Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical role-playing game developed and
published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. Sony
Computer Entertainment published the game in Japan on June 20, 1997, and
the United States on January 28, 1998. It is the first game of the
Tactics series within the Final Fantasy franchise, and the first entry
set in the fictional world of Ivalice. The story follows Ramza Beoulve,
who is placed in the middle of a military conflict between two noble
factions coveting the throne of the kingdom. Production began in 1995 by
Yasumi Matsuno, who was the director and writer. Final Fantasy series
creator Hironobu Sakaguchi (pictured) was the producer and Hiroyuki Ito
designed the battles. Final Fantasy Tactics received critical acclaim,
garnered a cult following, and has been cited as one of the greatest
video games of all time. An enhanced port of the game, Final Fantasy
Tactics: The War of the Lions, was released in 2007. (This article is
part of a featured topic: Ivalice.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Ivalice>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1926:
Approximately 250,000 spectators attended the opening
procession of the 28th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago,
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28th_International_Eucharistic_Congress>
1959:
The extratropical remnants of an Atlantic hurricane reached the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, capsizing 22 fishing boats and causing 35
fatalities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Escuminac_disaster>
1960:
The Mali Federation gained independence from France, but
dissolved into Mali and Senegal two months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Federation>
1982:
The International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide, the
first major conference in genocide studies, opened despite Turkish
attempts to cancel it due to the inclusion of presentations on the
Armenian genocide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_on_the_Holocaust_and…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Victorian:
1. Of or relating to the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, or
that period.
2. Of or relating to the culture or social conditions of that period.
3. In a situation of poverty and social injustice; Dickensian.
4. (architecture) Of the style of architecture or furnishings of that
period.
5. (figuratively) Of or displaying the (supposed) ideals or standards of
morality of that period; conservative; also, old-fashioned, out-of-date.
6. A person born in or living in the Victorian period, or exhibiting
characteristics of that period.
7. An item of furniture from that period.
8. (chiefly US, architecture) A house built in the Victorian
architectural style. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Victorian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The chearful light, the vital air, Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy The common gifts of heaven.
--Anna Letitia Barbauld
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Letitia_Barbauld>
The 1838 Jesuit slave sale was agreed to on June 19 when the Maryland
province of the Society of Jesus entered into a contract to sell 272
slaves to two Louisiana planters for $115,000. This was the culmination
of a long-running debate among the Jesuits over whether to keep, sell,
or manumit their slaves. In 1836, the Jesuit superior general authorized
the sale on three conditions: the slaves must be permitted to practice
their Catholic faith, the families must not be separated, and the
proceeds must only be used to support Jesuits in training. It soon
became clear that the conditions had not been met; the new owners
separated families and did not allow most of the slaves to carry on
their faith. The Jesuits were only partially paid, many years late. For
humanitarian reasons, only 206 slaves were delivered. Many Jesuits were
outraged by the sale, and the superior general removed the provincial
superior for disobeying orders and promoting scandal, exiling him to
Nice for several years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Jesuit_slave_sale>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
Second French intervention in Mexico: Emperor Maximilian I of
Mexico was executed by firing squad in Querétaro City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico>
1965:
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, the head of the South Vietnam Air Force, was
appointed prime minister at the head of a military regime, ending two
years of short-lived military juntas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_Cao_K%E1%BB%B3>
1970:
The international Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed,
providing a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect
inventions in each of its contracting states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_Cooperation_Treaty>
2012:
Facing allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, Julian Assange,
the founder of WikiLeaks, requested asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in
London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
false dichotomy:
1. (botany) A branching in which the main axis appears to divide
dichotomously at the apex but is in reality suppressed, the growth being
continued by lateral branches (as in the dichasium).
2. (rhetoric) A situation in which two alternative points of view are
presented as the only options, when others are available.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/false_dichotomy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our reason is always disappointed by the inconstancy of
appearances.
--Pensées
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es>
Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (1865–1931), was a British nobleman,
barrister and politician, the older brother of the philosopher Bertrand
Russell. In his youth, he enjoyed four happy years at Winchester
College, but was dismissed from Balliol College, Oxford. He married
Mabel Scott in 1890, but they soon separated. Unable to get an English
divorce, in 1900, he became the first celebrity to get one in Nevada,
and remarried there, but the divorce was invalid in England. In
June 1901, he was arrested for bigamy, and was convicted before the
House of Lords, the last time a peer was convicted by the Lords. His
second marriage ended after he fell in love with the novelist Elizabeth
von Arnim; they wed in 1916. The couple soon separated, though they did
not divorce. Russell was given junior office in the second MacDonald
government in 1929, and served until his death. Frank Russell is obscure
compared to his brother, and his marital difficulties led to his being
dubbed the "Wicked Earl".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Russell,_2nd_Earl_Russell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon fought and lost his
final battle, the Battle of Waterloo (depicted), in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo>
1972:
British European Airways Flight 548 crashed near Staines-upon-
Thames less than three minutes after departing from Heathrow Airport in
London, killing all 118 people aboard in the worst air accident in the
UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight_548>
1982:
The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, nicknamed "God's
Banker" due to his close association with the Holy See, was found
hanging from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi>
2012:
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed the crown prince of
Saudi Arabia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_of_Saudi_Arabia>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
misogynoir:
(neologism) Contempt for, hatred of, or prejudice against black women.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misogynoir>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The long and winding road that leads to your door Will never
disappear, I've seen that road before — it always leads me here,
Leads me to your door.
--Paul McCartney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>
The Battle of St. Charles was fought on June 17, 1862, at
St. Charles, Arkansas, during the American Civil War. Earlier in 1862,
a force commanded by Samuel R. Curtis, a major general of the Union
Army, became bogged down in northern Arkansas. A Union relief force was
sent up the White River to resupply Curtis. The Confederates had
constructed fortifications near St. Charles. An infantry unit was sent
ashore to attack the fortifications on land, while Union ships attacked
from the river. During the fight, a Confederate fired what has been
referred to as the deadliest shot of the war, striking the ironclad
USS Mound City, puncturing one of its steam drums, and filling the ship
with scalding steam (depicted), killing 105 and wounding 25. Only about
25 aboard escaped unhurt. The infantrymen on land took the Confederate
position. The supply mission was unable to reach Curtis, and withdrew
back down the river. Curtis's army then cut loose from their supply line
and marched to Helena, Arkansas.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._Charles>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1579:
Explorer Francis Drake landed in a region of present-day
California, naming it New Albion and claiming it for England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Albion>
1795:
French Revolutionary Wars: Off the coast of Brittany, a Royal
Navy squadron commanded by William Cornwallis fended off a numerically
superior French Navy fleet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwallis%27s_Retreat>
1952:
Guatemalan Revolution: The Guatemalan Congress passed
Decree 900, redistributing unused land greater than 224 acres
(0.91 km2) in area to local peasants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decree_900>
2015:
A white supremacist committed a mass shooting at the Emanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina,
killing nine people during a prayer service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bunker:
1. (military) A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully
underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or
other attacks.
2. (nautical) A container for storing coal or fuel oil for a ship's
engine; (by extension) the quantity of fuel needed to replenish that
container.
3. (rail transport) The coal compartment on a tank engine.
4. (sports)
5. (golf) A hazard on a golf course consisting of a sand-filled hollow.
6. (paintball) An obstacle used to block an opposing player's view and
field of fire.
7. (Britain, chiefly historical) A large bin or container for storing
coal, often built outdoors in the yard of a house.
8. (Scotland)
9. A sort of box or chest, as in a window, the lid of which serves as a
seat.
10. (slang) A kitchen worktop.
11. (Britain, slang) One who bunks off; a truant from school.
12. (US, regional) The menhaden, any of several species of fish in the
genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium.
13. (transitive)
14. (nautical) To load (a vessel) with coal or fuel oil for the engine.
15. (sports)
16. (golf) To hit (a golf ball) into a bunker; (chiefly passive) to
place (a golfer) in the position of having a golf ball in a bunker.
17. (by extension, Britain, informal) To place (someone) in a position
that is difficult to get out of; to hinder.
18. (paintball) To fire constantly at (an opponent hiding behind an
obstacle), trapping them and preventing them from firing at other
players; also, to eliminate (an opponent behind an obstacle) by rushing
to the position and firing at extremely close range as the player
becomes exposed.
19. (intransitive)
20. Often followed by down: to take shelter in a bunker or other place.
21. (nautical) Of a vessel: to take a load of coal or fuel oil for its
engine.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bunker>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
False claims that our elections have been stolen from us corrupt
our democracy, as they corrupt us. To continue to insist and persist in
the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is itself
an affront to our democracy and to the Constitution of the United States
— an affront without precedent. Those who think that because America
is a republic, theft and corruption of our national elections and
electoral process are not theft and corruption of our democracy are
sorely mistaken. America is both a republic and a representative
democracy, and therefore a sustained attack on our national elections is
a fortiori an attack on our democracy, any political theory otherwise
notwithstanding.
--J. Michael Luttig
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._Michael_Luttig>
Olive Morris (1952–1979) was a Jamaican-born and British-based
community leader and activist. She participated in the Black
nationalist, feminist and squatters' rights campaigns of the 1970s. She
joined the British Black Panthers, occupied buildings in Brixton, South
London, and became a key organizer in the Black Women's Movement in the
United Kingdom. In London, Morris co-founded the Brixton Black Women's
Group and the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent; when
she studied at the Victoria University of Manchester, she was involved
in the Manchester Black Women's Co-operative and also travelled to China
with the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding. After graduating,
Morris returned to Brixton and worked at the Brixton Community Law
Centre. She then received a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and died
shortly afterwards at the age of 27. Her life and work have been
commemorated by both official organizations and the activist group
Remembering Olive Collective.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Morris>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1819:
A strong earthquake in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India,
caused a local zone of uplift that dammed the Nara River, which was
later named the Allah Bund ('Dam of God').
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1819_Rann_of_Kutch_earthquake>
1904:
Irish author James Joyce began a relationship with Nora
Barnacle, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922
novel Ulysses, commemorated as Bloomsday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce>
1972:
English musician David Bowie released his breakthrough album,
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_S…>
2012:
Liu Yang, a member of the Shenzhou 9 crew, became the first
Chinese woman in space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Yang_%28taikonaut%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stardust:
1. (astronomy)
2. Small fragments of dust-like material found in space; specifically, a
type of cosmic dust that formed from cooling gases ejected from presolar
stars, which was then incorporated into the cloud from which the Solar
System condensed.
3. (informal, dated) A distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of
dust, especially if the individual stars of which cannot be resolved
with a telescope.
4. (archaic) Small fragments in the Earth's atmosphere or on its surface
originating from meteorites; meteor dust.
5. (figuratively)
6. Something imaginary or lacking substance.
7. An imaginary magic dust or powder that, when in one's eyes,
supposedly causes one to view a person or thing favourably, even though
this might not actually be warranted.
8. An imaginary magic dust or powder supposedly able to give one
charisma or other positive qualities; hence, charisma or glamour,
especially that possessed by a celebrity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stardust>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses
God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea
and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats
and wheat and all kinds of things
--Ulysses
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ulysses>
"I've Just Seen a Face" is a Beatles song written and sung by Paul
McCartney (pictured), first released on the album Help! in August 1965.
A cheerful ballad of love at first sight, it may have been inspired by
McCartney's relationship with actress Jane Asher. The Beatles recorded
it on 14 June 1965 at EMI Studios in London, on the same day "I'm Down"
and "Yesterday" were recorded. The song fuses country and western with
other musical genres, including folk rock, folk, pop rock and bluegrass.
Several reviewers have described the song in favourable terms,
highlighting its rhyming lyricism and McCartney's vocal delivery, and
describing it as an overlooked song. It replaced "Drive My Car" on the
North American version of Rubber Soul in December 1965, furthering the
album's identity as a folk rock work, although some commentators viewed
this change as masking the band's late-1965 creative developments. It
was among the first Beatles songs McCartney played live with his group
Wings.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Just_Seen_a_Face>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
In a paper presented to the Royal Astronomical Society, English
mathematician Charles Babbage proposed a difference engine, an
automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial
functions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage>
1900:
The second of the German Naval Laws was passed, doubling the
size of the Imperial German Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Naval_Laws>
1944:
Second World War: The British Army abandoned its attempt to
capture the German-occupied city of Caen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Perch>
1966:
The Vatican formally abolished its 427-year-old list of
prohibited books.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ally:
1. (transitive)
2. To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between
families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or
treaty.
3. Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to
(someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
4. (reflexive) To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc.,
someone or something else.
5. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or
unite for a common aim.
6. A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a
friend.
7. A person who, or organization which, supports a demographic group
subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation but is not a member
of the group; specifically (LGBT), a person who is not a member of the
LGBT+ community but is supportive of it.
8. A person, group, state, etc., which is associated or united by treaty
with another for a common (especially military or political) purpose; a
confederate.
9. Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by
similarity in features or nature.
10. (taxonomy) An organism which is related to another organism through
common evolutionary origin; specifically, a species which is closely
related to another species, usually within the same family.
11. (figuratively) A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated
with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter.
12. (historical or obsolete) A relative; a kinsman or kinswoman. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ally>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese
government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible,
but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of
strength.
--Donald Trump
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Trump>
The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua (pictured) made him the first
monarch to circumnavigate the globe. His agenda was to negotiate
contract labor for the Kingdom of Hawaii's sugar plantations, with hopes
of saving the dwindling Native Hawaiian population by drawing
immigration from Asia-Pacific nations. Rumors circulated that the King
secretly intended to use the trip to sell the Hawaiian Islands. He
visited American legislators, had an audience with Pope Leo XIII in
Rome, and met with European and Asian heads of state. In between
negotiations, Kalākaua and his companions visited tourist sites and
attended local Masonic lodge meetings. As a result of his visit with
Thomas Edison, Iolani Palace became the first building in Hawaii with
electric lighting. The King's amiable personality generated worldwide
goodwill, and he succeeded in increasing Hawaii's labor force with
Japanese workers. Their arrival was commemorated a century later with a
new statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal%C4%81kaua%27s_1881_world_tour>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1881:
The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the
Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the
USS Jeannette was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in
ice for almost two years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jeannette_%281878%29>
1935:
In one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, the
underdog James J. Braddock defeated Max Baer to become the heavyweight
champion of the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Braddock>
1952:
Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out
signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by
the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_affair>
1983:
Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first
man-made object to leave the proximity of the major planets of the Solar
System.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scathe:
1. (archaic or Scotland) To harm or injure (someone or something)
physically.
2. (specifically, obsolete) To cause monetary loss to (someone).
3. (by extension, chiefly literary and poetic) To harm, injure, or
destroy (someone or something) by fire, lightning, or some other heat
source; to blast; to scorch; to wither.
4. (figuratively) To severely hurt (someone's feelings, soul, etc., or
something intangible) through acts, words spoken, etc.
5. (countable, uncountable) Damage, harm, hurt, injury.
6. (countable) Someone who, or something which, causes harm; an injurer.
7. (countable, Scotland, law, obsolete) An injury or loss for which
compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by
a claimant; costs.
8. (uncountable) Something to be mourned or regretted.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scathe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary
meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody
and bring them back to their right senses.
--William Butler Yeats
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats>
The Tower House, in the district of Holland Park in Kensington and
Chelsea, London, is a late Victorian townhouse built between 1875 and
1881 by the architect and designer William Burges as his personal
residence. Designed in the French Gothic Revival style, it echoes
elements of Burges's earlier work. The house was built of red brick by
the Ashby Brothers, with a distinctive cylindrical tower and conical
roof. The interior was decorated by members of Burges's long-standing
team of craftsmen including Thomas Nicholls and Henry Stacy Marks. The
house retains most of its internal structural decoration, but much of
the furniture, fittings and contents that Burges designed have been
dispersed. Many items, including the Great Bookcase, the Zodiac settle,
the Golden Bed and the Red Bed, are now in institutions such as The
Higgins Bedford and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The house was
designated a Grade I listed building in 1949.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_House>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1899:
The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125
others in the northern Great Plains in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_New_Richmond_tornado>
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping a diary
during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl>
1991:
More than 150 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were massacred by
members of the military in the village of Kokkadichcholai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Kokkadichcholai_massacre>
2016:
An Islamic terrorist killed 49 people in a mass shooting at the
gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_nightclub_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
opprobrium:
1. (countable, archaic) A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or
shame.
2. (uncountable)
3. Disgrace or bad reputation arising from exceedingly shameful
behaviour; ignominy.
4. Scornful contempt or reproach; (countable) an instance of this.
5. (archaic) Behaviour which is disgraceful or shameful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/opprobrium>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths,
but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
--Anne Frank
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Frank>
Hurricane Leslie (2018) was a cyclone of tropical origin, the strongest
to strike the Iberian Peninsula since 1842. A large, long-lived, and
very erratic tropical cyclone, Leslie developed from an extratropical
cyclone that was situated over the northern Atlantic on 22 September.
It became a Category 1 hurricane early on 3 October before falling to
tropical storm intensity late on 4 October. After re-intensifying,
Leslie reached hurricane status for the second time on 10 October,
reaching peak intensity two days later and passing between the Azores
and Madeira. It thereafter weakened, making landfall over central
Portugal before dissipating by 16 October over Spain. The storm was
responsible for 17 deaths in mainland Europe, including 2 direct deaths
in Portugal and 15 indirect deaths in France. Over 300,000 citizens were
left without power in Portugal, with damage there estimated to be about
€120 million (US$145 million). The storm and a cold front also
caused flooding in France and Spain.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Leslie_%282018%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1847:
Prince Afonso died at the age of two, leaving his father
Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, without a male heir.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso,_Prince_Imperial_of_Brazil>
1962:
American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank
Morris escaped from Alcatraz Island, one of the United States' most
famous prisons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1962_Alcatraz_escape_attempt>
1982:
Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, considered one
of the greatest films ever made, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial>
2012:
Two earthquakes struck northern Afghanistan, triggering a
massive landslide that buried a village and killed 75 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Afghanistan_earthquakes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moral compass:
1. An inner sense which distinguishes what is right from what is wrong,
functioning as a guide for morally appropriate behaviour.
2. A belief system, person, etc. serving as a guide for morally
appropriate behaviour.
3. (archaic) The full range of actions, vices, or virtues, which may
affect others and which are available as choices to a person, group, or
people in general.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moral_compass>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for
hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them — that the
election was stolen, and that he was the rightful President. President
Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this
attack. You will also hear about plots to commit seditious conspiracy on
January 6th, a crime defined in our laws as conspiring to overthrow, put
down, or destroy by force the government of the United States, or to
oppose by force the authority thereof. … On the morning of January
6th, President Donald Trump's intention was to remain President of the
United States, despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election, and in
violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power. Over
multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated
seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the
transfer of presidential power. In our hearings, you will see evidence
of each element of this plan.
--Liz Cheney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Liz_Cheney>
Mosasaurus is a genus of mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic scaly
reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the
Late Cretaceous. Its earliest fossils were found as skulls near the
River Meuse (Mosa in Latin). In 1808, Georges Cuvier concluded that the
skulls belonged to a giant marine lizard with similarities to monitors
but otherwise unlike any known living animal, supporting the then-
developing idea of extinction. Scientists continue to debate whether its
closest living relatives are monitors or snakes. Mosasaurus had jaws
capable of swinging back and forth and was capable of powerful bites,
using dozens of teeth designed for cutting prey. Its four limbs were
shaped into paddles to steer underwater. Mosasaurus was a predator with
excellent vision but a poor sense of smell, and a high metabolic rate
suggesting it was warm-blooded. It lived in much of the Atlantic and in
a wide range of oceanic climates including tropical, subtropical,
temperate, and subpolar.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosasaurus>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1692:
Bridget Bishop became the first person to be executed for
witchcraft in the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Bishop>
1878:
The League of Prizren was officially founded to "struggle in
arms to defend the wholeness of the territories of Albania".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Prizren>
1925:
The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant
denomination, held its inaugural service at the Mutual Street Arena in
Toronto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada>
2008:
Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashed on landing at Khartoum
International Airport, killing 30 of the 214 occupants on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_Airways_Flight_109>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
knotty:
1. Of string or something stringlike: full of, or tied up, in knots.
2. Of a part of the body, a tree, etc.: full of knots (knobs or
swellings); gnarled, knobbly.
3. (figuratively)
4. Complicated or tricky; complex, difficult.
5. Of an austere or hard nature; rugged.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knotty>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We cannot just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it
happened, who did it, and people need to be held accountable for it. And
I'm committed to make sure that happens.
--Kevin McCarthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kevin_McCarthy_%28California_politician%29>