The Firebird is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian
composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of
Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was
by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois and others on a
scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the magical Firebird and
the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. Set in the evil
immortal Koschei's castle, the ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles
Koschei with the help of the Firebird. It was an immediate success,
catapulting Stravinsky to international fame and leading to future
collaborations between Diaghilev and Stravinsky, like Petrushka (1911)
and The Rite of Spring (1913). Other choreographers have reinterpreted
the music with new productions, settings and themes. Stravinsky's 1919
concert suite remains the most popular today. A film version with the
original choreography, featuring what is now the Royal Ballet, was
created in 1959.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firebird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
New Orleans, the first steamship on the Mississippi River,
arrived at New Orleans to complete its maiden voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_%28steamboat%29>
1929:
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the first volume of The
Adventures of Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé, began
serialisation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herg%C3%A9>
1993:
The Braer Storm, the strongest extratropical cyclone ever
recorded in the North Atlantic, reached peak intensity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braer_Storm>
2004:
Helge Fossmo, the village priest of Knutby, Sweden,
orchestrated the murders of his wife and his neighbor, a crime that
shocked the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knutby_murder>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
backfriend:
1. A friend who supports someone; a person who has someone's back; a
backer, a supporter.
2. Synonym of hangnail (“a loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding
from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or
toenail”)
3. (obsolete) A person who pretends to be someone's friend; a false
friend, a secret enemy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/backfriend>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
He takes it in the naked ecstasy; it breaks in his hand, the atom
is broken, the power that massed it Cries to the power that moves the
stars, "I have come home to myself, behold me. I bruised myself in the
flint mortar and burnt me In the red shell, I tortured myself, I flew
forth, Stood naked of myself and broke me in fragments, And here am I
moving the stars that are me." I have seen these ways of God: I know of
no reason For fire and change and torture and the old returnings.
--Robinson Jeffers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robinson_Jeffers>
Communication is usually understood to be the transmission of
information. Many models of communication describe it in terms of a
source using a coding system to express ideas in the form of a message.
The message is sent through a channel to a receiver who decodes it to
understand it. For verbal communication, the message is articulated in
linguistic form, including regular speech and writing. Nonverbal
communication, including body language, touch, and facial expressions,
does not rely on a linguistic system. The history of human communication
was shaped by the development of technologies such as writing, printing,
radio, and the internet. Communication also happens among animals and
plants, for example when birds sing to attract mates. Interspecies
communication occurs between distinct species, such as flowers using
distinctive colors to signal to bees where nectar is located. The main
discipline investigating communication is called communication studies.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1917:
First World War: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman
forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border in present-
day Rafah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rafa>
1972:
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association
lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the
longest in major American professional team sports.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers>
1975:
In Central and Southeastern United States, a Great Storm formed
the first of forty-five tornados over a three-day period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1975>
1992:
Radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced
the discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12
(depicted), considered to be the first definitive detection of
exoplanets.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanet>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
slightingly:
(archaic) In a slighting manner; belittlingly, contemptuously.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slightingly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We shall support vigorously the principle that no country has the
right to impose its will or rule on another by force. We shall
continue, in this era of negotiation, to work for the limitation of
nuclear arms, and to reduce the danger of confrontation between the
great powers. We shall do our share in defending peace and freedom in
the world. But we shall expect others to do their share. The time has
passed when America will make every other nation's conflict our own, or
make every other nation's future our responsibility, or presume to tell
the people of other nations how to manage their own affairs. Just as we
respect the right of each nation to determine its own future, we also
recognize the responsibility of each nation to secure its own future.
Just as America's role is indispensable in preserving the world's peace,
so is each nation's role indispensable in preserving its own peace.
Together with the rest of the world, let us resolve to move forward from
the beginnings we have made. Let us continue to bring down the walls of
hostility which have divided the world for too long, and to build in
their place bridges of understanding — so that despite profound
differences between systems of government, the people of the world can
be friends.
--Richard Nixon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>
Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. is a landmark 1948 New
York Supreme Court decision. It was the first case in the United States
dealing with moral rights in authorship. The Soviet composers Dmitri
Shostakovich (pictured), Aram Khachaturian, Sergei Prokofiev, and
Nikolai Myaskovsky sued Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation for using
their compositions in the film The Iron Curtain. Although their
compositions were in the public domain in the United States, the
composers argued that the film violated their moral rights by using
their works in a manner contrary to their beliefs. The court rejected
the composers' argument, holding that there was no clear standard for
adjudicating moral rights and that moral rights conflict with free use
of public domain works. The decision has been criticized for
misunderstanding moral rights and praised for upholding the right of the
public to use public domain works over the rights of authors to censor
uses that they disagree with.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shostakovich_v._Twentieth_Century-Fox_Film_Co….>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
Blackstone Library, the first branch of the Chicago Public
Library system, was dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_Library>
1977:
Three bombs attributed to Armenian nationalists exploded across
Moscow, killing seven people and injuring 37 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Moscow_bombings>
1981:
In Trans-en-Provence, France, a local farmer reported a UFO
sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully
documented sighting of all time".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-en-Provence_case>
2011:
Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S.
representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and
injuring twelve others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pendeloque:
(also attributive) A drop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant;
also, a piece of jewellery in pendant form.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pendeloque>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The goal of a free nation is to reveal by example the enlightened
possibilities of the human race, not to wield its power of destruction
and death over the helpless, the poor, the starving and the war torn
masses. The goal of a free nation must be no different outside its
borders than within them. In America we do not massacre whole towns
because they may be the chosen domicile of a criminal or a conspiracy of
criminals. Instead we carefully root out the felons and bring them to
justice. In the same way, the goal of a free nation must be to first
view all people as members of the human race, and, as such, to insist
that they possess fundamental human rights. They are, as we, citizens of
the world. The rule of law shows us the way.
--Gerry Spence
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerry_Spence>
Daisy Bacon (1898–1986) was an American pulp fiction magazine editor
and writer, best known as the editor of Love Story Magazine from 1928 to
1947. She was hired in 1926 to assist with "Friends in Need", an advice
column in the magazine, by Street & Smith, a major pulp magazine
publisher. Two years later she was promoted to editor. Love Story was
one of the most successful pulp magazines, and Bacon was frequently
interviewed about her role and her opinions of modern romance. Street &
Smith gave Bacon other magazines to edit, including Ainslee's in the
mid-1930s and Pocket Love in the late 1930s. From 1940 to 1947 she took
over as editor of Romantic Range, which featured love stories set in the
American West, and in 1941 she was also given the editorship of
Detective Story. In late 1948 she became the editor of both The Shadow
and Doc Savage, but Street & Smith shut down all their pulps the
following April.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bacon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
The Marconi International Marine Communication Company
specified CQD (audio featured) as the distress signal to be used by its
operators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQD>
1939:
French physicist Marguerite Perey identified francium, the last
element to be discovered in nature rather than by synthesis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francium>
1979:
The People's Army of Vietnam captured Phnom Penh, marking the
end of large-scale fighting in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_War>
2020:
After 253 days without an operational government, a second
round of investiture votes produced Spain's first coalition government
since the Second Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Spanish_government_formation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shelve:
1. (transitive)
2. To furnish (a place) with shelves; especially, to furnish (a library,
etc.) with bookshelves.
3. To place (something) on a shelf; especially, to place or arrange
(books) on a bookshelf.
4. (figurative) To place (something) in a certain location, as if on a
shelf. [...]
5. (figurative) To set aside (something), as if on a shelf.
6. To postpone or put aside, or entirely cease dealing with (a matter
for discussion, a project, etc.).
7. (also reflexive) To remove (someone) from active service.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To hang over or project like a shelf; to
overhang.
9. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To tilt or tip (a cart) to discharge
its contents.
10. (intransitive)
11. Of land or a surface: to incline, to slope.
12. (obsolete) To be in an inclined or sloping position. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shelve>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Gods always behave like the people who make them.
--Zora Neale Hurston
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston>
A supernova is a powerful explosion of a star, usually a star that is
unable to produce sufficient energy from nuclear fusion to counteract
its own gravity. Its remnant will become a diffuse nebula, neutron star
or black hole. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be
comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks
or months. Supernovae occur in the Milky Way on average about three
times every century; the last one directly observed was Kepler's
Supernova (remnant pictured) in 1604. The most recent naked-eye
supernova from another galaxy was SN 1987A, the explosion of a blue
supergiant star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite of the Milky
Way. Supernovae can expel several solar masses of material at velocities
up to several percent of the speed of light. They are a major source of
cosmic rays, and also the chemical elements from oxygen to rubidium on
the periodic table. White dwarfs can also produce supernovae, if they
gain enough mass to trigger runaway fusion.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1724:
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, a Bach cantata for Epiphany,
was first performed in Leipzig.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sie_werden_aus_Saba_alle_kommen,_BWV_65>
1912:
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener presented his theory of
continental drift, the precursor of plate tectonics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift>
1953:
The inaugural Asian Socialist Conference, an organisation of
socialist political parties, opened in Rangoon with 177 delegates,
observers and fraternal guests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Socialist_Conference>
2014:
The first episode of the documentary series Benefits Street
aired on Channel 4, prompting discussion in the United Kingdom about
welfare dependency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_Street>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kitchendom:
(dated) The domain of the kitchen or people who work there.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kitchendom>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and
incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the
throat of America, at American democracy. They didn't come here out of
patriotism or principle. They came here in rage. Not in service of
America but rather in service of one man. Those who incited the mob, the
real plotters who are desperate to deny the certification of this
election, and defy the will of the voters. But their plot was foiled;
congressmen, Democrats, Republicans stayed. Senators, representatives,
staff, they finished their work the Constitution demanded. They honored
their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and
domestic. Look folks, now it's up to all of us — to We the People
— to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to
keep the promise of America alive.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
Kyla (born January 5, 1981) is a Filipino singer-songwriter. She is the
recipient of numerous accolades, including eleven Awit Awards and three
MTV Pilipinas Music Awards. She gained recognition in 2000 with her
debut album Way to Your Heart and its single "Hanggang Ngayon", which
won the International Viewer's Choice Award for Southeast Asia at the
2001 MTV Video Music Awards. She has collaborated with musicians such as
American singer-songwriter Brian McKnight and English boy band Blue.
Outside of music, she has starred in the drama series Dear Friend (2009)
and Villa Quintana (2013–2014), and has expanded her career into
reality television as a presenter of the talent competition show Popstar
Kids (2005–2007) and as a judge in the variety show singing contest
Tawag ng Tanghalan (since 2016). Kyla's music is primarily influenced by
R&B; and soul, and she has been credited with helping to redefine the
genres in the Philippines. (This article is part of a featured topic:
Overview of Kyla.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Overview_of_Kyla>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Te Kooti's War: After surviving a five-day siege in the pā at
Ngātapa, Māori leader Te Kooti escaped from New Zealand's Armed
Constabulary.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ngatapa>
1919:
The German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party, was
founded by Anton Drexler.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Workers%27_Party>
1949:
In his State of the Union speech, U.S. president Harry S.
Truman announced: "Every segment of our population, and every
individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Deal>
2003:
The Metropolitan Police arrested six people in conjunction with
an alleged terrorist plot to release ricin on the London Underground,
although no toxin was found.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Green_ricin_plot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
a little bird told me:
(idiomatic, chiefly humorous) I received the information from a source
which I am not prepared to disclose.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_little_bird_told_me>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever the rhythm was, luck rewarded us, because, wanting
connections, we found connections — always, everywhere, and between
everything. The world exploded in a whirling network of kinships, where
everything pointed to everything else, everything explained everything
else…
--Foucault's Pendulum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Foucault%27s_Pendulum>
Robert Nimmo (1893–1966) was a senior Australian Army officer and the
chief military observer (CMO) of the United Nations Military Observer
Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) from 1950 until his death. Nimmo
graduated early from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, to
participate in World War I, serving with the Australian Light Horse. He
remained in Australia in training and staff roles early in World
War II. He then administered command of Northern Territory Force before
commanding the logistics effort for the Bougainville campaign, and
served as a senior staff officer on First Australian Army headquarters
in New Guinea. He commanded a brigade of the British Commonwealth
Occupation Force in Japan, then returned to Australia to lead Northern
Command. In 1950, he was made Commander of the British Empire, retired
from the army, and was appointed as CMO of UNMOGIP, where he remained
until he died on 4 January 1966. Nimmo was the first Australian to
command a multinational peacekeeping force.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nimmo>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1798:
After his appointment as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine
Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Hangerli>
1936:
Billboard published its first music hit parade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_%28magazine%29>
1989:
Two American F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Floggers
that appeared to be attempting to engage them over the Gulf of Sidra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_air_battle_near_Tobruk>
2004:
Spirit (artist's impression pictured), the first of two rovers
of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, successfully landed on Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_%28rover%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lapidary:
1. A person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and
precious stones.
2. The field in which such a person works, a subfield of gemology.
3. (obsolete)
4. An expert in gems and precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary
work.
5. Gems and precious stones collectively; jewellery.
6. (except historical) A treatise on (precious) stones.
7. Of or pertaining to gems and precious stones, or the art of working
them.
8. Senses relating to inscriptions.
9. Of an inscription: engraved on stone.
10. Of a piece of writing or a writing style: characteristic of or
suitable for an inscription; embodying the precision and refinement of
inscriptions on monuments; concise and stately.
11. (archaic, rare) Of or pertaining to stones in general.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lapidary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion
in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces
impressed upon it.
--Isaac Newton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton>
A 1–1 tie in 26 innings was played by the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston
Braves on May 1, 1920, at Braves Field in Boston, still the most
innings played in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game. Leon Cadore of
Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger of Boston each pitched 26 innings, also a one-
game record. Brooklyn scored its only run in the fifth inning, as did
Boston in the sixth, and, though both teams threatened to score again
several times, the game remained deadlocked. With darkness starting to
fall and no artificial lighting, the umpires called a halt after the
26th inning. Other records included Charlie Pick's 11 at bats in a game
without a base hit and first baseman Walter Holke's 42 putouts. There
have been claims that the long pitching appearances ruined the arms of
Oeschger and Cadore; this was not so as both pitched several more years
in MLB and Oeschger won 20 games in 1921. Their shared record of 26
innings pitched in an MLB game has been repeatedly cited as one that
will never be broken.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Dodgers_1,_Boston_Braves_1_%2826_inn…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw destroyed Almaty in Russian
Turkestan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_Kebin_earthquake>
1938:
The American health charity March of Dimes was founded as the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to help raise money for
polio research.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_of_Dimes>
1961:
All 25 people on board Aero Flight 311 died in Finland's worst
civilian air accident when the aircraft crashed near Kvevlax.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Flight_311>
2009:
The cryptocurrency network of bitcoin was created when Satoshi
Nakamoto mined the first block of the chain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
exoteric:
1. Of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the
public without secrecy or other reservations.
2. (by extension) Of a person: not part of an enlightened inner circle;
not privy to esoteric knowledge.
3. Capable of being fully or readily comprehended by the public;
accessible; also, having an obvious application.
4. (archaic)
5. External.
6. (rare) Having wide currency; popular, prevalent.
7. A person who is not part of an enlightened inner circle, and not
privy to esoteric knowledge; an outsider, an uninitiate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exoteric>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Diseases of the mind are more common and more pernicious than
diseases of the body.
--Cicero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicero>
The Masked Singer is an American reality singing competition television
series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. It is part of the
Masked Singer franchise and features celebrities singing songs while
wearing costumes to conceal themselves. The program employs panelists
who guess the celebrities' identities. In most episodes, after the last
performance, a vote of the panelists and the audience eliminates a
contestant, who is then revealed. The costumes were inspired by haute
couture and designed in the first six seasons by Marina Toybina
(pictured), who won a Costume Designers Guild Award and two Creative
Arts Emmy Awards. The first five seasons received the highest Nielsen
ratings for a non-sports program in the key demographic of adults
18–49. Its success has been credited to the growth of the Masked
Singer franchise and interest in adapting South Korean reality
television series and other television formats centered on costumes. The
tenth season premiered in September 2023.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Singer_%28American_TV_series%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1959:
The Soviet Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity
of the Moon, was launched by a Vostok rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1>
1967:
Ronald Reagan began his career in government when he was sworn
in as the 33rd governor of California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan>
1976:
An extratropical cyclone began affecting parts of western
Europe, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern portions of
the North Sea and leading to at least 82 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_of_January_1976>
2009:
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lankan army captured the town of
Kilinochchi from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, concluding the
Battle of Kilinochchi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kilinochchi_%282008%E2%80%932009%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dragoon:
1. (military)
2. (weaponry, historical) Synonym of dragon (“a type of musket with a
short, large-calibre barrel and a flared muzzle, metaphorically exhaling
fire like a mythical dragon”)
3. (by extension) Originally (historical), a soldier armed with a
dragoon musket (sense 1.1) who fought both on foot and mounted on a
horse; now, a cavalier or horse soldier from a regiment formerly armed
with such muskets.
4. (by extension) A man with a fierce or unrefined manner, like a
dragoon (sense 1.2).
5. A variety of pigeon, originally a cross between a horseman and a
tumbler.
6. (Christianity, French politics, historical) To subject (a Huguenot)
to the dragonnades (“a policy instituted by Louis XIV of France in 1681
to intimidate Protestant Huguenots to convert to Roman Catholicism by
billeting dragoons (noun sense 1.2) in their homes to abuse them and
destroy or steal their possessions”).
7. (by extension)
8. Chiefly followed by into: to force (someone) into doing something
through harassment and intimidation; to coerce. Synonym: compel
9. (military, historical) To cause (someone) to be attacked by dragoons.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dragoon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is no belief, however foolish, that will not gather its
faithful adherents who will defend it to the death.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>
The koala is an arboreal plant-eating marsupial native to Australia,
recognised worldwide as a symbol of the country. Its closest living
relatives are the wombats. It has a stout, tailless body and large head
with round, fluffy ears and a large, dark nose. The koala has a body
length of 60 to 85 cm (24 to 33 in) and weighs 4 to 15 kg (9 to
33 lb). Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas
typically inhabit open Eucalyptus woodlands, and the leaves of these
trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has low
nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep
for up to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding only
exists between mothers and dependent offspring. They have few natural
predators or parasites but are threatened by various pathogens, as well
as by bushfires and droughts. The biggest threat to their existence is
habitat destruction due to agriculture and urbanisation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist
movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United
States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet
abolished.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_Prohibiting_Importation_of_Slaves>
1914:
The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the U.S. state of
Florida became the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg%E2%80%93Tampa_Airboat_Line>
1957:
The revised Thai criminal code came into force, strengthening
the law on lèse-majesté in Thailand to include insult and treating it
as a crime against national security.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9_in_Thailand>
2019:
The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian
object Arrokoth, making it the farthest object visited by a spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
bright and early:
(idiomatic, originally US) (Very) early in the morning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bright_and_early>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to
nuclear war.
--Leonid Brezhnev
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev>