Levantine Arabic is a mutually intelligible group of vernacular Arabic
varieties spoken in the Levant, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine,
Israel, and Turkey. With more than 44 million speakers, Levantine is,
alongside Egyptian, one of the two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic
most widely understood in the Arab world. It is the closest vernacular
Arabic variety to the official Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), with half
of all words being common. Nevertheless, Levantine and MSA are not
mutually intelligible. Levantine speakers often call their language
al-ʿāmmiyya ('slang' or 'colloquial Arabic') and until recently it was
rarely written. However, with the emergence of social media, the amount
of written Levantine has significantly increased online where Levantine
is written using Arabic, Latin, or Hebrew characters. Levantine
pronunciation varies greatly along social, ethnic, and geographical
lines. Its grammar and lexicon are overwhelmingly Arabic, with a
significant Aramaic influence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantine_Arabic>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate troops under Joseph E. Johnston
and G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan at the
Battle of Seven Pines outside Richmond, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines>
1902:
The Second Boer War came to an end with the signing of the
Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Vereeniging>
1941:
The United Kingdom completed its re-occupation of Iraq,
returning 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iraqi_War>
2005:
A Vanity Fair article revealed that the secret informant known
as "Deep Throat", who had provided information about the Watergate
scandal, was former FBI associate director Mark Felt (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Felt>
_____________________________
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:
Every human being is a child of God and has more good in him than
evil — but circumstances and associates can step up the bad and reduce
the good. I've got great faith in the essential fairness and decency —
you may say goodness — of the human being.
--Norman Vincent Peale
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Vincent_Peale>
The Papuan mountain pigeon (Gymnophaps albertisii) is a species of bird
in the pigeon family Columbidae. It inhabits forests and lowlands on New
Guinea, the Bacan Islands, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and the Bismarck
Archipelago. It is a medium-sized pigeon, 33–36 cm (13–14 in) long
and weighing 259 g (9.1 oz). Adult males have slate-grey upperparts,
chestnut-maroon throats and bellies, whitish breasts, and a pale grey
tail band. The lores and eye rings are bright red. Females are similar,
but have greyish breasts and edges to the throat feathers. This pigeon
feeds on figs and drupes. In the Schrader Range it breeds from October
to March, but elsewhere may breed throughout the year. It builds a nest
of sticks in a tree or in short dry grass, and lays a single egg. The
species is very social and is usually seen in flocks of 10–40 birds,
sometimes more. It is listed as a least-concern species on the IUCN Red
List due to its large range and lack of significant population decline.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papuan_mountain_pigeon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1866:
Bedřich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premiered in
Prague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bartered_Bride>
1922:
The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., featuring a sculpture
of the sixteenth U.S. president Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester
French, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Memorial>
1972:
Members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport
massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel, on behalf of PFLP External Operations,
killing over 20 people and injuring almost 80 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lod_Airport_massacre>
2008:
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, prohibiting the use,
transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions>
_____________________________
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:
The people should never be deceived, under any pretext or for any
purpose. It would not only be criminal but detrimental to the
revolutionary cause, for deception of any kind, by its very nature, is
shortsighted, petty, narrow, always sewn with rotten threads, so that it
inevitably tears and is exposed.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
Everywhere at the End of Time is the eleventh recording by the
Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby
(pictured). Released between 2016 and 2019, its six studio albums use
gradually degrading sampled loops of ballroom music to portray the
progression of Alzheimer's disease. The albums were inspired by the
success of Kirby's An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011); they reflect
the patient's disorder and death, their feelings, and the phenomenon of
terminal lucidity. At first, concerned that the series would seem
pretentious, Kirby thought of not creating Everywhere at all; he spent
more time producing it than any of his other releases. He used abstract
paintings by his friend Ivan Seal as album covers and made music videos
with anonymous visual artist Weirdcore. The series received increasing
acclaim as it progressed, and is considered one of the best music
releases of the 2010s. It was later popularised on TikTok and became an
Internet meme.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everywhere_at_the_End_of_Time>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
With the fall of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire fell to
the Ottomans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire>
1913:
During the premiere of the ballet The Rite of Spring by Igor
Stravinsky at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the avant-
garde nature of the music and choreography caused a near-riot in the
audience.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring>
1942:
Bing Crosby recorded his version of the song "White Christmas",
which went on to become the best-selling single worldwide, with more
than 50 million copies sold.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_%28song%29>
1999:
President Olusegun Obasanjo took office as Nigeria's first
elected and civilian head of state after 16 years of military
dictatorship.
<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:
We meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope
and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our
knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
Pan Am Flight 7 was a westbound round-the-world flight operated by Pan
American World Airways that crashed in the Pacific Ocean on November 8,
1957, while flying from San Francisco International Airport to Honolulu
International Airport. The crash of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-29
(example pictured) killed all thirty-six passengers and eight crew
members. The flight's fate was not known until about nine hours after
its last radio transmission. No emergency radio reports were received.
The United States Coast Guard launched an extensive week-long search for
the plane and survivors. The bodies of 19 of the victims and pieces of
the plane were eventually recovered about 900 nautical miles (1,000 mi;
1,700 km) northeast of Honolulu. Although theories about the cause of
the crash included sabotage, poor maintenance, and fire, the final
report from the Civil Aeronautics Board, who conducted the official
investigation, concluded that the board did not have enough evidence to
determine the cause of the accident.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_7>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1754:
French and Indian War: Led by 22-year-old George Washington, a
company of Virginia colonial militiamen ambushed a force of 35 Canadiens
at the Battle of Jumonville Glen (depicted).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen>
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>
1998:
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission carried out five
underground nuclear tests, becoming the seventh country in the world to
successfully develop and publicly test nuclear weapons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagai-I>
2002:
An independent commission appointed by the Football Association
voted two-to-one to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from London to
Milton Keynes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_Keynes>
_____________________________
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:
As you all are aware there was another mass shooting today, this
time in my home town of Uvalde, Texas. Once again, we have tragically
proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms
grant us. … As Americans, Texans, mothers and fathers, it's time we
re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs. We have to
rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating
American reality that has tragically become our children’s issue.
This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we
may stand on, we all know we can do better. We must do better. Action
must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in
Uvalde and the others before them have endured.
--Matthew McConaughey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_McConaughey>
The Battle of Vrbanja Bridge occurred on 27 May 1995 between United
Nations peacekeepers from the French Army and elements of the Bosnian
Serb–aligned Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). It began after the VRS
seized French-manned observation posts of the United Nations Protection
Force at both ends of the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War, taking twelve French peacekeepers
hostage. Two of them remained held at the bridge as human shields. A
platoon of 30 French peacekeepers, led by then-Captain François
Lecointre, recaptured the bridge with the support of 70 French
infantrymen and direct fire from armoured vehicles. Two French soldiers
were killed and seventeen were wounded during the battle. VRS casualties
were four killed, several wounded and four captured. VRS forces were
subsequently less likely to engage French UN peacekeepers deployed in
the city. In 2017, Lecointre was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff of
France with the rank of army general.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vrbanja_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated the
French Army of the Danube, capturing the strategically important Swiss
town of Winterthur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur>
1917:
Pope Benedict XV promulgated the Pio-Benedictine Code, the
first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_Code_of_Canon_Law>
1962:
A fire at a landfill in Centralia, Pennsylvania, spread to an
abandoned coal mine, where it continues burning today.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire>
2006:
An earthquake registering 6.4 Mw struck near the city of
Yogyakarta on the southern side of the Indonesian island of Java,
killing more than 5,700 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Yogyakarta_earthquake>
_____________________________
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:
In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would
be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their
convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to
attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well.
After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible,
cruel loss with the rest of the nation.
--Don McLean
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_McLean>
The Seagram Building is a 38-story skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue,
located between 52nd and 53rd Streets in the neighborhood of Midtown
Manhattan in New York City. It was the headquarters of the Seagram
Company, a Canadian distiller, until 2001. It was designed by Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, and Robert Allan
Jacobs in the International Style, and completed in 1958. Measuring 515
feet (157 m) tall, it has a glass curtain wall exterior with vertical
mullions of bronze and horizontal spandrels made of Muntz metal. A pink
granite plaza with two fountains faces Park Avenue; its construction
helped influence a zoning ordinance that allowed developers to construct
additional floor area in exchange for including plazas outside their
buildings. Since 2000, Aby Rosen's RFR Holding has owned the Seagram
Building. Elements of it were designated official city landmarks in
1989; the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 2006.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagram_Building>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
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>
1897:
The Church of England returned the original manuscript of
William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, an account of the Pilgrims
and the early years of the Plymouth Colony, to the state of
Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Plymouth_Plantation>
1940:
Second World War: The Allies began a mass evacuation of
British, French and Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the
Battle of Dunkirk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation>
2002:
Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridge near Webbers
Falls, Oklahoma, causing vehicles to fall into the Robert S. Kerr
Reservoir on the Arkansas River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster>
_____________________________
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:
Most Americans support commonsense laws — commonsense gun laws.
I just got off my trip from Asia, meeting with Asian leaders, and I
learned of this while I was on the aircraft. And what struck me on that
17-hour flight — what struck me was these kinds of mass shootings
rarely happen anywhere else in the world. Why? They have mental health
problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have
people who are lost. But these kinds of mass shootings never happen
with the kind of frequency that they happen in America. Why? Why are
we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this
happen? Where in God's name is our backbone — to have the courage to
deal with it and stand up to the lobbies? It's time to turn this pain
into action. For every parent, for every citizen in this country, we
have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: It's
time to act. It's time — for those who obstruct or delay or block the
commonsense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.
We can do so much more. We have to do more.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
The Clonmacnoise Crozier is a late-11th-century Insular crozier that
would have been used as a ceremonial staff for bishops and high-status
abbots. Discovered before 1821 in the monastery of Clonmacnoise in
County Offaly, Ireland, it consists of a shaft and curved crook,
decorated with elements of Viking art. It may have been associated with
Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (died c. 549), and was perhaps
commissioned by Tigernach Ua Braín (died 1088), Abbot of Clonmacnoise,
but little is known of its origin or rediscovery. Largely intact, it is
one of the best preserved pieces of Insular metalwork. The antiquarian
and collector Henry Charles Sirr, Lord Mayor of Dublin, held it until
the Royal Irish Academy acquired his collection on his death in 1844. It
was transferred to the archaeology branch of the National Museum of
Ireland on Kildare Street on the branch's foundation in 1890. The
archaeologist and art historian Griffin Murray has described it as "one
of [the] finest examples of early medieval metalwork from Ireland".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonmacnoise_Crozier>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1944:
The Wehrmacht and their collaborationist allies launched
Operation Rösselsprung, a failed attempt to assassinate the Yugoslav
Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_R%C3%B6sselsprung_%281944%29>
1962:
The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, the last overnight
steamboat service in the United States, went out of business.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Steam_Packet_Company>
2012:
In a test flight, SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial
spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overt:
Open and not concealed or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Voice, come out of the silence. Say something. Appear in the
form of a spider Or a moth beating the curtain. Tell me: Which is
the way I take; Out of what door` do I go, Where and to whom? Dark
hollows said, lee to the wind, The moon said, back of an eel, The salt
said, look by the sea, Your tears are not enough praise, You will find
no comfort here, In the kingdom of bang and blab.
--Theodore Roethke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roethke>
Edmund I (920/921–946) was King of the English from 939 until his
death. He was a son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu,
and a grandson of Alfred the Great. Edmund's predecessor and half-
brother Æthelstan had become the first king of all England when he
conquered Viking-ruled York in 927, but on his death Anlaf Guthfrithson
seized control of York and north-east Mercia. Edmund recovered control
over all England in 944. He continued his brother's friendly relations
with Continental rulers; some were married to his half-sisters. Key
advisers include his mother and Ealdorman Æthelstan of East Anglia,
known as the Half-King because he was so powerful. Edmund actively
legislated. Three of his codes survive; they regulated feuds and
emphasised the sanctity of the royal person. Edmund supported the
religious English Benedictine Reform in its early stages. After a
deranged thief killed him in a brawl he was succeeded by his younger
brother Eadred (d. 955) and two sons in succession.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1738:
At a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate, London, John Wesley
experienced a spiritual rebirth, leading him to launch the Methodist
movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodism>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: After five days of fighting, Egyptian
forces finally captured the Israeli community of Yad Mordechai after the
defenders had abandoned it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yad_Mordechai>
1962:
Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbited the
Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Carpenter>
2006:
An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film that has been
credited for raising international public awareness of climate change
and re-energizing the environmental movement, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth>
_____________________________
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:
Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is
false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some
tempting form of error. Not only so; but scarcely any attempt is
entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of steady thought,
is altogether false; no tempting form of Error is without some latent
charm derived from Truth.
--William Whewell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Whewell>
1
0
May 23: Turtle
by English Wikipedia Article of the Day
23 May '22
23 May '22
Turtles are reptiles characterized by a shell developed mainly from
their ribs. The shell consists of two parts: the domed carapace on the
back, and the flatter plastron on the belly. There are 360 living and
recently extinct turtle species, including land-dwelling tortoises and
freshwater terrapins. They are found on most continents, some islands
and, in the case of sea turtles, much of the ocean. Their closest living
relatives are crocodilians and birds. Turtles are ectotherms or "cold-
blooded", meaning that their internal temperature varies with their
direct environment. They are generally opportunistic omnivores and
mainly feed with limited movements. Turtles lay their eggs on land; sea
turtles migrate long distances to lay their eggs on a favored beach.
Turtles have appeared in myths and folktales. Some species are widely
kept as pets. Turtles have been hunted for their meat and shells, and
for use in traditional medicine. Many species are threatened due to
habitat destruction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1706:
War of the Spanish Succession: The Grand Alliance armies routed
the Franco-Spanish-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ramillies>
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>
1934:
During a strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company in
Toledo, Ohio, U.S., a mob of nearly 10,000 began a riot and a five-day
running battle with the Ohio National Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Lite_strike>
2008:
The International Court of Justice awarded the Middle Rocks to
Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, resolving a 29-year-old
territorial dispute in the Singapore Strait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_Branca_dispute>
_____________________________
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:
From every standpoint the world of humanity is undergoing a re-
formation. The laws of former governments and civilizations are in
process of revision, scientific ideas and theories are developing and
advancing to meet a new range of phenomena, invention and discovery are
penetrating hitherto unknown fields revealing new wonders and hidden
secrets of the material universe; industries have vastly wider scope and
production; everywhere the world of mankind is in the throes of
evolutionary activity indicating the passing of the old conditions and
advent of the new age of re-formation. Old trees yield no fruitage; old
ideas and methods are obsolete and worthless now. Old standards of
ethics, moral codes and methods of living in the past will not suffice
for the present age of advancement and progress.
--`Abdu'l-Bahá
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1>
The geology of the Lassen volcanic area in the U.S. presents a record of
sedimentation and volcanic activity in and around Lassen Volcanic
National Park in Northern California. Heat from the subduction of
tectonic plates has fed scores of volcanoes over at least the past
30 million years, including those in the Lassen volcanic area. Lava
flowed over a lahar-based formation to create the lava plateau that the
park sits on. About 600,000 years ago, Mount Tehama started to rise in
the park's southwest corner. Roughly 27,000 years ago, a lava dome
pushed through Tehama's former flank, becoming Lassen Peak. Phreatic
(steam-blast) eruptions, lava flows, and cinder cone formations have
persisted into modern times, particularly the formation of Cinder Cone
and the 1914 to 1921 eruptions of Lassen Peak (eruption pictured).
Since the latter eruptions, the only volcanic activity has been from
mud pots and fumaroles. Renewed vigorous volcanic activity could
threaten life and property in the area.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Lassen_volcanic_area>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1897:
The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to
improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwall_Tunnel>
1905:
Sultan Abdul Hamid II established the Ullah Millet, a separate
millet for Aromanians within the Ottoman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullah_Millet>
1972:
The Dominion of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, adopted a
new constitution, and officially became a republic within the
Commonwealth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka>
2002:
Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of
Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been
found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Chandra_Levy>
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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>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have often tried to isolate that quality of "Zen" which
attracted me so powerfully to its literature and later to the practice
of zazen. But since the essence of Zen might well be what one teacher
called "the moment-by-moment awakening of mind," there is little that
may sensibly be said about it without succumbing to that breathless,
mystery-ridden prose that drives so many sincere aspirants in the other
direction. In zazen, one may hope to penetrate the ringing stillness of
universal mind, and this "intimation of immortality," as Wordsworth
called it, also shines forth from the brief, cryptic Zen texts, which
refer obliquely to that absolute reality beyond the grasp of our linear
vocabulary, yet right here in this moment, in this ink and paper, in the
sound of this hand turning the page.
--Peter Matthiessen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Matthiessen>