The masked booby (Sula dactylatra) is a large seabird of the booby and
gannet family, Sulidae. First described by the French naturalist René
Lesson in 1831, the species is one of six in the genus Sula. It has a
long pointed yellowish bill, long neck, aerodynamic body, long slender
wings and pointed tail. The adult is bright white with black wings, a
black tail and a dark face mask; at 75 to 85 cm (30 to 33 in) long, it
is the largest species of booby. The sexes have similar plumage. The
species is not threatened; it ranges across tropical oceans, except in
the eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific. Nesting takes place in
colonies, generally on islands and atolls far from the mainland and
close to the deep water required for foraging. Potential and mated pairs
engage in courtship and greeting displays. The female lays two chalky
white eggs in a shallow depression on flat ground away from vegetation.
These birds are spectacular high-speed plunge divers, preying mainly on
flying fish.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_booby>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1950:
Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces
in the first of two battles at Wonju.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_and_Second_Battles_of_Wonju>
1993:
Brandon Teena, an American trans man, was raped and murdered in
Humboldt, Nebraska; his death led to increased lobbying for hate crime
laws in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Teena>
1998:
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the exchange rates
of the legacy currencies in the eurozone, establishing the value of the
euro.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Exchange_Rate_Mechanism>
2006:
War in Somalia: Transitional Federal Government forces attacked
the last stronghold of the Islamic Courts Union in the town of Jilib.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jilib>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
final reckoning:
1. (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) Synonym of judgement day (“the final
trial of all humankind, both the living and the dead, by God expected to
take place at the end of the world, when each is rewarded or punished
according to their merits”) Synonyms: apocalypse, Armageddon, day of
judgment, doomsday, Final Judgment, Last Judgment
2. (figurative) The act of assessing the overall merits of something.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/final_reckoning>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No longer can we compound attacks on truth with our silent
acquiescence. No longer can we turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to these
assaults.
--Jeff Flake
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeff_Flake>
André Messager (30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French
composer and conductor, whose best-known works are the ballet Les Deux
Pigeons (1886) and the opéra comique Véronique (1898). His successes
span the period from the late 19th century (Les p'tites Michu, 1897) to
early 20th century (Monsieur Beaucaire, 1919), including musical
comedies with Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps. Many of his works were
also produced in the West End and some on Broadway, some with long runs
and numerous international revivals. Messager became a major figure in
the musical life of Paris and then London, as a composer and as a
prominent conductor in the concert hall and opera house, leading the
Paris Opéra, among others. His music was known for its melodic and
orchestral invention, musical craftsmanship, and characteristically
French elegance and grace. Although most of his works have been
infrequently revived, historians of music consider him the last major
figure in French opéra comique and opérette.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Messager>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
War of 1812: British forces captured Buffalo, New York, and
burned down nearly all its buildings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buffalo>
1940:
The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the
U.S., connecting downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California, was
officially dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Seco_Parkway>
1958:
The Guatemalan Air Force fired on Mexican fishing boats that
had strayed into Guatemalan territory, triggering an eight-month
conflict.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93Guatemala_conflict>
2013:
Supporters of Congolese religious leader Paul-Joseph
Mukungubila carried out a series of attacks on television studios, the
airport and a military base in Kinshasa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2013_Kinshasa_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smell-feast:
(archaic) One who is apt to find and frequent places where good food is
available; especially one who comes uninvited to a meal; a parasite; a
sponger.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smell-feast>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I conclude… that the record establishes that Mr. Trump, over
the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a
false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct
them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and
the peaceful transfer of power. I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was
aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported
its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no
timely action to stop it. … I do not reach this conclusion lightly.
… I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a
presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the
Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential
candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.
--Shenna Bellows
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shenna_Bellows>
Bouvet was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy, built in the
1890s, and armed with a main battery of two 305 mm (12 in) guns and
two 274 mm (10.8 in) guns in individual turrets. A top speed of 18
knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) made her one of the fastest battleships in the
world. Bouvet spent the majority of her peacetime career conducting
routine training exercises and was withdrawn from front-line service in
1907. In early 1915 during World War I the ship participated in a
series of attacks on the Ottoman fortifications guarding the
Dardanelles. On 18 March 1915, during a major assault, the vessel was
hit approximately eight times by shellfire but was not seriously
damaged. While turning to withdraw, she struck a mine and sank within
two minutes; only 75 men were rescued from a complement of 718. Two
British battleships were also sunk by mines the same day, and the
disaster convinced the Allies to abandon the naval campaign in favor of
an amphibious assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Bouvet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
To counter the French Navy's Gloire, the world's first ironclad
warship, the Royal Navy launched HMS Warrior, the world's first iron-
hulled armoured warship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_%281860%29>
1913:
Cecil B. DeMille started filming Hollywood's first feature
film, The Squaw Man (featured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squaw_Man_%281914_film%29>
1915:
First World War: The French parliament passed a law granting
the land occupied by British war graves as "the free gift of the French
people".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_law_of_29_December_1915>
1975:
Planted by unknown perpetrators, a bomb exploded at LaGuardia
Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and seriously injuring 74
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_LaGuardia_Airport_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
that'll be the frosty Friday:
(idiomatic, informal) Synonym of that'll be the day (“said in reply to
something that one believes will never happen”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/that%27ll_be_the_frosty_Friday>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is out of time that my decision is taken If you call that
decision To which my whole being gives entire consent. I give my life
To the Law of God above the Law of Man.
--Murder in the Cathedral
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murder_in_the_Cathedral>
October 1 is a 2014 Nigerian psychological thriller film written by
Tunde Babalola, produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan (pictured), and
starring Sadiq Daba, Kayode Olaiya, and Demola Adedoyin. In the film,
Inspector Danladi Waziri (Daba) investigates the killings of young women
in a village in Western Nigeria just before 1 October 1960 – the
date Nigeria gained independence from British colonial rule. The film's
budget was US$2 million. It premiered on 28 September 2014 and opened
to international audiences on 3 October. October 1 deals with several
themes, including the sexual abuse of children by religious authority
figures, religious and ethnic conflict, politics in colonial Nigeria,
and Nigeria's unification and independence. Critics positively reviewed
the film, praising its cinematography, production design, costuming,
writing, and acting. The film won several awards, including Best Feature
Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor at the 2014 Africa International
Film Festival.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1_%28film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces defeated a Confederate cavalry
unit at the Battle of Van Buren, capturing three steamboats, Confederate
troops, and various supplies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Van_Buren>
1918:
At the Irish general election, Constance Markievicz was elected
to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as the first female member
of Parliament, although she never took her seat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Markievicz>
1943:
World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house
fighting, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured the Italian town
of Ortona (depicted).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona>
2018:
Netflix released Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, its first
interactive content for adults.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror:_Bandersnatch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
washout:
1. An act of washing or cleaning the inside of something.
2. An appliance designed to wash out the inside of something.
3. The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water;
also, a channel produced by this action.
4. (originally US, rail transport, road transport) A breach in a railway
or road caused by flooding.
5. (slang)
6. A sporting fixture or other event that cannot be completed because of
rain.
7. An overwhelming victory; a landslide.
8. A total failure; a disappointment.
9. An unsuccessful person.
10. (aviation)
11. (aeronautics) The aerodynamic effect of a small twist in the shape
of an aircraft wing.
12. (Britain, air force slang) A destroyed aeroplane.
13. (Britain, originally air force slang) A trainee who drops out of a
training programme.
14. (medicine)
15. A period between clinical treatments in which any medication
delivered as the first treatment is allowed to be eliminated from a
person's body before the second treatment begins.
16. (also biology) The cleaning of matter from a physiological system
using a fluid; also, the fluid used for such cleaning; or the matter
cleaned out from the system.
17. (meteorology) The action whereby falling rainwater cleans particles
from the air.
18. (mining) A place in a mine where ore has been washed away by a flow
of water.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/washout>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The emperor needs all the headmasters he can get. If a quarter of
his people were headmasters he would be perfectly happy. But more than
two poets would tear his kingdom apart.
--Alasdair Gray
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray>
Niels Bohr (1885–1962) was a Danish physicist who created the first
widely accepted model of atomic structure. In three articles published
in 1913, he proposed the Bohr model of the atom. Faced with the opposing
particle and wave interpretations of atomic phenomena in the new quantum
mechanics, he proposed the complementarity principle of using both
interpretations to fully explain the results. Bohr received the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1922. He founded the Institute of Theoretical
Physics in Copenhagen, now known as the Niels Bohr Institute. He
correctly predicted the properties of an undiscovered element, hafnium.
Later, the element bohrium was named after him. During the 1930s, Bohr
helped refugees from Nazism and in September 1943 fled to Britain to
avoid arrest by the Germans. There he joined the Tube Alloys nuclear
weapons project, and later the Manhattan Project. After the war, he was
involved with the establishment of CERN.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1657:
Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance
to Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of the colonial province,
requesting an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushing_Remonstrance>
1922:
The Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned Hōshō, the world's
first purpose-built aircraft carrier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_H%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D>
2002:
The human-cloning company Clonaid claimed to have performed the
first reproductive cloning of a human, but provided no evidence for the
claim.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonaid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
subglacial:
1. Formed or occurring beneath a glacier or other body of ice.
2. (hyperbolic, informal) Moving at a rate allegedly slower than a
glacier; extremely slow.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/subglacial>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don't say "Ho-ho-ho", but I do say "Oh-oh-oh" when I look out
of the window, where I can see a night, then the evening, and then the
night again. The 20 days of my transportation were pretty exhausting,
but I'm still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus. … I was
transported with such precaution and on such a strange route … I
didn't expect anyone to find me here before mid-January. That's why I
was very surprised when the cell door was opened yesterday with the
words: "A lawyer is here to see you". He told me that you had lost me,
and some of you were even worried. Thanks very much for your support!
--Alexei Navalny
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny>
A 2–2 draw was played on 19 May 1977 between the English association
football clubs Coventry City and Bristol City. The teams were playing
their final match of the 1976–77 season in the Football League First
Division, at Highfield Road (pictured), Coventry. Both teams faced
potential relegation, along with Sunderland, who played their final game
at the same time, against Everton at Goodison Park; the lowest-placed of
the three teams would be relegated. As many Bristol City supporters were
delayed in traffic, the kick-off at Highfield Road was delayed by five
minutes. The score was 2–2 with five minutes remaining, when the
supporters and players learned via the stadium scoreboard that
Sunderland had lost to Everton and that a draw would let both Coventry
and Bristol City escape relegation at Sunderland's expense. As a result,
the last five minutes were played out with neither team's players
attempting to score and the match finished as a 2–2 draw. A complaint
by Sunderland was unavailing.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_City_2%E2%80%932_Bristol_City_%28197…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
Philip Gidley King, Governor of New South Wales, ordered the
formation of the Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse, described as the
first full-time military unit raised in Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor%27s_Body_Guard_of_Light_Horse>
1943:
World War II: In the Battle of Cape Gloucester, American and
Australian forces bombarded Japanese positions on New Britain in the
Territory of New Guinea while U.S. Marines invaded from two sides of the
island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Gloucester>
1996:
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called on its
1.2 million members to refuse to work, beginning the largest organized
strike in South Korean history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%931997_strikes_in_South_Korea>
2006:
Two earthquakes off the southwest coast of Taiwan damaged
submarine communications cables, disrupting Internet services in Asia
and affecting financial transactions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Hengchun_earthquakes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
troll:
1. Senses relating to a rolling motion.
2. (transitive)
3. (transitive) To move (something, especially a round object) by, or as
if by, rolling; to bowl, to roll, to trundle.
4. (intransitive)
5. To roll; also, to turn round and round; to rotate, to spin, to whirl.
6. To move or walk at a leisurely pace; to ramble, to saunter, to
stroll.
7. (specifically, slang) Chiefly of a man: synonym of cruise (“to stroll
about to find a (male) sexual partner”).
8. (obsolete) Followed by in: to flow or roll in like a stream.
9. Senses relating to the motion of passing around.
10. (transitive)
11. (music, archaic) To sing the parts of (a catch, round, or similar
song) in succession; also (generally), to sing (a song) freely or in a
carefree way, or loudly.
12. (obsolete) To pass (something, specifically a bowl or other communal
drinking vessel) from one person to another; to circulate, to send
about.
13. (obsolete) Often followed by in: to cause (something) to flow or
roll in like a stream.
14. (intransitive)
15. (archaic) Of bells: to ring a sequence of tones in a resounding
manner.
16. (music, archaic) Of a person: to sing the parts of a catch, round,
or similar song in succession; also (generally), to sing freely or in a
carefree way, or loudly.
17. (music, archaic) Of a song: to be sung freely or in a carefree way,
or loudly; also, of a tune: to be constantly in someone's mind.
18. (obsolete) Of a bowl or other communal drinking vessel, or the drink
inside it: to be passed around from one person to another.
19. Senses relating to a light, quick motion.
20. (transitive)
21. To say (something) lightly and quickly, or in a deep, resounding
voice.
22. (obsolete) To move (the tongue) lightly and quickly when speaking.
23. (intransitive)
24. To speak lightly and quickly, or in a deep, resounding voice.
25. (obsolete) To move lightly and quickly; especially of the tongue
when speaking; to wag.
26. Senses relating to fishing.
27. (transitive)
28. (fishing) To fish in (a place) using a running fishing line (that
is, a line with a hook on the end which is drawn along the water
surface, possibly a line which would originally have been spooled on to
a troll (etymology 2, noun sense 6.1)).
29. (figurative) To attract or draw out (someone or something); to
allure, to elicit, to entice, to lure.
30. (figurative, originally Internet slang) To make or post inflammatory
or insincere statements in an attempt to lure (someone) into combative
argument for purposes of personal entertainment or to manipulate their
perception, especially in an online community or discussion; also, to
post such statements on (an online location, such as a social media
website).
31. (intransitive)
32. (fishing) To fish using a running fishing line.
33. (fishing, Scotland, US) To fish using a line and bait or lures
trailed behind a boat similarly to trawling.
34. (figurative, originally Internet slang) To make or post inflammatory
or insincere statements in an attempt to lure people into combative
argument for purposes of personal entertainment or to manipulate their
perception, especially in an online community or discussion. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troll>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of
looking at things.
--Henry Miller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Miller>
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is a well-known line from an
editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church titled "Is There a Santa Claus?",
which appeared in the New York newspaper The Sun on September 21, 1897.
Written in response to a letter by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon
asking whether Santa Claus was real, the editorial was initially
published anonymously and Church's authorship was not disclosed until
after his 1906 death. After its initial publication, it was quickly
reprinted by other newspapers. As the editorial became increasingly
popular over the years, The Sun began republishing it during the
Christmas and holiday season, including every year from 1924 until the
paper ceased publication in 1950. "Is There a Santa Claus?" is still
widely reprinted during the holiday season and has been cited as the
most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language. It has been
translated into around 20 languages and adapted as television specials,
a film, a musical, and a cantata.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
Seventy-three people were crushed to death in a stampede after
someone falsely yelled "fire" at a crowded Christmas party in Calumet,
Michigan, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster>
1918:
Forces united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
defeated Hungarian forces to end the occupation of Međimurje.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_occupation_of_Me%C4%91imurje>
1953:
A railway bridge at Tangiwai on New Zealand's North Island was
damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train (wreckage
pictured), killing 151 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangiwai_disaster>
2008:
The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began
attacks on several villages in the north of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, killing hundreds and committing numerous atrocities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
alcoholiday:
1. A holiday or leisure time spent drinking alcohol.
2. (rare) A period of time during which one intentionally abstains from
drinking alcohol.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alcoholiday>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
But often, in the world’s most crowded streets, But often, in
the din of strife, There rises an unspeakable desire After the
knowledge of our buried life; A thirst to spend our fire and restless
force In tracking out our true, original course; A longing to inquire
Into the mystery of this heart which beats So wild, so deep in us, to
know Whence our lives come and where they go.
--Matthew Arnold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold>
The battle of the Trebia was the first major battle of the Second Punic
War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and a Roman army
under Sempronius Longus on 22 or 23 December 218 BC near modern
Piacenza in northern Italy. Each army had a strength of about 40,000
men; the Romans were stronger in infantry, while the Carthaginians were
stronger in cavalry and fielded about 30 war elephants (statuette
pictured). Hannibal used his Numidian cavalry to lure the Romans out of
their camp and onto ground of his choosing. Fresh Carthaginian cavalry
routed the outnumbered Roman cavalry, and Carthaginian light infantry
outflanked the Roman infantry. A previously hidden Carthaginian force
attacked the Roman infantry in the rear. Most of the Roman units then
collapsed and most Romans were killed or captured, but 10,000 under
Sempronius maintained formation, fought their way out and reached the
safety of Piacenza. The following spring the Carthaginians moved south
into Roman Italy and operated there for 15 years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Trebia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
During a bout of mental illness, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh
severed part of his left ear and gave it to a woman in a brothel in
Arles, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>
1916:
First World War: Allied forces gained a strategic victory at
the Battle of Magdhaba on the Sinai Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magdhaba>
1957:
Leading the Australia national cricket team, Ian Craig became
the youngest-ever Test cricket captain at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Craig>
2008:
The Guinean military engineered a coup d'état, announcing that
it planned to rule the country for two years prior to a new presidential
election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Guinean_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lovelily:
1. In a lovely way.
2. In a manner to excite or inspire admiration or love; admirably,
beautifully, wonderfully.
3. (obsolete) In a friendly or pleasant manner; amiably, kindly,
pleasantly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lovelily>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Sanaka and the others were my sons through my mental powers and
were born before you. Without any desires, they travel through the sky
and go to all the worlds and the residents there. They once went to
Vaikuntha, where the illustrious one with the unblemished atman resides.
All the worlds revere Vaikuntha. All the people who reside in Vaikuntha
have a form like Vaikuntha. They are not driven by any material
aspirations, but worship Hari because of dharma. The original and
illustrious Purusha is there and he can be approached through the use of
words. He accepts the pure form of sattva and the foremost confers
happiness on us, his devotees.
--Bhagavata Purana
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bhagavata_Purana>
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent.
Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by
the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole, first reached
in 1911 by Norwegian explorers. Antarctica is, on average, the coldest,
driest, and windiest of the continents. It is mainly a polar desert,
though 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen there, which,
if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m (200 ft).
Native animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and
tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen
or moss. Some countries have territorial claims in Antarctica, but by
treaty, the continent is set aside as a scientific preserve. During the
summer months, about 5,000 people reside at research stations there, a
figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Despite Antarctica's
remoteness, human activity significantly impacts it via pollution, ozone
depletion, and climate change.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1948:
Chaired by Sjafruddin Prawiranegara, the Emergency Government
of the Republic of Indonesia was established to counter Dutch attempts
to re-assert colonial control.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sjafruddin_Prawiranegara>
1988:
Brazilian unionist and environmental activist Chico Mendes was
murdered at his home in Xapuri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes>
2008:
A dike ruptured at a waste containment area for a coal-fired
power plant in Kingston, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion gallons
(4.2 million m3) of coal fly ash slurry (aftermath pictured) in the
largest industrial spill in U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spi…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fly ash:
A residue generated in the combustion of powdered coal or other
materials, comprising the fine particles that rise with the flue gases;
when generated industrially it is usually captured and can be recycled
for use in construction materials.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fly_ash>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Each solstice shows us that we can choose. We cannot stop the
winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall
or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the Universe that
we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to Life when
each arrives.
--Gary Zukav
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gary_Zukav>
The Sun has appeared in fiction since classical antiquity, but for a
long time it rarely received attention. Many of the early depictions
viewed the Sun as essentially Earth-like and potentially habitable—a
once-common belief about celestial objects in general known as the
plurality of worlds—and depicted various kinds of solar inhabitants.
As more became known about the Sun through advances in astronomy, in
particular its temperature, fewer solar lifeforms were depicted.
Instead, many stories focused on the death of the Sun, either by going
out or going nova, and the ensuing havoc on Earth. Less disastrously,
solar flares and eclipses have also been depicted. The Sun has been
portrayed as a source of power—both in the form of solar power and
superpower abilities. It poses a danger to spacecraft that approach it,
which occurs in several stories. Overall, the Sun remains relatively
uncommon as a point of focus in science fiction, particularly in
comparison to depictions of Mars and Venus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_in_fiction>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1963:
An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish
Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to
538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Christmas_%281963%29>
1968:
Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a
trajectory to the Moon; its crew became the first humans to visit
another celestial body.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8>
1988:
A bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 detonated over Lockerbie,
Scotland, killing 270 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103>
2018:
Operatives of the British Special Boat Service boarded the
container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary to detain four
stowaways who had threatened the crew.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Tema_incident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
threadbare:
1. Of cloth, clothing, furnishings, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent
that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show; shabby,
worn-out.
2. (figurative)
3. In poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided
for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
4. Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer
effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
5. (archaic or obsolete) Of a person: wearing clothes of threadbare
(sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/threadbare>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of
President under Section Three; because he is disqualified, it would be a
wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list him as a
candidate on the presidential primary ballot. We do not reach these
conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the
questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to
apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public
reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.
--Supreme Court of Oregon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oregon>