The siege of Guînes took place from May to July 1352 when a French
army under Geoffrey de Charny unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the
French castle (pictured) at Guînes which had been seized by the English
the previous January. The siege was part of the Hundred Years' War and
took place during the uneasy and ill-kept truce of Calais. The strongly
fortified castle had been taken by the English during a period of
nominal truce and the English king, Edward III, decided to keep it.
Charny led 4,500 men and retook the town but was unable to either
recapture or blockade the castle. After two months of fierce fighting, a
large English night attack on the French camp inflicted a heavy defeat
and the French withdrew. Guînes was incorporated into the Pale of
Calais. The threat posed by this enclave caused the French to garrison
60 fortified positions around it, at ruinous expense. The castle was
besieged by the French in 1436 and 1514, but was relieved each time,
before falling to the French in 1558.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gu%C3%AEnes_%281352%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1223:
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan
Rus' army at the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River>
1468:
Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and
Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca
Marciana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana>
1935:
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in British
India, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake>
2013:
A tornado struck Central Oklahoma, killing 8 people and
injuring more than 150.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_El_Reno_tornado>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
contain multitudes:
(intransitive, idiomatic) To have a complex and apparently paradoxical
nature; to be inconsistent, especially in a way that is ultimately
admirable or noble.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/contain_multitudes>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the
animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for
the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate
tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward
the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man
or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with
the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the
open air every season of every year of your life, re examine all you
have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever
insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and
have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines
of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every
motion and joint of your body.
--Walt Whitman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman>
The Beulé Gate is a fortified gate leading to the Propylaia of the
Acropolis of Athens, Greece. It was constructed largely of repurposed
material taken from the 4th-century BCE Choragic Monument of Nikias and
integrated into the Post-Herulian Wall, a late Roman fortification built
around the Acropolis in the years following the city's sack by the
Germanic Heruli people in 267 or early 268 CE. Its construction marked
the beginning of a new phase in the Acropolis's use, in which it came to
be seen more as a defensive position than a religious sanctuary. During
the medieval period, the gate was further fortified, before being built
over with a bastion in Ottoman times. The monument was discovered by the
French archaeologist Charles Ernest Beulé on 29 May 1852, and
excavated in 1852 and 1853. Archaeologists and Greek commentators
criticised the aggressive excavation – particularly the use of
explosives. In modern times, the gate has served primarily as an exit
for tourists from the Acropolis.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beul%C3%A9_Gate>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1416:
A squadron of the Venetian navy captured many Ottoman ships at
the Battle of Gallipoli, confirming Venetian naval superiority in the
Aegean Sea for the next few decades.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gallipoli_%281416%29>
1913:
During the premiere of the ballet The Rite of Spring by Igor
Stravinsky at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the avant-
garde nature of the music and choreography caused a near-riot in the
audience.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring>
1999:
Charlotte Perrelli, representing Sweden, won the Eurovision
Song Contest, the first edition not to feature an orchestra or live
accompaniment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1999>
2011:
Residents of Portland, Oregon, held a rally called Hands Across
Hawthorne in response to an attack against a gay couple holding hands
while crossing the Hawthorne Bridge (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_Across_Hawthorne>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Mount Everest:
1. A mountain in the Himalayas, on the border of Solukhumbu district,
Koshi, Nepal and Tingri County, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region,
China; the world's highest mountain above sea level.
2. (figurative) An endeavour that is very demanding yet rewarding; also,
a thing which is the highest achievement, challenge, etc.; the epitome,
the pinnacle, the ultimate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mount_Everest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Diplomacy and defense are not substitutes for one another.
Either alone would fail. A willingness to resist force, unaccompanied by
a willingness to talk, could provoke belligerence — while a
willingness to talk, unaccompanied by a willingness to resist force,
could invite disaster.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
Nicholas of Worcester (died 1124) was the prior of the Benedictine
priory of Worcester Cathedral (crypt pictured) from about 1115 until his
death. He was born around the time of the Norman Conquest. It is not
known who his parents were, but William of Malmesbury wrote that he was
"of exalted descent", and it has been argued that he was a son of King
Harold Godwinson. Nicholas was the favourite pupil of Wulfstan, the
bishop of Worcester, who brought him up. Wulfstan was influential in
transmitting Old English culture to Anglo-Norman England, and Nicholas
carried on this work as prior. He was respected by the chroniclers
William of Malmesbury, John of Worcester and Eadmer for his assistance
with their histories. Nicholas was an English monk at a time when both
Englishmen and monks rarely received promotion in the church, and when
Bishop Theulf of Worcester died in October 1123, Nicholas led an
unsuccessful attempt of the monks of the priory chapter to be allowed to
choose the next bishop.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Worcester>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
English Civil War: Royalist troops stormed and captured the
Parliamentarian stronghold of Bolton, leading to a massacre of defenders
and local residents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_Bolton>
1754:
French and Indian War: Led by 22-year-old George Washington, a
company of Virginia colonial militiamen ambushed a force of 35 Canadiens
at the Battle of Jumonville Glen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen>
1901:
Mozaffar ad-Din, Shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights to
prospect for oil in the country to William Knox D'Arcy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_Concession>
1937:
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession
as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being summoned to Buckingham
Palace to "kiss hands".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Neville_Chamberlain>
2002:
An independent commission appointed by the Football Association
voted two-to-one to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from London to
Milton Keynes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_Keynes>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
no strings attached:
(idiomatic, originally US, informal) Without conditions or obligations;
without a catch.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/no_strings_attached>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have discovered that most people have no one to talk to, no
one, that is, who really wants to listen. When it does at last dawn on a
man that you really want to hear about his business, the look that comes
over his face is something to see.
--Walker Percy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walker_Percy>
SMS Lothringen was the last of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the
Braunschweig class built for the Imperial German Navy. Launched in
May 1904, she was named for the then-German province of Lothringen. The
ship was armed with a battery of four 28 cm (11 in) guns and had a top
speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). She was to be replaced in
July 1914 by dreadnought battleships but World War I prevented her
retirement. The ship and the rest of II Squadron joined the
dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet to support a raid on Scarborough,
Hartlepool, and Whitby in December 1914. She primarily served as a
guard ship in the German Bight; in poor condition by 1916, she was
withdrawn from fleet service in February. She thereafter patrolled the
Danish straits until replaced by the battleship Hannover in
September 1917. After the war, she was converted into a depot ship for
F-type minesweepers and placed in reserve in March 1920. (This article
is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Battleships_of_Germ…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated the
French Army of the Danube, capturing the strategically important Swiss
town of Winterthur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur>
1954:
The security clearance of American nuclear physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer, head of Project Y, was revoked.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_security_clearance_hearing>
1967:
Australians voted overwhelmingly for the number of Indigenous
Australians to be included in population counts for constitutional
purposes and for the federal government to make laws for their benefit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_%28Aboriginals%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
milliner:
1. (archaic) A person who sells (women's) apparel, accessories, and
other decorative goods, especially those originally manufactured in
Milan.
2. (specifically) A person involved in the design, manufacture, or sale
of hats for women.
3. To manufacture (women's apparel, specifically hats); also, to supply
(someone) with women's apparel, specifically hats.
4. (figurative) To adorn or decorate (something).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milliner>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All is repose and peace, Untrampled lies the sod; The shouts of
battle cease, It is the Truce of God! Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be As sentinels to keep Your rest from
danger free. Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant
flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow>
"The Day Before the Revolution" is a science fiction short story by
American writer Ursula K. Le Guin (pictured). First published in Galaxy
in August 1974, it was republished in Le Guin's The Wind's Twelve
Quarters (1975). Set in her fictional Hainish universe, the story has
strong connections to her novel The Dispossessed (also 1974), and is
sometimes referred to as a prologue to the novel. The story follows Odo,
an aging anarchist, who over the course of a day relives memories of her
life as an activist as she learns of plans for a general strike the next
day. The strike is implied to be the start of the revolt leading to the
idealized anarchist society based on Odo's teachings depicted in the
novel. The story was critically well-received. It won the Nebula and
Locus Awards for Best Short Story in 1975, and was also nominated for a
Hugo Award. Multiple scholars commented that it represented a shift in
Le Guin's writing toward non-linear narrative structures and works
infused with feminism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Before_the_Revolution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1894:
Germany's Emanuel Lasker defeated Wilhelm Steinitz to become
the world chess champion, beginning a record 27-year reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Lasker>
1999:
Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League final to become
the first English football club to win three major championships in the
same season.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998%E2%80%9399_Manchester_United_F.C._season>
2002:
Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridge (aftermath
pictured) near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing vehicles to fall into
the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
exsanguinate:
1. (transitive)
2. To drain (a living or dead body, or (medicine, surgery) a body part)
of blood.
3. To kill (a person or animal) by means of blood loss.
4. (intransitive)
5. To bleed profusely; also, to die by means of blood loss.
6. To cause blood to drain from a body or body part, or profuse
bleeding.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exsanguinate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Youth’s bright palaceIs overthrown,With its diamond
sceptreAnd golden throne;As a time-worn stoneIts turrets are
humbled—All hath crumbledBut grief alone!
--Denis Florence MacCarthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denis_Florence_MacCarthy>
The 2019 FA Cup final was an association football match between
Manchester City and Watford for the 138th FA Cup final. In the 21st
minute, Abdoulaye Doucouré's shot struck Vincent Kompany's arm; the
referee declined to award a penalty and showed Doucouré the first
yellow card of the game for his protests. David Silva scored the first
goal from a header and Gabriel Jesus side-footed the ball for the second
goal. At 61 minutes City extended their lead with a goal from substitute
Kevin De Bruyne (pictured), and seven minutes later Jesus scored on the
counter-attack. Sterling scored twice at the 81st and the 87th minutes
and the match ended 6–0 to Manchester City. De Bruyne was named the
man of the match. It was only the third time that a team has scored six
goals in an FA Cup final and the margin of victory is the joint-largest
in an FA Cup final. The win completed a domestic treble for Manchester
City, who already won the League Cup and the Premier League that season.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FA_Cup_final>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1944:
The Wehrmacht and their collaborationist allies launched
Operation Rösselsprung, a failed attempt to assassinate the Yugoslav
Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_R%C3%B6sselsprung_%281944%29>
1961:
A fire broke out at a squatter settlement in Bukit Ho Swee,
Singapore, rendering approximately 16,000 people homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Ho_Swee_fire>
1979:
During takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, an
engine detached from American Airlines Flight 191, causing a crash that
killed 273 people in the deadliest aviation accident in United States
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191>
2009:
North Korea conducted a nuclear test and several other missile
tests that were widely condemned internationally and led to sanctions
from the United Nations Security Council.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_North_Korean_nuclear_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tubular bells:
(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal tubes
that are struck with a mallet, producing sounds like those of church
bells.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tubular_bells>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I always swing at the ball with all my might. I hit or miss
big and when I miss I know it long before the umpire calls a strike on
me, for every muscle in my back, shoulders and arms is groaning, "You
missed it."
--Babe Ruth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth>
George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang,
encompassing Penang Island and surrounding islets. With a population of
794,313 as of the 2020 census, it is the core city of Malaysia's second-
largest metropolitan area, which has a population of 2.84 million.
George Town serves as the commercial centre for northern Malaysia. Its
technological sector, anchored by hundreds of multinational companies,
has made the city the top exporter in the country. It was the first
British settlement in Southeast Asia, and its proximity to maritime
routes along the Strait of Malacca attracted an influx of immigrants
from various parts of Asia. In 1974, the city was merged with the rest
of the island, throwing its administrative status into doubt until 2015,
when its jurisdiction was reinstated and expanded to cover the entire
island and adjacent islets. UNESCO designated the city centre of George
Town as a World Heritage Site in 2008.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Penang>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship
to English nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately
excluding Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toleration_Act_1688>
1963:
United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with
African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to
improve race relations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Kennedy_meeting>
2014:
A gunman involved in Islamic extremism opened fire at the
Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_of_Belgium_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
back-of-the-envelope:
(idiomatic, informal) Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other
reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/back-of-the-envelope>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We may try to see things as objectively as we please. None the
less, we can never see them with any eyes except our own.
--Benjamin N. Cardozo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_N._Cardozo>
The Mount Edziza volcanic complex (MEVC) is a group of volcanoes and
associated lava flows in northwest British Columbia, Canada. Located on
the Tahltan Highland, the MEVC has a broad, steep-sided lava plateau;
its highest summit is 2,786 metres (9,140 feet). Its volcanoes formed
over the last 7.5 million years during five cycles of magmatic activity
which spanned four epochs; the most recent eruptions took place in the
last 11,000 years. Current activity occurs in the form of hot springs.
The MEVC has warm summers and cold, snowy winters; snow and ice remain
on the highest peaks year-round. Indigenous peoples have lived adjacent
to the MEVC for thousands of years. Historically, the local Tahltan
people used volcanic glass from the MEVC to make tools and weaponry.
Animal species such as birds, rodents, bears, sheep, goats, moose and
caribou inhabit the area. A large provincial park dominates the MEVC,
which can only be accessed by aircraft or by a network of footpaths.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edziza_volcanic_complex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and
assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-West_Mounted_Police>
1934:
During a strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company in
Toledo, a fight began between nearly 10,000 American strikers and
sheriff's deputies, later involving the Ohio National Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Lite_strike_%281934%29>
1999:
Professional wrestler Owen Hart died immediately before a World
Wrestling Federation match after dropping 70 feet (21 m) onto the ring
during a botched entrance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_Edge_%281999%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
with a will:
(idiomatic, originally nautical, dated) With willingness and zeal; with
all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/with_a_will>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Oh, Men, with Sisters dear!Oh, Men, with Mothers and Wives!It
is not linen you're wearing out,But human creatures' lives!'
--Thomas Hood
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hood>
Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil
collector and palaeontologist. She made discoveries of Jurassic marine
fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis, which
changed the scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history
of the Earth. Her discoveries included the first correctly identified
ichthyosaur skeleton, the first two nearly complete plesiosaur
skeletons, and the first pterosaur skeleton outside Germany. Her
observations helped prove that coprolites were fossilised faeces and
that belemnite fossils contained ink sacs. As a woman, Anning could not
join the Geological Society of London and struggled to receive credit
for her contributions. Henry De la Beche painted Duria Antiquior based
on fossils Anning had found and sold its prints for her benefit. After
her death, an article about her life was published in Charles Dickens's
literary magazine All the Year Round. A statue of Anning was erected in
2022, and she has been depicted in film and in manga.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anning>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: The inconclusive Battle of Spotsylvania
Court House in Virginia ended with combined Union and Confederate
casualties totaling around 31,000.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spotsylvania_Court_House>
1894:
The Manchester Ship Canal, linking Manchester in North West
England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the world's
largest navigation canal at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal>
1924:
University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard
Loeb (both pictured) murdered a 14-year-old boy in a thrill killing out
of a desire to commit a "perfect crime".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_and_Loeb>
2014:
A Taiwanese man carried out a stabbing spree on a Taipei Metro
train, killing four people and injuring 24 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Taipei_Metro_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Eurafrican:
1. A person of mixed European and African descent.
2. An African person with European ancestors.
3. (South Africa) Synonym of colored (“a person having ancestry from
more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and
Asian)”)
4. Of or relating to the continents of, or countries in, both Europe and
Africa; having both European and African characteristics.
5. Of a person: of mixed European and African descent; (specifically,
South Africa) synonym of colored (“belonging to a multiracial ethnic
group or category, having ancestry from more than one of the racial
groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian)”)
6. (anthropology, archaic) Of a person: from the parts of Europe and
North Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Eurafrican>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I
often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon
constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe
me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women;
when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no
constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. ... It is
not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not the freedom to do as one
likes. That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its
overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check on their freedom
soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage
few.
--Learned Hand
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Learned_Hand>
City of Champaign v. Madigan is a 2013 case decided by the Appellate
Court of the US state of Illinois, ruling that messages sent and
received by elected officials during a city council meeting and
pertaining to public business are public records subject to disclosure,
even when stored on personal electronic devices. It was the first court
ruling in Illinois to hold that private messages were subject to
disclosure under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The case
addressed a public records request from a reporter for The News-Gazette
in Champaign, Illinois, who observed city council members and the mayor
using their personal electronic devices to send messages during a city
council meeting. City officials denied the reporter's request; the case
eventually reached the Appellate Court, which held that public officials
have to disclose their records, even if they are stored on a personal
electronic device or account, but only when acting as a public body,
such as during a council meeting.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Champaign_v._Madigan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1714:
Johann Sebastian Bach directed the first performance of his
Pentecost cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder at the chapel of Schloss Weimar
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erschallet,_ihr_Lieder,_erklinget,_ihr_Saiten…>
1927:
With the signing of the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom
recognized the sovereignty of Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later
merged to become Saudi Arabia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Saud>
1941:
World War II: German paratroopers began the Battle of
Heraklion on the island of Crete, capturing the airfield and port in
Heraklion ten days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heraklion>
1983:
uMkhonto we Sizwe, the paramilitary wing of the African
National Congress, detonated a car bomb in Pretoria, resulting in 19
deaths and 217 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Street,_Pretoria_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
melliferous:
1. (botany) Of a plant or its parts: bearing any substance (such as
nectar or pollen) which is collected by bees to produce honey.
2. (by extension) Producing honey.
3. (figurative) Honeyed, sweet.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/melliferous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution, is one of
those pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they
pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes. History teems
with instances of truth put down by persecution. If not suppressed for
ever, it may be thrown back for centuries. … Men are not more zealous
for truth than they often are for error, and a sufficient application of
legal or even of social penalties will generally succeed in stopping the
propagation of either. The real advantage which truth has, consists in
this, that when an opinion is true, it may be extinguished once, twice,
or many times, but in the course of ages there will generally be found
persons to rediscover it, until some one of its reappearances falls on a
time when from favourable circumstances it escapes persecution until it
has made such head as to withstand all subsequent attempts to suppress
it.
--John Stuart Mill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill>