The white-eyed river martin (Pseudochelidon sirintarae) is a passerine
bird in the swallow family. First found in 1968, it is known only from
a single wintering site in Thailand, and may be extinct, since there
have been no confirmed sightings since 1980 despite targeted surveys in
Thailand and Cambodia. The adult has mainly glossy greenish-black
plumage, a white rump, and a tail with two long central feathers that
widen to a racket-shaped tip. It has a white eye ring and a broad,
bright greenish-yellow bill. The juvenile lacks the tail ornaments and
is browner. Like other swallows, it feeds on insects caught in flight,
and its wide bill suggests that it may take relatively large species. It
roosts in reed beds in winter, and may nest in river sandbanks. Its
apparent demise may have been hastened by trapping, loss of habitat and
dam construction. The martin is one of only two birds endemic to
Thailand. The country's government has featured the bird on a stamp and
a commemorative coin. (This article is part of a featured topic: River
martin.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/River_martin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1423:
Hundred Years' War: The English and their Burgundian allies
were victorious over the French at the Battle of Cravant near Auxerre,
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cravant>
1777:
The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution
commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette as a major general in the
American revolutionary forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette>
1941:
The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann
Göring authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations
for "the Final Solution of the Jewish question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution>
1991:
Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven
Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of
their campaign against Lithuanian border posts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_OMON_assaults_on_Lithuanian_border_pos…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
aposematism:
(biology, chiefly zoology) An adaptation, especially a form of
coloration, that warns off potential predators.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aposematism>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by
their intentions rather than their results.
--Milton Friedman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman>
Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the fourth crewed mission
to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on
the Moon (July 30 – August 2) and a greater focus on science,
including the first Lunar Roving Vehicle. David Scott and James Irwin
landed near Hadley Rille and spent .mw-parser-output .frac{white-
space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den
{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output
.frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:r
ect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:a
bsolute;width:1px}18+1⁄2 hours on extravehicular activity, collecting
170 pounds (77 kg) of surface material. At the same time, Alfred Worden
orbited the Moon, operating the sensors in the SIM bay of the service
module. During the return trip, Worden performed the first spacewalk in
deep space. The Apollo 15 mission splashed down safely, with all goals
accomplished, but was marred when it emerged that the crew had carried
unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold
by a West German stamp dealer. The crew was reprimanded for poor
judgment, and did not fly in space again. The mission also saw the
collection of the Genesis Rock, thought to be part of the Moon's early
crust, and Scott used a hammer and a feather to demonstrate Galileo's
theory that absent air resistance, objects fall at the same rate
regardless of mass.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_15>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
World War I: German agents sabotaged U.S.-made munitions in
New York Harbor that were to be supplied to the Allies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion>
1930:
Uruguay defeated Argentina at the Estadio Centenario in
Montevideo to win the inaugural FIFA World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_FIFA_World_Cup>
1981:
Amid a widespread economic crisis and food shortages in Poland,
up to 50,000 people, mostly women and children, took part in the largest
of nationwide hunger demonstrations in Łódź.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Polish_hunger_demonstrations>
2014:
At least 151 people were killed when heavy rains triggered a
landslide in the village of Malin in Maharashtra, India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Malin_landslide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tajine:
1. (cooking) An earthenware cooking pot of North African origin,
consisting of a shallow, round dish without handles and a tall, conical
or dome-shaped lid.
2. (by extension) A stew, originally from Morocco, the ingredients of
which are traditionally cooked slowly in such a pot; the dish is
normally served with couscous.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tajine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Well, I couldn't see what was to be So I just stood there
laughing A picture of you, a picture of you in uniform Standing with
your head held high Hot down to the floor but it couldn't be you It
couldn't be you, it's a picture of Hitler
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>
Andreas Palaiologos (1453–1502) was the elder son of Thomas
Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea, and a nephew of Constantine XI
Palaiologos, the final Byzantine emperor. After the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 and the Ottoman invasion of the Morea in 1460,
Andreas's father fled to Corfu with his family. Upon his father's death
in 1465, Andreas moved to Rome and was recognized as the titular Despot
of the Morea and as the chief claimant to the ancient imperial throne.
Although his father had never claimed the title, Andreas proclaimed
himself "Emperor of Constantinople" from 1483 onwards, a claim that was
supported by some of the Byzantine refugees who lived in Italy. Andreas
traveled around Europe in search of a ruler who could aid him in
retaking Constantinople, but rallied little support. In 1481 an
expedition he started organizing to restore the Byzantine Empire was
canceled. He died in poverty in Rome in 1502 and was buried in St.
Peter's Basilica.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Palaiologos>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
The Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in
the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Canal>
1954:
The first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high-fantasy novel The
Lord of the Rings was published by Allen & Unwin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings>
1981:
An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million
people watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at
St Paul's Cathedral in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Prince_Charles_and_Lady_Diana_Spen…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smocking:
(sewing) An embroidery technique in which the fabric is gathered and
then embroidered with decorative stitches to hold the gathers in place;
the product of the use of this embroidery technique.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smocking>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think this is the greatest threat to our republic ever. Not the
Depression, not World War II, not the Civil War. This is it … This
moment of all these intersecting viruses, of novel coronaviruses and of
racial injustice … 402-year-old-virus. And it’s an age-old human
virus of lying and misinformation and paranoia and conspiracy. This is
the pill that will kill us unless we do something.
--Ken Burns
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Burns>
R. A. B. Mynors (28 July 1903 – 17 October 1989) was an English
classicist and medievalist who held the senior chair of Latin at the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He served as the Kennedy Professor
of Latin at Cambridge from 1944 to 1953 and as the Corpus Christi
Professor of Latin at Oxford from 1953 until his retirement in 1970.
Mynors had the reputation of one of Britain's foremost classicists. A
textual critic, he specialised in the study of manuscripts and their
role in the reconstruction of classical texts. He was an expert on
palaeography, and has been credited with unravelling a number of highly
complex manuscript relationships. His publications include critical
editions of Vergil, Catullus, and Pliny the Younger. In addition to
receiving honorary degrees and fellowships from various institutions,
Mynors was made a Knight Bachelor in 1963. He died in a car accident,
aged 86. His comprehensive commentary on Vergil's Georgics was published
posthumously.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._B._Mynors>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1821:
Peruvian War of Independence: Argentine general José de San
Martín declared the independence of Peru from the Spanish Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_de_San_Mart%C3%ADn>
1915:
U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince to begin a twenty-year
occupation of Haiti.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti>
1976:
An earthquake registering 7.6 Mw, one of the deadliest in
history, devastated Tangshan, China, and killed at least 240,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tangshan_earthquake>
2001:
At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan,
Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at
a single FINA world championship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brawl:
1. (intransitive) To engage in a brawl; to fight or quarrel.
2. (intransitive) To create a disturbance; to complain loudly.
3. (intransitive) Especially of a rapid stream running over stones: to
make a loud, confused noise.
4. (transitive) To pour abuse on; to scold. [...]
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To move to and fro, to quiver, to shake.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brawl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A rationalist, as I use the word, is a man who attempts to reach
decisions by argument and perhaps, in certain cases, by compromise,
rather than by violence. He is a man who would rather be unsuccessful in
convincing another man by argument than successful in crushing him by
force, by intimidation and threats, or even by persuasive propaganda.
--Karl Popper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper>
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is a first-person shooter game,
developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is a
remastered version of 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was
initially released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows
in November 2016 as part of special edition bundles of Call of Duty:
Infinite Warfare. The story follows the USMC and SAS in conflict against
a Middle Eastern separatist group and a Russian ultranationalist group.
The remaster began development as the result of an online petition. It
features extensive technical enhancements while retaining the original
core gameplay, and includes new single-player and multiplayer content.
Critical reception was generally positive, with praise for the range of
modifications and the simplistic but challenging gameplay. However, it
was criticized for its balancing, narrative pacing, and artificial
intelligence. The game was controversial for several business decisions
made by Activision.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Modern_Warfare_Remastered>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1302:
Byzantine–Ottoman wars: The Ottoman sultanate gained its
first major victory against the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of
Bapheus in Bithynia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bapheus>
1955:
The Austrian State Treaty came into effect, ending the Allied
occupation of Austria, although the country was not free of Allied
troops until October.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied-occupied_Austria>
1983:
Madonna released her self-titled debut album, which set the
standard for the genre of dance-pop for decades.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_%28Madonna_album%29>
2007:
While covering a police pursuit in Phoenix, Arizona, two news
helicopters collided in mid-air, killing both crews.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_news_helicopter_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
carrier wave:
(physics) A wave that can be modulated, either in amplitude, frequency,
or phase, to carry or transmit images, music, speech, or other signals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carrier_wave>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Methinks, thy jubilee to keep, The first-made anthem rang On
earth deliver'd from the deep, And the first poet sang.Nor ever shall
the Muse's eye Unraptured greet thy beam: Theme of primeval prophecy,
Be still the poet's theme!
--Thomas Campbell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Campbell>
The Battle of Caen on 26 July 1346 was an assault on the French-held
town by a force of archers and men-at-arms, part of an invading English
army under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. This force,
nominally commanded by the Earls of Warwick and Northampton, was eager
for plunder, and attacked against orders, before the rest of their army
was in position. Caen was garrisoned by 1,000–1,500 soldiers and a
large number of armed townsmen, commanded by Grand Constable of France
Raoul, the Count of Eu. The town was captured in the first assault; over
5,000 of the ordinary soldiers and townspeople were killed and a small
number of nobles were taken prisoner. After sacking the town for five
days, the army marched to the River Seine, and by 12 August they were 20
miles (32 kilometres) from Paris. After turning north they heavily
defeated the French at the Battle of Crécy two weeks later, and
commenced the successful siege of Calais the following week.
(This article is part of a featured topic: Crécy campaign.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Cr%C3%A9cy_campaign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1887:
L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to
describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unua_Libro>
1936:
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to the Canadian
Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War, was
unveiled near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial>
2007:
After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black
Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was
slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lexicography:
1. The art or craft of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries.
2. (linguistics) The scholarly discipline of analysing and describing
the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the
lexicon (vocabulary) of a language and developing theories of dictionary
components and structures linking the data in dictionaries.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lexicography>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The poet is, etymologically, the maker. Like all makers, he
requires a stock of raw materials — in his case, experience. Now
experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or
danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of
sensibility and intuition, of seeing and hearing the significant things,
of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and co-
ordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man
does with what happens to him. It is a gift for dealing with the
accidents of existence, not the accidents themselves. By a happy
dispensation of nature, the poet generally possesses the gift of
experience in conjunction with that of expression. What he says so well
is therefore intrinsically of value.
--Aldous Huxley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley>
Oryzomys dimidiatus, also known as the Nicaraguan oryzomys, Thomas's
rice rat, or the Nicaraguan rice rat, is a rodent in the genus Oryzomys
of the family Cricetidae. It is known from only three specimens, all
collected in southeastern Nicaragua (range pictured) since 1904. Placed
in Nectomys upon its discovery, it was later classified in its own
subgenus of Oryzomys and finally recognized as closely related to other
species now placed in Oryzomys, including the marsh rice rat and
Oryzomys couesi, which occurs in the same region. With a head and body
length of 118 to 128 mm (4.6 to 5.0 in), O. dimidiatus is a medium-
sized rice rat. The upperparts are gray-brown and the underparts are
grayish, not buffy as in O. couesi. The tail is only slightly darker
above than below. All three specimens were caught near water and the
species may be semiaquatic, spending some time in the water. There is
currently not enough data to make a proper assessment of its
conservation status. (This article is part of a featured topic:
Oryzomys.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Oryzomys>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1139:
Prince Afonso Henriques led Portuguese troops to victory over
the Almoravid Moors at the Battle of Ourique, which soon resulted in
Portuguese independence from the Kingdom of León.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ourique>
1861:
The United States Congress passed the Crittenden–Johnson
Resolution, asserting that the aim of the American Civil War was to
"preserve the Union"; the measure was repealed five months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crittenden%E2%80%93Johnson_Resolution>
1978:
Two Puerto Rican independence activists were killed in a police
ambush at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Maravilla_murders>
2007:
Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female president of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Patil>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cutting:
1. (countable, uncountable) The action of the verb to cut.
2. (countable) A section removed from a larger whole.
3. (countable) A newspaper clipping.
4. (countable, horticulture) A leaf, stem, branch, or root removed from
a plant and cultivated to grow a new plant.
5. (countable) An abridged selection of written work, often intended for
performance.
6. (countable, Britain) An open passage at a level lower than the
surrounding terrain, dug for a canal, railway, or road to go through.
7. (uncountable, cinematography, sound engineering) The editing of film
or other recordings.
8. (uncountable, machining) The process of bringing metals to a desired
shape by chipping away the unwanted material.
9. (uncountable, psychology) The act of cutting one's own skin as a
symptom of a personality disorder; self-harm.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cutting>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Both the revolutionary and the creative individual are perpetual
juveniles. The revolutionary does not grow up because he cannot grow,
while the creative individual cannot grow up because he keeps growing.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
"The 1975" is a song by the band of the same name and the first track on
Notes on a Conditional Form (2020), their fourth album. In the song,
Greta Thunberg (pictured) calls for civil disobedience in response to
climate change, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Each of their three
previous albums began with a track titled "The 1975" that used the same
lyrics, beginning "Go down / Soft sound", but the lead vocalist Matty
Healy thought it was important to give a platform to Thunberg, the
"voice of this generation". After the recording in Stockholm, they
released the song earlier than intended—on 24 July 2019. Proceeds
from the song were donated to the grassroots environmental movement
Extinction Rebellion, at Thunberg's request. The band opened encores at
their performances with the song, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted
their touring. It was received positively by music critics, many of whom
praised the album's transition from the end of "The 1975" into the punk
rock song "People".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_1975_%282019_song%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër, ending the
Albanian revolt of 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_revolt_of_1910>
1959:
Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. vice president
Richard Nixon held an impromptu debate at the opening of the American
National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Debate>
1980:
At the Moscow Olympics, the Australian swimming team, nicknamed
the Quietly Confident Quartet, won the men's 4 × 100 metre medley
relay.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_1980_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%9…>
2014:
Fifty minutes after departing Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Air
Algérie Flight 5017 disappeared from radar, and its wreckage was found
the next day in Mali, with no survivors of the 116 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Alg%C3%A9rie_Flight_5017>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
quakebuttock:
(formerly obsolete, rare, now humorous) A coward.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quakebuttock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We're all children. We invent the adult facade and don it and try
to keep the buttons and the medals polished. We're all trying to give
such a good imitation of being an adult that the real adults in the
world won't catch on. Each of us takes up the shticks that compose the
adult image we seek. I'd gone the route of lazy, ironic bravado, of
amiable, unaffiliated insouciance. Tinhorn knights of a stumbling
Rocinante from Rent-A-Steed, maybe with one little area of the heart so
pinched, so parched, I never dared let anything really lasting happen to
me. Or dared admit the the flaw... The adult you pretend to be
convinces himself that the risk is worth the game, the game worth the
risk. Tells himself the choice of life style could get him killed — on
the Daytona track, in the bull ring, falling from the raw steel
framework forty stories up, catching a rodeo hoof in the side of the
head. Adult pretenses are never a perfect fit for the child underneath,
and when there is the presentiment of death, like a hard black light
making panther eyes glow in the back of the cave, the cry is, "Mommy,
mommy, mommy, it's so dark out there, so dark and so forever."
--John D. MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald>
Arthur Blackburn (1892–1960) was an Australian soldier, lawyer,
politician, and recipient of the Victoria Cross. Enlisting in the
Australian Imperial Force in 1914, he fought with his unit for most of
the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, during which he was commissioned. On
23 July 1916, during the Battle of Pozières in France, he led four
sorties to drive Germans from a strong point using hand grenades and
captured 370 yards (340 m) of trench. He fought in the Battle of
Mouquet Farm in August, then was evacuated to Australia due to illness.
He served as a member of the South Australian parliament in 1918–1921.
After the outbreak of World War II, Blackburn led the 2/3rd Machine Gun
Battalion during the Syria–Lebanon campaign in 1941, personally
accepting the surrender of Damascus. In early 1942, his battalion was
deployed to Java in the Dutch East Indies. Captured by the Japanese,
Blackburn spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. After the war,
he served on the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Blackburn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
The trial of the Eastbourne manslaughter, which later became an
important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of
corporal punishment in schools, began in Lewes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastbourne_manslaughter>
1921:
The first National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
opened in a house in Shanghai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Party>
1984:
Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, was
forced to resign after the magazine Penthouse published nude photos of
her without consent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Williams_and_Miss_America>
2001:
Megawati Sukarnoputri became the first female president of
Indonesia after her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was removed from
office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
churchical:
1. (Christianity, informal) Pertaining to or characteristic of church;
ecclesiastical.
2. (chiefly Jamaican, music) Belonging to a style of Reggae music that
reflects a spiritual sensibility.
3. (chiefly Jamaican, Rastafari) Pertaining to the strain of Rastafarian
culture that emphasizes a traditional theocracy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/churchical>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am a writer, and there comes a time when that which I write has
to belong to me, has to be written alone and in silence, with no one
looking over my shoulder, no one telling me a better way to write it. It
doesn't have to be great writing, it doesn't even have to be terribly
good. It just has to be mine.
--Raymond Chandler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>
Hurricane Emily was the strongest storm of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane
season, and caused record flooding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
The fifth named storm of the season, Emily became a tropical storm on
August 25, after becoming nearly stationary southeast of Bermuda. On
August 31, the hurricane reached peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on
its approach to North Carolina. Part of the eye passed over Hatteras
Island in the Outer Banks, but its absolute center remained 23 mi
(37 km) offshore. Emily's strong winds coincided with high tides during
a full moon, causing severe flooding along the Pamlico Sound. The
villages of Avon and Hatteras were inundated, and in Buxton, the floods
left behind water marks as high as 10.54 ft (3.21 m). The storm
wrecked 553 homes, leaving a quarter of the Cape Hatteras population
homeless. Off the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia, three swimmers
drowned.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Emily_%281993%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1802:
Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam, which
had experienced centuries of feudal warfare.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gia_Long>
1894:
Jules-Albert de Dion finished first in the world's first motor
race, but did not win as his steam-powered car was against the rules.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules-Albert_de_Dion>
1983:
The Communist Polish government ended the 19-month period of
martial law it had imposed in an attempt to counter political
opposition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law_in_Poland>
1991:
American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after police discovered human remains in his
apartment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
radiole:
1. (zoology) The spine of a sea urchin.
2. (zoology) A heavily ciliated feather-like tentacle occuring in
clusters on the crowns of certain tubeworms, especially those of the
order Canalipalpata (the fan-head worms), used for feeding and
respiration.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/radiole>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our earth is but a small star in the great universe. Yet of it we
can make, if we choose, a planet unvexed by war, untroubled by hunger or
fear, undivided by senseless distinctions of race, color or theory.
Grant us that courage and foreseeing to begin this task today that our
children and our children's children may be proud of the name of man.
--Stephen Vincent Benét
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Vincent_Ben%C3%A9t>