The Sega Saturn is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Sega.
Released in 1994 in Japan, and 1995 in North America and Europe, the
Saturn is the successor to the Sega Genesis, and Sega's fourth game
console. It has dual-CPU architecture and eight processors, and was
designed around a CPU developed by electronics company Hitachi. Its
games are in CD-ROM format. The system was initially successful in
Japan, but failed to sell large numbers in the United States after a
surprise launch four months before its scheduled release, and an
aggressive price war against Sony's PlayStation. Following the release
of the Nintendo 64 in late 1996, the Saturn rapidly lost market share
in the U.S., and was discontinued in 1998 in the country. The console is
considered a commercial failure, selling just over 9 million units
worldwide, blamed in part due to Sega's failure to release a Sonic the
Hedgehog video game, known in development as Sonic X-treme, for the
system.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Saturn>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1880:
A land dispute between the Southern Pacific Railroad and
settlers in Hanford, California, turned deadly when a gun battle broke
out, leaving seven dead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussel_Slough_Tragedy>
1997:
Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in six games, becoming the
first chess computer to win a match against a world champion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_%28chess_computer%29>
2010:
David Cameron took office as Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed the country's
first coalition government since the Second World War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brubru:
Also more fully as brubru shrike: a bird in the bushshrike family found
in sub-Saharan Africa (Nilaus afer).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brubru>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom! Tutti frutti, oh rutti Tutti
frutti, woo! Tutti frutti, oh rutti Tutti frutti, oh rutti Tutti
frutti, oh rutti Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom!
--Little Richard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Little_Richard>
Banksia speciosa, the showy banksia, is a large shrub or small tree in
the family Proteaceae. First collected and described by Robert Brown in
the early 19th century, the species occurs on the south coast of Western
Australia between Hopetoun and the Great Australian Bight, growing on
white or grey sand in shrubland. Reaching up to 8 m (26 ft) in height,
it is a single-stemmed plant that has thin leaves with prominent
triangular "teeth" along each margin, which are 20–45 cm
(7.9–17.7 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) wide. The prominent
cream-yellow flower spikes appear throughout the year, developing up to
20 follicles each that store seeds until opened by bushfire. Though
widely occurring, the species is highly sensitive to dieback. The
flowers attract nectar- and insect-feeding birds, particularly
honeyeaters. In cultivation, B. speciosa grows well in a sunny location
on well-drained soil in areas with dry summers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_speciosa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
Ernest Shackleton and five companions arrived at South Georgia,
completing a 1,300 km (800 mi) lifeboat voyage (launch pictured) over
16 days to obtain rescue for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird>
1997:
An earthquake registering 7.3 Mw struck near Qaen, Iran,
killing at least 1,567 and leaving around 50,000 others homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Qayen_earthquake>
2013:
The final component of the spire of One World Trade Center in
New York City was installed, bringing the building, the tallest in the
Western Hemisphere, to a height of 1,776 feet (541 m).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abstract away:
1. (transitive) To generalize concepts or their application by using
abstraction into a more usable form.
2. (transitive, by extension) To ignore, to omit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abstract_away>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In choosing a theory, one should pay attention to simplicity in
hypotheses only. Simplicity in computation can be of no weight in the
balance of probabilities. Nature is not embarrassed by difficulties of
analysis. She avoids complication only in means. Nature seems to have
proposed to do much with little: it is a principle that the development
of physics constantly supports by new evidence.
--Augustin-Jean Fresnel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel>
USS Oberrender (DE-344) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named
for Lieutenant Commander Thomas Olin Oberrender, Jr., the engineering
officer of the light cruiser USS Juneau, killed when that ship was
torpedoed and sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Laid down in
November 1943, launched in January 1944, and commissioned almost four
months later, Oberrender commenced convoy escort duty in the Pacific in
late 1944, with an interlude protecting escort carriers during the early
stages of the invasion of Leyte. She was heavily damaged by the
explosion of the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood at Manus and was
repaired there during November. Returning to service in December,
Oberrender served on anti-submarine patrol during the Battle of Okinawa,
during which she was irreparably damaged by a kamikaze attack in early
May 1945. She was decommissioned and sunk as a target late that year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oberrender>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1915:
World War I: British forces launched the Battle of Aubers
Ridge, an offensive on the Western Front, as part of the larger Second
Battle of Artois.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Artois>
1960:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would
approve the use of Searle's Enovid, the first combined oral
contraceptive pill (example pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_oral_contraceptive_pill>
2018:
The Barisan Nasional coalition, which had governed Malaysia
since independence in 1957, was voted out of power.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Malaysian_general_election>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
system:
1. A collection of organized things; a whole composed of relationships
among its members.
2. (derogatory) Preceded by the word the: the mainstream culture,
controlled by the elites or government of a state, or a combination of
them, seen as oppressive to the individual.
3. (computing) A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
4. (mathematics) A set of equations involving the same variables, which
are to be solved simultaneously.
5. (music) A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments
or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
6. (physiology) A set of body organs having a particular function.
7. A method or way of organizing or planning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/system>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one knows toward what center human things are going to
gravitate in the near future, and hence the life of the world has become
scandalously provisional. Everything that today is done in public and in
private — even in one's inner conscience — is provisional, the only
exception being certain portions of certain sciences. He will be a wise
man who puts no trust in all that is proclaimed, upheld, essayed, and
lauded at the present day. All that will disappear as quickly as it
came. All of it, from the mania for physical sports (the mania, not the
sports themselves) to political violence; from "new art" to sun-baths at
idiotic fashionable watering-places. Nothing of all that has any roots;
it is all pure invention, in the bad sense of the word, which makes it
equivalent to fickle caprice. It is not a creation based on the solid
substratum of life; it is not a genuine impulse or need. In a word, from
the point of view of life it is false. We are in presence of the
contradiction of a style of living which cultivates sincerity and is at
the same time a fraud. There is truth only in an existence which feels
its acts as irrevocably necessary.
--José Ortega y Gasset
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset>
The 1974 White House helicopter incident occurred when U.S. Army private
Robert K. Preston stole a Bell UH-1B Iroquois helicopter (a "Huey") from
Tipton Field, Maryland, and, in a major breach of security, landed it on
the South Lawn (pictured) of the White House. Preston had enlisted in
the Army to become a helicopter pilot, but did not graduate from the
helicopter training course. Shortly after midnight on February 17,
1974, he was returning from leave when he took off in a helicopter.
Preston flew towards Washington, D.C., where he hovered close to the
Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument and over the South Lawn of the
White House. He then flew back towards Tipton Field, pursued by two
police Bell 206 JetRanger helicopters. He returned to Washington, and
again hovered over the South Lawn. The Secret Service opened fire;
lightly wounded, Preston landed and was arrested. At his court-martial,
he was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2400.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_White_House_helicopter_incident>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1902:
An eruption of Mount Pelée destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre,
Martinique, causing around 30,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pel%C3%A9e>
1945:
A parade in Sétif, French Algeria, celebrating the end of
World War II in Europe became a riot and was followed by a massacre
carried out by colonial authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre>
1970:
Construction workers attacked students and others who were
protesting the Vietnam War in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
megapolitan:
Of or pertaining to a megapolis (“a very large city or urban complex”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/megapolitan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As is true with respect to other great evils, the measures by
which war might be made altogether impossible for the future may well be
worse than even war itself.
--Friedrich Hayek
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek>
Macedonia was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and
Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece.
The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the Argead dynasty,
followed by the Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient
Macedonians, it originated on the northeastern part of the Greek
peninsula. Before the 4th century BC, it was a small kingdom outside of
the area dominated by the city-states of Athens, Sparta and Thebes, and
briefly subordinate to Achaemenid Persia. During the reign of the Argead
king Philip II (359–336 BC), Macedonia subdued mainland Greece and
the Thracians' Odrysian kingdom through conquest and diplomacy, and
defeated Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea. His son Alexander
the Great, commanding the whole of Greece, destroyed Thebes after the
city revolted. During Alexander's subsequent campaign of conquest, he
overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered as far as the Indus River.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_%28ancient_kingdom%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre established the Cult
of the Supreme Being as the new state religion of the French First
Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Supreme_Being>
1940:
A three-day debate began in the British House of Commons, which
resulted in Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain being replaced by Winston
Churchill.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_Debate>
1960:
Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev announced that the Soviet Union was
holding American pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose spy plane had been
shot down six days earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident>
2010:
A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome was published,
demonstrating that today's modern humans have Neanderthal ancestors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_huma…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
calumny:
1. (countable) A false accusation or charge brought to tarnish another's
reputation or standing.
2. (uncountable) Falsifications or misrepresentations intended to
disparage or discredit another.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calumny>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men are generally more honest in their private than in their
public capacity, and will go greater lengths to serve a party, than when
their own private interest is alone concerned. Honour is a great check
upon mankind: But where a considerable body of men act together, this
check is, in a great measure, removed; since a man is sure to be
approved of by his own party, for what promotes the common interest; and
he soon learns to despise the clamours of adversaries.
--David Hume
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hume>
Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from
1939 to 1943 and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to
Astounding Science Fiction, also edited by Campbell; many authors and
illustrators contributed to both. Campbell wanted to publish a fantasy
magazine with more finesse and humor than Weird Tales, the leading
fantasy magazine in the 1930s. Campbell required his authors to avoid
simplistic horror fiction and insisted that the fantasy elements be
developed logically. Notable stories included several well-received
novels by L. Ron Hubbard and Fritz Leiber's "Two Sought Adventure", the
first in his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series. Unknown was forced to a
bimonthly schedule in 1941 by poor sales, and cancelled in 1943 when
wartime paper shortages forced Campbell to choose between turning
Astounding into a bimonthly or ending Unknown. The magazine is generally
regarded as the finest fantasy fiction magazine ever published, despite
the fact that it was not commercially successful.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unknown_%28magazine%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
Construction began on the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the official
residence of the king of Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace>
1937:
The German airship Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed
(newsreel featured) during an attempt to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air
Station in New Jersey, killing 36 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg>
1941:
American entertainer Bob Hope performed his first show with the
United Service Organizations, beginning a career that lasted 50 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hope>
2010:
Exacerbated by high-frequency traders using strategies that
have since been banned, major U.S. stock indices dropped nearly
9 percent and quickly rebounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_flash_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
staid:
1. Not capricious or impulsive; sedate, serious, sober.
2. (rare) Always fixed in the same location; stationary.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/staid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we judge by wealth and power, our times are the best of times;
if the times have made us willing to judge by wealth and power, they are
the worst of times.
--Randall Jarrell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randall_Jarrell>
God of War: Ascension is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Santa
Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the
PlayStation 3 console. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is the
seventh installment in the God of War series and prequel to the entire
series. The player controls Kratos, the former servant of the Greek god
of war Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his own wife and daughter.
In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood
oath to the god. He was then imprisoned and tortured by the three
Furies, the guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment, who he
confronts after escaping with the aid of Orkos. The gameplay is similar
to previous installments, focusing on combo-based combat and quick time
events. The game also features magical attacks, puzzles, and platforming
elements. It is the only installment to include a multiplayer mode,
which is online-only for both competitive and cooperative play.
Ascension received generally favorable reviews from critics, although
the story was deemed to be less compelling than previous entries.
(This article is part of a featured topic: God of War franchise.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/God_of_War_franchise>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
Pitching for the Boston Americans, Cy Young threw the first
perfect game in modern professional baseball.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cy_Young%27s_perfect_game>
1945:
World War II: The citizens of Prague spontaneously rose up
against the city's German occupiers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_uprising>
1980:
The British Special Air Service recaptured the Iranian embassy
in London after a six-day siege by Iranian Arab separatists.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lustrum:
1. (Ancient Rome, religion, historical) A ceremonial purification of all
the people, performed every five years after the taking of the census; a
lustration.
2. (by extension, literary) A period of five years.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lustrum>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is within us a moral instinct which forbids us to rejoice
at the death of even an enemy.
--Henryk Sienkiewicz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henryk_Sienkiewicz>
Lactarius torminosus, the woolly milkcap, is a large agaric fungus.
First described scientifically by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, it
is a common species, found in North Africa, northern Asia, Europe, and
North America. It grows on the roots of various trees, most commonly
birch in mixed forests. The cap of the L. torminosus mushroom, up to
10 cm (3.9 in) wide, is convex with a central depression. A blend of
pink and ochre hues, the cap sometimes has concentric zones of
alternating lighter and darker shades. On the underside are narrow
flesh-colored gills, crowded closely together. The cylindrical stem is a
pale flesh color with a delicately downy surface, up to 8 cm (3.1 in)
long and 0.6–2 cm (0.2–0.8 in) thick. When cut or injured, the
mushroom oozes a bitter white latex. The species is highly irritating to
the digestive system when eaten raw, but is valued for its peppery
flavor in Russia and Finland after being cooked to destroy its toxins.
(Full article...) .
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactarius_torminosus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1974:
An all-female Japanese team reached the summit of Manaslu in
the Himalayas, becoming the first women to climb a peak higher than
8,000 metres (26,247 ft) above sea level.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaslu>
1990:
The Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR declared the restoration
of Latvia's independence, stating that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and
the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 were illegal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Restoration_of_Independence_of_the_Rep…>
2000:
Ken Livingstone took office as the first mayor of London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Livingstone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
walking carpet:
(slang, derogatory or humorous) An exceptionally hairy person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/walking_carpet>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Advanced cultures are usually sophisticated enough, or have been
sophisticated enough at some point in their pasts, to realize that foxes
shouldn't be relied on to guard henhouses.
--Jane Jacobs
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs>
Catopsbaatar was a rodent-like mammal in the order Multituberculata that
lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about
72 million years ago. The first fossils were collected in the early
1970s, and the species received its own genus (Catopsbaatar, Greek and
Mongolian for 'visible hero') in 1994. Five skulls, one molar, and one
skeleton with a skull are known. The skull of Catopsbaatar was up to
70 mm (2.8 in) long, heavy-set and wide, with the zygomatic arches
strongly expanded to the sides. The ankles had spurs like those of the
male platypus and echidna, but apparently without the platypus's venom
canal. The spurs of Catopsbaatar and other Mesozoic mammals may have
been used for protection against theropod dinosaurs and other predators.
Like other members of its order, this species probably gave live birth,
and the presence of hair indicates it was warmblooded. Its fossils were
found in the Red Beds of Hermiin Tsav and the Barun Goyot Formation in
Mongolia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catopsbaatar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1616:
The Treaty of Loudun was signed, ending a war that originally
began as a power struggle for the French throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Loudun>
1920:
Russian Civil War: Relying on Red Army troops in neighboring
Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks attempted to stage a coup d'etat in Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Georgian_coup_attempt>
1945:
Second World War: The German ocean liner Cap Arcona, afloat in
the Bay of Lübeck with thousands of concentration camp survivors on
board, was attacked and sunk by the Royal Air Force.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cap_Arcona>
1960:
The Off-Broadway show The Fantasticks premiered, eventually
becoming the world's longest-running musical, with 17,162 performances
across 42 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasticks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
legman:
1. (originally US) A person hired to carrying out errands or (often)
menial tasks, frequently requiring travel from place to place; an errand
boy or errand girl, a runner.
2. (originally US, journalism) A reporter who frequently travels to
conduct research, interview witnesses, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/legman>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice.
--Niccolò Machiavelli
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli>
The Waterloo Bay massacre was a clash between European settlers and
Aboriginal Australians that took place on the cliffs of Waterloo Bay
near Elliston, South Australia, in late May 1849. Part of the
Australian frontier wars, it is likely that it resulted in the deaths of
tens or scores of Aboriginal people. In the lead-up, three European
settlers were killed by Aboriginal people, and one Aboriginal person was
killed and five others were poisoned by European settlers. Local
Aboriginal people have oral history traditions that a large-scale
massacre occurred. While older European accounts suggest that the event
was exaggerated into a myth over time, it has now been concluded that
the stories are founded in fact, and that some form of punitive action
did take place. In 2017, the District Council of Elliston erected a
memorial (pictured) to acknowledge what occurred, and received a
national award for their work in memorialising the massacre.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_Bay_massacre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
The Treaty of Wuchale was signed, ending the Italo-Ethiopian
War, but differences in translation later led to another war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo-Ethiopian_War_of_1887%E2%80%931889>
1945:
World War II: General Helmuth Weidling, the German commander of
Berlin, surrendered to Soviet forces led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov,
ending the Battle of Berlin (aftermath pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin>
1995:
Croatian War of Independence: Serb forces began rocket attacks
on the Croatian capital Zagreb, killing 7 people and injuring around 200
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagreb_rocket_attacks>
2011:
The Conservative Party of Canada won enough seats in the
federal election to establish their first majority government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Canadian_federal_election>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
turn turtle:
1. (intransitive) Especially of a boat or ship, or some other vehicle:
to turn upside down.
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fail; to go belly up.
3. (intransitive, surfing) To roll upside down with one's surfboard
(usually a longboard) to allow a wave, especially a wave that has
already broken, to pass over.
4. (intransitive, historical) To capture a turtle by turning it on to
its back.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turn_turtle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Realists are, as a rule, only men in the rut of routine who are
incapable of transcending a narrow circle of antiquated notions. But
their adverse opinion does carry some weight and can do great harm to a
new project — at least until the innovation is strong enough to push
the "realists" and their moldy notions aside.
--Theodore Herzl
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Herzl>