The Jersey Act was a 1913 regulation by the British Jockey Club and the
owners of the General Stud Book that prevented most American-bred
Thoroughbred horses from registering with them. It was intended to halt
the increasing importation of racehorses of possibly impure bloodlines
from America. The loss of breeding records during the American Civil War
and the late beginning of the registration of American Thoroughbreds led
many in the British racing establishment to doubt that American-bred
horses were purebred. The Act prohibited the registration of horses
unless all of their Thoroughbred ancestors had been registered. Despite
protests from American breeders the regulation was in force until 1949.
By then, ineligible horses were increasingly successful in races in
Europe, British and Irish breeders had lost access to French
Thoroughbreds during and after the Second World War, and any impure
ancestors of the American bloodlines had receded far back in most
horses' ancestry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Act>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1565:
St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied
settlement of European origin in the contiguous United States, was
founded by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine,_Florida>
1831:
William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen were crowned King
and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_of_Saxe-Meiningen>
1966:
The science fiction show Star Trek made its American premiere
with "The Man Trap", launching a media franchise that has since created
a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current
technologies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Trap>
2022:
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland; her
eldest son Charles III acceded to the throne as King of the United
Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_III>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
go for the gold:
(intransitive, idiomatic, originally sports) To attempt to achieve the
maximum result or reward in an endeavour.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/go_for_the_gold>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our country faces unprecedented challenges today. They cannot be
resolved with half-steps or compromises. There is not a middle ground
between the insatiable greed of uber-capitalism and a fair deal for the
working class. There is not a middle ground as to whether or not we save
the planet. There is not a middle ground about whether or not we
preserve our democracy and remain a society based on equal protection
for all.
--Bernie Sanders
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders>
Wolverton Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line
over the River Great Ouse to the north of Wolverton, part of Milton
Keynes, in south-eastern England. Built in 1838 for the London and
Birmingham Railway (L&BR;) to the design of Robert Stephenson, it was
the largest viaduct on the L&BR;'s route. It is in the centre of
Wolverton Embankment, itself the largest on the line. It has six brick
arches and covers a distance of 660 feet (200 metres), reaching a
maximum height of 57 feet (17 metres) above the river, and terminating
in substantial abutments which contain decorative arches. Several
contemporary commentators likened Stephenson's bridges to Roman
aqueducts. The viaduct was widened to take four tracks in the 1880s with
a blue-brick extension, in contrast to the red-brick original. Masts for
overhead electrification were added in the 1950s but otherwise the
bridge is little changed since it was built and it is now a Grade II
listed building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverton_Viaduct>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
Anglo-French War: Having established an alliance with the
United States, France invaded the Caribbean island of Dominica and
captured its British fort.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Dominica_%281778%29>
1936:
The last thylacine died in captivity in Hobart Zoo, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine>
1940:
Second World War: The Luftwaffe changed their strategy in the
Battle of Britain and began bombing London and other cities and towns.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz>
2010:
A Chinese fishing trawler operating in disputed waters collided
with Japan Coast Guard patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands, sparking a
major diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Senkaku_boat_collision_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
split-second:
1. (chiefly attributive) A stopwatch with two second hands, each of
which may be stopped separately to time the intervals of a race by a
sportsperson, or to time more than one sportsperson.
2. A fraction of a second; hence (figurative, also attributive) a very
short time period; an instant, a moment.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/split-second>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is a stern fact of history that no nation that rushed to the
abyss ever turned back. Not ever, in the long history of the world. We
are now on the edge of the abyss. Can we, for the first time in history,
turn back? It is up to you.
--Taylor Caldwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Taylor_Caldwell>
The Frye Fire was a wildfire that burned 48,443 acres (19,604 ha) in
Graham County, Arizona, United States, from June 7 to September 1,
2017. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on Mount Graham, within
the Coronado National Forest, and spread rapidly until it was mostly
contained on July 12. The fire destroyed three buildings and briefly
threatened the Mount Graham International Observatory. It cost
$26 million (equivalent to $32 million in 2023) to contain and
suppress, and involved more than 800 firefighters. There were no
fatalities, but 63 firefighters were quarantined with strep throat.
During seasonal rains beginning in July, ash and debris from the Frye
Fire's burn scar washed off the mountain slopes, then clogged creeks and
damaged infrastructure within Graham County. The fire particularly
impacted the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel, whose remaining
habitat on Mount Graham was devastated.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frye_Fire>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1566:
Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning sultan of the
Ottoman Empire, died at the age of 71.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent>
1970:
Black September: The Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine hijacked four airliners, landing two at Dawson's Field in
Jordan and one in Cairo, while the last hijacking attempt was foiled
near London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson%27s_Field_hijackings>
2017:
Hurricane Irma reached peak intensity near the Caribbean
islands of Barbuda, Saint Martin, and Virgin Gorda.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma>
2022:
Liz Truss succeeded Boris Johnson as prime minister following
the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2022_United_Kingdom_government_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
realize:
1. (transitive)
2. (originally chiefly Canada, US)
3. To become aware of or understand (a fact or situation, especially
something which has been true for some time).
4. To sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real.
5. To cause (something) to seem real; to make realistic; specifically,
to present (something) clearly to the mind, a person, (archaic) oneself,
etc., so that it seems real.
6. (chiefly passive voice, slightly formal) To convert (something
imaginary or planned, as a goal or idea) into reality; to bring into
real existence, to make real.
7. (reflexive) To achieve (one's) potential.
8. (business, finance)
9. To convert (an asset or property, especially investments such as
bonds, shares, etc.) into a more easily usable form such as money,
especially by selling the asset or property.
10. To acquire (money, a profit, etc.) by selling an asset or property,
through trade, etc.; also (followed by on), to make (money or a profit)
on an investment, a venture, etc.
11. Of an asset or property: to generate (a specific amount of money or
interest) when invested or sold.
12. (linguistics) To turn (an abstract linguistic object, especially a
phoneme) into a speech sound actually used in a language.
13. (mathematics) To obtain an entity from (an abstract group or
structure).
14. (music)
15. To arrange (a musical work written for a single performer) to be
performed by an orchestra; to orchestrate.
16. To complete (a musical work which is incomplete or not fully
notated).
17. Chiefly in Baroque music: to play an accompaniment, harmonies, etc.,
based on (a figured bass).
18. (obsolete, US) To have an actual or real experience of (something).
19. (intransitive)
20. To become aware of or understand a fact or situation.
21. To cause to seem real; to make realistic.
22. (business, finance)
23. To convert an asset or property into a more easily usable form such
as money.
24. Followed by on or upon: to acquire money or a profit from the sale
of an asset or property.
25. (obsolete) With an adverb like badly or well: of an asset or
property being sold: to generate little or a lot of money.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/realize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Women, wherever placed, however high or low in the scale of
cultivation, hold the destinies of human kind. Men will ever rise or
fall to the level of the other sex.
--Frances Wright
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frances_Wright>
Titanis is a genus of Phorusrhacidae, or "terror birds". The extinct
family of large, predatory birds originated in South America and
inhabited parts of the present-day United States during the Pliocene.
Like all phorusrhacids, Titanis had elongated hind limbs, a thin pelvis,
proportionally small wings, and a large skull with a hooked beak.
Estimates placed Titanis at 1.4 to 2 meters (4.6 to 6.6 ft) in height
and over 300 kilograms (660 lb) in body mass. Phorusrhacids are thought
to have been ground predators or scavengers, apex predators that
dominated Cenozoic South America. They may have swallowed small prey
whole or targeted larger prey with repeated strikes of the beak. Titanis
likely preyed on mammals such as the extinct armadillo relatives
Holmesina and Glyptotherium, equids, tapirs, capybaras, and other
Pliocene herbivores. Titanis is unique among phorusrhacids in that it is
the only one known from North America, crossing over from South America
during the Great American Interchange.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
Facing rising discontent in France, Louis XVIII was forced to
dissolve the Chambre introuvable, the legislature dominated by Ultra-
royalists.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_introuvable>
1887:
A fire that killed 186 people broke out at the Theatre Royal,
Exeter, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Theatre_Royal_fire>
1964:
Hurricane Cleo dissipated after causing 156 deaths, mainly in
Haiti, and causing roughly US$187 million in damages across the
Caribbean and southeastern United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Cleo>
1975:
Squeaky Fromme, a devotee of Charles Manson, attempted to
assassinate U.S. president Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Gerald_Ford_in_Sac…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pitch-perfect:
1. Of a person: able to exactly reproduce a musical note or tune, manner
of speaking, etc.
2. (figurative)
3. Extremely accurate.
4. Utterly flawless and suitable with respect to appearance, atmosphere
or tone, expression, or other characteristics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pitch-perfect>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The public display of religion is not God. We do not put God in
our nation's life by placing the Ten Commandments in courthouses, nor do
we evict God by removing the Ten Commandments from public property.
--John Danforth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Danforth>
Battle Birds was an American air-war pulp magazine, published by Popular
Publications. It was launched at the end of 1932, but did not sell well,
and in 1934 the publisher turned it into an air-war hero pulp titled
Dusty Ayres and His Battle Birds. Robert Sidney Bowen, an established
pulp writer, provided the lead novel each month, and also wrote the
short stories that filled out the issue. Bowen's stories were set in the
future, with the United States menaced by an Asian empire called the
Black Invaders. The change was not successful enough to be extended
beyond the initial plan of a year, and Bowen wrote a novel in which,
unusually for pulp fiction, Dusty Ayres finally defeated the invaders,
to end the series. The magazine ceased publication with the July/August
1935 issue. It restarted in 1940 under the original title, Battle Birds,
and lasted for another four years. All the cover art was painted by
Frederick Blakeslee.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Birds>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
French Revolutionary Wars: Facing starvation and a death rate
of 100 soldiers per day, the French garrison in Malta surrendered to
British forces, ending a two-year siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%281798%E2%80%931800%29>
1843:
The state wedding of Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies and
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil took place at the Cathedral of Rio de
Janeiro.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Cristina_of_the_Two_Sicilies>
1977:
The Golden Dragon massacre occurred in Chinatown, San
Francisco, leaving five dead and spurring police to end Chinese gang
violence in the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dragon_massacre>
2010:
A magnitude-7.1 earthquake (damage pictured) struck the
Canterbury Region of New Zealand, causing two deaths and up to
NZ$40 billion in damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Canterbury_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
heartstrings:
1. (anatomy)
2. (historical) The tendons or other structures resembling cords once
thought to be attached to, or to brace, the heart; especially the aorta,
pulmonary artery, and other large arteries connected to them; also, the
diaphragm.
3. (by extension) Synonym of chordae tendineae (“the cord-like tendons
that connect the papillary muscles to the tricuspid valve and the mitral
valve in the heart”)
4. (figurative)
5. The source of one's deepest emotions or inner feelings, especially
compassion or love.
6. (archaic) The essential or vital part of something; the core, the
essence, the heart.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heartstrings>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are
finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. That is why
people are always searching for a meaning to life. But life has no
meaning; it cannot have meaning because meaning is a formula; meaning is
something that makes sense to the mind. Every time you make sense out of
reality, you bump into something that destroys the sense you made.
Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense
when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the
conceptualizing mind.
--Anthony de Mello
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_de_Mello>
The Laysan honeycreeper (Himatione fraithii) is an extinct species of
finch, first recorded in 1828, that was endemic to Laysan in the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its length was 13–15 cm (5–6 in)
with a 64–69 mm long (2.5–2.7 in) wing. It was bright scarlet
vermilion with a faint tint of golden orange on the head, breast and
upper abdomen; the rest of its upper parts were orange scarlet. The
lower abdomen was dusky gray fading into brownish white. The wings,
tail, bill, and legs were dark brown. The bill was slender and
downturned. It was nectarivorous and insectivorous, gathering nectar and
insects from flowers. The breeding season was probably between January
and June, and the clutch size was four or five eggs. In 1903, domestic
rabbits were introduced to the island and destroyed its vegetation. In
April 1923, only three Laysan honeycreepers were found, one of which was
filmed. On April 23, a sandstorm hit the island, and the last birds
perished due to lack of cover.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laysan_honeycreeper>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The Treaty of Selymbria was concluded between the Republic of
Venice and the Ottoman prince Musa Çelebi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Selymbria>
1901:
At the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, the flag of
Australia flew for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Australia>
1987:
While he was abroad, Burundian president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
was deposed in a military coup d'état by Pierre Buyoya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Buyoya>
2017:
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test
at Punggye-ri, causing a magnitude-6.3 earthquake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_North_Korean_nuclear_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trapan:
1. To catch or entrap (a person or animal) in a snare or trap; to
ensnare, to trap.
2. (figurative) To trap or trick (someone), especially by using some
stratagem, into doing something that benefits the perpetrator but harms
the victim; to defraud, to ensnare, to entrap, to swindle.
3. An act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which
entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick.
4. (probably originally thieves' cant, archaic or obsolete) A person (or
occasionally an animal) that traps or tricks another into doing
something that benefits them but harms the victim; a fraudster, a
swindler, a trickster. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trapan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are rounding out our absorbing study of Democracy. Thus,
turning slowly upon the momentous axis of our theme, are we coming more
and more fully into the light of our sun: the refulgent and resplendent
and life-giving sun of our art — an art of aspirant democracy! Let us
then be on our way; for our sun is climbing ever higher. Let us be
adoing; lest it set before we know the glory and the import of its
light, and we sink again into the twilight and the gloom from which we
have come.
--Louis Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Sullivan>
Falcon's Fury is a freestanding Sky Jump drop tower attraction at Busch
Gardens Tampa Bay, an amusement park in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by
Intaride, a subsidiary of Intamin, the ride is one of North America's
tallest freestanding drop towers, with a height of 335 feet (102 m). It
was also the first drop tower to use 90-degree tilting seats, facing
riders straight down through five seconds of free fall. They reach a
speed of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) before rotating back into a
vertical position and decelerating at about 3.5 g. The ride's name is
meant to suggest a falcon's ability to dive steeply at high speed to
capture prey. Due to the height of the attraction, approval from the
Federal Aviation Administration was required. Construction was delayed
until 2013, and the opening date was also delayed by mechanical and
technical issues. Falcon's Fury opened to park employees in August
before a soft opening on August 16, 2014, and an official opening on
September 2, 2014.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon%27s_Fury>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: Due to an overwhelming fear that foreign
armies would attack Paris and prisoners would revolt, revolutionaries
began the summary execution of more than a thousand prisoners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Massacres>
1946:
The interim government of India, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru,
was formed to assist the transition of India from British rule to
independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru>
1957:
South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm began an official
visit to Australia, the first by a foreign incumbent head of state to
the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem_presidential_visit_to_Australia>
1967:
Paddy Roy Bates proclaimed HM Fort Roughs, a former World War
II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk, England,
as an independent sovereign state: the Principality of Sealand
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
yem:
(clothing) A Vietnamese bodice with a halterneck and a V-shaped bottom
worn by women on the torso, originally as an underbodice and now also as
an outer garment.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yem>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As scientific men we have all, no doubt, felt that our work has
been put often to base uses, which must lead to disaster. But what sin
is to the moralist and crime to the jurist so to the scientific man is
ignorance. On our plane knowledge and ignorance are the immemorial
adversaries. Scientific men can hardly escape the charge of ignorance
with regard to the precise effect of the impact of modern science upon
the mode of living of the people and upon their civilisation. For them,
such a charge is worse than that of crime.
--Frederick Soddy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frederick_Soddy>
Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small Christian-themed wood
sculptures produced during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Low
Countries, at the end of the Gothic period and during the emerging
Northern Renaissance. They consist of highly intricate layers of reliefs
made from fine-grained boxwood, often rendered to a nearly microscopic
level. Of the approximately 150 surviving examples, the majority are
statuettes, skulls, coffins, or spherical beads known as prayer nuts;
some 20 are in the form of polyptychs, including triptych and diptych
altarpieces, tabernacles, and monstrances. They typically contain
imagery from the life of Mary, the crucifixion of Jesus, or vistas of
Heaven and Hell. Each miniature required exceptional craftsmanship and
may have taken decades to complete. Important collections are in the Art
Gallery of Ontario, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_boxwood_miniature>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1604:
The Guru Granth Sahib (folio depicted), the religious text of
Sikhism, was installed in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib>
1859:
A powerful solar flare caused a coronal mass ejection that
struck Earth a few hours later, generating the most intense geomagnetic
storm ever recorded and causing bright aurorae visible in the middle
latitudes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event>
1911:
Construction began on the Saline Valley salt tram, which during
its operation was the steepest tram in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_Valley_salt_tram>
1972:
In a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation,
American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer became the 11th World Chess
Champion with his victory over Soviet Boris Spassky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Spassky>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
extinct:
1. (dated) Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer
shining; extinguished, quenched.
2. (figurative)
3. Of feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.: put out, as
if like a fire; quenched, suppressed.
4. Of customs, ideas, laws and legal rights, offices, organizations,
etc.: no longer existing or in use; defunct, discontinued, obsolete;
specifically, of a title of nobility: no longer having any person
qualified to hold it.
5. (chiefly biology) Of an animal or plant species, a class of people, a
family, etc.: having died out completely; no longer in existence.
6. (geology) Of a geological feature: no longer active; specifically, of
a volcano: no longer erupting.
7. (nuclear physics) Of a radioisotope: no longer occurring primordially
due to having decayed away completely, because it has a relatively short
half-life.
8. (obsolete) Of a person: dead; also, permanently separated from
others. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/extinct>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.
--Lily Tomlin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lily_Tomlin>