The island of stability in nuclear physics is a predicted set of
isotopes of superheavy elements whose half-lives may be considerably
longer than those experimentally observed for these elements. Its
theoretical existence is attributed to stabilizing effects of closed
nuclear shells and magic numbers of protons and neutrons. The island of
stability is generally thought to center near copernicium and flerovium
isotopes with around 184 neutrons, separated from known stable and long-
lived nuclides. While stabilizing effects are expected to be greatest
for nuclides with around 114 protons, other islands of stability might
also exist around heavier nuclides with higher magic numbers. Estimates
of the stability of elements on the island are usually around a half-
life of minutes or days, with some estimates of up to millions of years.
The synthesis of nuclides with up to 118 protons and 177 neutrons has
demonstrated a slight stabilizing effect supporting the island's
existence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: At the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube,
Napoleon suddenly realized his army was vastly outnumbered and hurriedly
ordered a retreat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arcis-sur-Aube>
1937:
The papal encyclical Mit brennender Sorge, condemning
antisemitism and criticizing Nazism, was read from the pulpits of all
German Catholic churches.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mit_brennender_Sorge>
1960:
Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of
unarmed black demonstrators (depicted) who were protesting pass laws,
killing almost 70 people and wounding about 180 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre>
1980:
Dallas aired its "A House Divided" episode, which led to eight
months of international speculation regarding "Who shot J.R.?"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_House_Divided_%28Dallas%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
carceral:
(formal or literary) Of or pertaining to imprisonment or a prison.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carceral>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by
deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up
enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
--Samuel Ullman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Ullman>
Aries is the ninth studio album by Mexican recording artist Luis Miguel
(pictured). Released by WEA Latina in 1993, it features pop ballads and
dance numbers with R&B; influences. "Ayer" and "Hasta Que Me Olvides",
two of the album's three singles released for sale, topped the US
Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. "Hasta el Fin" and "Tú y Yo" were
released as promotional singles, both peaking at number four on that
chart. Aries stayed at number one on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums
for 19 weeks. It sold over one million copies in Mexico, and over two
million copies worldwide through 2000. Upon its release, the album
received mixed reviews from music critics; they were divided on the
dance tunes and ballads, although Miguel's vocals and the album's
arrangements garnered positive reactions. The Aries Tour promoted the
record in Latin America and the United States. Miguel received several
accolades for the album, including the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop
Album.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aries_%28album%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which had a
profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the
United States, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin>
1942:
World War II: After being forced to flee the Philippines for
Australia, U.S. Army general Douglas MacArthur announced, "I came
through and I shall return."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur>
1987:
The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first
treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration for HIV/AIDS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zidovudine>
1993:
The Troubles: Two children were killed by the second of two
bomb attacks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Warrington,
England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrington_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
teething troubles:
(idiomatic) Also teething trouble: small problems such as are to be
expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teething_troubles>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The real question is not whether machines think but whether men
do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a
thinking man.
--B. F. Skinner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner>
The Sonestown Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over
Muncy Creek in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, in the U.S. state of
Pennsylvania. Built c. 1850, the bridge is 110 feet (34 m) long, and
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1980.
The bridge is named for the nearby unincorporated village of Sonestown;
it was built to provide access to a gristmill, which operated until the
early 20th century. The bridge construction is cruder than the other
two surviving covered bridges in Sullivan County, with each Burr arch
formed from six straight beams set at angles instead of a smooth curve.
Despite being repaired or restored several times from 1969, as of 2016
the bridge was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of
corrective action" on the National Bridge Inventory. It is the shortest
covered bridge in the county and as of 2015 had average daily traffic of
50 vehicles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonestown_Covered_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
Established by Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, and others, the
first International Women's Day was observed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Zetkin>
1962:
Influential American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous
debut album, mainly comprising traditional folk songs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan>
1987:
American televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as the host of The
PTL Club in the midst of a sex scandal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bakker>
2016:
Flydubai Flight 981 crashed during an aborted landing at
Rostov-on-Don Airport, Russia, resulting in the deaths of all 62
passengers and crew on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flydubai_Flight_981>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
skulduggery:
1. (countable) A devious device or trick.
2. (uncountable) Dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or
behaviour.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skulduggery>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one I know of has foreseen an America like the one we live in
today. No one (except perhaps the acidic H. L. Mencken, who famously
described American democracy as "the worship of jackals by jackasses")
could have imagined that the 21st-century catastrophe to befall the
U.S.A., the most debasing of disasters, would appear not, say, in the
terrifying guise of an Orwellian Big Brother but in the ominously
ridiculous commedia dell’arte figure of the boastful buffoon.
--Philip Roth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Roth>
Arnold Bax (1883–1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. Best
known for his orchestral music, he also wrote songs, choral music,
chamber pieces, and solo piano works. In addition to a series of
symphonic poems, he wrote seven symphonies, and was for a time widely
regarded as the leading British symphonist. Bax was born in Streatham to
a prosperous family who encouraged his music career, and his private
income enabled him to follow his own path as a composer without regard
for fashion or orthodoxy. While still a student at the Royal Academy of
Music, Bax became fascinated with Ireland and the Celtic Revival. In the
years before the First World War he lived in Ireland and became a member
of Dublin literary circles, writing fiction and verse under the
pseudonym Dermot O'Byrne. His best-known work is the symphonic poem
Tintagel (1917). In 1942 Bax was appointed Master of the King's Music.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Bax>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1834:
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced to transportation to
Australia for swearing a secret oath as members of a friendly society in
Dorset, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs>
1915:
First World War: In one of the largest naval battles of the
Gallipoli campaign, Ottoman forces sank three Allied battleships (French
battleship Bouvet pictured) and severely damaged three others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_operations_in_the_Dardanelles_campaign>
1970:
U.S. postal workers began an eight-day strike after Congress
raised their wages by only 4 percent despite increasing its own pay by
41 percent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._postal_strike_of_1970>
1990:
Thieves stole thirteen works of art collectively valued at $500
million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum_theft>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jar:
1. (transitive) To preserve (food) in a jar. […]
2. (transitive) To knock, shake, or strike sharply, especially causing a
quivering or vibrating movement.
3. (transitive) To harm or injure by such action.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To shock or surprise.
5. (transitive, figuratively) To act in disagreement or opposition, to
clash, to be at odds with; to interfere; to dispute, to quarrel.
6. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause something to) give forth a
rudely tremulous or quivering sound; to (cause something to) sound
discordantly or harshly.
7. (intransitive) To quiver or vibrate due to being shaken or struck.
8. (intransitive, figuratively) Of the appearance, form, style, etc., of
people and things: to look strangely different; to stand out awkwardly
from its surroundings; to be incongruent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jar>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man is an animal, but a social animal. Society for its manifold
blessings asks in exchange sacrifice and compromise. Concession is the
world's walking gait. Fevers and hallucinations sweep over us, it is
true; but be they permitted to infect the public body, slaughter shall
result. Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness;
its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.
--John Updike
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Updike>
William F. Raynolds (March 17, 1820 – October 18, 1894) was an
explorer, engineer and army officer who served in the Mexican–American
War and the American Civil War. He oversaw the construction of numerous
lighthouses; at least six of them are still standing and in use. During
the occupation of Mexico in 1848, Raynolds led a party that was the
first to summit Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico and
believed at that time to be the highest in North America. In 1859,
Raynolds was placed in charge of the first government-sponsored
expedition into the Yellowstone region. Heavy snowpack prevented the
expedition from reaching the Yellowstone Plateau, forcing them to cross
Union Pass in the Wind River Range. The expedition then entered Jackson
Hole and surveyed the Teton Range, now within Grand Teton National Park.
Raynolds retired from the army in 1884 with the rank of colonel after a
40-year career.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Raynolds>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: The 11‑month Siege of Boston
ended with the evacuation of the city's British garrison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Boston>
1950:
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced
the synthesis of californium, a radioactive transuranium element.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californium>
1988:
Eritrean War of Independence: Eritrean People's Liberation
Front troops encircled Ethiopian forces in the Battle of Afabet, gaining
a decisive victory three days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Afabet>
2000:
Hundreds of followers of the Movement for the Restoration of
the Ten Commandments of God, a Ugandan sect, died in a mass murder
committed by its leaders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Restoration_of_the_Ten_Comma…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clarsach:
(music) A small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin; a Celtic
harp.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clarsach>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Be wise; Soar not too high, to fall; but stoop to rise.
--Philip Massinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Massinger>
The Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar is a fifty-cent
piece issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936 as a
commemorative coin. Designed by Henry Kreis, the obverse (pictured)
depicts the showman P. T. Barnum, who was one of Bridgeport's most
famous residents, mayor of the city, helped develop it, and is buried
there. Bridgeport authorities wanted a commemorative coin, and
authorizing legislation passed Congress without opposition. Kreis had
designed the Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar (1935), and he
produced designs showing Barnum and a modernistic eagle similar to the
one on the Connecticut piece. The coins were vended to the public
beginning in September 1936 at a price of $2. Too late for most of the
centennial celebrations, the coins sold well. Unsold pieces were bought
up by coin dealers and wholesale quantities were available on the
secondary market until the 1970s. The Bridgeport half dollar sells in
the low hundreds of dollars, depending on condition..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Tercentenary_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1244:
Albigensian Crusade: Following the successful Siege of
Montségur, French royal forces burned about 210 unrepentant Cathars in
a bonfire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Monts%C3%A9gur>
1802:
Congress passed the Military Peace Establishment Act,
authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
operate the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy>
1872:
In the first ever final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest
association football competition, Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers
1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_FA_Cup_Final>
1988:
Iran–Iraq War: Iraqi forces began attacking the Kurdish town
of Halabja with chemical weapons, killing up to 5,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_chemical_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
growl:
1. (intransitive) To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to
give forth an angry, grumbling sound.
2. (intransitive, jazz) Of a wind instrument: to produce a low-pitched
rumbling sound.
3. (intransitive, software) To send a user a message via the Growl
software library.
4. (transitive) To express (something) by growling.
5. (transitive, jazz) To play a wind instrument in a way that produces a
low-pitched rumbling sound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/growl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have seen the mere distinction of colour made in the most
enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive dominion
ever exercised by man over man. What has been the source of those unjust
laws complained of among ourselves? Has it not been the real or supposed
interest of the major number? Debtors have defrauded their creditors.
The landed interest has borne hard on the mercantile interest. The
Holders of one species of property have thrown a disproportion of taxes
on the holders of another species. The lesson we are to draw from the
whole is that where a majority are united by a common sentiment, and
have an opportunity, the rights of the minor party become insecure.
--James Madison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Madison>
Alloxylon pinnatum, the Dorrigo waratah, is a tree of the family
Proteaceae found in warm-temperate rainforest of south-east Queensland
and northern New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has shiny green
leaves that are either lobed and up to 30 cm (12 in) long, or spear-
shaped and up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. The prominent pinkish-red flower
heads with 50 to 140 individual flowers appear in spring and summer.
These are followed by rectangular woody seed pods, which bear two rows
of winged seeds. Known for many years as Oreocallis pinnata, it was
transferred to the new genus Alloxylon by Peter Weston and Mike Crisp in
1991; the genus contains four species previously classified in
Oreocallis that are found in Australasia. The tree's terminal tubular
flowers indicate that it is pollinated by birds. Classified as "near
threatened" under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992, the
Dorrigo waratah has proven difficult to keep alive in cultivation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alloxylon_pinnatum>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1311:
In the Battle of Halmyros, the Catalan Company defeated the
forces of Walter V, Count of Brienne, taking control of the Duchy of
Athens, a Crusader state in present-day Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halmyros>
1917:
Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in
the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_Revolution>
1956:
The musical My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw's play
Pygmalion, debuted at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway in New York
City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady>
1990:
Iraqi authorities hanged Iranian freelance reporter Farzad
Bazoft on charges of spying for Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farzad_Bazoft>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
slugabed:
(archaic, now chiefly Canada, US) A lazy person who lies in bed after
the usual time for getting up; a sluggard.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slugabed>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to
work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella
in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.
--Ruth Bader Ginsburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg>
Muhammad III (1257–1314) was the Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of
Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula from 1302 until 1309. He
built upon the military successes of his father Muhammad II against
Castile, and expanded Granada's territory by capturing Bedmar in 1303. A
treaty with Castile the following year recognised Granada's conquests in
return for Muhammad's pledge of fealty and tribute to King
Ferdinand IV. In 1306, Muhammad conquered Ceuta in North Africa,
putting Granada in control of both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. He
built the Alhambra's Great Mosque (destroyed in the sixteenth century by
Philip II), a nearby public bathhouse and the Partal Palace (pictured).
Poor sight eventually forced him to rely heavily on his advisors,
especially Ibn al-Hakim al-Rundi, his vizier, who became the de facto
ruler. Muhammad was deposed in a palace coup when Granada was on the
verge of a new war against Castile, Aragon, and the Marinids.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_III_of_Granada>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Prospectors drilled into a pressurized deposit within the
Midway-Sunset Oil Field in California, resulting in the largest
accidental oil spill in history, which eventually released 9 million
barrels (1.4 million m3) of crude oil over 18 months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeview_Gusher>
1931:
Alam Ara, the first Indian sound film, premiered at the
Majestic Cinema in Bombay.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alam_Ara>
1972:
Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, known for his
translation of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago after it had been
smuggled out of the Soviet Union, died in a mysterious explosion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giangiacomo_Feltrinelli>
1973:
Vietnam War: After having been captured by North Vietnamese
forces five and a half years earlier, U.S. Navy pilot John McCain was
released with 108 other prisoners of war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Pi Day:
March 14th, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pi_Day>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is
comprehensible.
--Albert Einstein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>
Apollo 9 (March 3–13, 1969) was the third crewed mission in the
United States Apollo program. Launched by a Saturn V rocket and flown
in Low Earth Orbit, the mission flight-qualified the Lunar Module,
showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and
dock, as would be required for Apollo 11, the first crewed lunar
landing. Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and
Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart tested systems and procedures
critical to landing on the Moon. A spacewalk tested the extravehicular
life support backpack. McDivitt and Schweickart, entering the lunar
module through the docking tunnel, became the first humans to pass
between spacecraft without going outside them, two months after Soviet
cosmonauts spacewalked to transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5.
Apollo 9, a complete success, was followed by Apollo 10, the dress
rehearsal for Apollo 11.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_9>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1639:
Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was named after
its first principal donor, clergyman John Harvard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Harvard_University>
1920:
The Kapp Putsch (participants pictured), an attempted coup
aiming to undo the German Revolution of 1918–1919, briefly ousted the
government of the Weimar Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Putsch>
1954:
Việt Minh forces under General Võ Nguyên Giáp began a
massive artillery bombardment on the French military, beginning the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the climactic battle of the First Indochina
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu>
1996:
A gunman killed sixteen children and a teacher at a primary
school in Dunblane, Scotland, before committing suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ledger:
1. A book for keeping notes, especially one for keeping accounting
records; a record book, a register.
2. A large, flat stone, especially one laid over a tomb.
3. (accounting) A collection of accounting entries consisting of credits
and debits.
4. (construction) A board attached to a wall to provide support for
attaching other structural elements (such as deck joists or roof
rafters) to a building.
5. (fishing) Short for ledger bait (“fishing bait attached to a floating
line fastened to the bank of a pond, stream, etc.”) or ledger line
(“fishing line used with ledger bait for bottom fishing; ligger”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ledger>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing
profoundly and a thousand other things well.
--Hugh Walpole
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hugh_Walpole>
Ethiopian historiography embodies the ancient, medieval, early modern
and modern disciplines of recording the history of Ethiopia. Ethiopian
historical writing can be traced back to the Kingdom of Aksum (c. AD
100 – c. 940). The writing of history became an established genre
in Ethiopian literature during the early Solomonic dynasty
(1270–1974), when written histories were usually in the form of royal
biographies, dynastic chronicles, hagiographic literature and universal
histories in the form of annals. These reinforced the genealogical
traditions of Ethiopia's rulers, who claimed descent from Solomon.
Modern Ethiopian historiography was developed by native Ethiopians and
by Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704), the German orientalist. The traditionalist
Heruy Wolde Selassie (1878–1938) employed Western historiographic
methods. Historiography of the 20th century focused largely on the
Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_historiography>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1930:
Mahatma Gandhi (pictured with Sarojini Naidu) began the Salt
March, a 24-day nonviolent walk to defy the British salt tax in colonial
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_March>
1940:
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed, ending the Winter War
between Finland and the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War>
1989:
Tim Berners-Lee submitted a memorandum at CERN with details of
an information-management system, the first proposal for what would
become the World Wide Web.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
impostor syndrome:
(psychology) A psychological phenomenon in which a person is unable to
internalize his or her accomplishments, remaining convinced that he or
she does not deserve any accompanying success.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/impostor_syndrome>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A favor well bestowed is almost as great an honor to him who
confers it as to him who receives it.
--Richard Steele
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Steele>