Harry Relph (21 July 1867 – 10 February 1928), professionally
known as Little Tich, was a 4-foot-6-inch (137 cm) English music hall
comedian and dancer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He
was best known for his acrobatic and comedic Big-Boot Dance, for which
he wore boots with soles 28 inches (71 cm) long. He was also a popular
performer in theatrical Christmas pantomimes. During a tour of the
United States between 1887 and 1889 he impressed audiences with his
ability to stand on the tips of his shoes and to lean at extraordinary
angles. He had a major success with Babes in the Wood in Manchester
during the 1889–90 season, and in the 1890s he developed the
Serpentine Dance. The impresario Augustus Harris hired him to appear
alongside Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in
its spectacular Christmas pantomimes Humpty Dumpty in 1891, Little Bo
Peep in 1892 and Robinson Crusoe in 1893.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tich>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Following the Belgian Revolution, Leopold I was inaugurated as
the first king of the Belgians at the Place Royale in Brussels.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium>
1918:
World War I: An Imperial German U-boat opened fire on a small
convoy of barges and defending aircraft near the American town of
Orleans, Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Orleans>
1960:
Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the prime minister of Ceylon,
becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of
government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirimavo_Bandaranaike>
1990:
Taiwanese military police ordered the deportation of 76 illegal
immigrants from mainland China in sealed boat holds, causing 25 deaths
due to suffocation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Ping_Yu_No._5540_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
aventurine:
1. A kind of brownish glass containing gold-coloured spangles.
2. (mineralogy, by extension) A variety of translucent quartz, spangled
throughout with scales of yellow mica.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aventurine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We believe that the civilised world is a multicultural, multi-
religious world. That is the type of message we want to get across. …
I think there are many who are Muslims and non-Muslims, who are not
warmongers but peace makers and want this world to be a better place.
We believed the unison of the voices of so many people standing together
against international terrorism is something to be valued and something
to be built upon.
--Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam)
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens>
Apollo 11 was an American spaceflight mission, the first to land
astronauts on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot
Buzz Aldrin set the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle down on July 20, 1969, at
20:17 UTC. Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface six hours later on
July 21 at 02:56 UTC; Aldrin (pictured) joined him 19 minutes later.
They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the
spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to
bring back to Earth. While they were on the Moon's surface, Michael
Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit.
Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV
to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for
[a] man, one giant leap for mankind". Armstrong and Aldrin spent
21.5 hours on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar
orbit. The astronauts returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific
Ocean on July 24.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent
for their Pyréolophore, one of the world's first internal combustion
engines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore>
1968:
The first games of the Special Olympics, for athletes with
intellectual disabilities, were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Olympics>
1999:
The Chinese Communist Party launched a persecution campaign
against the Falun Gong spiritual movement, beginning the arrests of
thousands of practitioners nationwide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong>
2015:
A suicide attack in Suruç, Turkey, for which ISIL claimed
responsibility, killed 34 people and injured 104 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suru%C3%A7_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lunar:
1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's
moon); Lunar.
2. Shaped like a crescent moon; lunate.
3. (chiefly historical) (Believed to be) influenced by the Moon, as in
character, growth, or properties.
4. (alchemy, chemistry, historical) Of or pertaining to silver (which
was symbolically associated with the Moon by alchemists).
5. (astronomy) Of or pertaining to travel through space between the
Earth and the Moon, or exploration and scientific investigation of the
Moon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lunar>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of
great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers
of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I
didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done
things. On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of
the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking
to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things,
including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of
people, and said words to the effect of, "I just look at all these
people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made
amazing things. I just went where I was sent." And I said, "Yes. But you
were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something." And
I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter,
maybe everyone did.
--Neil Gaiman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman>
David Hillhouse Buel (July 19, 1862 – May 23, 1923) was an American
priest who became the president of Georgetown University. Born at
Watervliet Arsenal, New York, to a distinguished family, he converted to
Catholicism under the guidance of Michael McGivney, while a student at
Yale University. He entered the Jesuit order in 1883, spending the next
17 years studying and teaching at Jesuit institutions throughout the
Northeastern United States; he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1898.
Buel then became a professor at Georgetown University, and was appointed
its president in 1905. While in office, he curtailed intercollegiate
athletics and instituted strict discipline, prompting resistance from
students and parents, and his removal in 1908. He quit the Jesuit order
several years later and secretly married in 1912, resulting in an outcry
from his former Jesuit colleagues. He later left the Catholic Church,
and in 1922 was ordained an Episcopal priest.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hillhouse_Buel_%28priest%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1845:
The last major fire to affect Manhattan destroyed 345
buildings, killed 30 people, and caused at least $5 million in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_New_York_City_Fire_of_1845>
1919:
Following Peace Day celebrations marking the end of the First
World War, English ex-servicemen who were unhappy with unemployment and
other grievances rioted and burned down Luton Town Hall (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_Town_Hall>
1997:
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced
it would resume its ceasefire, ending its 28-year campaign against
British rule in Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army_campaign>
2014:
Unidentified gunmen perpetrated an armed assault against an
Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert, killing 22 border
guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Farafra_ambush>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tall order:
(originally US, idiomatic) A big job; a difficult challenge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tall_order>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic.
Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year,
it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some
noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.
--John Lewis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Lewis_%28civil_rights_leader%29>
Tukwila International Boulevard is a light rail station in Tukwila,
Washington, United States. It is located between SeaTac/Airport and
Rainier Beach stations on the Red Line from Seattle–Tacoma
International Airport to Downtown Seattle. The station consists of two
elevated side platforms enclosed within a structure northeast of the
interchange of State Route 99 (International Boulevard) and State
Route 518. Tukwila International Boulevard station opened on July 18,
2009, on the first day of Central Link service (now part of the Red
Line). Trains serve the station twenty hours a day on most days; the
headway between trains is six minutes during peak periods, with less
frequent service at other times. The station is also served by King
County Metro bus routes, including two RapidRide limited-stop bus rapid
transit routes, and has 600 parking spaces in two lots.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tukwila_International_Boulevard_station>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Civil War: Led by Union Army colonel Robert Gould
Shaw, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first formal
African-American military unit, spearheaded an assault on Fort Wagner,
South Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Infantry_Regiment>
1936:
Nationalist rebels attempted a coup d'état against the Second
Spanish Republic, sparking the Spanish Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War>
1984:
Parts of the dismembered body of Swedish prostitute Catrine da
Costa were found in Stockholm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Catrine_da_Costa>
2014:
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had
previously been found guilty of paying for an underage prostitute, had
his conviction overturned on appeal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi_prostitution_trial>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
get someone's goat:
(informal) To annoy or infuriate someone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_someone%27s_goat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid
hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I
felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism
that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest
road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At
the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading
was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a
senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles — a
restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other
— that kept me going.
--Hunter S. Thompson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson>
SMS Derfflinger was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine
built in the early 1910s, the lead vessel of the Derfflinger class. The
ships were larger than the previous German battlecruisers, and featured
significant improvements. Derfflinger served in I Scouting Group during
the war and took part in attacks on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
in 1914 and Yarmouth and Lowestoft in 1916, as well as the Battle of
Dogger Bank in 1915 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916. At Jutland,
Derfflinger helped to sink the British battlecruisers Queen Mary and
Invincible, but was seriously damaged herself. Derfflinger saw little
activity for the remainder of the war and she was interned with the rest
of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow following the armistice in
November 1918. Under the orders of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the
interned ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919. (This article is part
of a featured topic: Battlecruisers of the world.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Battlecruisers_of_t…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
The Battle of Castillon (depicted), the last conflict of the
Hundred Years' War, ended with the English losing all landholdings in
France except Calais.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon>
1863:
The New Zealand Wars resumed as British forces led by General
Duncan Cameron began the Invasion of the Waikato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Waikato>
1918:
RMS Carpathia, which had rescued survivors of the 1912 Titanic
sinking, was sunk by a German U-boat with the loss of five crew.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia>
2014:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern
Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chancellor:
1. A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties,
sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or
justice.
2. The head of the government in some German-speaking countries.
3. (Christianity) A senior record keeper of a cathedral; a senior legal
officer for a bishop or diocese in charge of hearing cases involving
ecclesiastical law.
4. (education) The head of a university, sometimes purely ceremonial.
5. (Britain, government) Short for Chancellor of the Exchequer.
6. (Scotland, law) The foreman of a jury.
7. (US, law) The chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one
exercising equity jurisdiction).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chancellor>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Let byegones be byegones,”—they foolishly say, And bid me
be wise and forget them; But old recollections are active to-day, And
I can do nought but regret them; Though the present be pleasant, all
joyous and gay, And promising well for the morrow, I love to look back
on the years past away, Embalming my byegones in sorrow.
--Martin Farquhar Tupper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Farquhar_Tupper>
K-25 was the Manhattan Project codename for the program that produced
enriched uranium for atomic bombs using the gaseous diffusion method at
the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the United
States. When the production facility was built in 1944, the four-story
gaseous diffusion plant (pictured) was the world's largest building,
with over 152,000 square metres (1,640,000 sq ft) of floor space. At
the height of construction, over 25,000 workers were employed on the
site. Slightly enriched uranium from the S-50 thermal diffusion plant in
the form of the highly corrosive uranium hexafluoride was fed into the
K-25 gaseous diffusion plant; its product in turn was fed into the Y-12
electromagnetic plant. The enriched uranium was used in the Little Boy
atomic bomb used in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Production of
enriched uranium ended in 1964, gaseous diffusion ceased in 1985, and
demolition of the facility was completed in 2017. (This article is part
of a featured topic: History of the Manhattan Project.) .
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/History_of_the_Manh…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1769:
Spanish friar Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de
Alcalá, the first Franciscan mission in the Alta California region of
New Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Diego_de_Alcal%C3%A1>
1931:
Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie signed the nation's first
constitution, intended to officially replace the Fetha Nagast, which had
been the supreme law since the Middle Ages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Constitution_of_Ethiopia>
1950:
Korean War: A Korean People's Army unit massacred thirty-one
U.S. Army prisoners of war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplain%E2%80%93Medic_massacre>
2007:
An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 MW struck Niigata Prefecture,
Japan, causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
Nuclear Power Plant.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Ch%C5%ABetsu_offshore_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wristlet:
1. An elastic band worn to keep a glove from slipping off the wrist.
2. A decorative band or bracelet that encircles the wearer's wrist;
especially, a closely knitted one to keep it warm; a muffetee.
3. A small handbag with a short strap for attaching it to the wearer's
wrist.
4. A handcuff.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wristlet>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'll be all right. I'm just going through a phase right now.
Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?
--The Catcher in the Rye
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye>
No. 37 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) medium tactical
airlift squadron. It operates Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules aircraft
from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The squadron has seen active
service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Vietnam War,
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the military intervention against
ISIL. It has also supported Australian operations in Somalia, East
Timor, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. The squadron was
formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in July 1943 and became part
of No. 86 (Transport) Wing in 1946, but was disbanded two years later.
In response to Australia's air transport needs during the Vietnam War,
the squadron was re-formed in February 1966, equipped with the C-130E
Hercules (pictured). It converted to the C-130J model in 1999. No. 37
Squadron came under the control of a re-formed No. 86 Wing from 1987
until 2010, when it was transferred to No. 84 Wing.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._37_Squadron_RAAF>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Aboard HMS Bellerophon, Napoleon surrendered to Royal Navy
Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland to finally end the Napoleonic Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_%281786%29>
1966:
Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began
Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese
Demilitarized Zone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hastings>
1983:
Armenian extremist organization ASALA bombed the Turkish
Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport, killing 8 and injuring 55, as
part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the
Armenian Genocide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Orly_Airport_attack>
2016:
Organized as the Peace at Home Council, a faction in the
Turkish Armed Forces attempted a coup d'état against the government and
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kombu:
Edible kelp (“a type of brown seaweed”) (from the class Phaeophyceae)
used in East Asian cuisine.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kombu>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In what time does man live? The thinkers have always known that
he does not live in any time at all. The immortality of thoughts and
deeds banishes him to a timeless realm at whose heart an inscrutable
death lies in wait. ... Devoured by the countless demands of the moment,
time slipped away from him; the medium in which the pure melody of his
youth would swell was destroyed. The fulfilled tranquility in which his
late maturity would ripen was stolen from him. It was purloined by
everyday reality, which, with its events, chance occurrences, and
obligations, disrupted the myriad opportunities of youthful time,
immortal time. ... From day to day, second to second, the self preserves
itself, clinging to that instrument: time, the instrument that it was
supposed to play.
--Walter Benjamin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin>
Roy Inwood (14 July 1890 – 23 October 1971) was a World War I
Australian soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross. Landing at Anzac
Cove, Gallipoli, in April 1915 with the 10th Battalion of the
Australian Imperial Force, he fought until being evacuated sick to Egypt
in September. He rejoined his unit on the Western Front before the
Battle of Mouquet Farm in August 1916. In 1917 he fought in the Battle
of Lagnicourt and the Second Battle of Bullecourt. His Victoria Cross
was awarded for actions in the Battle of Menin Road, including
eliminating a German machine-gun post. In World War II, he volunteered
to serve in the Citizens Military Forces, reaching the rank of warrant
officer I serving in the Australian Provost Corps and Military Prison
and Detention Barracks Service. After the war he returned to work with
the City of Adelaide, and on his death he was buried with full military
honours in the AIF Cemetery, West Terrace. His medals are displayed in
the Adelaide Town Hall.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Inwood>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1798:
The Sedition Act became law, making it a federal crime to
write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the U.S.
government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts>
1874:
A fire in Chicago destroyed 812 structures and killed 20
people, leading to reforms in the city's fire prevention and
firefighting efforts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Fire_of_1874>
1987:
More than 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain fell in a two-and-a-half-
hour period in Montreal, causing severe flooding and over C$220 million
in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_flood_of_1987>
2016:
A man deliberately drove a truck into crowds in Nice, France,
resulting in the deaths of 86 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Nice_truck_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
l'esprit de l'escalier:
The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to
someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/l%27esprit_de_l%27escalier>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I
hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound
to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old
or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that.
Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck
or hard traveling. … I am out to fight those songs to my very last
breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that
will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you
pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color,
what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that
make you take pride in yourself and in your work.
--Woody Guthrie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie>
Si Tjonat is a 1929 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia). The silent film was directed by Nelson Wong and produced by
Wong and Jo Eng Sek. It was shot in black and white and starred Ku Fung
May and Herman Sim. Based on the novel (cover pictured) by F. D. J.
Pangemanann, it follows an indigenous man who flees to Batavia (today
Jakarta) and becomes a bandit after killing his fellow villager. After
kidnapping an ethnic Chinese woman, he is defeated and brought to
justice. The story had proved popular with ethnic Chinese readers and
was often adapted to the stage by Betawi troupes as a lenong stage
performance, but the film received mixed reviews. Although it was
intended as a serial, no sequel was ever made; the production house,
Batavia Motion Picture, closed soon afterwards. Several works in the
same genre as Si Tjonat were released, including Si Pitoeng in 1931,
which used the same director and star. The film has probably been lost.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si_Tjonat>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Wallachian officials adopted Regulamentul Organic (cover
shown), which engendered a period of unprecedented reforms that provided
for the Westernization of the local society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulamentul_Organic>
1942:
World War II: The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was converted
from a battalion to accommodate a larger number of volunteers spurred on
by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Filipino_Infantry_Regiment>
2003:
French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian
politician Íngrid Betancourt from FARC guerrillas, later causing a
political scandal when details were leaked to the press.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_14_juillet>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
calvous:
1. (formal, medicine, rare) Lacking most or all of one's hair; bald,
hairless.
2. (botany, rare) Lacking bristles or pappuses.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calvous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ivyed oaks dark shadow falls Oft picking up with wondering
gaze Some little thing of other days Saved from the wreck of time.
--John Clare
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Clare>
Tricholoma pardinum is a gilled mushroom widely distributed across North
America and Europe, as well as parts of Asia. It was first officially
described by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. The imposing fruit
bodies (mushrooms) of T. pardinum appear in beech woodland in summer
and autumn. The pale grey cap, up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter, is
covered with dark brownish to greyish scales. The gills are whitish, and
are not attached to the stout white to pale grey-brown stalk. The spore
print is white. One of the more toxic members of the genus Tricholoma,
the species has been implicated in many episodes of mushroom poisoning,
probably because it is a large, attractive mushroom with a pleasant
smell and taste, and it bears a superficial resemblance to several
edible species, like Tricholoma terreum. Ingesting T. pardinum—even
in small quantities—results in a severe, persistent gastroenteritis
caused by an unknown mycotoxin.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricholoma_pardinum>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement,
received a revelation recommending plural marriage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamy>
1920:
The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty was signed, with Soviet
Russia agreeing to recognize an independent Lithuania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Peace_Treaty>
1962:
The English rock band the Rolling Stones played their first
concert, at the Marquee Club in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones>
1986:
The Homosexual Law Reform Act became law in New Zealand,
decriminalising consensual homosexual sex.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_Law_Reform_Act_1986>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abeyant:
Being in a state of abeyance; suspended.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abeyant>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To
change something, build a new model that makes the existing model
obsolete.
--Buckminster Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller>