The pale crag martin (Ptyonoprogne obsoleta) is a bird in the swallow
family that is resident in northern Africa and in southwestern Asia. It
breeds in mountains, other rocky areas and towns. It is 12–13 cm
(4.5–5 in) long, with mainly brown plumage, and paler below, with
white "windows" on the tail that show as it hunts along cliffs for
flying insects. It builds a deep bowl or quarter-sphere nest on a flat
surface, vertical rock face or wall, made with mud and lined with grass
or feathers. It is normally a solitary breeder, but small groups may
sometimes nest close together. The two or three eggs of a typical clutch
are white with brown and grey blotches, and are incubated by both adults
for 16–19 days prior to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks.
Fledging takes another 22–24 days. With a large range and apparently
increasing population, this species faces no major threats. It is
assessed as a least-concern species on the IUCN Red List. (This article
is part of a featured topic: Crag martins.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Crag_martins>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
Public-transportation workers in Indianapolis went on strike,
shutting down mass transit in the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_streetcar_strike_of_1913>
1917:
World War I: Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beersheba
in Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, with the battle
involving one of the last successful cavalry charges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_%281917%29>
1973:
Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escaped from
Mountjoy Prison in Dublin aboard a hijacked helicopter that landed in
the prison's exercise yard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountjoy_Prison_helicopter_escape>
2005:
The discovery of the Plutonian moons Nix and Hydra, based on
photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope nearly five months
prior, was announced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_%28moon%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
devilment:
1. (uncountable) Devilish action or conduct; wickedness; (more
generally) troublemaking behaviour; mischief; (countable) an instance of
this.
2. (countable)
3. A devilish, mischievous, or reckless nature; mischievousness.
4. Something considered cruel or evil; also, something which causes
distress or suffering.
5. Something cleverly constructed.
6. (often humorous) A dish which is devilled (“made piquant or spicy”);
a devil; also, the elements of the dish which make it spicy, or the
piquancy or spiciness of the dish.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/devilment>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed.
--Natalie Clifford Barney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Clifford_Barney>
Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 – 83 or 75 BC) reigned
as King of Syria, a ruler of the Seleucid Empire, in the early years of
the 1st century BC when the country was torn apart by civil wars amongst
Seleucid claimants. Seleucus VI, Philip's oldest brother, was killed
during the war with their cousin Antiochus X in 94 BC. Philip declared
himself king jointly with his twin Antiochus XI, and took the capital
Antioch, where Antiochus XI took residence as the senior king, while
Philip remained in a base in Cilicia. Antiochus X returned and killed
Antiochus XI in 93 BC. Philip allied with another brother,
Demetrius III, who ended up taking Antioch after Antiochus X's death,
and besieged Philip, who allied himself with the Parthians and took the
capital, becoming the senior king of Syria. Philip's death year is
unknown, but probably before 75 BC. He was apparently considered the
last legitimate king of Syria by the Romans, who continued to issue
coins with Philip's portrait until 13 BC.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_I_Philadelphus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
Seventeen-year-old Vilhelm, Prince of Denmark, arrived in
Athens to become King George I of Greece (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Greece>
1888:
King Lobengula of Matabeleland granted the Rudd Concession to
agents of Cecil Rhodes, leading to the creation of the British South
Africa Company.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudd_Concession>
1960:
At the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Michael Woodruff performed
the first successful kidney transplantation in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Woodruff>
1966:
Singaporean leftist opposition leader Chia Thye Poh was
detained under the Internal Security Act, which allows for preventive
detention, and held for 32 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Security_Act_%28Singapore%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
any way one slices it:
(chiefly US, informal) From any perspective; in every case.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/any_way_one_slices_it>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for
themselves is very small indeed!
--Richard Brinsley Sheridan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan>
The history of Burnley Football Club, an English professional
association football club, includes an FA Cup win when they defeated
Liverpool in the 1914 final, and two top-flight league titles: in the
1920–21 season after a 30-match unbeaten run, and in 1959–60 under
manager Harry Potts, with a last-day victory over Manchester City.
Founded on 18 May 1882 in Burnley, Lancashire, by Burnley Rovers rugby
club members, Burnley F.C. were one of the twelve founder members of the
Football League, in 1888–89. From the 1950s until the 1970s under
chairman Bob Lord, the club became known for its youth policy and
scouting system, and was one of the first to set up a purpose-built
training ground. Frequently promoted and relegated, they prevented
relegation to the highest level of non-League football on the last
matchday in 1986–87. By winning the Fourth Division, in 1991–92,
they became the second team to win all four professional divisions of
English football. (This article is part of a featured topic: Burnley
F.C.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Burnley_F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1868:
The Nanbu clan of Honshu surrendered to imperial forces during
the Boshin War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanbu_clan>
1955:
An explosion, likely caused by a World War II–era naval
mine, capsized the Soviet ship Novorossiysk in the harbor of Sevastopol,
with the loss of 608 men.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Giulio_Cesare>
1998:
At 77 years old, former astronaut John Glenn returned to space
aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-95 mission.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn>
2012:
Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, made
landfall in New Jersey and caused nearly $75 billion in damages,
becoming the second-most destructive storm in U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stroke:
1. [...] (medicine) The loss of brain function arising when the blood
supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted. [...]
2. (intransitive)
3. (medicine) Chiefly followed by out: to suffer loss of brain function
when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted; to have a
stroke [...].
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stroke>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Look a-here, sweet mama, Let's burn off both our shoes Well, my
heart's a-beatin' rhythm And my soul is singin' the blues.
--Jerry Lee Lewis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis>
Head over Heels is an American television sitcom created by Jeff
Franklin that aired on the United Paramount Network from August 26 to
October 28, 1997. The series is set in a video dating agency based in
Miami Beach, Florida, and run by brothers Jack (played by Peter Dobson)
and Warren Baldwin (Mitchell Whitfield). Their employees are Valentina
(Cindy Ambuehl) and two romance counselors, Carmen (Eva LaRue) and Ian
(Patrick Bristow, pictured). Connie Stevens was initially cast, but
never appeared in the show. Andrew Gottlieb was a co-producer, and Vince
Cheung and Ben Montanio were consulting producers. The sitcom was the
lowest-performing series tracked by Nielsen Holdings for the 1997–1998
television season. Head over Heels was one of 30 U.S. programs that
season to feature a gay, lesbian, or bisexual character; Ian was
bisexual. Critics faulted the show's characters, sex comedy, and lack of
diversity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_over_Heels_%28American_TV_series%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
Ladislaus the Posthumous was crowned King of Bohemia, although
George of Poděbrady remained in control of the government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladislaus_the_Posthumous>
1886:
In New York Harbor, U.S. president Grover Cleveland dedicated
the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France commemorating the Declaration
of Independence; New York City office workers responded by spontaneously
holding the first ticker-tape parade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker-tape_parade>
1940:
World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister
Ioannis Metaxas rejected Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the
cession of Greek territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War>
2007:
In the Argentine general election, Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Kirchner>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
para-fascism:
(fascism) A social order giving off impressions of being dynamically
fascist and populist, but trying to abstain from its most radical
practices.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/para-fascism>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I feel ever so strongly that an artist must be nourished by his
passions and his despairs. These things alter an artist whether for the
good or the better or the worse. It must alter him. The feelings of
desperation and unhappiness are more useful to an artist than the
feeling of contentment, because desperation and unhappiness stretch your
whole sensibility.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon_%28artist%29>
Mini scule is a species of microhylid frog endemic to Madagascar that
was described in 2019. The scientific name of the species refers to its
size, being a pun on the word minuscule. It is very small, measuring
only 8.4 to 10.8 mm (0.33 to 0.43 in) in snout–vent length. It has
bronze underparts with a brown groin and back of the thigh, cream
upperparts with brown flecking, a dark brown side of the head, and a red
iris. On the hind feet, the first toe is absent and the second and fifth
toes are strongly reduced. The frog is known only from the Sainte Luce
Reserve, where it inhabits areas with deep leaf litter near semi-
permanent water bodies. Specimens of frogs from Mandena, the Vohimena
mountains, the southern Anosy Mountains, and Tsitongambarika may also be
of this species. Along with Mini mum and Mini ature, the other two
species in its genus, it received media attention when first described
due to the wordplay in its scientific name.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_scule>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1942:
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy achieved a pyrrhic
victory against the United States at the Battle of the Santa Cruz
Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Santa_Cruz_Islands>
1992:
U.S. Navy Petty Officer Allen R. Schindler Jr. was killed in
Sasebo, Japan, for being gay, which led to the U.S. Armed Forces' "don't
ask, don't tell" policy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Allen_R._Schindler_Jr.>
1999:
Armed men led by Nairi Hunanyan carried out a mass shooting at
the Armenian parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan,
National Assembly speaker Karen Demirchyan, and six others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vazgen_Sargsyan>
2011:
Michael D. Higgins was elected President of Ireland with far
more votes than any politician in the country's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Irish_presidential_election>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
archival:
1. Of or pertaining to an archive or archiving.
2. Of a material: having a quality suited to the conservational needs of
archiving.
3. (uncountable) The practice of storing items in an archive; archiving;
(countable) an instance of this.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/archival>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the
doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor
and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to
the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink
from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these
wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
--Theodore Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
Mischief Makers is a 1997 side-scrolling platform video game, the first
for the Nintendo 64 (pictured), developed by Treasure and published by
Enix and Nintendo. The player assumes the role of Marina, a robot who
grabs, shakes, and throws objects in her journey to rescue her creator
from the planet's emperor. The game is presented in 2.5D, with pre-
rendered 3D backgrounds behind 2D gameplay. A 12-person team developed
the game over two years as Treasure's first title for a Nintendo
console. It was shown at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo before
its release. Reviews were mixed, with praise for its inventiveness,
personality, and boss fights, but criticism for its brevity, low
difficulty, low replay value, sound, and harsh introductory learning
curve. Retrospective reviewers disagreed with the originally poor
reception, and several highlighted Marina's signature "Shake, shake!"
sound bite. In 2009, GamesRadar called it "possibly the most underrated
and widely ignored game on the N64".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_Makers>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
Ida B. Wells began to publish her research on lynching in the
United States, for which she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize
in 2020.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells>
1955:
Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly
created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại
in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_State_of_Vietnam_referendum>
1955:
The first buildings in the sacred Oyasato-yakata complex of the
Japanese new religious movement Tenrikyo in Tenri, Nara, were completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyasato-yakata>
1977:
Somali hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying symptoms
of smallpox, becoming the last person known to be naturally infected by
the disease.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
noli me tangere:
1. (Christianity, art) A picture depicting Jesus appearing to Mary
Magdalene shortly after his resurrection from the dead (see the
etymology).
2. A warning to avoid or not to interfere.
3. Someone (such as a disagreeable person) or something (such as a
painful experience or taboo topic) to be avoided or not interfered with.
4. Any of various plants with fruits or seed capsules that, when ripe,
burst open and discharge their seeds when touched, or with leaves that
fold and droop when touched.
5. Some plants of the genus Impatiens; specifically, the touch-me-not
balsam or yellow balsam (Impatiens noli-tangere).
6. The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium).
7. (archaic) The sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), the leaves of which
fold inwards and droop when shaken or touched.
8. (medicine, obsolete) Any of various diseases causing ulcers of the
skin and underlying tissues, especially of the face; many of these
diseases are now thought to be due to basal cell carcinoma or squamous
cell carcinoma.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noli_me_tangere>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure,
unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no
transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects.
--Napoleon Hill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill>
The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought on 25
October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A British fleet
of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke
(depicted) intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships protected
by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des
Herbiers. When the two forces sighted each other, Herbiers attempted to
draw the British warships towards him. In this he was successful and the
British enveloped the rear of the French line and brought superior
numbers to bear on the French vessels one at a time. Six of the French
warships were captured, along with 4,000 of their seamen. Of the 250
merchant ships, only 7 were captured. The British victory isolated the
French colonies from supply and reinforcement. The war ended the
following year and France recovered its colonial losses in return for
withdrawing from its gains in the Austrian Netherlands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Cape_Finisterre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1932:
George Lansbury became the leader of the opposition British
Labour Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lansbury>
1950:
The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South Korean II Corps
at the Battle of Onjong, and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division
at the Battle of Unsan, marking China's entry into the Korean War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Unsan>
2001:
Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of
the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released for retail sale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP>
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly
violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eponymous:
1. Of, relating to, or being the person or entity after which someone or
something is named; serving as an eponym.
2. Of a thing: named after a person or entity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eponymous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am humbled and honoured to have the support of my parliamentary
colleagues and to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist
Party. It is the greatest privilege of my life, to be able to serve the
party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to. The United
Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound
economic challenge. We now need stability and unity and I will make it
my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together. Because
that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a
better, more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren.
I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility. And I will
work day in, day out to deliver for the British people.
--Rishi Sunak
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak>
Oryzomys antillarum, the Jamaican rice rat, is an extinct rodent known
from subfossils and specimens collected live in the 19th century. It
probably became extinct late in that century, perhaps due to the
introduction of the small Indian mongoose, competition with introduced
rodents such as the brown rat, and habitat destruction in Jamaica.
O. antillarum was a medium-sized rat, with a length of 120 to 132 mm
(4.7 to 5.2 in), not including the tail; the skull was about 30 mm
(1.2 in) long. The upperparts were reddish and graded into the
yellowish underparts. The tail was about as long as the head and body,
sparsely haired, and darker above than below. The species was similar in
most respects to the rice rat Oryzomys couesi of mainland Central
America, but had longer nasal bones, shorter perforations of the palate
near the incisors, and more robust cheekbones. (This article is part of
a featured topic: Oryzomys.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Oryzomys>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1851:
William Lassell found Umbriel and Ariel, the third and fourth
Uranian moons to be discovered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_%28moon%29>
1944:
World War II: The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the
heaviest and most powerfully armed ever constructed, was sunk by
American aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Musashi>
1949:
The cornerstone of the United Nations headquarters was laid in
New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations>
2015:
Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong,
known for publishing political books banned in mainland China, was
abducted by Chinese authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearances>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
aubade:
1. (music, poetry) A poem or song evoking or greeting the dawn or early
morning.
2. (music, specifically) A morning love song, or a song of lovers
parting in the morning.
3. (music) A concert held at dawn or in the morning, especially
outdoors.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aubade>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Prepare your mind and heart before you prepare your speech. What
we say may be less important than how we say it.
--Stephen Covey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey>
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (lit. 'I will gladly carry the
cross-staff'), BWV 56, is a solo cantata for a bass singer by Johann
Sebastian Bach. First performed in Leipzig on 27 October 1726, the 19th
Sunday after Trinity, it was scored for woodwinds, strings and continuo,
and features an obbligato oboe. The autograph score (pictured) is one of
a few cases where Bach described one of his compositions as a cantata.
In 2015 it was discovered that Bach collaborated with mathematics and
theology student Christoph Birkmann, who wrote the text about a
Christian willing to "carry the cross" as a follower of Jesus, in a life
compared to a voyage towards a harbour. The work's five movements
include arias, recitatives and the chorale "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes
Bruder" ('Come, o death, you brother of sleep'). In his Bach biography,
Albert Schweitzer said it placed "unparalleled demands on the dramatic
imagination of the singer". It has been recorded more than 100 times
since a 1939 live broadcast.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_will_den_Kreuzstab_gerne_tragen,_BWV_56>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1934:
Jeannette Piccard piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached
57,579 feet (17,550 m), becoming the first woman to fly in the
stratosphere.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard>
1942:
World War II: Japanese troops began an unsuccessful attempt to
recapture Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from
American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Henderson_Field>
1972:
Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker, a U.S. bombing campaign
against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ended after
five months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker>
2015:
Hurricane Patricia, the most intense tropical cyclone on record
in the Western Hemisphere, peaked with maximum sustained winds of
215 mph (345 km/h) south of Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Patricia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
outgo:
1. (transitive)
2. (archaic) To go further than (someone or something); to exceed, to go
beyond, to surpass.
3. (obsolete)
4. To experience, go through, or undergo (something).
5. To travel faster than (someone or something); to outstrip, to
overtake.
6. (intransitive)
7. (archaic except poetic and Britain, regional) To go out, to set
forth, to set out.
8. (obsolete) To go too far; to overextend or overreach.
9. (countable, business, archaic except India) A cost, expenditure, or
outlay.
10. (uncountable) The act or process of going out; (countable) an
instance of this; an outgoing.
11. (archaic or obsolete)
12. (countable) The means by which something flows or goes out; an
outlet.
13. (uncountable, rare) A (quantity of a) substance or thing that has
flowed out; an outflow.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/outgo>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are all assumed, these days, to reside at one extreme of the
opinion spectrum, or another. We are pro-abortion or anti-abortion. We
are free traders or protectionist. We are pro-private sector or pro-big
government. We are feminists or chauvinists. But in the real world, few
of us hold these extreme views. There is instead a spectrum of opinion.
The extreme positions of the Crossfire Syndrome require extreme
simplification — framing the debate in terms that ignore the real
issues.
--Michael Crichton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton>
The Weardale campaign occurred during July and August 1327. In 1326,
while England was at war with Scotland, the English king Edward II was
deposed by his wife, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer. Seeing
opposition to the Scots as a way of legitimising their position,
Isabella and Mortimer prepared a large army to oppose them, accompanied
by the newly crowned Edward III. After two weeks of poor supplies and
bad weather the English confronted the Scots when the latter
deliberately gave away their position. The Scots occupied unassailable
positions and the English declined to attack them. A Scottish force
raided the English camp, penetrating as far as the royal pavilion. The
English believed that they were starving out the surrounded Scots, but
on the night of 6 August the Scots escaped and marched back to
Scotland. The campaign was ruinously expensive for the English. Isabella
and Mortimer were forced to negotiate, and in 1328 a peace treaty
recognising Scottish sovereignty was signed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weardale_campaign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1740:
A two-week massacre of ethnic Chinese in Batavia, Dutch East
Indies, came to an end with at least 10,000 people killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1740_Batavia_massacre>
1936:
Dod Orsborne, captain of the Girl Pat was convicted and
imprisoned of its theft, having caused a media sensation when it went
missing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Pat>
1966:
With their album The Supremes A' Go-Go, the Supremes became the
first all-female group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supremes>
1987:
John Adams' opera Nixon in China premiered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_in_China>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
milecastle:
One of a series of small rectangular fortifications, spaced roughly one
Roman mile apart, built during the period of the Roman Empire.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milecastle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In university they don't tell you that the greater part of the
law is learning to tolerate fools.
--Doris Lessing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing>