The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal
neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New
York City. The copper statue, an 1886 gift to the United States from the
people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste
Bartholdi, and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. It is a
figure of Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty, holding a torch and a
tablet bearing the date of the United States Declaration of
Independence. A broken chain and shackle lie at her feet as she walks
forward, commemorating the national abolition of slavery following the
American Civil War. After its dedication the statue became an icon of
freedom and of the United States, and it was later seen as a symbol of
welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. Its completion was marked by New
York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over
by President Grover Cleveland.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1054:
Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest
star", later identified as the supernova that created the Crab Nebula
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula>
1863:
American Civil War: Confederate forces failed in an attempt to
recapture the Union-occupied Helena, Arkansas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Helena>
1954:
In what is known as "The Miracle of Bern", West Germany
defeated Hungary 3–2 to win the FIFA World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_FIFA_World_Cup_final>
1954:
CIA officers arrived in Guatemala City to begin Operation
PBHistory in an attempt to justify the overthrowing of Guatemalan
president Jacobo Árbenz one week earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBHistory>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
big tent:
(idiomatic, also attributive) A group, philosophy, or social or
political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of
constituents or members, or views.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/big_tent>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are not likely to improve our own condition or help humanity
very much until we come to the sympathetic understanding that human
nature is about the same everywhere, that it is rather evenly
distributed over the surface of the earth, and that we are all united in
a common brotherhood. We can only make America first in the true sense
which that means by cultivating a spirit of friendship and good will, by
the exercise of the virtues of patience and forbearance, by being
"plenteous in mercy," and through progress at home and helpfulness
abroad standing as an example of real service to humanity.
--Calvin Coolidge
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge>
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel and eleventh book in
Ian Fleming's James Bond series. First published in 1963, it centres on
Bond's search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the events depicted in
Thunderball (1961). In the novel, Bond falls in love with Tracy di
Vicenzo during the story. The pair marry, but hours afterwards Blofeld
and his partner, Irma Bunt, attack them and kill Tracy. Fleming
developed Bond's character within the book, showing an emotional side
that was not previously present. The novel is one of three Bond stories
to deal with the disruption of markets and the economy, in this case
Blofeld's planned disruption to the food supply by bioterrorism. The
novel received broadly positive reviews. In 1969, the book was adapted
as the sixth film in Eon Productions' James Bond film series. It was the
only film to star George Lazenby as Bond. (This article is part of a
featured topic: Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Ian_Fleming%27s_Jam…>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1754:
French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity>
1940:
Second World War: The Royal Navy attacked the French fleet at
Mers El Kébir, fearing that the ships would fall into Axis hands after
the French–German armistice.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashed into the slopes of the Montseny
Massif in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan-Air_Flight_1903>
1979:
U.S. president Jimmy Carter signed a presidential finding,
authorizing covert operations to aid the mujahideen against the Soviet-
backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
goropism:
1. A hypothesis, similar to the one originally propounded by Goropius
which is now discredited, that some attested or modern language such as
Dutch, Hebrew, or Turkish was the original language of human beings.
2. An absurd etymology proposed as part of such a hypothesis.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goropism>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything
in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind.
The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march.
But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it.
--Tom Stoppard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard>
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the
English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury. He helped build the
case for the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
He established the first doctrinal and liturgical structures of the
Church of England and published the Exhortation and Litany. When
Edward VI was king, Cranmer published the Book of Common Prayer,
changed doctrine or discipline in several areas, and promulgated the new
doctrines through the Homilies. Upon the accession of Mary I, Cranmer
was put on trial for treason and heresy. While imprisoned he made
recantations and reconciled himself with the Catholic Church. Mary
pushed for his execution, and he was burned at the stake after
withdrawing his recantations. Cranmer's death was immortalised in Foxe's
Book of Martyrs and his legacy continues through the Book of Common
Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
First English Civil War: The combined forces of Scottish
Covenanters and English Parliamentarians defeated Royalist troops at the
Battle of Marston Moor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marston_Moor>
1724:
On the Feast of the Visitation, Bach led the first performance
of his Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, based on the German
Magnificat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meine_Seel_erhebt_den_Herren,_BWV_10>
1881:
U.S. president James A. Garfield was fatally shot by Charles J.
Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington,
D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_James_A._Garfield>
1964:
The Civil Rights Act was signed into law, outlawing segregation
in schools, at the workplace, and other facilities that served the
general public in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mullered:
1. Badly damaged or completely destroyed; ruined, trashed, wrecked.
2. Drunk, inebriated.
3. (often sports) Of a sportsperson, a team, etc.: utterly defeated or
outplayed; destroyed, thrashed, trounced. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mullered>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The going's rough, and so we need the laugh of bright incisors,
molars of goodwill. Our times are still not safe and sane enough for
faces to show ordinary sorrow.
--Wisława Szymborska
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wis%C5%82awa_Szymborska>
The flag of Canada is a red flag with a white square in its centre,
featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. It has become the
predominant and most recognizable national symbol of Canada. It was
adopted in 1965 to replace the Union Flag for most official purposes,
although the Canadian Red Ensign had also been unofficially used since
the 1860s and approved by a 1945 Order in Council. In 1964, Prime
Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed a committee to discuss these
issues, sparking a serious debate about a flag change. Out of three
choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley, based on the flag of
the Royal Military College of Canada, was chosen. It made its first
appearance on February 15, 1965, a date now celebrated annually as
National Flag of Canada Day. Other flags, usually containing the maple
leaf motif in some fashion, have been created for use by Canadian
officials, government bodies, and military forces.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1849:
Belgium introduced its first series of postage stamps, known as
epaulettes (example pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epaulettes_%28stamp%29>
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate general Robert E. Lee launched
a series of disjointed and ultimately unsuccessful assaults on the
nearly impregnable Union position on Malvern Hill in Henrico County,
Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malvern_Hill>
1874:
The Remington No. 1, the first commercially successful
typewriter, went on sale.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholes_and_Glidden_typewriter>
1999:
Legislative powers in Scotland were first devolved from the
Scottish Office in London to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Canuck:
1. (Canada, US, informal, sometimes derogatory) A Canadian person;
specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also
(obsolete) a Canadian person of other descent.
2. (ice hockey) A member of the Vancouver Canucks professional ice
hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League.
3. (skiing) Chiefly as Crazy Canuck: a member of the Canadian alpine ski
team.
4. (rare) A thing from Canada.
5. (aviation, military, historical) The Avro Canada CF-100 fighter-
interceptor aircraft, in use between 1952 and 1981.
6. (US, obsolete) A Canadian horse or pony.
7. (historical, rare) synonym of Canadian French (“the French language
as spoken by Francophones in Canada”).
8. (slang) Synonym of Canadian English (“the variety of the English
language used in Canada”)
9. (originally informal, sometimes derogatory) Of, belonging to, or
relating to Canada, its culture, or people; Canadian.
10. (ice hockey) Of or relating to the Vancouver Canucks professional
ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Canuck>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most successful tempters and thus the most dangerous are the
deluded deluders.
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg>