Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have
eight legs, a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail,
often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always
ending with a stinger. There are over 2,500 described species. They
mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environments.
Most species give birth to live young, and the female cares for the
juveniles while their exoskeletons harden, transporting them on her
back. Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but
some species take vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and
kill prey. Scorpions themselves are preyed on by larger animals. Their
venomous sting can be used both for killing prey and for defense. Only
about 25 species have venom capable of killing a human. In regions with
highly venomous species, human fatalities regularly occur. Scorpions
with their powerful stingers appear in art, folklore, mythology, and
commercial brands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1921:
The Tulsa race massacre, "the single worst incident of racial
violence in American history", began in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre>
1961:
The Union of South Africa was dissolved by the Constitution Act
and replaced by the Republic of South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa>
1981:
An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese
paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led to the burning
of the Jaffna Library in Sri Lanka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_Public_Library>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ether:
1. (uncountable, literary or poetic) The substance formerly supposed to
fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular
as a medium breathed by deities.
2. (by extension) The medium breathed by human beings; the air.
3. (by extension) The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.
4. (uncountable, physics, historical) Often as aether and more fully as
luminiferous aether: a substance once thought to fill all unoccupied
space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact
with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy; its
existence was disproved by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment and the
theory of relativity propounded by Albert Einstein (1879–1955).
5. (uncountable, colloquial) The atmosphere or space as a medium for
broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space
through which Internet and other digital communications take place;
cyberspace.
6. (uncountable, colloquial) A particular quality created by or
surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.
7. (uncountable, organic chemistry) Diethyl ether (C4H10O), an organic
compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.
8. (countable, organic chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds
containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
9. (transitive, slang) To viciously humiliate or insult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ether>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Weave lasting sure, weave day and night the weft, the warp,
incessant weave, tire not, (We know not what the use O life, nor know
the aim, the end, nor really aught we know, But know the work, the need
goes on and shall go on, the death-envelop'd march of peace as well as
war goes on,) For great campaigns of peace the same the wiry threads to
weave, We know not why or what, yet weave, forever weave.
--Leaves of Grass
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#Weave_in,_My_Hardy_Life>
The MAUD Committee was a British scientific working group formed during
the Second World War to determine if an atomic bomb was feasible. The
name came from a reference by Danish physicist Niels Bohr to his
housekeeper, Maud Ray. The committee was founded in response to the
Frisch–Peierls memorandum, which argued that a small sphere of pure
uranium-235 could have the explosive power of thousands of tons of TNT.
Its chairman was George Thomson and it met at Burlington House
(pictured). Uranium enrichment, fissile materials, and the design of
nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons were examined. The research
culminated in two reports, known collectively as the MAUD Report. In
response, the British created a nuclear weapons project. The report was
made available to the United States, where it energised the American
effort, which eventually became the Manhattan Project; it was also
handed to the Soviet Union by its atomic spies, helping start the Soviet
atomic bomb project.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAUD_Committee>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
The East Indiaman Arniston was wrecked during a storm at
Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas in South Africa, with the loss of 372
lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arniston_%28East_Indiaman%29>
1914:
RMS Aquitania, the last surviving four-funnel ocean liner,
departed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Aquitania>
1998:
An earthquake registering 6.5 Mw struck northern Afghanistan,
killing at least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and
leaving 45,000 people homeless in Takhar and Badakhshan Provinces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1998_Afghanistan_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
BANANA:
(informal, humorous, derogatory, often attributively) One who objects to
the building of any structure in their neighbourhood, especially in
public policy debate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BANANA>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I speak of that justice which is based solely upon human
conscience, the justice which you will rediscover deep in the conscience
of every man, even in the conscience of the child, and which translates
itself into simple equality. This justice, which is so universal but
which nevertheless, owing to the encroachments of force and to the
influence of religion, has never as yet prevailed in the world of
politics, of law, or of economics, should serve as a basis for the new
world. Without it there is no liberty, no republic, no prosperity, no
peace! It should therefore preside at all our resolutions in order that
we may effectively cooperate in establishing peace.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
The mysteries of Isis were religious initiation rites performed in the
cult of the goddess Isis in the Greco-Roman world. Alluding to the
worship of Isis from ancient Egyptian religion, they were modeled on
other mystery rites, particularly the Eleusinian mysteries, which
honored the Greek goddess Demeter. By undergoing the mystery rites,
initiates signaled their dedication to Isis. Many texts from the Roman
Empire refer to the Isis mysteries, but the only source to describe them
is a work of fiction, the novel The Golden Ass, written in the second
century by Apuleius. In it, the initiate undergoes ritual purification
before descending into the innermost part of Isis's temple, where he
experiences a symbolic death and rebirth and has an intense religious
experience. Some aspects of the mysteries of Isis and of other mystery
cults resemble elements of Christianity, but the evidence for their
influence on Christianity is unclear.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysteries_of_Isis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1233:
Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols entered Kaifeng after a 13-month
siege and began looting the fallen capital of the Jin dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_siege_of_Kaifeng>
1852:
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a successful
concert tour of the United States under the management of showman P. T.
Barnum.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind%27s_tour_of_America>
1953:
The mountaineers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (both
pictured) became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_British_Mount_Everest_expedition>
1999:
President Olusegun Obasanjo took office as Nigeria's first
elected and civilian head of state after 16 years of military rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olusegun_Obasanjo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nick:
1. (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor
way.
2. (transitive) To make ragged or uneven, as by cutting nicks or notches
in; to deface, to mar.
3. (transitive, rare) To make a crosscut or cuts on the underside of
(the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of
nicks; to tally with.
5. (transitive) To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike
at the precise point or time.
6. (transitive, cricket) To hit the ball with the edge of the bat and
produce a fine deflection.
7. (transitive, gaming) To throw or turn up (a number when playing
dice); to hit upon.
8. (transitive, mining) To make a cut at the side of the face.
9. (transitive, Australia, Britain, slang) To steal.
10. (transitive, Britain, law enforcement, slang) To arrest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nick>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe in an America that is on the march — an America
respected by all nations, friends and foes alike — an America that is
moving, doing, working, trying — a strong America in a world of peace.
That peace must be based on world law and world order, on the mutual
respect of all nations for the rights and powers of others and on a
world economy in which no nation lacks the ability to provide a decent
standard of living for all of its people.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production
and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive
system that make pregnancy possible. Naturally occurring hormones drive
two concurrent and coordinated cycles that last about 28 days. The
ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs and the
release of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The uterine cycle
governs the preparation and maintenance of the lining of the uterus
(endometrium) to receive a fertilized egg. Menstruation, a "period" in
common parlance, begins on day one of the cycle, and lasts for about
five days. Around day fourteen, an egg is usually released from the
ovary. Estrogen stimulates the uterus lining to thicken to accommodate
an embryo should fertilization occur. If implantation does not occur,
the lining is released during menstruation. Menarche (the first period)
usually occurs around age twelve, and menstrual cycles usually continue
for 30–45 years until menopause.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cycle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
English Civil War: Royalist troops stormed and captured the
Parlimentarian stronghold of Bolton, leading to a massacre of defenders
and local residents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_Bolton>
1901:
Mozaffar ad-Din, Shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights to
prospect for oil in the country to William Knox D'Arcy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_Concession>
1937:
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession
as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Neville_Chamberlain>
1999:
After 21 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's mural
painting The Last Supper, in Milan, Italy, was returned to display.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_%28Leonardo%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pyroballogy:
(weaponry, obsolete, rare) The study of artillery; the practice of using
artillery as a weapon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pyroballogy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Never say "no" to adventures. Always say "yes", otherwise
you’ll lead a very dull life.
--Ian Fleming
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Fleming>
The 2007 Coca-Cola 600 was the twelfth stock car race of the 2007
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the 48th iteration of the event in the U.S.
It was held on May 27, 2007, before a crowd of 175,000 in Concord,
North Carolina, at Lowe's Motor Speedway (pictured), now called
Charlotte Motor Speedway, one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR
races. The 400-lap race on the speedway's standard 1.5-mile (2.4 km)
track covers the longest distance of any event on the NASCAR calendar.
The 2007 race was won by Casey Mears of the Hendrick Motorsports team,
who started from 16th position. J. J. Yeley finished second and Kyle
Petty came in third. There were thirteen cautions and 29 lead changes
among fifteen drivers during the race. Kurt Busch held the lead for 107
laps, longer than any other driver. The 2007 race is Mears's only win in
the Nextel Cup Series, now known as the NASCAR Cup Series.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Coca-Cola_600>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1915:
HMS Princess Irene exploded and sank off Sheerness, United
Kingdom, with the loss of 352 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_Irene>
1967:
Australians voted overwhelmingly to include Indigenous
Australians in the national census and for the government to make laws
for their benefit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_%28Aboriginals%29>
2001:
Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf kidnapped
20 tourists in Palawan, Philippines, triggering a hostage crisis that
lasted over a year.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dos_Palmas_kidnappings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gouge:
1. (transitive) To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or
as if with a gouge.
2. (transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an
unfairly or unreasonably high price.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or scoop (something) out with or as
if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push
the eye (of a person) out of its socket.
4. (intransitive) To use a gouge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gouge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are entitled to our informed opinions. Without research,
without background, without understanding, it’s nothing. It’s just
bibble-babble. It’s like a fart in a wind tunnel, folks.
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>
Yazid I (c. 646 – 683) was the second caliph of the Umayyad
Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death. His appointment, the
first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history, was
opposed by several Muslim grandees from Medina, including Muhammad's
grandson Husayn ibn Ali. Husayn refused to recognize Yazid following his
accession and left for Kufa in Iraq to lead a revolt, but was killed in
the Battle of Karbala. To suppress the subsequent rebellion in Arabia,
Yazid sent an army that captured and sacked Medina. Next, Mecca was
besieged for several weeks until the army withdrew as a result of
Yazid's death. The caliphate fell into a decade-long civil war known as
the Second Fitna, ending with the establishment of the Marwanid dynasty.
Yazid is considered an illegitimate ruler and a tyrant by many Muslims.
Modern historians consider him a capable ruler, albeit less successful
than his father Mu'awiya I, whose style of governance he continued.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazid_I>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1637:
Pequot War: Allied Puritan and Mohegan forces attacked a
fortified Pequot village in the Connecticut Colony, killing between 400
and 700 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_massacre>
1822:
The deadliest fire in Norwegian history (depicted) occurred at
a church in Grue, killing at least 113 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire>
1967:
The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, widely
considered to be the most influential rock-and-roll album ever recorded,
was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band>
1991:
Shortly after leaving Bangkok, an engine thrust reverser on
Lauda Air Flight 004 deployed without being commanded, causing the
aircraft to break apart and killing all 223 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
facticity:
1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being a fact.
2. (uncountable, specifically, philosophy) In existentialism, the state
of being in the world without any knowable reason for such existence, or
of being in a particular state of affairs which one has no control over.
3. (countable) A fact that is not changeable or that is assumed to be
true without further evaluation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facticity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All I have to do is make you see this. This one particular thing
here. That's all. And sometimes it's impossible. Sometimes, I know the
best odds I can hope for are a thousand to one. You'll see what you see,
what your life has conditioned you to see upon encountering that
combination of words, not what I want or need you to see. Fiction
writing is like making films for the blind.
--Caitlín R. Kiernan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan>
Operation Rösselsprung was a combined airborne and ground assault by
the German XV Mountain Corps on the Supreme Headquarters of the
Yugoslav Partisans during World War II. Launched on 25 May 1944, the
operation was aimed at the Partisan leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito
(pictured) and his headquarters. It is associated with the Seventh Enemy
Offensive. The operation involved direct action via an airborne assault
by the 500th SS Parachute Battalion and a planned subsequent link-up
with ground forces, including Home Guard forces of the Independent State
of Croatia and collaborationist Chetniks. Tito, his principal staff and
Allied military personnel escaped. The operation failed due to fierce
Partisan resistance, the failure of the various German intelligence
agencies to share the limited intelligence available on Tito's exact
location, and the lack of contingency planning by the commander of the
German airborne force.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_R%C3%B6sselsprung_%281944%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge published one of his
most famous poems, Kubla Khan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubla_Khan>
1878:
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore premiered
at the Opera Comique in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore>
1961:
In an address to Congress, U.S. president John F. Kennedy
announced his support for the Apollo program, with "the goal, before
this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him
safely to the Earth".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program>
2011:
The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated
daytime talk show in U.S. television history, was broadcast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oprah_Winfrey_Show>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overt:
Open and not concealed or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of
war.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson>
Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and
published by Squaresoft for the PlayStation video game console. It is
the ninth game in the main Final Fantasy series. Players follow the
bandit Zidane Tribal, who kidnaps Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII
of Alexandria as part of a gambit by the neighboring nation of Lindblum.
The game was developed alongside Final Fantasy VIII. Envisioned by
developers as a retrospective for the series, it departed from the
futuristic settings of Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, and Final
Fantasy VIII by returning to the medieval style of the earlier
installments. Final Fantasy IX was released to critical acclaim and is
often considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Final
Fantasy IX was commercially successful, selling more than 5.5 million
copies on PlayStation by March 2016. Ports featuring minor gameplay and
graphical enhancements were released for various other platforms in the
late 2010s. (This article is part of a featured topic: Final Fantasy
series.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Final_Fantasy_series>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
Patrick Francis Healy became the president of Georgetown
University; he was posthumously regarded as the first black president of
a predominantly white university in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Francis_Healy>
1913:
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia married Prince Ernest
Augustus of Hanover, one of the last great social events of European
royalty before World War I began fourteen months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Victoria_Louise_of_Prussia>
1941:
Second World War: The German battleship Bismarck sank the
British battlecruiser HMS Hood at the Battle of the Denmark Strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood>
1991:
The Israel Defense Forces began Operation Solomon, a covert
operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Solomon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
consilience:
1. (logic) The concurrence of multiple inductions drawn from different
data sets. [from mid 19th c.]
2. The agreement, co-operation, or overlap of academic disciplines.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consilience>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm going to spare the defeated, I'm going to speak to the crowd
I'm going to spare the defeated, I'm going to speak to the crowd I'm
going to teach peace to the conquered, I'm going to tame the proud.
--Bob Dylan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan>
A large body of Western Chalukya literature in the Kannada language was
produced during the empire's reign (973–1200) in present-day India
(map pictured). Kannada literature from this period, usually considered
Old Kannada, constituted the bulk of the Chalukya court's textual
production and pertained mostly to the socio-religious development of
the Jain faith, with some of that of the Shaiva faith. Important
literary contributions in the Kannada language came not only from court
poets, noblemen, royalty, ascetics and saints who wrote in the marga
(mainstream) style, but also from commoners and artisans, including
cobblers, weavers, cowherds and shepherds who wrote in the desi (folk)
style. These poets revolutionised Kannada literature, rejecting
traditional themes that eulogised kings and noblemen, and writing
didactic poems that were closer to the spoken and sung form of the
language. In addition to hundreds of male poets, over thirty female
poets have been recorded.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Chalukya_literature_in_Kannada>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and
assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-West_Mounted_Police>
1895:
Backed by Samuel J. Tilden, the Astor Library and the Lenox
Library agreed to merge and form the New York Public Library (building
pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library>
1951:
Delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama and the government of the
newly established People's Republic of China signed the Seventeen Point
Agreement, affirming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Point_Agreement>
1974:
The Airbus A300, the first twin-engined wide-body airliner,
went into service with Air France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A300>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pall:
1. (transitive) To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or
spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
2. (intransitive) To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose
life, spirit, strength, or taste.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pall>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Dogmatic imitations of ancestral beliefs are passing. They have
been the axis around which religion revolved but now are no longer
fruitful; on the contrary, in this day they have become the cause of
human degradation and hindrance. Bigotry and dogmatic adherence to
ancient beliefs have become the central and fundamental source of
animosity among men, the obstacle to human progress, the cause of
warfare and strife, the destroyer of peace, composure and welfare in the
world.
--`Abdu'l-Bahá
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1>
The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&M;), often
considered the dawn of modern transport, took place on
15 September 1830. Eight trains set out from Liverpool to Manchester
carrying dignitaries including the Duke of Wellington, then prime
minister. At Parkside the trains stopped to take on water, and former
cabinet minister William Huskisson alighted and was struck by a
locomotive, suffering fatal injuries. As a large crowd waiting to meet
the trains in Manchester was becoming unruly, Wellington decided that
the event should continue. On arrival in Manchester a hostile crowd
pelted Wellington with vegetables and he ordered the trains return to
Liverpool. Faults meant only three of the locomotives were still
functional; the party eventually returned six and a half hours late. The
accidents led to significant coverage of the opening, raising the
profile of the new technology, and within a month schemes were announced
to connect the industrial centres of England. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_of_the_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railw…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1766:
An earthquake registering an estimated 7.1 Ms struck Istanbul
and was followed by a tsunami that caused significant damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1766_Istanbul_earthquake>
1844:
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of
God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered
to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism>
1958:
Ethnic riots mostly targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils
broke out in Ceylon, resulting in at least 158 deaths over the next few
days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_anti-Tamil_pogrom>
2014:
Prayut Chan-o-cha, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai
Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following
six months of political crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mouthbrooder:
(zoology) Any animal that cares for its offspring, either eggs or
juveniles, by holding them in its mouth for extended periods of time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mouthbrooder>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There’s a creation, a creating force. But whatever it is is in
everything we see. It’s in that log, in that stone. It’s just the
power. And I’ve had many experiences with it. Certain circumstances
bring it out, which all the mystics know. That is part of our Zen
training too. It’s called an "opening." … For a second, you see what
the world is. It is a whole other way of seeing, which is horrible,
terrifying, and extraordinary and a great blessing to have.
--Peter Matthiessen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Matthiessen>