Gerald Durrell (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British
naturalist, writer and zookeeper. He was born in British India and moved
to England in 1928. In 1935 the family moved to Corfu, but the outbreak
of World War II forced them to return to the United Kingdom. In the
1940s he began animal-collecting trips for zoos, and published well-
received accounts of these, starting with The Overloaded Ark. His
account of the years in Corfu, titled My Family and Other Animals,
appeared in 1956 and became a bestseller. He founded the Jersey Zoo in
1959, intending it to be an institution for the study of animals and for
captive breeding. Durrell and his second wife, Lee McGeorge, made
several television documentaries in the 1980s, including Durrell in
Russia and Ark on the Move. They co-authored The Amateur Naturalist,
which became his most successful book, selling well over a million
copies. .
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_McGeorge_Durrell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
The Marconi International Marine Communication Company
specified CQD (audio featured) as the distress signal to be used by its
operators.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQD>
1939:
French physicist Marguerite Perey identified francium, the last
element to be discovered in nature rather than by synthesis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francium>
1979:
The People's Army of Vietnam captured Phnom Penh, marking the
end of large-scale fighting in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_War>
2020:
After 253 days without an operational government, a second
round of investiture votes produced Spain's first coalition government
since the Second Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Spanish_government_formation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
glebe farm:
(chiefly UK, Christianity) A home farm owned by a parish, assigned as
part of a benefice to a parish priest, pastor, rector, or vicar to
provide them with income.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glebe_farm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have familiar experience of the order, the constancy, the
perpetual renovation of the material world which surrounds us. Frail and
transitory as is every part of it, restless and migratory as are its
elements, still it abides. It is bound together by a law of permanence,
and though it is ever dying, it is ever coming to life again.
Dissolution does but give birth to fresh modes of organization, and one
death is the parent of a thousand lives. Each hour, as it comes, is but
a testimony how fleeting, yet how secure, how certain, is the great
whole.
--William Peter Blatty
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Peter_Blatty>
Maria Trubnikova (6 January 1835 – 28 April 1897) was a Russian
feminist and activist. From a wealthy family, she was orphaned at a
young age and raised by her aunt. She married Konstantin Trubnikov at
the age of 19; they had seven children. Trubnikova hosted a women-only
salon which became a center of feminist activism. Alongside Anna
Filosofova and Nadezhda Stasova, whom she mentored, Trubnikova was one
of the earliest leaders of the Russian women's movement; the three women
were referred to as the "triumvirate". They founded several
organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic
independence, as well as pushing for higher education for women.
Trubnikova maintained international connections to fellow feminists in
England, France, and other countries. Over time, her once-liberal
husband grew implacably opposed to her activism, and they separated.
Trubnikova later experienced severe illness; she died in an asylum in
1897.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Trubnikova>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1725:
J. S. Bach led the first performance of Liebster Immanuel,
Herzog der Frommen, a chorale cantata for Epiphany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebster_Immanuel,_Herzog_der_Frommen,_BWV_123>
1912:
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener presented his theory of
continental drift, the precursor of plate tectonics, to the German
Geological Society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift>
1953:
The inaugural Asian Socialist Conference, an organisation of
socialist political parties, opened in Rangoon with 177 delegates,
observers and fraternal guests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Socialist_Conference>
2014:
The first episode of the documentary series Benefits Street
aired on Channel 4, prompting discussion in the United Kingdom about
welfare dependency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_Street>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
incumbent:
1. Chiefly followed by on or upon: leaning, or lying, reclining, or
resting, on something else.
2. (botany) Of an anther: lying on the inner side of the filament; also,
of a cotyledon: having its back lying against the radicle.
3. (zoology) Of a body part such as a hair, spine, or wing: bent
downwards or otherwise positioned so that it, or part of it, rests on or
touches something else; specifically (ornithology), of the hind toe of a
bird: fully resting on a support.
4. (figurative)
5. Being the current holder of an office or a title; specifically
(Christianity, obsolete), of an ecclesiastical benefice.
6. Oppressive, pressuring.
7. Followed by on or upon: imposed on one as an obligation, especially
due to one's office or position.
8. (poetic) Hanging or leaning over.
9. (obsolete) Putting much effort into an activity or some work.
10. (obsolete) Weighing on one's mind.
11. The current holder of an office or title; (specifically,
Christianity) the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice.
12. (business) A holder of a position as supplier to a market or market
segment that allows the holder to earn above-normal profits.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/incumbent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This is an attack on our democracy, our way of life, and not just
by the criminals who assaulted our Congress today. The good news is
our Constitution is strong, and our people are overwhelmingly devoted to
the rule of law. What we need to do going forward — what we have to
do as a people — not as Democrats, or Republicans, or independents,
but as Americans, is to ask ourselves how did we ever get to this
place. We need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to any office
in our land. At the office seeker's character, at their morals, at
their ethical record, their integrity, their honesty, their flaws, what
they have said about women, and minorities, why they are seeking office
in the first place, and only then consider the policies they espouse.
--John F. Kelly
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kelly>
Liza Soberano (born January 4, 1998) is an American and Filipino
actress. Her accolades include a FAMAS Award, a Star Award, and six Box
Office Entertainment Awards. She began her career as a model, before her
television debut in the fantasy anthology series Wansapanataym (2011).
She achieved wider recognition for starring in the second season of Got
to Believe (2014) and Forevermore (2014), the latter of which marked the
first of her collaborations with actor Enrique Gil. Soberano found
commercial successes in several romantic films, winning the Box Office
Entertainment Award for Box Office Queen for My Ex and Whys (2017).
Attempting to shed her image as an on-screen couple with Gil, she sought
roles in other genres, before pursuing an acting career in Hollywood
with Lisa Frankenstein (2024). Soberano has been described by media
publications as one of the most beautiful Filipino actresses of her
generation. She is vocal about gender equality, women's rights, and
mental health.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liza_Soberano>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1970:
A magnitude-7.1 earthquake occurred in Tonghai County, China,
killing at least 15,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Tonghai_earthquake>
1977:
The English punk-rock band Sex Pistols' lewd and disruptive
behaviour at Heathrow Airport prompted the record label EMI to end their
contract.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Pistols>
2010:
The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially
opened in Dubai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa>
2020:
Sembawang Hot Spring Park in Singapore reopened after being
redeveloped by the National Parks Board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sembawang_Hot_Spring_Park>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
holy-water sprinkle:
1. (Christianity) Synonym of aspergillum (“an implement, in the form of
a brush or of a rod with a perforated container, for sprinkling holy
water”)
2. (by extension, weaponry, historical) A 16th-century weapon consisting
of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, used mainly
in England; a morning star.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/holy-water_sprinkle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Once upon a time Phaethon, the son of Helios, having yoked the
steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to drive them in
the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was
himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a myth, but
really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in the heavens
around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the earth,
which recurs after long intervals.
--Plato
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Plato>
The Albona class were mine-warfare ships used by the Italian Regia
Marina and the Royal Yugoslav Navy (KM). Fourteen ships were originally
laid down between 1917 and 1918 for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The end
of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary left them
incomplete until 1920, when three ships were finished for the Regia
Marina. An additional five ships were completed for the KM in 1931. All
the completed ships could carry 24 to 39 naval mines. The five ships in
KM service were captured by Italian forces during the Axis invasion of
Yugoslavia and commissioned in the Regia Marina. Three of the ships were
returned to the KM-in-exile in late 1943 until they were transferred to
the Yugoslav Navy in August 1945. The three surviving ships were
stricken in 1962 and 1963. (This article is part of a featured topic:
Ships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Ships_of_the_Royal_…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
American Revolutionary War: American forces commanded by George
Washington defeated British troops at the Battle of Princeton
(depicted).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Princeton>
1959:
As a result of the Alaska Statehood Act, the Territory of
Alaska became the 49th U.S. state, and the first outside the contiguous
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska>
1990:
United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, the deposed
strongman of Panama, surrendered to American forces outside the
apostolic nunciature in Panama City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega>
2002:
Second Intifada: Israeli forces seized MV Karine A, which was
carrying 50 tons of smuggled weapons on behalf of the Palestinian
Authority.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_A_affair>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip:
(dated) In any situation, however well planned, something can always go
wrong.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there%27s_many_a_slip_twixt_cup_and_lip>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of
all others.
--Cicero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicero>
Benjamin Jackson (January 2, 1835 – August 20, 1915) was a Canadian
sailor and farmer who was a decorated veteran of the American Civil War.
He began his career as a commercial seaman at the age of 16 and started
a farm in his mid-twenties. During the American Civil War, he served for
a year in the Union Navy and was deployed in the Union blockade of the
Confederate coastline. As a gun captain aboard USS Richmond, Jackson
served in the Battle of Mobile Bay. He disarmed multiple naval mines and
once picked up a live shell and threw it from the deck of the Richmond.
Jackson likely earned an enlistment bounty, as well as prize money by
capturing multiple blockade runners. He developed bronchitis, suffered a
serious hand injury, and eventually received a Civil War Campaign Medal.
After the war, he lived the rest of his life in Lockhartville, Nova
Scotia. He retired from commercial sailing in 1875 but continued
managing his farm. Jackson's grave remained unmarked until 2010, when a
headstone was erected.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Jackson_%28sailor%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
Under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer,
U.S. Department of Justice agents launched a series of raids against
radical leftists and anarchists in more than 30 cities and towns across
23 states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids>
1991:
Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as the mayor of Washington,
D.C., becoming the first African-American woman to hold the position.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Pratt>
2004:
The Stardust space probe flew by the comet Wild 2 and collected
particle samples from its coma, which were later returned to Earth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/81P/Wild>
2016:
Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia, was
executed by the Saudi government along with 46 other people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Nimr_al-Nimr>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
odour of sanctity:
1. (chiefly Christianity, especially Middle Ages) A sweet smell, usually
likened to those of flowers, said to be emitted by the bodies of saints
during their life, or especially at or after death.
2. (figurative)
3. A person's reputation for, or state of, holiness.
4. (chiefly humorous or ironic) A (supposed) general aura of goodness or
virtue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/odour_of_sanctity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My crime is that I have never labored to make myself popular —
I admit that much — and I have paid too little attention to fools who
are old enough to be senile but young enough to have power.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>
1 Wall Street is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower
Manhattan in New York. Designed in the Art Deco style, the building is
654 feet (199 m) tall and consists of two sections. The original
50-story building was constructed between 1929 and 1931 for Irving
Trust. A 28-story annex to the south (later expanded to 36 stories) was
built between 1963 and 1965. The building occupies a full city block
between Broadway, Wall Street, New Street, and Exchange Place. At the
time of its construction, 1 Wall Street occupied what was considered
one of the most valuable plots in the city. The building is one of New
York City's Art Deco landmarks, although architectural critics initially
ignored it in favor of such buildings as the Empire State Building and
the Chrysler Building. The original portion of the building is
designated as a New York City landmark. It is also a contributing
property to the Wall Street Historic District, a National Register of
Historic Places district created in 2007.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Wall_Street>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the dwarf planet
Ceres, naming it after the Roman goddess of agriculture and of motherly
love.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29>
1810:
Lachlan Macquarie became Governor of New South Wales,
eventually playing a major role in the shaping of the social, economic
and architectural development of the colony in Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachlan_Macquarie>
1960:
Three men were killed and two wounded in a mass shooting at a
public house in Sheffield, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_House_mass_shooting>
1994:
The revolutionary leftist Zapatista Army of National Liberation
initiated twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
omnipotentiality:
(chiefly psychology, uncountable) The characteristic or feeling that
anything is possible, and there are no limits on what may be achieved;
(countable, rare) an instance of this.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/omnipotentiality>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Romance only dies with life. No pair of pincers will ever pull it
out of us. But there is a spurious sentiment which cannot resist the
unexpected and the incongruous and the grotesque. A touch will loosen
it, and the sooner it goes from us the better.
--E. M. Forster
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._M._Forster>