Ursa Minor (Little Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky. In
North America, it is also known as the Little Dipper since its seven
main stars appear to form a ladle shape (diagram pictured). One of 88
modern constellations, it was also one of 48 listed by 2nd-century
astronomer Ptolemy. Polaris, its brightest star, is currently less than
one degree away from the north celestial pole. Because this position
stays nearly fixed as the Earth rotates, the star has been important
for navigation, particularly by mariners. Polaris is a yellow-white
supergiant and the brightest Cepheid variable star, ranging in apparent
magnitude (m) from 1.97 to 2.00. Beta Ursae Minoris, also known as
Kochab, has swollen and cooled to become an orange giant with a
slightly fainter m of 2.08. Ursa Minor also contains an isolated neutron
star—Calvera—and H1504+65, the hottest known white dwarf, with a
surface temperature of 200,000 K. Planets have been detected orbiting
four of its stars, including Kochab.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Minor>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1475:
Moldavian–Ottoman Wars: Stephen the Great led Moldavian
forces to defeat an Ottoman attack under Hadım Suleiman Pasha near
Vaslui in what is now Romania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vaslui>
1863:
Service began on the Metropolitan Railway (construction
depicted) between Paddington and Farringdon Street, today the oldest
segment of the London Underground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Railway>
1923:
Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebelled against
the League of Nations decision to leave the area as a mandated region
under French control.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaip%C4%97da_Revolt>
2007:
A general strike began in Guinea as an attempt to force
President Lansana Conté to resign, eventually resulting in the
appointment of two new prime ministers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Guinean_general_strike>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
blooper:
1. (informal) A blunder, an error.
2. (baseball, slang) A fly ball that is weakly hit just over the
infielders.
3. (film, informal) A filmed or videotaped outtake that has recorded an
amusing accident and/or mistake.
4. (nautical) A gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the
aftmost mast of a square-rigged ship; a spanker.
5. (US, dated) A radio which interferes with other radios, causing them
to bloop (squeal loudly).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blooper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
--John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton>
The Power Mac G4 Cube is a personal computer of the Macintosh family
sold by Apple from July 2000 to 2001. It was designed by Jonathan Ive
and conceived by CEO Steve Jobs as a powerful, miniaturized desktop
computer. Apple developed new technologies and manufacturing methods for
its 7.7-inch (20 cm) cubic computer housed in clear acrylic glass. The
Cube was mid-range, between the consumer iMac G3 and the professional
Power Mac G4. It was announced at the Macworld Expo on July 19, 2000.
It won awards for its design, but reviews noted the high cost for its
power, its limited expandability, and cosmetic defects. It was a
commercial failure, selling just 150,000 units before production ended
within a year. The Cube was a rare failure for the company under Jobs,
after a successful period that brought the company back from the brink
of bankruptcy. However, it influenced future Apple products, from the
iPod to the Mac mini. New York's Museum of Modern Art holds a G4 Cube as
part of its collection.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G4_Cube>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1917:
First World War: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman
forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-
day Rafah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rafa>
1972:
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association
lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the
longest of any team in American professional sports.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers>
1992:
Radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced
the discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12
(depicted), generally considered the first definitive detection of an
exoplanet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanet>
2015:
Contaminated beer served at a funeral in Tete Province,
Mozambique, killed 75 people and made at least 230 others ill.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_funeral_beer_poisoning>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cryptodepression:
(geography, limnology) The portion of a lake which lies below sea level.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cryptodepression>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Existentialism does not offer to the reader the consolations of
an abstract evasion: existentialism proposes no evasion.
--Simone de Beauvoir
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir>
The Missouri Centennial half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent piece
struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1921. It was designed
by Robert Ingersoll Aitken. The U.S. state of Missouri wanted a
commemorative coin to mark its centennial that year. Authorizing
legislation passed through Congress without opposition, and was signed
on March 4, 1921, by President Warren G. Harding on his inauguration
day. The federal Commission of Fine Arts hired Aitken to design the
coin, which depicted Daniel Boone on both sides. The reverse design,
showing Boone with a Native American, was likely intended to symbolize
the displacement of the Indians by white settlers. To increase sales, a
portion of the issue was produced with the mark "2★4", symbolic of
Missouri being the 24th state. Although admired for the design, the
coins did not sell as well as hoped, and almost 60 percent were returned
to the Philadelphia Mint for melting.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Centennial_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
American statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent for
his electromechanical tabulating machine for punched-card data.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith>
1936:
Reza Shah issued the Kashf-e hijab decree in Iran, ordering
police to physically remove hijabs from any women in public.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashf-e_hijab>
1972:
Following Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War,
President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Bangladeshi politician Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman from prison in response to international pressure.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Mujibur_Rahman>
1991:
Jeremy Wade Delle committed suicide in his high-school class in
Richardson, Texas, inspiring the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_%28song%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mind-boggling:
That causes the mind to boggle; that is beyond one's ability to
understand or figure out.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mind-boggling>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hope is the eternal tool in the survival kit for mankind. We hope
for a little luck, we hope for a better tomorrow, we hope — although
it is an impossible hope — to somehow get out of this world alive. And
if we can't and don't, then it is enough to rejoice in our short time
here and to remember how much we loved the view.
--Sidney Poitier
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier>
Hammond's rice rat (Mindomys hammondi), also known as Hammond's
oryzomys, is a species of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family
Cricetidae. Formerly considered to be related with Nectomys,
Sigmodontomys, Megalomys, or Oryzomys, it is now placed in its own
genus, Mindomys, but its relationships remain obscure; some evidence
supports a placement near Oecomys or as a basal member of Oryzomyini.
Mindomys hammondi is known only from Ecuador, where it occurs in montane
forest; a record from the Amazon basin lowlands is dubious. Reportedly,
it lives on the ground and is associated with water; others suggest it
lives in trees. A large, long-tailed, and long-whiskered rat, its fur is
buff above and abruptly lighter below. The front part of the skull
(rostrum) is heavily built. The species is named after the collector who
first found it, Gilbert Hammond. He supplied natural history specimens
to Oldfield Thomas and others.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond%27s_rice_rat>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia as the first
de facto central bank of the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_North_America>
1931:
Australian aviator Guy Menzies flew from Sydney to New
Zealand's West Coast, making the first solo trans-Tasman flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Menzies>
1989:
Representatives of Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini delivered a
letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, inviting him to consider Islam as an
alternative to communism, and predicting the dissolution of the Soviet
Bloc.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khomeini%27s_letter_to_Mikhail_Gorbachev>
2012:
A hot-air balloon flight from Carterton, New Zealand, collided
with a power line while landing, causing it to crash and killing all
eleven people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Carterton_hot_air_balloon_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
to say nothing of:
(idiomatic) An apophasis used to mention another important, usually
related, point: not taking into account, not to mention, without
considering.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/to_say_nothing_of>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My fellow Americans, in life, there’s truth and, tragically,
there are lies — lies conceived and spread for profit and power. We
must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. And here
is the truth: The former president of the United States of America has
created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He’s done
so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own
interests as more important than his country’s interests and
America’s interests, and because his bruised ego matters more to him
than our democracy or our Constitution. He can’t accept he lost, even
though that’s what 93 United States senators, his own Attorney
General, his own Vice President, governors and state officials in every
battleground state have all said: He lost. That’s what 81 million of
you did as you voted for a new way forward. He has done what no
president in American history — the history of this country — has
ever, ever done: He refused to accept the results of an election and the
will of the American people.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
Cardiff City beat Leeds United 2–1 in their third-round 2001–02 FA
Cup football match at Ninian Park (pictured) in Cardiff on 6 January
2002. Premier League Leeds United were favourites as Cardiff City were
tenth in the Second Division, two tiers below. As a Premier League team,
Leeds entered the FA Cup in this round, while Cardiff had had to win two
earlier matches. The gate was more than 22,000, a record at Ninian Park
that season. Andy D'Urso was the referee. Leeds scored in the 12th
minute via a goal from Mark Viduka. Cardiff equalised soon after with
Graham Kavanagh scoring from a free-kick. Shortly before half-time,
Leeds midfielder Alan Smith was sent off after clashing with Cardiff's
Andy Legg, so Leeds had to play defensively in the second half. With
three minutes remaining, Scott Young volleyed in the winning goal.
Cardiff fans invaded the pitch and clashes between the two sets of
supporters led to police intervention. Cardiff were eventually fined
£20,000 for the pitch invasion. (
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_City_F.C._2%E2%80%931_Leeds_United_F.…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1322:
Stefan Dečanski became King of Serbia, succeeding his half-
brother Stefan Konstantin, whom he later defeated in battle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_De%C4%8Danski>
1839:
The worst storm to hit Ireland in 300 years damaged or
destroyed more than 20 per cent of houses in Dublin with 100-knot
(190 km/h) winds.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Big_Wind>
1907:
Italian educator Maria Montessori opened her first school and
day-care centre for working-class children in Rome, employing the
philosophy of education that now bears her name.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori>
1994:
Two-time American Olympic figure-skating medalist Nancy
Kerrigan was hit on the leg with a police baton by an assailant hired by
the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonya_Harding>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Twelfth Day:
(Christianity) Synonym of Epiphany (“an annual Christian feast on the
twelfth day after Christmas Day (6 January) celebrating the appearance
of Jesus Christ to the Magi”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twelfth_Day>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January
6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they
were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the
assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.
Because January 6th was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our
democracy, we understand that there is broad public interest in our
investigation. We understand that there are questions about how long the
investigation will take, and about what exactly we are doing. Our
answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with
respect to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever
it takes for justice to be done — consistent with the facts and the
law.
--Merrick Garland
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Merrick_Garland>
The 2008 Orange Bowl was a bowl game between the college football teams
Virginia Tech Hokies and Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin
Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Tech was favored, but Kansas won
24–21 in a game dominated by defense. The Orange Bowl, part of the
2007–08 Bowl Championship Series, was the final game for both teams
and was watched by more than eight million FOX viewers in the US. Tech
qualified by being the ACC champion, while Big 12 team Kansas was
selected by the Orange Bowl. Tech was designated as the home team at the
neutral venue. This was the first Orange Bowl appearance for Kansas
since 1969 and for Tech since 1996. Todd Reesing, quarterback for
Kansas, completed 20 of his 37 passes for 227 yards, a touchdown, and an
interception, and Tech quarterback Sean Glennon had 13 for 28 passing,
earning 160 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Kansas
cornerback Aqib Talib scored with an interception touchdown and won the
Most Valuable Player award.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Orange_Bowl>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
The 36-inch (91 cm) refracting telescope at the Lick
Observatory near San Jose, California, the largest in the world until
1897, was used for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_Observatory>
1919:
Emir Faisal of Iraq signed an agreement with Zionist leader
Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and
an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal%E2%80%93Weizmann_Agreement>
1976:
The multilateral International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, part of the International Bill of Human Rights, came
into effect.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Economic,_Social_an…>
2002:
Israeli forces seized MV Karine A, which was carrying
50 tonnes of smuggled weapons on behalf of the Palestinian National
Authority.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_A_affair>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
castle in the air:
(idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be
realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a
near impossibility.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/castle_in_the_air>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
While there are two ways of contending, one by discussion, the
other by force, the former belonging properly to man, the latter to
beasts, recourse must be had to the latter if there be no opportunity
for employing the former.
--Cicero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicero>
Seventy-Six is a historical fiction novel by American writer John Neal
(pictured). Published in Baltimore in 1823, it is the fourth novel
written about the American Revolutionary War. Historically distinguished
for its pioneering use of colloquial language, the Yankee dialect,
battle scene realism, high characterization, stream of consciousness
narrative, profanity, and depictions of sex and romance, the novel
foreshadowed and influenced later American fiction. With narrative prose
that resembles spoken American English more than any other period
literature, it was the first work of American fiction to use the phrase
son-of-a-bitch. It explores male pain and self-loathing resulting from
violent acts committed in war and duels. Inspired by his own historical
research, Neal took only twenty-seven days to write the 528-page novel,
reporting that "I tumbled out of my chair" because "I had fainted, –
swooned, – from overwork." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventy-Six_%28novel%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1680:
Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram of Java and his
courtiers stabbed Trunajaya to death a week after the rebel leader
surrendered to VOC forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunajaya_rebellion>
1860:
French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier announced the putative
discovery of the planet Vulcan at a meeting at the French Academy of
Sciences in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_%28hypothetical_planet%29>
1944:
World War II: The United States and Australia successfully
landed 13,000 troops in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off a
Japanese retreat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Saidor>
1963:
Vietnam War: The Viet Cong won its first major victory at the
Battle of Ap Bac.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
forsake:
1. (transitive) To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to
renounce (someone or something).
2. (transitive, obsolete) To decline or refuse (something offered).
3. (transitive, obsolete) To avoid or shun (someone or something).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient
for (someone or something).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forsake>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the invariable lesson to humanity that distance in time,
and in space as well, lends focus. It is not recorded, incidentally,
that the lesson has ever been permanently learned.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>
The black-and-red broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos) is a bird in
the Asian broadbill family that is found in Indochina, Sumatra, and
Borneo. It is the only species in the genus Cymbirhynchus. It inhabits
lowland forests near water, along with disturbed habitats and secondary
forests. A large and distinctive bird, it has maroon underparts, black
upperparts, and a maroon neck-band, along with a blue and yellow beak.
Females are slightly smaller than males. It feeds on insects, fish,
mollusks, snails, and crustaceans. It breeds in the dry season, building
a large and conspicuous nest over water. Clutches usually have two or
three eggs, but sometimes will have a fourth runt egg, and are incubated
by both sexes, hatching in twenty-one days. Due to its extensive range
and large population, the black-and-red broadbill is evaluated as a
least-concern species by the IUCN. They are threatened by deforestation,
trapping for the songbird trade, and hunting.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-red_broadbill>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: The town of Norfolk, Virginia, was
burned and destroyed by the combined actions of British and Whig forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Norfolk>
1945:
Second World War: The Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte
in an attempt to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte>
1965:
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which later
helped the country become a republic, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan>
2019:
The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian
object Arrokoth, making it the farthest object visited by a spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
calends:
1. Often with initial capital: the first day of a month, particularly
(Ancient Rome, historical) the first day of a month of the Roman
calendar.
2. (by extension) A day for settling debts and other accounts.
3. (by extension, biblical, Judaism, obsolete) Synonym of Rosh Hodesh
(“the Jewish festival of the new moon, which begins the months of the
Hebrew calendar”)
4. (rare) Synonym of calendar; (figuratively) an account, a record.
5. (figuratively, obsolete) The first day of something; a beginning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calends>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm not looking forward to death; it's important to live while we
are here. But those who have died, my mother said, now they know the
secret. And someday we all will.
--Betty White
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Betty_White>