Leah LaBelle (September 8, 1986 – January 31, 2018) was an American
singer. Born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Seattle, Washington, she
began pursuing music as a career in her teens, which included performing
in the Total Experience Gospel Choir. LaBelle rose to prominence in 2004
as a contestant on the third season of American Idol, placing twelfth in
the season finals. Attending the Berklee College of Music for a year,
she dropped out to move to Los Angeles. Starting in 2007, LaBelle
recorded covers of R&B; and soul music for her YouTube channel. These
videos led to work as a backing vocalist starting in 2008 and a record
deal in 2011 with Epic in partnership with I Am Other and So So Def
Recordings. LaBelle released a sampler, three singles, and a posthumous
extended play (EP), and received the Soul Train Centric Award at the
2012 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2018, LaBelle and her boyfriend Rasual
Butler died in a car crash in Los Angeles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah_LaBelle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1578:
Eighty Years' War: Spain won a crushing victory at the Battle
of Gembloux, threatening the States General of the Netherlands and
contributing to its move from Brussels to Antwerp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gembloux_%281578%29>
1957:
A DC-7B operated by Douglas Aircraft collided in mid-air with a
U.S. Air Force F-89 and crashed into a schoolyard in Pacoima,
California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Pacoima_mid-air_collision>
1988:
Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to
play in a Super Bowl, leading the Washington Redskins to victory in
Super Bowl XXII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Williams_%28quarterback%29>
2010:
James Cameron's Avatar became the first film to earn over
US$2 billion worldwide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%282009_film%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hover:
1. (transitive)
2. To keep (something, such as an aircraft) in a stationary state in the
air.
3. Of a bird: to shelter (chicks) under its body and wings; (by
extension) of a thing: to cover or surround (something).
4. (obsolete) Of a bird or insect: to flap (its wings) so it can remain
stationary in the air.
5. (intransitive)
6. To remain stationary or float in the air.
7. (figuratively)
8. To hang around or linger in a place, especially in an uncertain
manner.
9. To be indecisive or uncertain; to vacillate, to waver.
10. (computing) Chiefly followed by over: to use a mouse or other device
to place a cursor over something on a screen such as a hyperlink or icon
without clicking, so as to produce a result (such as the appearance of a
tooltip).
11. (nautical) To travel in a hovercraft as it moves above a water
surface.
12. An act, or the state, of remaining stationary in the air or some
other place.
13. A flock of birds fluttering in the air in one place.
14. (figuratively) An act, or the state, of being suspended; a
suspension.
15. (chiefly Southern England) A cover; a protection; a shelter;
specifically, an overhanging bank or stone under which fish can shelter;
also, a shelter for hens brooding their eggs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hover>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I certainly do have this feeling of affection for the absolute
sense of intellectual freedom that exists as a live nerve, a live wire,
right through the center of American life. … Every time I get totally
discouraged with this country, I remind myself, "No, the fact is that
finally we can really say what we think, and some extraordinary things
have come out of that."
--Norman Mailer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer>
The black-breasted buttonquail (Turnix melanogaster) is a buttonquail
endemic to eastern Australia. It is a plump quail-shaped bird with white
eyes and predominantly marbled black, rufous and pale brown plumage,
marked prominently with white spots and stripes. Like other
buttonquails, it is unrelated to the true quails, and the female is
larger and more boldly coloured than the male, with a distinctive black
head and neck sprinkled with fine white markings. The usual sex roles
are reversed, as the female mates with multiple male partners and leaves
them to incubate the eggs. It is usually found in rainforest and forages
in large areas of thick leaf litter. Most of its original habitat has
been cleared, and the remaining populations are fragmented. The black-
breasted buttonquail is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and
under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
A three-year conservation project has been under way since 2021.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-breasted_buttonquail>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1835:
Richard Lawrence became the first person to attempt to
assassinate a sitting US president when he failed to kill Andrew Jackson
at the US Capitol (assassination attempt pictured) and was subdued by
the crowd.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lawrence_%28failed_assassin%29>
1939:
In a speech to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler threatened the
"annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_prophecy>
1972:
The Troubles: On Bloody Sunday, members of the British
Parachute Regiment shot 26 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern
Ireland, killing at least 13 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_%281972%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smackdown:
1. A physical or emotional confrontation; a battle, a fight; also, a
bitter rivalry.
2. A significant or humiliating setback or defeat; a beating, a
thrashing.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smackdown>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If civilization is to survive, the principles of the Prince of
Peace must be restored. Shattered trust between nations must be revived.
Most important of all, the will for peace on the part of peace-loving
nations must express itself to the end that nations that may be tempted
to violate their agreements and the rights of others will desist from
such a cause. There must be positive endeavors to preserve peace.
America hates war. America hopes for peace. Therefore, America actively
engages in the search for peace.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt>
Panzer Dragoon Saga is a 1998 role-playing video game (RPG) developed by
Team Andromeda and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The third in
the Panzer Dragoon series, it replaced the games' rail shooter gameplay
with RPG elements such as random encounters, semi-turn-based battles and
free-roaming exploration. The player controls Edge, a young mercenary
who encounters a mysterious girl from a vanished civilization. The
development was arduous and repeatedly delayed; incorporating the Panzer
Dragoon shooting elements with full 3D computer graphics and voice
acting, both unusual features in RPGs at the time, pushed the Saturn to
its technical limits and strained team relations. Saga is the most
acclaimed Saturn game and is often listed among the greatest games of
all time, earning praise for its story, graphics and combat. It had a
limited release in the West and worldwide sales were poor. It has never
been re-released and English copies sell for hundreds of US dollars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_Dragoon_Saga>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Indian Wars: The U.S. Army led by Patrick Edward
Connor massacred Chief Bear Hunter and Shoshone forces at the Bear River
Massacre in present-day Franklin County, Idaho.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_River_Massacre>
1911:
Mexican Revolution: The Magonista rebellion began when Mexican
Liberal Party troops captured the town of Mexicali.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magonista_rebellion_of_1911>
1959:
The first Melodifestivalen, an annual Swedish music competition
that determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song
Contest, was held in Stockholm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodifestivalen>
2017:
A lone gunman carried out a mass shooting at a mosque in Quebec
City, Canada, killing six people and injuring nineteen others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City_mosque_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dominical:
1. Of or pertaining to Jesus Christ as Lord.
2. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the Lord's Day, Sunday.
3. (historical) Of or pertaining to the ancient system of dominical
letters, used for determining Sundays (particularly Easter Sunday) in
any given year.
4. (figuratively, obsolete) Of printed text: in a large size.
5. (figuratively, obsolete) Red, ruddy.
6. A person who keeps Sunday as a day of rest, but does not regard it as
representing the Sabbath of the Old Testament of the Bible.
7. (Britain, historical) A payment legally due from a parishioner to the
parish, because the parishioner's house was built on land, ownership of
which would have originally obliged the landowner to pay a tithe to the
parish.
8. (obsolete)
9. The Lord's Day; Sunday.
10. Short for dominical letter.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dominical>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.
--Edward Abbey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Abbey>
The Nassau class was a group of four dreadnought battleships built for
the Imperial German Navy in the mid-1900s. The class comprised Nassau,
Rheinland (pictured), Posen, and Westfalen. All four were laid down in
mid-1907, and completed by late 1910. The battleships adopted a main
battery of twelve 28 cm (11 in) guns in six twin-gun turrets. The
ships served as II Division, I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
for the duration of their careers. From 1910 to 1914, they participated
in squadron exercises, training cruises, and fleet maneuvers. During
World War I, the ships took part in operations intended to isolate and
destroy parts of the numerically superior British Grand Fleet. These
culminated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where the ships helped to
sink HMS Black Prince, an armored cruiser. They also saw service in the
Baltic Sea against the Russian Empire. After the war, all four ships
were ceded to the Allied powers and broken up. (This article is part of
a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Battleships_of_Germ…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1547:
Nine-year-old Edward VI, the first English monarch to be
raised as a Protestant, became king.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VI>
1813:
English author Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was
published, using material from an unpublished manuscript originally
written between 1796 and 1797.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice>
1958:
The Lego Group, a Danish toy company, filed a patent in Denmark
for the design of Lego bricks (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego>
1984:
Tropical Storm Domoina made landfall in southern Mozambique,
causing some of the most severe flooding recorded in the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Domoina>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
obnoxious:
1. Extremely offensive or unpleasant; very annoying, contemptible, or
odious.
2. (archaic or obsolete) Exposed or vulnerable to something, especially
harm or injury.
3. (obsolete)
4. Causing harm or injury; harmful, hurtful, injurious.
5. Deserving of blame or punishment; blameworthy, guilty.
6. Under the authority or power of someone; subject, subordinate; hence,
deferential, submissive, subservient.
7. Followed by to: likely to do something.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obnoxious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Talent is a gift that brings with it an obligation to serve the
world, and not ourselves, for it is not of our making. To use for our
exclusive benefit what is not ours is theft.
--José Martí
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD>
The persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany was a priority of the
Nazi police state. Before 1933, homosexual acts were illegal in Germany
but a thriving gay culture existed. Nazi persecution of homosexuals
peaked prior to World War II. Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated
100,000 men were arrested. Those arrested were presumed guilty, and
subjected to harsh interrogation and torture to elicit a confession.
Their death rate has been estimated at 60 percent, a higher rate than
other prisoner groups. Nazi Germany's persecution of homosexuals is
considered to be the most severe episode in a long history of
discrimination and violence targeting sexual minorities. After the war,
homosexuals were initially not counted as victims of Nazism because
homosexuality continued to be illegal in Nazi Germany's successor
states. Few survivors came forward to discuss their experiences. This
changed during the gay liberation movement of the 1970s, and the pink
triangle was reappropriated as an LGBT symbol.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_Nazi_Germany>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1820:
A Russian expedition led by the naval officers Fabian Gottlieb
von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev made the first sighting of the
coast of Antarctica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica>
1945:
The Soviet Red Army liberated about 7,000 prisoners left behind
by the Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp (entrance pictured), in
Oświęcim, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp>
1974:
Brisbane, Australia, was flooded when the Brisbane River broke
its banks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Brisbane_flood>
2003:
The first selections for the United States National Recording
Registry were announced by the Library of Congress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recording_Registry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mulga wire:
1. (Australia, New Zealand)
2. An informal gossip network, especially in a rural area such as the
outback; also, a component in the network (either a person or an
imagined wire).
3. A message or story transmitted through such an informal network,
especially one containing false information.
4. (Australia, historical) A system for long-distance communication used
by Aboriginal Australians, chiefly using smoke signals; also, a message
or signal sent using such a system.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mulga_wire>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What it takes to do a job will not be learned from management
courses. It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude,
and common sense — none of which can be taught in a classroom …
Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management
systems, get things done.
--Hyman G. Rickover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover>
Dime Mystery Magazine was a US pulp magazine published from 1932 to 1950
by Popular Publications. Originally Dime Mystery Book Magazine, it
contained mysteries, including a novel in each issue. Competing with
established magazines, it failed to sell. From 1933, inspired by Grand
Guignol, publisher Harry Steeger changed its style, publishing horror
stories in what became known as "weird menace" fiction, where the
apparently supernatural transpired to have an everyday explanation.
Further magazines in the same genre followed. The emphasis on sex and
sadism increased, but reverted to detective stories in 1938. The stories
now featured detectives with a handicap such as amnesia or hemophilia.
After a return to weird menace, it reverted to detective stories until
it ceased publication in 1950. Most stories were low-quality, but some
well-known authors appeared, including Edgar Wallace, Ray Bradbury,
Norvell Page, and Wyatt Blassingame. The last issues appeared as 15
Mystery Stories.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_Mystery_Magazine>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Commodore Gordon Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong
Island for the United Kingdom at Possession Point.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bremer>
1905:
The 3,107-carat (621 g; 1.37 lb) Cullinan Diamond, the
largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, was discovered at the
Premier Mine in Gauteng, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond>
1945:
Audie Murphy engaged in action at the Colmar Pocket that won
him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated
U.S. soldiers of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy>
1972:
JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the
only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell
10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest
fall without a parachute.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vaccine:
1. (historical)
2. (medicine) Of, pertaining to, caused by, or characteristic of cowpox.
3. (by extension, immunology) Of or pertaining to cowpox as a source of
material for vaccination against smallpox; also, of or pertaining to
such material used for vaccination.
4. (archaic) Of, pertaining to, or derived from cattle or cows.
5. (immunology)
6. A substance given to stimulate a body's production of antibodies and
provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in
the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease (or a
derivative of it; or a related, also effective, but safer disease), or a
synthetic substitute; also, a dose of such a substance.
7. The process of vaccination; immunization, inoculation.
8. (historical) Material taken from cowpox pustules used for vaccination
against smallpox.
9. (also medicine, obsolete) The disease cowpox, especially as a source
of material for vaccination against smallpox.
10. (figuratively)
11. Something defensive or protective in nature, like a vaccine (sense
1.1).
12. (computing) A software program which protects computers against, or
detects and neutralizes, computer viruses and other types of malware; an
antivirus.
13. (transitive, archaic) Synonym of vaccinate (“to treat (a person or
an animal) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vaccine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the risk of nuclear
weapons use, raised the specter of biological and chemical weapons use,
hamstrung the world’s response to climate change, and hampered
international efforts to deal with other global concerns. The invasion
and annexation of Ukrainian territory have also violated international
norms in ways that may embolden others to take actions that challenge
previous understandings and threaten stability.
--Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bulletin_of_the_Atomic_Scientists>
Witold Lutosławski (25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish
composer and conductor. His compositions include symphonies, concertos,
orchestral song cycles, and chamber works. During his youth, he studied
piano and composition in Warsaw. Having narrowly escaped German capture,
during World War II he earned income by playing the piano in Warsaw
bars. Post-war Stalinist authorities banned his First Symphony for being
"formalist". His early works were inspired by Polish folk music,
including Concerto for Orchestra and Dance Preludes in the mid-1950s. He
often built up harmonies from small groups of musical intervals. From
the late 1950s he developed new and characteristic composition
techniques that stipulated elements of aleatoric music within a tightly
controlled musical architecture. In the 1980s, he supported the
Solidarity movement artistically. He received the Grawemeyer Award, the
Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal, and in 1994, the Order of the
White Eagle, Poland's highest honour.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Lutos%C5%82awski>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Thomas Hardy founded the London Corresponding Society to seek a
"radical reform of parliament", later influencing the reform movements
of early-19th-century England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Corresponding_Society>
1917:
Serving as a British armed merchant cruiser, Laurentic
(depicted) was sunk by German naval mines off the northern coast of
Ireland, resulting in 354 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Laurentic_%281908%29>
1967:
South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Cao Kỳ fired his rival
Nguyễn Hữu Có while the latter was overseas on a diplomatic visit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_H%E1%BB%AFu_C%C3%B3>
1995:
A team of Norwegian and American scientists launched a Black
Brant XII sounding rocket, which was mistaken by Russian forces for a
Trident missile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_rocket_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lang may yer lum reek:
(Scotland) Used to wish someone well, especially as a drinking toast or
a farewell.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lang_may_yer_lum_reek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now
and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a
meaning for me, and it becomes part of me.
--W. Somerset Maugham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham>
The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham,
in central England. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road
across the new main line of the Birmingham Canal, which was built in a
deep cutting. The bridge is 26 ft (7.9 m) wide, 150 ft (46 m) long,
and 70 ft (21 m) above the canal, making it reputedly the highest
single-span arch bridge in the world when it was built. The Galton
Bridge was forged at the nearby Horseley Ironworks, and has masonry
abutments. The design includes decorative lamp-posts and X-shaped
bracing in the spandrels. In the 1840s, a railway bridge was built from
one of the abutments, with a parapet in keeping with the original. The
Galton Bridge carried traffic for over 140 years until it was bypassed
by a new road in the 1970s, and now only carries pedestrians and
cyclists. The bridge is one of six built by Telford that share common
design features and the only one still standing without modification. It
is a Grade I listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galton_Bridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
The University of Calcutta was established as the first modern
university in the Indian subcontinent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Calcutta>
1915:
First World War: British ships of the Grand Fleet intercepted
and surprised a German High Seas Fleet squadron in the North Sea,
sinking a cruiser and damaging several other vessels.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dogger_Bank_%281915%29>
1966:
Air India Flight 101, en route from Bombay to London, crashed
into Mont Blanc in France, killing all 117 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_101>
1989:
American serial killer Ted Bundy was executed by electric
chair in Florida for the murders of thirty young women.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mnemonic:
1. Something (especially a series of ideas, letters, words, etc.) used
to help in remembering a thing; a memory aid.
2. (computing) The human-readable, textual form of an assembly language
instruction, not including operands.
3. (obsolete) Synonym of mnemonics (“the study of techniques for
remembering anything more easily”)
4. Especially of a series of ideas, letters, words, etc.: intended to
help in remembering.
5. Of or relating to mnemonics (“the study of techniques for remembering
anything more easily”).
6. Of or relating to memory.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mnemonic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us be very strange and well-bred: Let us be as strange as if
we had been married a great while; And as well-bred as if we were not
married at all.
--William Congreve
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Congreve>
The siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430) was a successful campaign to
capture the city by the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II. It
remained in Ottoman hands until 1912, when it became part of the Kingdom
of Greece. Thessalonica had already been under Ottoman control from 1387
to 1403 before returning to Byzantine rule in the aftermath of the
Battle of Ankara. In 1422 Murad attacked the city. Its ruler, Andronikos
Palaiologos, was unable to provide manpower or resources for the city's
defense, and handed it over to the Republic of Venice in
September 1423. The Ottomans blockaded the city and attacked it by
land. The blockade reduced the inhabitants to near starvation, and many
fled the city. In 1429 Venice declared war on the Ottomans, and on
29 March 1430 Murad's forces took the city. The siege and the
subsequent sack reduced the city to a shadow of its former self, from
perhaps as many as 40,000 inhabitants to around 2,000.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Thessalonica_%281422%E2%80%931430%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1849:
Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in
New York, making her the first woman to receive a medical degree in the
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell>
1909:
Two men committed an armed robbery in Tottenham, London, and
led police on a two-hour chase, partially by tram, that ended in the
perpetrators' suicides.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Outrage>
1942:
World War II: Japan began an invasion of the island of New
Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rabaul_%281942%29>
1993:
The first version of Mosaic, created by Marc Andreessen and
Eric Bina, was released, becoming the first popular web browser.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_%28web_browser%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
leporine:
1. (chiefly zoology, also figuratively) Of, relating to, or resembling a
hare or rabbit.
2. (zoology, historical) A supposed hybrid between a hare and a rabbit,
now known not to exist; a leporide.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leporine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Encounters between strangers in the desert, while rare, were
occasions of mutual suspicion, and masked by initial preparations on
both sides for an incident that might prove either cordial or warlike.
--Walter M. Miller, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_M._Miller,_Jr.>
Kampung Boy is a Malaysian animated television series. It is about the
adventures of a young boy, Mat, and his life in a kampung (village). The
series is adapted from the eponymous autobiographical graphic novel by
local cartoonist Lat (pictured). It had two seasons and twenty-six
episodes, one of which won an Annecy Award. The series was first shown
on the Malaysian satellite television network Astro before being
distributed to sixty other countries. It ran for one year from
September 1999. A main theme of Kampung Boy is the contrast between the
traditional rural way of life and the modern urban lifestyle. The series
promotes the village lifestyle as a healthy, fun environment for an
intelligent child. It proposes that new values and technologies should
be carefully examined. Lat's animation was praised for its technical
work and content, and Malaysian critics held up the series as an
exemplar for their country's animators. Academics regarded the series as
using modern technologies to preserve Malaysian history.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampung_Boy_%28TV_series%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Convention Parliament met to decide the fate of the throne
after James II, the last Catholic monarch of England, fled to France
following the Glorious Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England>
1906:
SS Valencia was wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island,
Canada, in a location so treacherous it was known as the Graveyard of
the Pacific.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Valencia>
1973:
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision in Roe v.
Wade, striking down laws restricting abortion during the first two
trimesters of pregnancy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade>
2012:
Croatia held a referendum, in which it voted to become a member
of the European Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Croatian_European_Union_membership_refer…>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
furtive:
1. Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.
2. Of a thing: that has been acquired by theft; stolen; also (generally)
taken stealthily.
3. Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.
4. Of a person, etc.: inclined to steal; pilfering, thieving.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/furtive>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I could not be true and constant to the argument I handle, if I
were not willing to go beyond others; but yet not more willing than to
have others go beyond me again: which may the better appear by this,
that I have propounded my opinions naked and unarmed, not seeking to
preoccupate the liberty of men's judgments by confutations.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>