Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and
its county seat. With a population of 429,954, it is Minnesota's most
populous city as of the 2020 census. Minneapolis occupies both banks of
the Mississippi River and adjoins Saint Paul, the state capital of
Minnesota. Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the surrounding area are
collectively known as the Twin Cities, a metropolitan area with 3.69
million residents. Minneapolis is known for cold, snowy winters and hot,
humid summers. The city's public park system is connected by the Grand
Rounds National Scenic Byway. Dakota people originally inhabited the
site of today's Minneapolis. For a time in the 19th century, Minneapolis
was the lumber and flour milling capital of the world, and as home to
the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, it has preserved its financial
clout into the 21st century. Minneapolis has a political landscape
dominated by the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1983:
Two Australian biologists published an article titled "A
Synopsis of the Class Reptilia in Australia", initiating the Wells and
Wellington affair.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_and_Wellington_affair>
1986:
Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140
others, making it the second-deadliest hotel fire in American history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupont_Plaza_Hotel_arson>
1999:
In accordance with the Torrijos–Carter Treaties, Panama
assumed full control of the Panama Canal Zone from the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone>
2004:
Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, opened to the public as the
world's tallest building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cloop:
1. (intransitive) To make a cloop (slightly hollow, percussive) sound
(noun sense 1).
2. A slightly hollow, percussive sound.
3. The sound made when a cork is forcibly drawn from a bottle.
4. The sound made by the movement of liquid into a hollow space.
5. The sound made by a horse's hoof hitting a hard surface. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cloop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color,
nation or language. Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human
dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the
patriots of this cause. I believe with all my heart that America must
always stand for these basic human rights — at home and abroad. That
is both our history and our destiny. America did not invent human
rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights
invented America. Ours was the first nation in the history of the world
to be founded explicitly on such an idea. Our social and political
progress has been based on one fundamental principle — the value and
importance of the individual. The fundamental force that unites us is
not kinship or place of origin or religious preference. The love of
liberty is a common blood that flows in our American veins.
--Jimmy Carter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter>
Mountain pigeons are four species of birds in the genus Gymnophaps in
the pigeon family Columbidae. They are found on islands in eastern
Indonesia and Melanesia, where they inhabit hill and montane forest.
Medium-sized pigeons with long tails and wings, they are 33 to 38.5 cm
(13.0 to 15.2 in) long and weigh 259 to 385 g (9.1 to 13.6 oz). They
mostly have dull grey, white, or chestnut-brown plumage, their most
distinctive feature being bright red skin around the eyes. Males and
females mostly look alike, but the Papuan and pale mountain pigeons show
slight sexual dimorphism. They are social and are usually seen in flocks
of 10 to 40 birds, although some species can form flocks of more than
100. The genus was originally described by the Italian zoologist Tommaso
Salvadori in 1874 and currently contains the Papuan, Seram, Buru, and
pale mountain pigeons. Mountain pigeons inhabit trees and feed on a wide
variety of fruit. All four species are listed as being of least concern
on the IUCN Red List.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_pigeon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
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>
1954:
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to
consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single
agency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Investigation_%28Finland%29>
1969:
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos began his second term
after being re-elected in a landslide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_term_of_the_presidency_of_Ferdinand_Ma…>
2006:
Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was executed
after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High
Tribunal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Saddam_Hussein>
2009:
Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several
Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests on the
holy day of Ashura.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_December_2009_Iranian_pro-government_ralli…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
just-so story:
1. A story which supposedly explains the beginning or early development
of a current state of affairs; a myth, a pourquoi story.
2. (literature) A story, especially one for children, featuring animals
as characters.
3. (social sciences, especially anthropology, philosophy, chiefly
derogatory) An untestable explanation for something, such as a form of
behaviour, a biological trait, or a cultural practice.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/just-so_story>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If you think it's simple, then you have misunderstood the
problem.
--Bjarne Stroustrup
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup>
Jochi (c. 1182 – c. 1225) was a prince in the Mongol Empire. For
months before his birth, his mother Börte had been a captive of the
Merkit tribe, one of whom forcibly married and raped her. Although there
was thus doubt over his parentage, Börte's husband Genghis Khan
considered Jochi his son and treated him as such. Many Mongols, most
prominently Börte's next son Chagatai, disagreed; these tensions
eventually caused Jochi's exclusion from the line of succession. After
Genghis founded the Mongol Empire in 1206, he entrusted Jochi with nine
thousand warriors and a large territory in the west of the Mongol
heartland; Jochi campaigned extensively to extend Mongol power in the
region. He also commanded an army during the invasion of the Khwarazmian
Empire, but tensions arose between him and his family during the siege
of Gurganj in 1221. They were still estranged when Jochi died of ill
health. His descendants continued to rule his territories, which became
known as the Golden Horde.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
A railway bridge collapsed over the Ashtabula River in Ohio,
killing 92 people and injuring 64 others on a Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railway train.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster>
1928:
The Northern Expedition, a military campaign by the National
Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang, ended with the complete control of
the Republic of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Expedition>
1959:
American physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled
"There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at Caltech, anticipating the
field of nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>
1994:
Turkish Airlines Flight 278 crashed on approach to Van Ferit
Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Airlines_Flight_278>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overmorrow:
1. (archaic) On the day after tomorrow.
2. (archaic or obsolete) The day after tomorrow.
3. (obsolete, rare) Of or relating to the day after tomorrow.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overmorrow>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The infinite Yoga knows no end, Endless the quest you apprehend.
You'll grow infinite and ascend, When you are unhoused, O my soul!
--Kuvempu
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kuvempu>
George E. Mylonas (1898–1988) was a Greek archaeologist of ancient
Greece and of Aegean prehistory. He excavated widely, particularly at
Olynthus, Eleusis and Mycenae, where he made the first archaeological
study and publication of Grave Circle B, the earliest known
monumentalized burials at the site. Mylonas was born in Smyrna, then
part of the Ottoman Empire, and received an elite education. In 1924, he
began working for the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. He
took part in excavations at Corinth, Nemea and Olynthus under its
auspices. He studied and taught at universities in Greece and the United
States. He was prominent in the Archaeological Society of Athens and in
efforts to conserve the monuments of the Acropolis of Athens. He had co-
responsibility for the excavation of Mycenae's Grave Circle B in the
early 1950s, and from 1957 until 1985 he excavated on the citadel of the
site. His excavations at Mycenae have been credited with bringing
coherence to the site.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_E._Mylonas>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
Up to 1,000 lumber workers initiated a labor strike against the
Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company in Minnesota, United States,
which lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916%E2%80%931917_northern_Minnesota_lumber_s…>
1964:
Vietnam War: Viet Cong regiments penetrated the eastern
perimeters of the village of Bình Giã, beginning the Battle of Binh
Gia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Binh_Gia>
2009:
Tibetan dissident filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was imprisoned for
subversion by Chinese authorities after a secret trial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhondup_Wangchen>
2014:
The passenger ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in the
Adriatic Sea, killing an estimated 28 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Norman_Atlantic>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
grande dame:
1. A woman who is high-ranking, socially prominent, or has a dignified
character, especially one who is advanced in age and haughty.
2. A woman who is accomplished and influential, and is a respected
senior figure in a particular field; a doyenne.
3. (figurative) A very highly regarded and well-known institution or
structure, or large conveyance such as a ship.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grande_dame>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Too many facts are often as much of an obstacle to understanding
as too few. There is a sense in which we moderns are inundated with
facts to the detriment of understanding.
--Mortimer Adler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mortimer_Adler>
Palo is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the
late 19th or early 20th century. It draws heavily upon the traditional
Kongo religion of Central Africa, and from Catholicism and Spiritism.
Central to Palo is the nganga, usually made from an iron cauldron. Many
nganga are regarded as material manifestations of ancestral or nature
deities known as mpungu. The nganga may contain a wide range of objects,
among the most important being sticks and human remains, the latter
called nfumbe. In Palo, the presence of the nfumbe means that the spirit
of that dead person inhabits the nganga and serves the possessor. The
nganga is "fed" with the blood of sacrificed animals and other
offerings. Palo is most heavily practiced in eastern Cuba although it is
found throughout the island and abroad, including in other parts of the
Americas such as Venezuela, Mexico, and the United States. Palo
adherents have faced problems with police for grave robbery to procure
human bones.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_%28religion%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
HMS Beagle departed Plymouth, England, on a voyage to South
America that established Charles Darwin as a naturalist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle>
1939:
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central Turkey, destroying
90 per cent of the buildings in the area, and causing over 32,000
deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Erzincan_earthquake>
1979:
Soviet–Afghan War: Soviet troops stormed Tajbeg Palace
outside Kabul and killed Afghan president Hafizullah Amin and his
100–150 elite guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafizullah_Amin>
2007:
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while
leaving a Pakistan People's Party political rally at Liaqat National
Bagh in Rawalpindi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reverberate:
1. (transitive)
2. To cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more
surfaces; to re-echo.
3. Followed by on (to): to deflect or divert (flames, heat, etc.) on to
something.
4. (chemistry, metallurgy, archaic) To heat (something) by deflecting
flames on to, or passing flames over, it.
5. (chiefly sciences) To repeatedly reflect (heat, light, or other
radiation).
6. (obsolete)
7. To drive, force, or push (someone or something) back; to repel, to
repulse.
8. To send (something) back from where it came.
9. Of light or sound: to fall on or hit (a surface or other thing);
also, to fill or spread throughout (a space or other thing).
10. (rare) To beat or hit (something) repeatedly.
11. (intransitive)
12. Of sound: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces; to
echo or re-echo, to resound.
13. Chiefly followed by to or with: of a place or thing: to ring or
vibrate with many echoing sounds; to re-echo, to resound.
14. Often followed by from: of heat or (less commonly) light: to be
(repeatedly) reflected.
15. (figurative)
16. Of information, news, etc.: to be spread widely through repetition.
17. Of a thing: to have lasting and often significant effects.
18. (rare) Of a thing: to be heated by having flames, hot gases, etc.,
deflected or passed over it.
19. (obsolete)
20. To deflect or divert flames, hot gases, etc., on or into something.
21. To shine on something, especially with reflected light.
22. Of a thing: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces,
especially with a sound; to rebound, to recoil.
23. Followed by on or upon, or to: of a thing: to return and affect a
person, their feelings, etc.; to recoil.
24. (rare) Followed by in and a reflexive pronoun: of a thing: to turn
back on itself.
25. (rare) Of a furnace, kiln, etc.: to heat up through the effect of
flames, hot gases, etc., deflecting within it.
26. (chemistry, metallurgy) To heat something by deflecting flames on
to, or passing flames over, it.
27. Synonym of reverberant (“that tends to reverberate (“(repeatedly)
bounce against one or more surfaces”) or has reverberated”); re-echoed.
28. (rare) Ringing or vibrating with many echoing sounds; re-echoing,
resounding, reverberating.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reverberate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whether or not Big Brother is watching us, we certainly have to
watch him, which may be even worse.
--Wilfrid Sheed
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Sheed>
During Gillingham F.C.'s 1984–85 season, they competed in the
Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football
league system. It was the 53rd season in which Gillingham competed in
the Football League, and the 35th since they were voted back into the
league in 1950. Gillingham started the season with five wins in the
first seven games and were challenging for a place in the top three of
the league table, which would result in promotion to the Second
Division. The team's performances then declined, and by November they
were in mid-table. They won 12 out of 16 games to go back up to second
place, before a poor run in March meant that they again dropped out of
the promotion places. Gillingham finished the season fourth in the
table, missing promotion by one place. They also competed in three
knock-out competitions, winning no trophies, but won three times to
reach the fourth round of the 1984–85 FA Cup before losing. The team
played 56 competitive matches, and won 30.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_Gillingham_F.C._season>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1871:
Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan,
premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_%28opera%29>
1900:
A relief crew arrived at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse in
Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles_Lighthouse>
1943:
Second World War: The German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk at
the Battle of the North Cape during an attempt to attack Arctic convoys.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_North_Cape>
2004:
A major earthquake and tsunami devastated communities around
the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eat away:
1. To physically corrode or erode (something) gradually.
2. (figurative)
3. To destroy (something) gradually by an ongoing process.
4. (specifically) Chiefly followed by at: of a circumstance, incident,
etc.: to cause (someone) to feel guilty, troubled, or worried; to
bother.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eat_away>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought
contend.
--Mao Zedong
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong>
A Very Trainor Christmas is a Christmas album by American singer-
songwriter Meghan Trainor (pictured). It was released on October 30,
2020. Trainor co-wrote the album with her brothers, Ryan and Justin,
among others. It features artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Seth
MacFarlane, Trainor's cousins, and her father. The album covers
Christmas standards such as "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like
Christmas" (1951) and "Last Christmas" (1984), with six original
recordings. Trainor promoted A Very Trainor Christmas with public
appearances and televised performances. Trainor and MacFarlane's cover
of "White Christmas" (1942) reached number one on the Adult Contemporary
chart. Several other tracks received music videos. Critical commentary
for the album was generally positive, with praise directed towards
Trainor's charisma and the material. It reached number 7 on the US
Holiday Albums chart and the top 50 in Germany, the Netherlands, and
Sweden. (This article is part of a featured topic: Meghan Trainor
albums.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Meghan_Trainor_albu…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1724:
Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of Gelobet
seist du, Jesu Christ, based on the Christmas hymn written by Martin
Luther in 1524.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelobet_seist_du,_Jesu_Christ,_BWV_91>
1831:
A Baptist preacher named Samuel Sharpe began an unsuccessful
eleven-day slave revolt in Jamaica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_War>
1991:
In a nationally televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as
President of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>
2009:
A fire destroyed Longford's 19th-century St Mel's Cathedral,
considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mel%27s_Cathedral>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Christmas tree:
1. An evergreen tree (usually a conifer), or an artificial tree made to
resemble this, which is typically decorated with lights and ornaments
and often an angel or star at its tip, and used as a decoration during
the Christmas holiday season.
2. (by extension) Something which resembles a Christmas tree (sense 1)
in appearance (for example, in having coloured lights) or shape.
3. (informal) Something which is elaborately decorated.
4. (bodybuilding) A pattern of muscles visible in the lower back,
resembling in outline the shape of a conifer.
5. (chiefly military)
6. (aviation, nautical, slang) A panel of indicator lights in an
aircraft or a submarine.
7. (US, aviation, historical) An alert area at an air base with aircraft
parked in stubs arranged at a 45-degree angle to a central taxiway to
enable them to move rapidly to a runway; these were constructed by the
Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force during the Cold War
(generally 1947–1991).
8. (motor racing) A pole with lights, similar to a traffic signal, used
for signalling the start of an automobile race.
9. (oil industry, slang) A collection of gauges, valves, and other
components installed at the top of wellhead to control the flow of gas
or oil.
10. (by extension) A Christmas party, especially one organized for
(underprivileged) children by a charity, a school, etc.
11. (Australia) Often with a descriptive word: any of several shrubs or
trees native to Australia which bloom in summer at the end of the year
around Christmastime, and so may be used as a Christmas decoration;
especially the fire tree or moodjar (Nuytsia floribunda).
12. (New Zealand) Synonym of pohutukawa (“a coastal evergreen tree,
Metrosideros excelsa, native to New Zealand and producing a brilliant
display of red flowers with prominent stamens around Christmastime”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Christmas_tree>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Christmas is more than barging up and down department store
aisles and pushing people out of the way. … Christmas is another thing
finer than that. Richer, finer, truer, and it should come with patience
and love, charity, compassion.
--The Night of the Meek
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone_%281959_TV_series%29>
The Brinks Hotel bombing occurred in Saigon on December 24, 1964,
during the Vietnam War. Two Viet Cong operatives detonated a car bomb
under the hotel, which housed United States Army officers. The explosion
killed two Americans and injured approximately 60 other people. The
Viet Cong commanders had two objectives: to demonstrate their ability to
strike in South Vietnam should the United States decide to launch air
raids against North Vietnam, and to show the South Vietnamese that the
Americans could not be relied upon for protection. The bombing prompted
debate within United States president Lyndon B. Johnson's
administration. Most of his advisers favored retaliatory bombing of
North Vietnam and the introduction of American combat troops, while
Johnson preferred the existing strategy of training the Army of the
Republic of Vietnam to protect South Vietnam from the Viet Cong. In the
end, Johnson decided not to take retaliatory action.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brinks_Hotel_bombing>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
An expedition led by English explorer James Cook reached
Christmas Island, the largest coral atoll in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiritimati>
1814:
The United Kingdom and the United States signed a peace treaty
in Ghent, present-day Belgium, ending the War of 1812.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Ghent>
1987:
About 20,000 protesters marched in a civil rights demonstration
in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Forsyth_County_protests>
1999:
Jihadists linked to al-Qaeda hijacked Indian Airlines
Flight 814 to force the release of Islamist figures held in prison in
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Airlines_Flight_814>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snow:
1. (uncountable) The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that
falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling
of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects
as a white layer.
2. (countable) An instance of the falling of snow (sense 1); a snowfall;
also, a snowstorm.
3. (countable) A period of time when snow falls; a winter.
4. (countable) An accumulation or spread of snow.
5. Something resembling snow (sense 1) in appearance or colour.
6. (countable, cooking) A dish or component of a dish resembling snow,
especially one made by whipping egg whites until creamy.
7. (uncountable)
8. The white colour of snow. snow:
9. (figurative) Clusters of white flowers.
10. (figurative) The moving pattern of random dots seen on a radar or
television screen, etc., when no transmission signal is being received
or when there is interference.
11. (figurative) Sea foam; sea spray.
12. (figurative) Also in the plural: white hair on an (older) person's
head.
13. (figurative, poetic) White marble.
14. (figurative, slang) Money, especially silver coins.
15. (figurative, slang, dated) White linen which has been washed.
16. (chemistry) A substance other than water resembling snow when
frozen; specifically, frozen carbon dioxide.
17. (marine biology) Clipping of marine snow (“sinking organic detritus
in the ocean”).
18. (originally US, slang) Cocaine; also (less frequently), heroin or
morphine.
19. (intransitive, impersonal) Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have
snow (noun sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.
20. (also figurative) Of a thing: to fall like snow.
21. (transitive)
22. To cause (something) to fall like snow.
23. To cover or scatter (a place or thing) with, or as if with, snow.
24. (figurative)
25. To cause (hair) to turn white; also, to cause (someone) to have
white hair.
26. (originally US, slang) To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially
by presenting confusing information or through flattery.
27. (poker) To bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which
has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards.
28. (US, slang, chiefly passive voice) To cause (someone) to be under
the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snow>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poets are wiser than anyone because they’re the only people who
have the guts to think and feel at the same time.
--Fritz Leiber
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fritz_Leiber>
The Bonn–Oberkassel dog was a Late Paleolithic (c. 12,000 BCE) dog
whose partial skeletal remains were found buried alongside two humans in
Bonn, Germany. Initially identified as a wolf upon its discovery in
1914, its remains were separated and lost within the University of
Bonn's collections. These were reunited in the late 1970s, and the
animal was re-identified as an early domestic dog and dated to the Late
Glacial Interstadial. It likely suffered and survived canine distemper
as a puppy, a disease with an almost 100-percent fatality rate in wild
dogs and wolves. The puppy's survival likely required intensive care
from humans, including food, water, and regular cleaning. This may show
a close emotional bond between the humans and the dog, and possibly that
it was regarded as a pet – perhaps by the humans it was buried
alongside. The dog died aged around 7.5 months for unclear reasons; it
may have died from natural causes, or have been sacrificed to be buried
alongside the humans.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonn%E2%80%93Oberkassel_dog>
_______________________________
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:
double-jointed:
Having one or more joints (usually those of the fingers, arms, or legs)
able to bend more than is normal; possessing hypermobility of one or
more joints.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/double-jointed>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to
change.
--Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Tomasi_di_Lampedusa>
The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII was created by Donatello and Michelozzo
for the Florence Baptistery adjacent to the Duomo. It was commissioned
after Antipope John XXIII's death on December 22, 1419, and completed
during the 1420s, establishing it as one of the early landmarks of
Renaissance Florence. John XXIII had a long history of cooperation with
Florence, which had viewed him as the legitimate pontiff during the
Western Schism. Its design included figures of the three Virtues in
niches, John XXIII's family arms, a gilded bronze recumbent effigy laid
out above an inscription-bearing sarcophagus, and a Madonna and Child in
a half-lunette, with a canopy. At its completion, the monument was the
tallest sculpture in Florence. The tomb monument was the first of
several collaborations between Donatello and Michelozzo; attribution of
each design element to the artists, as well as interpretations of its
design and iconography, have been debated by art historians.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Antipope_John_XXIII>
_______________________________
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 US history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spi…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
elongate:
1. Elongated, extended, lengthened; (especially biology) having a long
and slender form.
2. (transitive)
3. To make (something) long or longer, for example, by pulling or
stretching; to make (something) elongated; to extend, to lengthen.
4. (obsolete) Followed by from: to move to or place (something) at a
distance from another thing; to remove.
5. (intransitive)
6. To become long or longer, for example, by being pulled or stretched;
to become elongated.
7. (botany) Of a plant part: to grow long; also, to have a long and
slender or tapering form.
8. (obsolete) Followed by from: to be at a distance, or move away, from
a thing; to depart; (specifically, astronomy) of a planet, star, or
other astronomical object: to appear to recede from the sun or a fixed
point in the celestial sphere.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elongate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on
another.
--George Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot>