SOLRAD 1 satellite
(model pictured), it was intended to measure solar X-rays and
ultraviolet radiation while conducting a covert surveillance mission,
mapping the Soviet Union's air defense radar network with its onboard
Galactic Radiation and Background electronic surveillance package.
SOLRAD 1, launched in June 1960, had been the first satellite to
observe solar X-rays, confirming the connection between increased solar
X-ray activity and radio fade-outs, and the first to conduct
surveillance from orbit, revealing a Soviet network that was more
extensive than had been expected. SOLRAD 2 was launched along with the
Transit 3A satellite atop a Thor DM-21 Ablestar rocket on November 30,
1960, but both satellites failed to reach orbit when the booster flew
off course and was destroyed. Debris rained down over Cuba, prompting
protests from the Cuban government.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLRAD_2>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
Ethan Allen and a small force of American and Quebec militia
failed in their attempt to capture Montreal from British forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Longue-Pointe>
1944:
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from
the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation
Market Garden in defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1964:
Unrest and frustration amongst many indigenous Mozambican
populations against Portuguese rule erupted in a war for independence
that lasted ten years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambican_War_of_Independence>
1996:
The last Irish Magdalene asylum (example pictured), an
institution to rehabilitate so-called "fallen women", was closed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_asylum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jovial:
1. (comparable) Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.
2. (not comparable, astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological
influence of the planet Jupiter; having the characteristics of a person
under such influence (see sense 1).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jovial>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The actions of the Trump Presidency revealed the dishonorable
fact of the President's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our
national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.
Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving
forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I am directing our six
Committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of
impeachment inquiry. The President must be held accountable. No one is
above the law.
--Nancy Pelosi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi>
The Edmontosaurus mummy in the American Museum of Natural History is an
exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a dinosaur, the first found to
include a skeleton encased in skin impressions; almost two-thirds of the
skin is preserved. Discovered in 1908 in the United States near Lusk,
Wyoming, it is ascribed to the species Edmontosaurus annectens, a
hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur). It was discovered lying on its back,
its neck twisted backwards and its forelimbs outstretched. After
dehydration and burial of the carcass, bacteria consolidated the
surrounding sediments, resulting in its excellent preservation. Skin
impressions found in between the fingers were once interpreted as
evidence for an aquatic lifestyle. The mummy was found by fossil hunter
Charles Hazelius Sternberg and his three sons in the Lance Formation.
Although Sternberg was working under contract to the British Museum of
Natural History, Henry Fairfield Osborn managed to secure the mummy for
the American museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmontosaurus_mummy_AMNH_5060>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Jay Gould, James Fisk and other speculators plotted but failed
to control the gold market in the U.S., causing gold prices to plummet
on "Black Friday".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%281869%29>
1911:
His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, was
wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMA_No._1>
1946:
Cathay Pacific (aircraft pictured), the de facto international
flag carrier of Hong Kong, was founded by Roy Farrell and Sydney de
Kantzow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathay_Pacific>
1975:
Dougal Haston and Doug Scott on the Southwest Face expedition
became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by
ascending one of its faces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_British_Mount_Everest_Southwest_Face_exp…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mercurial:
1. (comparable) Having a lively or volatile character; animated,
changeable, quick-witted.
2. (not comparable, astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence
of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such
influence (see adjective sense 1).
3. (not comparable, astronomy) Pertaining to the planet Mercury.
4. (not comparable, chemistry) Of or pertaining to the element mercury
or quicksilver; containing mercury.
5. (not comparable, medicine) Caused by the action of mercury or a
mercury compound.
6. (not comparable, Roman mythology) Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman
god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and
thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mercurial>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
First you use machines, then you wear machines, and then ...?
Then you serve machines.
--John Brunner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner>
The Shawshank Redemption is an American drama film written and directed
by Frank Darabont, first released on September 23, 1994. Based on the
1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, it
tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is sentenced
to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary (prison pictured) for the murder
of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the
following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband
smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental
in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton
(Bob Gunton). The film received positive reviews, but earned only
$16 million during its initial theatrical run. After garnering seven
Academy Award nominations, it was one of the top rented films of 1995,
and totaled $58.3 million at the box office after a theatrical re-
release. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected the film for
preservation in the National Film Registry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1803:
Maratha troops were defeated by forces of the British East
India Company at the Battle of Assaye, one of the decisive battles of
the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1952:
U.S. vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon delivered the
"Checkers speech", one of the first political uses of television to
appeal directly to the populace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
2002:
The initial version of the Firefox web browser was released by
the Mozilla Organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox>
2016:
Following a number of high-profile sexual assaults, major
reforms were enacted to strengthen laws related to rape in Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Germany>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tellurian:
1. (formal or literary) Of or relating to the earth; (specifically,
chiefly science fiction) inhabiting planet Earth as opposed to other
planets.
2. (mineralogy) Of a mineral: containing tellurium.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tellurian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For all their laughter, ghouls are a dull lot. Hunger is the fire
in which they burn, and it burns hotter than the hunger for power over
men or for knowledge of the gods in a crazed mortal. It vaporizes
delicacy and leaves behind only a slag of anger and lust. They see their
fellows as impediments to feeding, to be mauled and shrieked at when the
mourners go home.
--Brian McNaughton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_McNaughton>
Joseph B. Foraker (1846–1917) was the 37th Governor of Ohio
(1886–1890) and a Republican U.S. Senator (1897–1909). Born in rural
Ohio, Foraker enlisted in the Union Army at age 16 and fought in the
Civil War. After the war, he was a member of Cornell's first graduating
class, and became a lawyer; he was elected a judge in 1879. Although
defeated in his first run for governor in 1883, he was elected in 1885.
Foraker lost re-election in 1889, but was elected senator by the
legislature in 1896. In the Senate, he supported the Spanish-American
War and the annexation of the Philippines and Puerto Rico. He differed
with President Theodore Roosevelt over the Brownsville Affair, in which
black soldiers had been accused of terrorizing a Texas town; Roosevelt
had dismissed the entire battalion. Foraker fought unsuccessfully for
their reinstatement, and Roosevelt helped defeat Foraker's re-election
bid. In 1972, the Army reversed the dismissals and cleared the
soldiers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_B._Foraker>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des
Nibelungen by German composer Richard Wagner, was first performed in
Munich.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold>
1914:
First World War: The German submarine U-9 sank three Royal Navy
cruisers, resulting in approximately 1,450 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_22_September_1914>
1979:
An American Vela satellite detected an unidentified flash of
light near the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, thought to be
a nuclear weapons test.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_incident>
2013:
Two suicide bombers attacked a church in Peshawar, Pakistan,
killing 127 and injuring over 250 others in the deadliest attack on the
Christian minority in the country's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawar_church_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
martial:
1. (comparable) Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.
2. (comparable) Connected with or relating to armed forces or the
profession of arms or military life.
3. (comparable) Characteristic of or befitting a warrior; having a
military bearing; soldierly.
4. (not comparable, astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological
influence of the planet Mars.
5. (not comparable, astronomy, obsolete) Of or relating to the planet
Mars; Martian.
6. (not comparable, chemistry, medicine, obsolete) Containing, or
relating to, iron (which was symbolically associated with the planet
Mars by alchemists); chalybeate, ferric, ferrous.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/martial>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must not draw general conclusions from certain particular
principles, though, in the main, true ones. We must not suppose that,
because a man is a rational animal, he will therefore always act
rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that
he will act invariably and consequentially in the pursuit of it. No. We
are complicated machines: and though we have one main-spring, that gives
motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in
their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometimes stop that motion.
--Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield>
Herbig–Haro objects are bright nebular patches formed when narrow jets
of partially ionized gas ejected from newborn stars collide with clouds
of gas and dust. Often aligned with a star's rotational axis, they are
commonly found in star-forming regions. Most of them lie within a few
light-years of the source. They are transient phenomena, lasting around
a few tens of thousands of years. They can change visibly over just a
few years, as they move rapidly away from their parent star. First
observed in the late 19th century by Sherburne Wesley Burnham,
Herbig–Haro objects were not recognized as distinct from other
emission nebulas until the 1940s. The first astronomers to study them in
detail were George Herbig and Guillermo Haro, who independently
recognized that the objects were by-products of the star formation
process. Although the objects emit visible wavelengths, many are hidden
by dust and gas, and can only be seen at infrared wavelengths.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig%E2%80%93Haro_object>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York
(depiction shown) broke out during the British occupation of New York
City, destroying up to 1,000 buildings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York_%281776%29>
1939:
Romanian prime minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated in
Bucharest by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_C%C4%83linescu>
1968:
The Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft landed in the Indian Ocean,
becoming the first to safely return to Earth after circling the Moon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zond_5>
1999:
A 7.6 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Taiwan, killing 2,416 people,
injuring over 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion in damage
across the island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Jiji_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
venereal:
1. Of or relating to the genitals or sexual intercourse.
2. Of a disease: sexually transmitted; of or relating to, or adapted to
the cure of, a venereal disease.
3. (astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the
planet Venus; lascivious, lustful.
4. (chemistry, obsolete) Of or relating to copper (formerly called Venus
by alchemists).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/venereal>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
You couldn't get hold of the things you'd done and turn them
right again. Such a power might be given to the gods, but it was not
given to women and men, and that was probably a good thing. Had it been
otherwise, people would probably die of old age still trying to rewrite
their teens.
--Stephen King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_King>