Marcel Lihau (1931–1999) was a Congolese jurist, law professor, and
politician who helped create two constitutions for the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. He attended the Université catholique de Louvain
in Belgium, becoming one of the first Congolese to study law, and was
made dean of the law faculty at Lovanium University in 1963. The
following year, he helped deliver the Luluabourg Constitution, which the
Congolese adopted by referendum. In 1965, Joseph-Desiré Mobutu seized
control of the country and directed him to produce a new constitution.
Lihau was First President of the new Supreme Court of Justice of the
Congo from 1968 until 1975, when Mobutu summarily removed him from his
post and placed him under house arrest. After Lihau helped found the
reform-oriented Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, Mobutu
suspended his rights and banished him to a rural village. Lihau
eventually moved to the United States, where he continued to advocate
for political reform in the Congo until his death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Lihau>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1703:
English writer Daniel Defoe was imprisoned for seditious libel
after publishing a pamphlet that was perceived to satirise the Tories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shortest_Way_with_the_Dissenters>
1851:
The Congress of Colombia passed a law abolishing slavery in the
country, to take effect at the beginning of the new year.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Colombia>
1924:
University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard
Loeb (both pictured) murdered a 14-year-old boy in a thrill killing out
of a desire to commit a "perfect crime".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_and_Loeb>
1998:
Indonesian president Suharto resigned following the collapse of
support for his presidency amid economic and political crises.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
orature:
The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk
songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in
writing. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orature>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Teach me to feel another's woe, To right the fault I see; That
mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.
--Alexander Pope
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope>
Aitraaz (Objection) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller
film directed by Abbas–Mustan. It stars Akshay Kumar and Priyanka
Chopra (pictured), along with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Amrish Puri, Paresh
Rawal and Annu Kapoor. It was produced by Subhash Ghai, with a
screenplay by Shyam Goel and Shiraz Ahmed, and soundtrack by Himesh
Reshammiya. In the film, a man is accused of sexual harassment by his
female superior. It was released to positive reviews, and to widespread
critical acclaim for Chopra's performance as Sonia Roy. Aitraaz was a
commercial success, grossing over ₹260 million at the box office
against a budget of ₹110 million. At the 50th Filmfare Awards, Chopra
was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and won Best Performance in a
Negative Role for her work. She also won the Bengal Film Journalists'
Association Award for Best Actress and the Screen Award for Best Actor
in a Negative Role. The film received ten nominations at the 2005
International Indian Film Academy Awards, winning three.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aitraaz>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1570:
The "first modern atlas", Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (world map
pictured) by Abraham Ortelius, was published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ortelius>
1741:
War of Jenkins' Ear: Having lost more than 9,500 men, mostly
from yellow fever, British forces were forced to withdraw, ending the
two-month-long Battle of Cartagena de Indias against Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_de_Indias>
1882:
The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
was formed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Alliance_%281882%29>
1996:
In deciding Romer v. Evans, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down
an amendment in Colorado that prevented protected status under the law
for homosexuals or bisexuals.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romer_v._Evans>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wheelhouse:
1. A building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the
water wheel of a mill.
2. (automotive) The partially enclosed structure above and around a
wheel of an automobile, typically partly formed by a portion of a fender
panel that has been extended outward beyond the plane of the rest of the
panel.
3. (nautical) An enclosed compartment on the deck of a vessel such as a
fishing boat, originally housing its helm or steering wheel, from which
it may be navigated; on a larger vessel it is the bridge.
4. (nautical) The enclosed structure around the paddlewheel of a
steamboat.
5. (archaeology) A prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in
Scotland, characteristically including an outer wall within which a
circle of stone piers (resembling the spokes of a wheel) form the basis
for lintel arches supporting corbelled roofing with a hearth at the hub.
6. (Canada, US, baseball, by extension from sense 1.2) A pitch location
which is favourable to the hitter.
7. (Canada, US, figuratively) A person's area of authority or expertise.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wheelhouse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons.
--Michael Jackson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson>
Peresvet was the lead ship of the three pre-dreadnought battleships of
the Peresvet class built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the
nineteenth century. The ship was transferred to the Pacific Squadron
upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1903. During the Russo-
Japanese War of 1904–05, she participated in the Battle of Port Arthur
and was seriously damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and again
in the Siege of Port Arthur. The ship was scuttled before the Russians
surrendered, then salvaged by the Japanese and placed into service with
the name Sagami. Partially rearmed, Sagami was reclassified by the
Imperial Japanese Navy as a coastal defence ship in 1912. In 1916, the
Japanese sold her to the Russians, their allies since the beginning of
World War I. En route to the White Sea in early 1917, she sank off Port
Said, Egypt, after striking mines laid by a German submarine.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Peresvet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison west of
Montreal surrendered to British troops at the Battle of the Cedars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Cedars>
1845:
Captain John Franklin (engraving shown) departed Greenhithe,
England, on an expedition to the Canadian Arctic; all 129 men were later
lost when their ships became icebound in Victoria Strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition>
2015:
A corroded oil pipeline near Refugio State Beach, California,
spilled 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto one of
the most biologically diverse coastlines of the U.S. West Coast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugio_oil_spill>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gnomon:
1. An object such as a pillar or a rod that is used to tell time by the
shadow it casts when the sun shines on it, especially the pointer on a
sundial.
2. An object such as a pillar used by an observer to calculate the
meridian altitude of the sun (that is, the altitude of the sun when it
reaches the observer's meridian), for the purpose of determining the
observer's latitude.
3. The index of the hour circle of a globe.
4. (geometry) A plane figure formed by removing a parallelogram from a
corner of a larger parallelogram.
5. (mathematics, by extension) A number representing the increment
between two figurate numbers (“numbers equal to the numbers of dots in
geometric figures formed of dots”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gnomon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Most executives, many scientists, and almost all business school
graduates believe that if you analyze data, this will give you new
ideas. Unfortunately, this belief is totally wrong. The mind can only
see what it is prepared to see.
--Edward de Bono
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_de_Bono>
The Bath School disaster was a series of violent attacks perpetrated by
Andrew Kehoe in Bath Township, Michigan. The attacks killed
38 elementary schoolchildren and 6 adults, and injured at least
58 other people. On the morning of May 18, 1927 – having previously
murdered his wife at their farm – Kehoe set off almost simultaneous
explosions at his home and at the Bath Consolidated School (pictured).
His devices destroyed the farm's buildings and ripped through the north
wing of the school. As rescuers began working at the school, Kehoe drove
up to the schoolyard and set off dynamite inside his shrapnel-filled
truck, killing himself and several others nearby. During the rescue and
recovery efforts, searchers discovered 500 pounds (230 kg) of
unexploded dynamite and pyrotol in the south wing of the school that had
been set to detonate at the same time as the north wing explosions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1926:
Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson was reportedly
kidnapped near Venice Beach in Los Angeles before reappearing five weeks
later in Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_kidnapping_of_Aimee_Semple_McPherson>
1944:
The Soviet Union forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of
Crimean Tatars to the Uzbek SSR and elsewhere in the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatars>
1980:
Mount St. Helens explosively erupted, killing approximately 57
people in southern Washington state, reducing hundreds of square miles
to wasteland, and causing more than US$1 billion in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
schlubby:
(chiefly US, informal) Clumsy, oafish, or socially awkward; unattractive
or unkempt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schlubby>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,Some letter of that After-
life to spell,And by and by my Soul returned to me,And answered, I
Myself am Heav'n and Hell: Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill's Desire,
And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire Cast on the Darkness into which
Ourselves, So late emerg'd from, shall so soon expire.
--Omar Khayyám
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m>
Frank Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920) was an English
theatre architect and designer. Matcham was best known for his work in
London, under Moss Empires, which included the designs of the Hippodrome
(1900), Hackney Empire (1901), Coliseum (1903), Palladium (1910), and
the Victoria Palace (1911). During his 40-year career, he was
responsible for the design and construction of over 90 theatres and the
redesign and refurbishment of a further 80 throughout the United
Kingdom. According to the dramatist Alan Bennett, there was a Matcham
theatre in every corner of the UK. Matcham's use of cantilevers for the
galleries allowed him to discontinue the use of columns, which would
otherwise obstruct the audience's view of the stage. The auditorium
decorations were often mixed with Tudor strap-work, Louis XIV detail,
Anglo-Indian motifs, naval and military insignia, rococo panels,
classical statuary, and baroque columns.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Matcham>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1642:
The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded Fort Ville-Marie,
a permanent mission that eventually grew into the Canadian city of
Montreal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal>
1947:
After renegotiating a contract with the makers of her signature
Chanel No. 5 perfume, Coco Chanel received a share of wartime profits
from its sale, making her one of the richest women in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel>
2000:
Following the killing of two English football fans by
Galatasaray supporters in the previous month, British and Turkish
hooligans rioted on the day of the UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_UEFA_Cup_Final_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fjord:
A long, narrow, deep inlet between cliffs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fjord>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The idea of motherland is not a false idea, but it is a little
idea, and one which must remain little. There is only one common good.
There is only one moral duty, only one truth, and every man is the
shining recipient and guardian of it. The present understanding of the
idea of motherland divides all these great ideas, cuts them into pieces,
specializes them within impenetrable circles. We meet as many national
truths as we do nations, and as many national duties, and as many
national interests and rights — and they are antagonistic to each
other.
--Henri Barbusse
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Barbusse>
Juan Davis Bradburn (1787–1842) was a brigadier general in the Mexican
Army. His actions as commandant of the garrison at Anahuac (historical
markers pictured) in Mexican Texas in 1831 and 1832 led to the events
known as the Anahuac Disturbances. Born in the United States, he became
an officer in the Mexican Army in 1821. In 1830, he established a new
military and customs post at Anahuac in Texas. The local settlers
resented Bradburn's efforts to withhold land titles from those who had
dubious ownership, his attempts to enforce previously ignored customs
laws, and his refusal to return fugitive slaves. A large force of
Texians marched on Anahuac to secure the release of arrested settlers
who had been denied protections offered by the United States Bill of
Rights, even though these rights were not guaranteed in Mexico. The
confrontation forced Bradburn's expulsion from Texas and encouraged
further armed action against Mexican soldiers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Davis_Bradburn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1866:
The United States Congress authorized the minting of the Shield
nickel, the country's first five-cent piece to be made of a
copper–nickel alloy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_nickel>
1943:
Second World War: The Royal Air Force's "Dambusters" squadron
embarked on an attack on German dams using bouncing bombs designed by
Barnes Wallis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouncing_bomb>
1960:
American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working
laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Maiman>
2014:
At least 12 people were killed and 70 others injured when two
bombs exploded in a market in Nairobi, Kenya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Gikomba_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
terse:
1. (obsolete) Burnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce.
2. (by extension) Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.
3. (by extension) Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short;
curt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/terse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If ever I do escape, no one shall reproach me with having broken
or violated my faith, not having given my word to any one, whosoever it
may be.
--Joan of Arc
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc>
Claudio Monteverdi (15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an
Italian composer, string player and maestro di cappella. A composer of
both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of
opera, he is considered a transitional figure between the Renaissance
and the Baroque periods of music history. He was a court musician in
Mantua (c. 1590 – 1613), and then maestro di cappella at St Mark's
Basilica in the Republic of Venice. His surviving music includes nine
books of madrigals, in the tradition of earlier Renaissance
polyphony – but also experimenting with the basso continuo technique,
distinctive of the Baroque – as well as large-scale sacred works,
including the Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed
Virgin), and three complete operas. His music enjoyed a rediscovery from
the 1880s onwards, and he is now seen as a significant influence in
European musical history. Seven of his operas have been lost, but his
L'Orfeo (1607) is the earliest opera that is still widely performed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Monteverdi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1836:
English astronomer Francis Baily observed Baily's beads
(example pictured), a phenomenon during a solar eclipse in which the
rugged topography of the lunar limb allows sunlight to shine through.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baily>
1945:
The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to
surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg
repatriations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleiburg_repatriations>
1970:
Police opened fire during a confrontation with a group of
Jackson State College students, killing two students and injuring twelve
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings>
2010:
Upon her return to Sydney three days before her 17th birthday,
Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail non-stop and
unassisted around the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Watson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
primigravida:
(obstetrics, veterinary medicine) A woman or female animal who is
pregnant for the first time, or who has been pregnant once.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/primigravida>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Scarecrow was now the ruler of the Emerald City, and although
he was not a Wizard the people were proud of him. "For," they said,
"there is not another city in all the world that is ruled by a stuffed
man." And, so far as they knew, they were quite right.
--L. Frank Baum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum>
Spalding War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the gardens of
Ayscoughfee Hall in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in eastern England. It was
designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The proposal originated with Barbara
McLaren; her husband Francis McLaren, the town's member of parliament,
was killed during the war. Lutyens produced a plan for a cross in a
grand memorial cloister surrounding a circular pond. The memorial was to
be built in the hall's formal gardens, which were owned by the local
council. After a public meeting and a vote in 1919, a reduced-scale
version emerged as the preferred option. The memorial consists of a
brick pavilion at the south end of the garden and a Stone of
Remembrance, both at the head of a long reflecting pool (pictured). The
design was not used in any of Lutyens's other war memorials but it
influenced several of his cemeteries on the Western Front. The memorial
was unveiled at a ceremony on 9 June 1922, and is a Grade I listed
building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalding_War_Memorial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1804:
Led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the Corps of
Discovery left Camp Dubois near present-day Hartford, Illinois, to begin
the first overland expedition to the West Coast of the United States and
back.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition>
1940:
World War II: The bulk of Dutch forces surrendered to the
German Wehrmacht, ending the Battle of the Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Netherlands>
1980:
Salvadoran Civil War: Refugees trying to flee El Salvador
across the Sumpul River to Honduras were attacked by both Salvadoran and
Honduran forces, resulting in at least 300 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumpul_River_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
up to something:
(idiomatic) Doing something mischievous or scheming.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/up_to_something>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with
your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you
choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your
destiny.
--Carl Schurz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz>
"These Are the Voyages..." is the series finale of the American science
fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. The episode, which
first aired on the UPN network on May 13, 2005, is a frame story, where
the 22nd-century events of Star Trek: Enterprise are recreated on a
24th-century holodeck on Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next
Generation. Featuring guest stars Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and
Jeffrey Combs, the episode has Commander William Riker grappling with
making a difficult admission to his commanding officer about a cover-up.
Riker turns for guidance to the simulated events of the year 2161, when
the crew of Enterprise travels home to Earth for the formation of the
United Federation of Planets and Commander Trip Tucker, played by Connor
Trinneer (pictured), saves the captain's life. UPN and Paramount had
announced in February 2005 that the fourth season would be the show's
last. Reaction to the series finale was negative, although it attracted
3.8 million viewers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Are_the_Voyages...>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
Construction began on the Red Fort (gate pictured) in Delhi,
the main residence of the Mughal emperors, now an iconic symbol of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort>
1969:
Sino-Malay race riots began in Kuala Lumpur, leaving at least
190 people dead, with the government declaring a state of emergency and
suspending the Parliament of Malaysia until 1971.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_May_incident>
2000:
A fireworks factory in Enschede, Netherlands, exploded,
resulting in 23 deaths and approximately €450 million in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enschede_fireworks_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
slip-up:
(idiomatic) A (small) error or mistake; a (minor) misstep.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slip-up>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I charge you — forget the names you bear, forget the words I
speak as soon as they are uttered. Look, rather, upon the Nameless
within yourselves, which arises as I address it. It hearkens not to my
words, but to the reality within me, of which it is part. This is the
atman, which hears me rather than my words. All else is unreal. To
define is to lose. The essence of all things is the Nameless. The
Nameless is unknowable, mightier even than Brahma. Things pass, but the
essence remains. You sit, therefore, in the midst of a dream. Essence
dreams it a dream of form. Forms pass, but the essence remains, dreaming
new dreams. Man names these dreams and thinks to have captured the
essence, not knowing that he invokes the unreal. These stones, these
walls, these bodies you see seated about you are poppies and water and
the sun. They are the dreams of the Nameless. They are fire, if you
like.
--Lord of Light
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_of_Light>
The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car
used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United
States. The design was based on Budd's Hi-Level vehicles, employed by
the Santa Fe Railway on its El Capitan trains. Pullman-Standard built
284 cars, known as Superliner I (lounge pictured), from 1975 to 1981;
Bombardier Transportation built 195, known as Superliner II, from 1991
to 1996. Car types include coaches, dining cars, lounges, and sleeping
cars. Most passenger spaces are on the upper level, which features a row
of windows on both sides. Boarding is on the lower level; passengers
climb up a center stairwell to access the upper level. The first
Superliner I cars entered service in February 1979, with deliveries
continuing through 1981. Amtrak assigned the cars to both long-distance
and short-distance trains in the Western United States. The first
permanent assignment, in October 1979, was to the Chicago–Seattle
Empire Builder.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superliner_%28railcar%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
The Donner Party, an American pioneer group which became known
for resorting to cannibalism when they became trapped in the Sierra
Nevadas, left Independence, Missouri, for California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party>
1942:
World War II: Soviet forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko
launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine, but were encircled and
destroyed by German troops two weeks later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Kharkov>
1982:
Juan María Fernández y Krohn attempted to assassinate Pope
John Paul II with a bayonet in Fátima, Portugal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mar%C3%ADa_Fern%C3%A1ndez_y_Krohn>
1998:
Four students were shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers at
Trisakti University in Jakarta, which led to widespread riots and
eventually the resignation of President Suharto nine days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisakti_shootings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
motherhood statement:
(chiefly Canada, US) A vague, feel-good platitude, especially one made
by a politician, that few people would disagree with.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/motherhood_statement>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first
requirement in a Hospital that it should do the sick no harm.
--Florence Nightingale
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale>