The British hydrogen bomb programme was the ultimately successful
British effort to develop thermonuclear weapons. The successful test of
an atomic bomb in Operation Hurricane in 1952 made Britain a nuclear
power, but hopes that the United States would be sufficiently impressed
to restore the Special Relationship were soon disappointed. In 1954,
Cabinet agreed to proceed with the development of the hydrogen bomb. The
scientists at the Atomic Weapons Establishment did not know how to build
one, but produced three designs: Orange Herald, a large boosted fission
weapon; Green Bamboo, an interim design; and Green Granite, a true
thermonuclear design. The first series of Operation Grapple tests
(newsreel featured) were hailed as a success, but Green Granite was a
failure. In November 1957, they successfully tested a thermonuclear
design. Subsequent tests demonstrated a mastery of the technology.
Together with the Sputnik crisis, this resulted in the 1958 US–UK
Mutual Defence Agreement, and the Special Relationship was restored.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_hydrogen_bomb_programme>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolution: The Committee of Safety of Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina, adopted the Mecklenburg Resolves, which annulled
and vacated all laws originating from the authority of the King or
Parliament.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg_Resolves>
1902:
The Second Boer War came to an end with the signing of the
Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Vereeniging>
1935:
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in the
British Raj, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake>
2005:
An article in the magazine Vanity Fair revealed that the secret
informant known as "Deep Throat", who had provided information about the
Watergate scandal, was former FBI associate director Mark Felt
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Felt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ether:
1. (uncountable, literary or poetic) The substance formerly supposed to
fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular
as a medium breathed by deities.
2. (by extension) The medium breathed by human beings; the air.
3. (by extension) The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.
4. (uncountable, physics, historical) Often as aether and more fully as
luminiferous aether: a substance once thought to fill all unoccupied
space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact
with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy; its
existence was disproved by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment and the
theory of relativity propounded by Albert Einstein (1879–1955).
5. (uncountable, colloquial) The atmosphere or space as a medium for
broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space
through which Internet and other digital communications take place;
cyberspace.
6. (uncountable, colloquial) A particular quality created by or
surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.
7. (uncountable, organic chemistry) Diethyl ether (C4H10O), an organic
compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.
8. (countable, organic chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds
containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
9. (transitive, slang) To viciously humiliate or insult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ether>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Roaming in thought over the Universe, I saw the little that is
Good steadily hastening towards immortality, And the vast that is evil
I saw hastening to merge itself and become lost and dead.
--Leaves of Grass
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#BY_THE_ROADSIDE>
Samuel Mulledy (1811–1866) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit.
Born in Virginia, he attended Georgetown College in Washington, D.C.,
where his brother, Thomas F. Mulledy, was the president. He then entered
the Society of Jesus in 1831 and proved to be a good student. He was
sent to Rome to study for the priesthood and to prepare for teaching.
Upon his return, he held senior academic positions, culminating in his
appointment as president of Georgetown College in 1845. Mulledy
reluctantly accepted the position but requested to be relieved just
eight months later. He continued to teach and minister, until his
expulsion from the Jesuit order in 1850 due to alcoholism. For the next
decade, he was a transient at churches in Massachusetts and New York,
until being assigned to St. Lawrence O'Toole in New York City, where he
remained for the rest of his life. On his deathbed, Mulledy successfully
petitioned to be re-admitted to the Society of Jesus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Mulledy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1899:
Pearl Hart, one of the few female outlaws of the American Old
West, committed one of the last recorded stagecoach robberies, about 30
miles (48 km) southeast of Globe, Arizona.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Hart>
1959:
The Auckland Harbour Bridge, spanning Waitematā Harbour
between the Saint Marys Bay and Northcote suburbs of Auckland, New
Zealand, officially opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge>
2005:
American student Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a high-
school graduation trip to Aruba.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Natalee_Holloway>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
BANANA:
(informal, humorous, derogatory, often attributively) One who objects to
the building of any structure in their neighbourhood, especially in
public policy debate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BANANA>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the peculiarity of privilege and of every privileged
position to kill the intellect and heart of man. The privileged man,
whether he be privileged politically or economically, is a man depraved
in intellect and heart.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
Pod is the debut album by American alternative rock band the Breeders,
released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, it
features band leader Kim Deal (pictured) on vocals and guitar, Josephine
Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. The
Breeders formed in 1988 when Deal, a member of the Pixies, befriended
Donelly of Throwing Muses during a European tour. They recorded a
country-infused demo in 1989, leading to 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-
Russell funding an album, Pod, recorded that year at the Palladium
studio in Edinburgh, Scotland. The album became a critical and popular
success, reaching number 22 in the UK. Critics praised its dark,
sexualized lyrics, and compared it favorably to the Pixies. Nirvana's
Kurt Cobain said it was one of his favorite records, and Pitchfork
ranked it number 81 on its list of the best albums of the 1990s. The
cover art was designed by Vaughan Oliver and portrays a man performing a
fertility dance while wearing a belt of eels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pod_%28The_Breeders_album%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1416:
A squadron of the Venetian navy captured many Ottoman ships at
the Battle of Gallipoli, confirming Venetian naval superiority in the
Aegean Sea for the next few decades.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gallipoli_%281416%29>
1900:
N'Djamena (monument pictured), now the capital of Chad, was
founded as Fort-Lamy by French commander Émile Gentil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%27Djamena>
1954:
Diane Leather became the first woman to run a mile in less than
five minutes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Leather>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nick:
1. (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor
way.
2. (transitive) To make ragged or uneven, as by cutting nicks or notches
in; to deface, to mar.
3. (transitive, rare) To make a crosscut or cuts on the underside of
(the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of
nicks; to tally with.
5. (transitive) To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike
at the precise point or time.
6. (transitive, cricket) To hit the ball with the edge of the bat and
produce a fine deflection.
7. (transitive, gaming) To throw or turn up (a number when playing
dice); to hit upon.
8. (transitive, mining) To make a cut at the side of the face.
9. (transitive, Australia, Britain, slang) To steal.
10. (transitive, Britain, law enforcement, slang) To arrest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nick>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe in an America with a government of men devoted solely
to the public interests — men of ability and dedication, free from
conflict or corruption or other commitment — a responsible government
that is efficient and economical, with a balanced budget over the years
of the cycle, reducing its debt in prosperous times — a government
willing to entrust the people with the facts that they have — not a
businessman's government, with business in the saddle … not a labor
government, not a farmer's government, not a government of one section
of the country or another, but a government of, for and by the people.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized
woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the
lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or
head. This species is found across Eurasia and parts of North Africa, in
all types of woodlands. Some individuals have a tendency to wander,
leading to the recent recolonisation of Ireland. Great spotted
woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and
also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; they have
anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the
hammering action. They can extract seeds from pine cones and insect
larvae from inside trees, and will eat eggs and chicks of other birds.
Both parents incubate the clutch of four to six eggs and continue to
feed the chicks for about ten days after they fledge. The species has a
large population and is not threatened.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_spotted_woodpecker>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
Scottish-American preservationist John Muir founded the
environmental organization Sierra Club in San Francisco, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir>
1901:
Mozaffar ad-Din, the shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights
to prospect for oil in the country to William Knox D'Arcy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_Concession>
1987:
Mathias Rust, a West German aviator, flew his Cessna 172 from
Helsinki, Finland, through Soviet air defences, landing illegally near
Red Square in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust>
2010:
A train derailment and collision in the West Midnapore district
of West Bengal, India, caused the deaths of at least 148 passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnaneswari_Express_train_derailment>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pyroballogy:
(weaponry, obsolete, rare) The study of artillery; the practice of using
artillery as a weapon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pyroballogy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers
formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
--George Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Washington>
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914), headed by Douglas
Mawson, explored the largely uncharted coast of Antarctica due south of
Australia. Mawson was inspired to lead his own venture by his
experiences on Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod expedition in 1907–1909.
During its time in Antarctica, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition's
sledging parties covered around 2,600 miles (4,180 km) of unexplored
territory. Its ship, SY Aurora (pictured), navigated 1,800 miles
(2,900 km) of unmapped coastline. Scientific activities included
meteorological measurements, magnetic observations, an expansive
oceanographic program, and the collection of many biological and
geological samples, including the discovery of the first meteorite found
in Antarctica. The expedition was the first to establish and maintain
wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. Its broad exploration
program laid the groundwork for Australia's later territorial claims in
Antarctica.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated troops of
the French Army of the Danube, capturing the strategically important
Swiss town of Winterthur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur>
1917:
Pope Benedict XV promulgated the Pio-Benedictine Code, the
first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_Code_of_Canon_Law>
1940:
World War II: Ninety-seven soldiers of the British Royal
Norfolk Regiment were executed after surrendering to German forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Paradis_massacre>
1995:
American actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse,
leaving him quadriplegic; he later became an activist on behalf of
people with spinal cord injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gouge:
1. (transitive) To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or
as if with a gouge.
2. (transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an
unfairly or unreasonably high price.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or scoop (something) out with or as
if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push
the eye (of a person) out of its socket.
4. (intransitive) To use a gouge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gouge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are certain injustices in this life you’ve got to do
something about. You can’t just say that you can’t fight it, or
it’s too much trouble, or that you don’t have the time or the
effort, or that you can’t win. Forget all that. Fight them all!
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>
Paul E. Patton (born May 26, 1937) is an American politician who served
as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. He became wealthy
operating coal mines for 20 years, then sold most of his coal interests
in the late 1970s and entered politics. After serving briefly in the
cabinet of Governor John Y. Brown Jr. and chairing the state Democratic
Party, he was elected lieutenant governor in 1991. Four years later, he
was elected governor over the Republican Party's Larry Forgy. The major
achievement of Patton's first term was overhauling higher education,
including making the state's community colleges and technical schools
independent of the University of Kentucky and organizing them into the
Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Because of a 1992
amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor
eligible to succeed himself in office since James Garrard in 1800, and
he was re-elected in 1999.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_E._Patton>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
The deadliest fire in Norwegian history occurred at a church in
Grue, killing at least 113 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire>
1938:
The House Un-American Activities Committee was established to
investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities by people or
organizations in the U.S. suspected of having communist or fascist ties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee>
2002:
Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridge (aftermath
pictured) near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing 11 vehicles to fall into
Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
facticity:
1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being a fact.
2. (uncountable, specifically, philosophy) In existentialism, the state
of being in the world without any knowable reason for such existence, or
of being in a particular state of affairs which one has no control over.
3. (countable) A fact that is not changeable or that is assumed to be
true without further evaluation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facticity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The world wants oatmeal. It is not my job to give the world
oatmeal. It is my job not to be a hack. It is my job to try to make the
world chew, lest its lazy jaw muscles atrophy and its collective
mandible withers and all its teeth fall out. It is my job, as a writer,
to give the world toffee and peanut brittle and tough steak and celery.
I write peanut butter sandwiches, not oatmeal. And every time some dolt
whines, "I'm confused" or "I don't understand" or "This doesn't make any
sense," I should smile and know that I'm doing my job. Not because it is
my job to be opaque, but because it is not my job to be transparent.
--Caitlín R. Kiernan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan>
Hurricane Fred was the easternmost Atlantic hurricane ever to form in
the tropics, and the first to move through Cape Verde since 1892. The
second hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, Fred became a
Category 1 hurricane on August 31 as it approached Cape Verde, which
was placed under a hurricane warning for the first time ever. The
Barlavento Islands endured gales and flooding rains as the eye of the
hurricane paralleled their shorelines. Structural damage across Boa
Vista and Sal presented as leveled roofs, damaged homes and toppled
utility poles. Farmers on São Nicolau suffered crop and livestock
losses when they saw their lands flood. Fred's rains, though
destructive, alleviated a drought across the Sotavento Islands of Cape
Verde. Elsewhere, violent seas along the West African shoreline
destroyed fishing villages and submerged homes in Senegal. Between the
coasts of West Africa and Cape Verde, nine people died in maritime
incidents.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Fred_%282015%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1878:
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at
the Opera Comique in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore>
1962:
The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, the last overnight
steamboat service in the U.S., went out of business.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Steam_Packet_Company>
2012:
SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to
rendezvous with the International Space Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_COTS_Demo_Flight_2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overt:
Open and not concealed or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than
luxury, and refinement rather than fashion: to he worthy, not
respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk
gently, act frankly; to have an oratory in my own heart, and present
spotless sacrifices of dignified kindness in the temple of humanity; to
spread no opinions glaringly out like show-plants, and yet leave the
garden gate ever open for the chosen friend and the chance acquaintance:
to make no pretenses to greatness; to seek no notoriety; to attempt no
wide influence; to have no ambitious projects; to let my writings be
the daily bubbling spring flowing through constancy, swelled by
experiences, into the full, deep river of wisdom; to listen to stars and
buds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do
all bravely, await occasions, hurry never; … in a word, to let the
spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is
to be my symphony.
--William Henry Channing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Henry_Channing>
On 24 May 1979, in a game against Worcestershire, Somerset County
Cricket Club captain Brian Rose chose to declare his team's innings
closed after one over, throwing the game to manipulate a loophole in the
rules. He was aiming to avoid elimination on a strike rate tie-breaker
from the quarterfinals of the 1979 Benson & Hedges Cup, a one-day
cricket competition for counties in England and Wales. After Somerset
scored one run and declared, Worcestershire scored the two runs they
needed to win. The match at New Road (pictured) in Worcester was
completed in 18 minutes, with only 16 legal deliveries. Although
Somerset's declaration was within the Laws of Cricket, Rose was
condemned by the press and cricket officials. Just over a week after the
match, the Test and County Cricket Board met for an emergency session
and voted to eject Somerset from the competition by a vote of seventeen
to one. The Laws were later changed to ban declarations in professional
one-day cricket.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_v_Somerset,_1979>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830:
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published
as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Had_a_Little_Lamb>
1930:
English aviator Amy Johnson landed in Darwin, becoming the
first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Johnson>
1970:
On the Kola Peninsula in Russia, drilling began on the Kola
Superdeep Borehole, which eventually reached a depth of 12,262 metres
(40,230 ft), making it the deepest borehole ever drilled and the
deepest artificial point on Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole>
2014:
A gunman who had links to radical Islamists opened fire at the
Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_of_Belgium_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
consilience:
1. (logic) The concurrence of multiple inductions drawn from different
data sets. [from mid 19th c.]
2. The agreement, co-operation, or overlap of academic disciplines.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consilience>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the
waters Around you have grown. And accept it that soon You'll be
drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth savin' Then you
better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone For the times they
are a-changin'.
--Bob Dylan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan>
Anne Hathaway (born 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of
multiple awards, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the world
in 2015, and her films have earned more than $6.8 billion worldwide.
She made her breakthrough in The Princess Diaries (2001). After roles in
the 2005 dramas Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, she played an assistant to
a fashion magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and a
recovering alcoholic in Rachel Getting Married (2008). She starred in
the romantic films Bride Wars (2009), Valentine's Day (2010), and Love &
Other Drugs (2010), and in the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland (2010).
In 2012, Hathaway starred as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises and as
Fantine in the musical drama Les Misérables, for which she won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played a scientist in
Interstellar (2014), the owner of an online fashion site in the comedy
The Intern (2015), and a haughty actress in the heist film Ocean's 8
(2018).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hathaway>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1533:
Thomas Cranmer (portrait shown), Archbishop of Canterbury,
annulled Henry VIII's marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon,
beginning a chain of events that would culminate in the English
Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Reformation>
1934:
American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed
and killed by police on a desolate road near their hideout in Bienville
Parish, Louisiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde>
2008:
The International Court of Justice awarded the Middle Rocks to
Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, resolving a 29-year-old
territorial dispute in the Singapore Strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_Branca_dispute>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pall:
1. (transitive) To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or
spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
2. (intransitive) To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose
life, spirit, strength, or taste.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pall>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Act in such a way that your heart may be free from hatred. Let
not your heart be offended with anyone. If someone commits an error and
wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him. Do not complain of
others. Refrain from reprimanding them, and if you wish to give
admonition or advice, let it be offered in such a way that it will not
burden the bearer. Turn all your thoughts toward bringing joy to hearts.
Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart. Assist the world of humanity
as much as possible. Be the source of consolation to every sad one,
assist every weak one, be helpful to every indigent one, care for every
sick one, be the cause of glorification to every lowly one, and shelter
those who are overshadowed by fear.
--`Abdu'l-Bahá
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1>
The 1962 Tour de France was the 49th edition of the Tour de France, one
of cycling's Grand Tours. The 4,274-kilometre (2,656 mi) race consisted
of 22 stages, including two split stages, starting in Nancy on 24 June
and finishing at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 15 July. For the
first time since 1929, the Tour was contested by trade teams instead of
national teams. Victory in the individual time trial of stage 20 put
Jacques Anquetil (pictured) in the general classification leader's
yellow jersey, which he held until the conclusion of the race to win his
third Tour de France, defending his title. Jef Planckaert placed second,
and Raymond Poulidor third. In the other race classifications, Rudi
Altig won the points classification, and Federico Bahamontes won the
mountains classification. Anquetil's team Saint-
Raphaël–Helyett–Hutchinson won the team classification, and Eddy
Pauwels won the award for most combative rider. Altig and Emile Daems
won the most stages, with three each.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Tour_de_France>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1897:
The first Blackwall Tunnel (construction pictured) under the
River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of
London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwall_Tunnel>
1960:
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering
approximately 9.5 Mw, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis
that reached Hawaii and Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake>
1980:
Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that
became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man>
2010:
Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812
overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the 166
people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Express_Flight_812>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mouthbrooder:
(zoology) Any animal that cares for its offspring, either eggs or
juveniles, by holding them in its mouth for extended periods of time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mouthbrooder>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To glimpse one’s own true nature is a kind of homegoing, to a
place East of the Sun, West of the Moon — the homegoing that needs no
home, like that waterfall on the upper Suli Gad that turns to mist
before touching the earth and rises once again into the sky.
--Peter Matthiessen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Matthiessen>