Zebras are African equines with black-and-white striped coats and share
the genus Equus with horses and asses. Zebras inhabit eastern and
southern Africa and can be found in savannahs, grasslands, woodlands,
shrublands and mountainous areas. They are primarily grazers, but can
subsist on lower-quality vegetation. They are preyed on mainly by lions,
typically fleeing when threatened but they may bite and kick. Several
theories have been proposed for the function of their stripes, with
evidence suggesting they are a form of protection from biting flies. Of
the three extant species, Grévy's zebra is endangered, the mountain
zebra is vulnerable and the plains zebra (examples pictured) is near-
threatened; the quagga, a type of plains zebra, was driven to extinction
in the 19th century. Zebras communicate with vocalisations, body
postures and facial expressions. Plains and mountain zebras practice
social grooming, which strengthens social bonds. Zebras have featured in
art and stories in Africa and beyond.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1747:
The London Lock Hospital, the first voluntary hospital
specialising in the treatment of venereal diseases, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Lock_Hospital>
1900:
Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances
in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not
give up for five more years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_Salleh_Rebellion>
1961:
Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham the Chimp became the
first hominid launched into outer space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_%28chimpanzee%29>
2013:
A gas leak underneath the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City
caused an explosion that killed at least 37 people and injured another
121.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Ejecutiva_Pemex_explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Tiggerish:
(Britain) (Excessively) cheerful and exuberant; bouncy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiggerish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The final purpose of art is to intensify, even, if necessary, to
exacerbate, the moral consciousness of people.
--Norman Mailer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer>
Hitler's prophecy was a statement first made by Adolf Hitler in a speech
(pictured) at the Reichstag on 30 January 1939: "If international
finance Jewry inside and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the
nations once more into a world war, the result will be not the
Bolshevization of the earth and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the
annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe". Hitler continued to invoke
the prophecy throughout the war and referenced it in his last will and
testament, such that the prophecy became a leitmotif of the Final
Solution and is the best-known phrase from Hitler's speeches. The
historical significance of the prophecy is debated: intentionalists view
it as proof of Hitler's previously developed master plan to
systematically murder the European Jews, while functionalists argue that
"annihilation" was not meant or understood to mean mass murder, at least
initially. It is also cited as evidence that Germans were aware that
Jews were being exterminated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_prophecy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1661:
Two years after his death, Oliver Cromwell's remains were
exhumed for a posthumous execution and his head was placed on a spike
above Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell%27s_head>
1972:
The Troubles: On Bloody Sunday, members of the British
Parachute Regiment shot 26 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern
Ireland, killing at least thirteen people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_%281972%29>
2013:
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute launched Naro-1, South
Korea's first carrier rocket and their first launch vehicle to achieve
Earth orbit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naro-1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dehort:
(transitive, rare or obsolete) To dissuade.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dehort>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved
something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to
believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire
life striving to reach the top of it.
--Cicely Tyson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicely_Tyson>
The Pyramid of Nyuserre is a pyramid complex built in the 25th century
BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Nyuserre Ini of the Fifth Dynasty. It is in
the Abusir necropolis south of modern-day Cairo between the complexes of
Neferirkare and of Sahure. Nyuserre was the last king to be entombed in
the necropolis. The main pyramid, nearly 52 m (171 ft) tall, had a
stepped core built from roughly cut limestone encased in fine Tura
limestone. The casing was stripped by stone thieves, leaving the core
exposed to the elements and further human activity, reducing the pyramid
to a ruined mound. Adjoining the pyramid's east face is the mortuary
temple built in an L-shape rather than the usual T-shape plan. It
introduced the antichambre carrée, an innovative type of room that
became a standard feature of later monuments. The site has two
structures which appear to have been pylon prototypes. These, too,
became staple features of temples and palaces in a later period.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Nyuserre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1891:
Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch and only queen regnant of the
Hawaiian Kingdom, ascended the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili%CA%BBuokalani>
1943:
World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major
naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial
Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal campaign, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island>
1967:
The Mantra-Rock Dance (poster pictured), called the "ultimate
high" of the hippie era, took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami
Bhaktivedanta, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance>
1991:
The first major ground engagement of the Gulf War began with
the Iraqi invasion of Khafji, Saudi Arabia, recaptured three days later
by Coalition forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khafji>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Rafflesian:
1. Of or relating to Sir Stamford Raffles, a British colonial statesman
known for his founding of modern Singapore and British Malaya.
2. (Singapore) Of or relating to an educational institution named after
Sir Stamford Raffles.
3. (Singapore) A current or former student of an educational institution
named after Sir Stamford Raffles.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rafflesian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
He who doesn’t know how to be a servant should never be allowed
to be a master; the interests of public life are alien to anyone who is
unable to enjoy others' successes, and such a person should never be
entrusted with public affairs.
--Anton Chekhov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov>
The Guadeloupe amazon (Amazona violacea) is a hypothetical extinct
species of parrot that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser
Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. Described by 17th- and 18th-
century writers, it is thought to have been related to, or possibly the
same as, the extant imperial amazon. A tibiotarsus and an ulna bone from
the island of Marie-Galante may belong to the Guadeloupe amazon.
According to contemporary descriptions, its head, neck and underparts
were mainly violet or slate, mixed with green and black; the back was
brownish green; and the wings were green, yellow and red. It had
iridescent feathers, and was able to raise a "ruff" of feathers around
its neck. It fed on fruits and nuts, and the male and female took turns
sitting on the nest. French settlers ate the birds and destroyed their
habitat. Rare by 1779, the species appears to have become extinct by the
end of the 18th century.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe_amazon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1568:
Delegates of the Three Nations of Transylvania adopted the
Edict of Torda, allowing local communities to freely elect their
preachers in an unprecedented act of religious tolerance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Torda>
1933:
Choudhry Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet in which he called for
the creation of a Muslim state in north-western India that he termed
"Pakstan".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Declaration>
1958:
The Lego Group, a Danish toy company, patented the design of
Lego bricks (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego>
1981:
U.S. president Ronald Reagan lifted price controls from
petroleum products, helping usher in the 1980s oil glut.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s_oil_glut>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caliginous:
(archaic or literary) Dark, obscure; murky.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caliginous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Freedoms, like privileges, prevail or are imperiled together. You
cannot harm or strive to achieve one without harming or furthering all.
--José Martí
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD>
The Holocaust in Slovakia was the systematic dispossession, deportation,
and murder of Jews in the Slovak State, a client state of Nazi Germany.
Out of 89,000 Jews in the country in 1940, 68,000 to 71,000 were
murdered during the Holocaust. In 1939, the ruling ethnonationalist
Slovak People's Party declared independence from Czechoslovakia with
German protection. Jews were targeted for discrimination and harassment,
including the confiscation of property and businesses. On
9 September 1941, the government passed the Jewish Code, which it
claimed to be the strictest anti-Jewish law in Europe. In late 1941, the
Slovak government negotiated with Nazi Germany for the mass deportation
of Jews to German-occupied Poland. Between March and October 1942,
58,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp and the Lublin
District; only a few hundred survived. The murder of Jews resumed after
August 1944, when Germany invaded Slovakia and another 13,500 Jews were
deported.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Slovakia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1343:
Clement VI issued the papal bull Unigenitus, justifying the
power of the pope and the use of indulgences.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_VI>
1965:
South Vietnamese prime minister Trần Văn Hương was removed
by the military junta of Nguyễn Khánh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%E1%BA%A7n_V%C4%83n_H%C6%B0%C6%A1ng>
1996:
Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of
Niger, was deposed by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara in a military
coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamane_Ousmane>
2011:
Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution began as more than 16,000
protesters demonstrated in Sanaa to demand governmental changes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Revolution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kaddish:
(Judaism) A Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and
specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kaddish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Responsibility is a unique concept … You may share it with
others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it
is still with you … If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion,
or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else.
Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when
something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.
--Hyman G. Rickover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover>
The history of the British penny (1⁄240 of a pound sterling) from
1901 to 1970 saw it remain a large bronze coin throughout that time,
with the obverse depicting the monarch and the reverse Britannia. The
obverse from 1902 to 1910 featured George William de Saulles's depiction
of Edward VII, followed by Bertram Mackennal's portrait of George V.
No pennies were produced for commerce in 1933, as there were a
sufficient number in circulation. At least seven were struck for
placement beneath foundation stones and in museums. Edward VIII's short
reign is represented only by a single pattern coin, dated 1937. That
year, a new obverse design depicting George VI by Humphrey Paget went
into use. From 1953, the penny bore Mary Gillick's portrait of
Elizabeth II. The officials who planned decimalisation in the 1960s did
not favour keeping the large bronze penny. It quickly went out of use
after Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, and was demonetised on
31 August 1971.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_penny_%281901%E2%80%93…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
William Bligh, the governor of New South Wales, was deposed by
the New South Wales Corps in the only military coup in Australian
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion>
1918:
A group of Red Guards hung a red lantern atop the tower of the
Helsinki Workers' House, symbolically marking the start of the Finnish
Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War>
1991:
Somali Rebellion: Factions led by the warlord Mohamed Farrah
Aidid and his rebel group, the United Somali Congress, ousted President
Siad Barre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid>
2001:
An earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat killed at least
13,000 people, injured 167,000 others and destroyed nearly 400,000
homes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Gujarat_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
emu:
1. (obsolete) A cassowary (genus Casuarius).
2. A large flightless bird native to Australia, Dromaius
novaehollandiae.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/emu>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march.
--Douglas MacArthur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur>
Rastafari is a religion that developed among impoverished and socially
disenfranchised Afro-Jamaican communities in Jamaica during the 1930s.
It is both a new religious movement and a social movement. There is no
central authority and much diversity among practitioners. Rasta beliefs
are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible; a belief in a
single God, Jah, who partially resides within each individual, is
integral. Rastas accord central importance to Haile Selassie (pictured),
Emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974; many regard him as the Second
Coming of Jesus and Jah incarnate; others see him as a human prophet.
Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses on the African diaspora. In the
1960s and 1970s, it gained increased respectability and greater
visibility abroad through the popularity of Rasta-inspired reggae
musicians, most notably Bob Marley. There are an estimated 700,000 to
1,000,000 Rastas across the world, the majority of whom are of black
African descent.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1890:
American journalist Nellie Bly completed a circumnavigation of
the globe, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, in
a then-record 72 days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly>
1971:
Idi Amin seized power from Ugandan president Milton Obote in a
coup d'état, beginning eight years of military rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Ugandan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
2006:
Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza was arrested in
conjunction with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juana_Barraza>
2011:
The Egyptian revolution began with protests on the "Day of
Anger", eventually leading to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak
after nearly 30 years of rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Egyptian_revolution_of_2011>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Burns night:
An event held on the evening of 25th January in celebration of the
Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns (born on that day in 1759),
usually involving Scottish foods and recitals of his poetry.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Burns_night>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is not a series of gig-lamps symmetrically arranged; life is
a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the
beginning of consciousness to the end. Is it not the task of the
novelist to convey this varying, this unknown and uncircumscribed
spirit, whatever aberration or complexity it may display, with as little
mixture of the alien and external as possible? We are not pleading
merely for courage and sincerity; we are suggesting that the proper
stuff of fiction is a little other than custom would have us believe it.
--Virginia Woolf
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf>
The Francesco Caracciolo-class battleships were a group of four
battleships designed for the Royal Italian Navy in 1913 and ordered in
1914. The first ship of the class, Francesco Caracciolo, was laid down
in late 1914; the other three ships followed in 1915. Armed with a main
battery of eight 381 mm (15 in) guns and possessing a top speed of 28
knots (52 km/h; 32 mph), the four ships were intended to be the
equivalent of fast battleships such as the British Queen Elizabeth
class. The class was never completed due to material shortages and
shifting construction priorities following the outbreak of World War I
in 1914. Only the lead ship was launched, in 1920, and several proposals
to convert her into an aircraft carrier were considered, but budgetary
problems prevented any work being done. She was sold to an Italian
shipping firm for conversion into a merchant vessel, but this also
proved to be too expensive, and she was broken up for scrap, beginning
in 1926.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Caracciolo-class_battleship>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill
(reconstruction pictured) in Coloma, California, leading to the
California Gold Rush.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush>
1968:
Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launched Operation
Coburg against the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Coburg>
1977:
During the Spanish transition to democracy, neo-fascists
attacked an office in Madrid, killing five people and injuring four
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Atocha_massacre>
2011:
A North Caucasian jihadist carried out a suicide bombing at
Moscow Domodedovo Airport, killing 37 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodedovo_International_Airport_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brumous:
(literary) Foggy or misty; wintry.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brumous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If you have passion, a chip on the shoulder, a sense of humor,
and you can explain what you do very well, it doesn't matter if you're a
plumber or a singer or a politician. If you have those four things, you
are interesting.
--Larry King
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Larry_King>
Gigantorhynchus is a genus of thorny-headed worms that parasitize
marsupials, anteaters, and possibly baboons by attaching themselves to
the intestines using their hook-covered proboscis. The life cycle
includes a larval stage in an intermediate host such as termites. In
addition to the proboscis, the body is characterized by
pseudosegmentation, filiform lemnisci, and ellipsoid testes. The largest
known specimen is a female G. ortizi (example pictured) with a length
of around 240 millimetres (9.4 in) and a width of 2 millimetres
(0.079 in). Genetic analysis on one species of Gigantorhynchus places
it with the related Mediorhynchus genus in the Giganthorhynchidae
family. There are six species in this genus distributed across Central
and South America and possibly Zimbabwe. Infestation by a
Gigantorhynchus species can cause potentially fatal partial obstructions
of the intestines or severe lesions of the intestinal wall.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantorhynchus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1565:
The Deccan sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire at the
Battle of Talikota in present-day Karnataka, ending the last great Hindu
kingdom in southern India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Talikota>
1915:
Rebels led by John Chilembwe attacked local plantation owners,
beginning an uprising regarded as a key moment in the history of Malawi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilembwe_uprising>
2001:
Five people attempted to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen
Square, Beijing, an act that many later claimed to have been staged by
the Chinese Communist Party to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their
persecution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_self-immolation_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gigot:
1. A leg of lamb or mutton.
2. (fashion) Short for gigot sleeve (“a type of sleeve shaped like a leg
of mutton”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gigot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the
most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most
with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I
can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity
here and there, I intend to do as I always have — keep swinging.
--Hank Aaron
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron>
Æthelred I (845 or 848 – 871) was King of Wessex from 865 until his
death. He was the fourth of five sons of King Æthelwulf. He succeeded
his elder brother Æthelberht and was followed by his youngest brother,
Alfred the Great. Æthelred's two infant sons were passed over for the
kingship. Æthelred's accession coincided with the arrival of the Viking
Great Heathen Army in England. Over the next five years the Vikings
conquered Northumbria and East Anglia, before launching a full-scale
attack on Wessex in late 870. In early January 871, Æthelred was
defeated at the Battle of Reading. Four days later he scored a victory
in the Battle of Ashdown, but this was followed by two defeats at Basing
and Meretun. He died shortly after Easter. Alfred was forced to buy off
the Vikings, but decisively defeated them seven years later. Æthelred's
reign was important numismatically, as he adopted the Mercian Lunettes
design, creating a unified coinage design for southern England for the
first time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred_I,_King_of_Wessex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1273:
Muhammad II became Sultan of Granada after his father's death
in a riding accident.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_II_of_Granada>
1924:
Ramsay MacDonald took office as the first prime minister of the
United Kingdom from the Labour Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsay_MacDonald>
1963:
France and West Germany signed the Élysée Treaty,
establishing a new foundation for relations that ended centuries of
rivalry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lys%C3%A9e_Treaty>
1984:
During Super Bowl XVIII, Apple Computer introduced the
Macintosh, the first successful personal computer to use a graphical
user interface, with the television commercial "1984".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_%28advertisement%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
skimble-skamble:
Confused, chaotic, disorderly, senseless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skimble-skamble>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let great authors have their due, as time, which is the author of
authors, be not deprived of his due, which is, further and further to
discover truth.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>