Doom is a first-person shooter game developed and published by id
Software, released on December 10, 1993. The player assumes the role of
a space marine fighting through hordes of undead humans and invading
demons. The game is presented with 3D graphics, with 2D enemies and
objects. John Carmack (pictured) created the 3D game engine, with
action-heavy design by John Romero and Sandy Petersen. Despite
controversy over its graphic violence, Doom was a critical and
commercial success, earning a reputation as one of the best and most
influential games of all time and shifting the public perception of the
entire medium. It sold an estimated 3.5 million copies by 1999, and up
to 20 million people played it within two years of launch. Termed the
"father" of first-person shooters, Doom sparked the rise of online games
and communities. It led to an array of imitators and clones, as well as
a robust Doom modding scene. Doom has been ported to a variety of
platforms, and spawned a long-running franchise.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_%281993_video_game%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1847:
"Il Canto degli Italiani", the Italian national anthem since
1946, made its public debut in Genoa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Canto_degli_Italiani>
1901:
On the fifth anniversary of the death of their founder, Swedish
chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, the first Nobel Prizes were
awarded in Stockholm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize>
1970:
Around the northern Thai village of Mae Salong, remnants of
Chinese anti-communist forces now fighting on behalf of the Thai
government launched a five-year campaign against local communist
insurgents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santikhiri>
1983:
Raúl Alfonsín became the first democratically elected
president of Argentina to take office after more than seven years of
military dictatorship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Alfons%C3%ADn>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sovereignty:
1. (chiefly uncountable) The quality or state of being sovereign.
2. Of a ruler (especially a monarch): supreme authority or dominion over
something.
3. (by extension) Of a nation or other polity: the state of being able
to control resources, make laws independently, and otherwise govern
itself without the coercion or concurrence of other polities.
4. (by extension) Of a person: the liberty to decide one's actions and
thoughts.
5. Pre-eminent or superior excellence; also, superior ability to achieve
something; mastery.
6. (countable) A territory under the rule of a sovereign; an independent
or self-governing nation or other polity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sovereignty>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's such a little thing to weep — So short a thing to sigh
— And yet — by Trades — the size of these We men and women die!
--Emily Dickinson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson>
Ohmdenosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the
Early Jurassic epoch in what is now Germany. The only known specimen
(pictured) – a tibia (shinbone) and ankle – was discovered in
rocks of the Posidonia Shale near the village of Ohmden. The specimen is
exhibited in a local museum, where, in the 1970s, the German
palaeontologist Rupert Wild recognised it as the remains of a sauropod.
One of the earliest known sauropods, Ohmdenosaurus was quadrupedal
(four-legged) and already had the columnar limbs typical for the group.
It was small for a sauropod, with an estimated length of 3 to 4 m (10
to 13 ft). Its relationships to other sauropods remain uncertain due to
the incompleteness of its remains. The Posidonia Shale was deposited
within a shallow inland sea. Ohmdenosaurus was a terrestrial animal, so
the specimen must have been transported by predators or water currents
at least 100 km (62 mi) from the shoreline to its site of burial. It
is the only dinosaur fossil known from the shale.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohmdenosaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1897:
French actress, journalist and leading suffragette Marguerite
Durand founded the feminist newspaper La Fronde.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Fronde_%28newspaper%29>
1948:
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide
Convention, which defines genocide in legal terms and advises its
signatories to prevent and punish such actions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention>
1968:
Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All
Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-
mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos>
2008:
Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was arrested for a number
of corruption crimes, including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat
that was being vacated by then-President-elect Barack Obama.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tanzanite:
A trichroic violet-blue variety of the mineral zoisite mined in
Tanzania, used as a gemstone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tanzanite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
With thee conversing I forget all time, All seasons, and their
change; all please alike. Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising
sweet, With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun When first on
this delightful land he spreads His orient beams on herb, tree, fruit,
and flower, Glist'ring with dew; fragrant the fertile earth After soft
showers; and sweet the coming on Of grateful ev'ning mild; then silent
night With this her solemn bird and this fair moon, And these the gems
of heaven, her starry train.
--Paradise Lost
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost>
Ford Island is an islet in the center of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, in the US
state of Hawaii. Its original area of 334 acres (135 ha) was increased
during the 1930s to 441 acres (178 ha) with fill dirt after the US Navy
dredged Pearl Harbor to accommodate battleships. The island was the site
of a Hawaiian fertility ritual until missionaries stopped the practice
by 1830. It was given by Kamehameha I to Spanish deserter Francisco de
Paula Marín, and was later owned by physician Seth Porter Ford. In 1917
the US Army bought part of it for use by an aviation division, and by
1939 it was taken over by the US Navy. It was at the center of the
attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1964. By the late 1990s hundreds of
millions of dollars had been invested in real estate development and
infrastructure. Ford Island is home to the USS Arizona memorial, the
USS Missouri museum, the Pacific Warfighting Center, and the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Island>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1837:
British troops swiftly defeated rebels led by William Lyon
Mackenzie and Anthony Van Egmond at the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern,
the only major confrontation of the Upper Canada Rebellion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada_Rebellion>
1942:
Second World War: A small unit of Royal Marines launched
Operation Frankton, in which they damaged six ships in the port of
Bordeaux in German-occupied France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frankton>
1988:
A 6.8 Ms earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia,
killing at least 25,000 people (aftermath pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake>
2011:
The United States transferred its last base in the Al Anbar
Governorate to the Iraqi government, ending the Anbar campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anbar_campaign_%282003%E2%80%932011%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
presence of mind:
Focused alertness, good sense, quick-thinking resourcefulness, or
stability of feeling and thought, especially in spite of circumstances
which are distracting, stressful, or otherwise challenging.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/presence_of_mind>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every person who is seeing me now — some are seeing me within
months of my saying this, some are likely to see this years after I have
said this, but whenever all of you are seeing it — that will be the
moment you’re seeing it — as this is the moment I’m saying it. And
what that means to me is: living in the moment. The moment between past
and present, or present and past. The moment between after and next, the
hammock in the middle of after and next. The moment. Treasure it. Use it
with love.
--Norman Lear
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Lear>
"Janet(s)" is the tenth episode of the third season of The Good Place.
Written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan and directed by Morgan Sackett,
it originally aired on NBC on December 6, 2018. The episode sees
Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason accidentally transformed into versions
of Janet, all played by D'Arcy Carden (pictured). Meanwhile, Michael
(Ted Danson) and the real Janet (Carden) investigate if the afterlife
system that sorts good and bad acts has been manipulated. Rehearsals for
the episode began earlier than usual so Carden could learn to play the
other characters. The episode required more visual effects than previous
episodes. "Janet(s)" was watched by 2.58 million Americans in its
original broadcast and was well received by critics; Carden's
performance was widely praised. Themes covered include the meaning of
the self, which the writers had studied in preparation. It was nominated
for a Primetime Emmy Award for writing and won a Hugo Award.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet%28s%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
Mexican–American War: American and Mexican forces clashed at
the Battle of San Pasqual, a series of skirmishes near San Diego,
California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Pasqual>
1912:
The Nefertiti Bust, listed among the "Top 10 Plundered
Artifacts" by Time, was found in Amarna, Egypt, before being taken to
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nefertiti_Bust>
1956:
At the Melbourne Olympics, 14-year-old swimmer Sandra Morgan
became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Morgan>
1988:
Self-government was granted to the Australian Capital
Territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Australian_Capital_Territory>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
winding:
1. gerund of wind
2. The act of twisting something, or coiling or wrapping something
around another thing.
3. (especially in the plural) A curving, sinuous, or twisting movement;
twists and turns.
4. (especially in the plural) A curving, sinuous, or twisting form.
5. Chiefly followed by up: the act of tightening the spring of a
clockwork or other mechanism.
6. Sometimes followed by up: the act of hoisting something using a winch
or a similar device.
7. (figurative, chiefly in the plural) Twists and turns in an
occurrence, in thinking, or some other thing; also, moral crookedness;
craftiness, shiftiness.
8. (obsolete, music) A variation in a tune.
9. Something wound around another thing.
10. (electrical engineering) A length of wire wound around the core of
an electrical transformer.
11. (lutherie) Synonym of lapping (“lengths of fine silk, metal wire, or
whalebone wrapped tightly around the stick of the bow of a string
instrument adjacent to the leather part of the bow grip at the heel”)
12. (obsolete)
13. A decorative object, design, or other thing with curves or twists.
14. (except dialectal) Synonym of withe or withy (“a flexible, slender
shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding”); also,
all the withies used to make or repair a wall, or the process of using
withies in this manner.
15. Moving in a sinuous or twisting manner.
16. Sinuous, turning, or twisting in form.
17. Chiefly of a staircase: helical, spiral.
18. (figurative) Of speech, writing, etc.: not direct or to the point;
rambling, roundabout.
19. (obsolete)
20. Flexible, pliant.
21. (figurative) Morally crooked; crafty, shifty. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/winding>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Matter is the creation of the mind, not the reverse. Our entire
world is thought, not wood and stone. We learn to think or reflect upon
the thoughts, which the Thinker of the world, invisible, yet everywhere
visible, has first thought. What we see, hear, taste, and feel, is all
within us, not without. Sugar is not sweet, we are sweet. The sky is not
painted blue, we are blue. Nothing is large or small, heavy or light,
except as to ourselves. Man is the measure of all things, as an ancient
Greek philosopher asserted; and man has inferred, discovered, and named
matter.
--Max Müller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller>
Hurricane Erika was a weak hurricane that struck northeastern Mexico in
August of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Erika was the eighth
tropical cyclone, fifth tropical storm, and third hurricane of the
season. At first, the National Hurricane Center did not designate it as
a hurricane because initial data suggested winds of only 70 mph
(110 km/h) at Erika's peak intensity, but it was retroactively deemed a
hurricane based on further data. Developing in the eastern Gulf of
Mexico on August 14, Erika moved quickly westward and strengthened
under favorable conditions. It made landfall as a hurricane on
northeastern Mexico on August 16. The storm's low-level circulation
center dissipated by the next day. However, the storm's mid-level
circulation persisted for another three days, emerging into the Pacific
and moving northwestward over Baja California, before dissipating on
August 20. Two people were killed in northeastern Mexico when their
vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Erika_%282003%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
Napoleonic Wars: British ships began a raid on Griessie after
the Dutch captain refused a British demand for surrender.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Griessie>
1918:
National Guards and Sokol volunteers protested in Zagreb,
leading to an armed clash with regiments of the Home Guard and former
Common Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_protest_in_Zagreb>
1933:
The prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States
officially ended when the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution was ratified, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_C…>
1958:
Britain's first motorway, the Preston By-pass, opened to the
public.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_By-pass>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fenny:
1. Characteristic of or resembling a fen (“characteristically alkaline
wetland containing peat below the waterline”); marshy, swampy; also, of
land: containing a fen or fens.
2. Now chiefly of plants: growing or living in a fen.
3. (obsolete, also figurative) Muddy; hence, dirty, filthy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fenny>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the
child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty. Call the child
"innocence". The worst of us is not without innocence, although buried
deeply it might be. In my work I try to reach and speak to that
innocence, showing it the fun and joy of living; showing it that
laughter is healthy; showing it that the human species, although happily
ridiculous at times, is still reaching for the stars.
--Walt Disney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>
The Thaddeus McCotter 2012 presidential campaign began when McCotter
filed papers on July 1, 2011, to run for the Republican Party's 2012
nomination for President of the United States. He officially announced
his candidacy the next day at a rock festival near Detroit. McCotter, a
congressman from Michigan since 2003, was first mentioned as a potential
candidate on an April 2011 episode of the Fox News show Red Eye. During
his campaign, he focused on reform of government and Wall Street.
Commentators noted that McCotter's lack of name recognition hindered his
chances; he regularly received less than one percent support in
Republican presidential preference polls. Following a last-place finish
in the Ames Straw Poll and the lack of any invitation to presidential
debates, he dropped his candidacy on September 22, 2011, and endorsed
Mitt Romney. He resigned from Congress in July 2012 amid a fraud
investigation surrounding his congressional re-election campaign.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_McCotter_2012_presidential_campaign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1927:
Putting Pants on Philip, the first official film featuring the
comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putting_Pants_on_Philip>
1967:
Cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first
successful human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky at Groote Schuur
Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Barnard>
1979:
As per the results of a two-day referendum, the current
Constitution of Iran was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Iranian_constitutional_referendum>
1990:
Mary Robinson was inaugurated as the first female President of
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Mary_Robinson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
worthwhileness:
The condition or extent of being worthwhile.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/worthwhileness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut,
with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it's just as well; and it
may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable
majority so supportable and so welcome. Nevertheless, there can be but
few of us who had never known one of these rare moments of awakening
when we see, hear, understand ever so much — everything — in a flash
— before we fall back again into our agreeable somnolence.
--Lord Jim
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Jim>
Ernest Roberts (21 February 1868 – 2 December 1913) was a Labor
member of the South Australian House of Assembly, and then the
Australian House of Representatives. Roberts emigrated to Australia from
the UK and worked in Port Pirie, South Australia, where he was a member
of its town council. In 1896, aged 28, he became the youngest person
elected to the House of Assembly and quickly gained a reputation for his
oratory. He served in South Africa twice during the Second Boer War,
rising to the rank of captain. During his second period of service his
term in the South Australian parliament expired. After returning home,
he was the editor of a political newspaper before being elected to the
House of Assembly again in 1905. He was elected to the federal House of
Representatives in a by-election in 1908 and was appointed as an
honorary minister in 1911. After a fiery parliamentary debate on
2 December 1913, Roberts collapsed and died, aged 45. His state funeral
was attended by around 6,000 people.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Roberts_%28Australian_politician%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1943:
World War II: The Luftwaffe conducted a surprise air raid on
Allied ships in Bari, Italy, sinking twenty-eight vessels and releasing
one ship's secret cargo of mustard gas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_on_Bari>
1956:
Cuban Revolution: The yacht Granma, carrying Fidel Castro, Che
Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement, reached the
shores of Cuba.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_of_the_Granma>
1988:
Benazir Bhutto took office as Prime Minister of Pakistan,
becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority
state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto>
2001:
Less than two months after disclosing accounting violations,
the Texas-based energy firm Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
evaporating nearly $11 billion in shareholder wealth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
computer literacy:
(computing) The ability to operate a personal computer, including its
associated hardware and software (but not necessarily to understand the
underlying electronics or a programming language).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/computer_literacy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the individual who can and does make a difference even in
this increasingly populous, complex world of ours. The individual can
make things happen. It is the individual who can bring a tear to my eye
and then cause me to take pen in hand. It is the individual who has
acted or tried to act who will not only force a decision but also have a
hand in shaping it. Whether acting in the legal, governmental, or
private realm, one concerned and dedicated person can meaningfully
affect what some consider an uncaring world. So give freely of yourself
always to your family, your friends, your community, and your country.
The world will pay you back many times over.
--Sandra Day O'Connor
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor>
Florence Petty (1 December 1870 – 18 November 1948) was a Scottish
social worker, cookery writer and broadcaster. During the 1900s she
undertook social work in the deprived area of Somers Town in North
London, demonstrating for working-class women how to cook inexpensive
and nutritious foods. Much of the instruction was done in their homes.
She published cookery-related works aimed at those also involved in
social work, and a cookery book and pamphlet aimed at the public. From
1914 until the mid-1940s she toured Britain giving lecture-
demonstrations of cost-efficient and nutritious ways to cook, including
dealing with food shortages during the First World War. In the late
1920s and early 1930s, she was a BBC broadcaster on food and budgeting.
Petty worked until she was in her seventies. She is considered to be a
pioneer of social work innovations. Her approach to teaching the use of
cheap nutritious food was a precursor to the method adopted by the
Ministry of Food during the Second World War.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Petty>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1988:
Five armed men hijacked a bus carrying thirty schoolchildren
and a teacher in Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz, Russia), and were later
given an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft and ransom for the release of the
hostages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Ordzhonikidze_bus_hijacking>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rime:
1. (transitive)
2. To cover (something) with rime (noun sense 1 or sense 3.1) or
(loosely) hoar frost.
3. (figurative) To cover (something) with a thin coating or film; to
coat.
4. (intransitive) Sometimes followed by up: of a thing: to become
covered with rime or (loosely) hoar frost.
5. Archaic in the form rimes: originally, any frozen dew forming a white
deposit on exposed surfaces; hoar frost (sense 1).
6. (figurative)
7. A film or slimy coating.
8. White hair as an indication of old age.
9. (meteorology)
10. Ice formed by the rapid freezing of cold water droplets of fog on to
a cold surface.
11. A coating or sheet of ice so formed.
12. (Britain, regional) A cold fog or mist. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rime>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
--Henry Kissinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger>