The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis culminated on 11 November
when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam of the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) as prime minister and appointed Malcolm
Fraser, the opposition leader, as caretaker. The Whitlam government had
been rocked by scandals and political miscalculations. In October, the
Opposition blocked bills in the Senate financing the government, and
urged Kerr to dismiss Whitlam unless he agreed to call an election for
the House of Representatives. On 11 November, Whitlam intended to call
a half-Senate election instead, but when he met with Kerr to seek his
approval, Kerr dismissed him as prime minister. Before the ALP
parliamentarians knew what had happened, Fraser and his allies secured
passage of the appropriation bills and Kerr dissolved Parliament. Fraser
and his government were returned with a large majority in the following
month's election. Kerr resigned early as governor-general and lived much
of his remaining life abroad.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
In London, the Cenotaph was unveiled and the Unknown Warrior
was buried in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of the First World War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Warrior>
1940:
Second World War: The Royal Navy launched the first all-
aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history against the Italians in
the Battle of Taranto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taranto>
1960:
A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against
President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised
reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
1965:
Rhodesia, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, unilaterally
declared independence from the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia%27s_Unilateral_Declaration_of_Indepe…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
death penny:
1. (historical, usually in the plural) A coin placed on the eyelid of a
deceased person to keep the eye closed.
2. (Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Synonym of Charon's obol (“a coin
placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a bribe or payment for
Charon, the ferryman of Hades”).
3. (UK, World War I, numismatics, informal) The memorial plaque, a
circular bronze plaque presented to the next of kin of British Empire
personnel killed in World War I.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/death_penny>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with
ardor and attended to with diligence.
--Abigail Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams>
Merenre Nemtyemsaf I (died c. 2272 BC) was an Ancient Egyptian
pharaoh, the fourth king of the Sixth Dynasty. He ruled Egypt for six to
eleven years in the early 23rd century BC, toward the end of the Old
Kingdom period. He was the son of his predecessor Pepi I Meryre and
queen Ankhesenpepi I, and was in turn succeeded by Pepi II Neferkare,
who might have been his son or less probably his brother. Pepi I may
have shared power with Merenre in a co-regency at the very end of the
former's reign. Merenre is frequently called Merenre I by
Egyptologists. Merenre's rule saw profound changes in the administration
of the southern provinces of Egypt, with a marked increase in the number
of provincial administrators and a concurrent steep decline in the size
of the central administration in the capital Memphis. A pyramid complex
was built for Merenre in Saqqara, and likely completed prior to his
death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merenre_Nemtyemsaf_I>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1975:
SS Edmund Fitzgerald (ship banner depicted) sank in Lake
Superior, claiming all 29 of her crew's lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald>
1995:
Writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight
others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were
executed by the Nigerian military regime led by Sani Abacha.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa>
2020:
The British government announced that it had removed the last
land mine from the Falkland Islands, laid by Argentine forces during the
1982 Falklands War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_mines_in_the_Falkland_Islands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
radar:
1. (uncountable) In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant
object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics
by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the
object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of
this method.
2. (uncountable, by extension) In full secondary radar: a method of
detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or
other characteristics by analysing signals transmitted by the object in
response to radio waves sent towards the object.
3. (countable) Often preceded by a descriptive word: a system using one
of the above detection methods, differentiated by configuration or
platform, frequency, power, and other technical attributes.
4. (countable) An installation of the apparatus for operating one of the
above detection systems.
5. (uncountable, by extension) Often preceded by a descriptive word: a
natural (for example, in an animal such as a bat) or human-made
detection method based on the analysis of reflected signals other than
radio waves, as light waves or sound waves; (countable) an instance of
this.
6. (countable, figurative) A superior ability to detect something; an
awareness, an intuition.
7. (transitive) To use a radar apparatus (noun sense 1, sense 1.1, or
sense 2) on (someone or something); to scan (someone or something) with,
or as if with, radar.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/radar>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If my dream was true, then everything we know, everything we
think we know is a lie. It means the world's about as solid and as
reliable as a layer of scum on the top of a well of black water which
goes down forever, and there are things in the depths that I don't even
want to think about. It means that we're just dolls. We don't have a
clue what's really going down, we just kid ourselves that we're in
control of our lives while a paper's thickness away things that would
drive us mad if we thought about them for too long play with us, and
move us around from room to room, and put us away at night when they're
tired, or bored.
--The Sandman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman_%28comic_book%29#The_Doll's_House>
The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on
Hyde Park Corner in London; it was unveiled on 18 October 1925.
Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel
Pearson, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the Royal
Artillery killed in the First World War. The Royal Artillery War
Commemoration Fund, formed in 1918, approached several eminent
architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery
meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. They
approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the
war, and he produced a design that was accepted in 1922. The memorial
comprises a cruciform base in Portland stone supporting a sculpture of a
howitzer. At the end of each arm of the cross is a sculpture of a
soldier—an officer at the front (south side), a shell carrier on the
east side, a driver on the west side, and a dead soldier at the rear
(north side). The design was controversial when unveiled.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Artillery_Memorial>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
A severe blizzard reached its maximum intensity in the Great
Lakes Basin of North America, destroying 19 ships and 68,300 tons of
cargo, and killing more than 250 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913>
1918:
The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted a
tricolour national flag which remains in use today, with slight
modifications, by the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Azerbaijan>
1985:
At age 22, Garry Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed
World Chess Champion by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov>
2019:
The Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers football teams, both
with undefeated records thus far that season, played in a "Game of the
Century".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_LSU_vs._Alabama_football_game>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cindynics:
(systems engineering) The science of risk analysis.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cindynics>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question
authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if
the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in
power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children
the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it
comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-
haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all
that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.
--Carl Sagan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan>
Hensley Henson (8 November 1863 – 27 September 1947) was an
Anglican cleric who was Bishop of Hereford from 1918 to 1920 and Bishop
of Durham from 1920 to 1939. He gained a first-class degree from Oxford
in 1884 and was elected as a fellow of All Souls. Ordained in 1888,
Henson served in the East End and Barking, becoming chaplain of Ilford
Hospital Chapel in 1895. Appointed rector of St Margaret's,
Westminster, and canon of Westminster Abbey in 1900, his tolerance of a
wide range of theological views led the Anglo-Catholic wing of the
Church of England to try to block his appointment to the see of
Hereford. Henson was opposed to strikes, trade unions and socialism,
which made him unpopular in the diocese, but some of his opinions
changed over time. He came to believe that politicians should not
legislate on church matters. He opposed prohibition and Nazi aggression.
He supported reform of the divorce laws, the controversial 1928 revision
of the Book of Common Prayer and ecumenism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hensley_Henson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
Following a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces
under Christian II, scores of Swedish leaders in Stockholm were later
executed despite Christian's promise of general amnesty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Bloodbath>
1940:
The Italian invasion of Greece failed as outnumbered Greek
units repulsed the Italians at the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elaia%E2%80%93Kalamas>
1957:
En route from San Francisco to Honolulu, Pan Am Flight 7
crashed into the Pacific Ocean due to unknown causes, killing all 44
people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_7>
2013:
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Visayas region of the
Philippines, killing at least 6,300 people, making it the deadliest
Philippine typhoon recorded in modern history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Haiyan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
neutrois:
(LGBTQ, rare) Chiefly of a person: having a neutral gender (being
neither male nor female), and having or seeking to have no or reduced
physical sexual characteristics; agender.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neutrois>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am sure that God did not intend that there be so many poor. The
class structure is of our making and our consent, not His. It is the way
we have arranged it, and it is up to us to change it. So we are urging
revolutionary change.
--Dorothy Day
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day>
"Slug" is a song by Passengers, a side project of musician Brian Eno and
rock band U2 (pictured). It was released on 7 November 1995 on
Passengers' sole release, the experimental album Original
Soundtracks 1. The song was almost left off the album before it was
rediscovered later during the recording sessions. Though Eno made most
of the creative decisions during the sessions, "Slug" was one of the few
tracks that the members from U2 tried to craft themselves. Lyrically, it
portrays a desolate soul with the confusion of romance and faith. U2 and
Eno tried to create a visual suggestion from the music that was more
important than the story within the lyrics. In "Slug", the
instrumentation is intended as visual music representing the lights
turning on in a city at night. The group primarily drew inspiration for
the song from U2's experiences in Tokyo at the conclusion of their Zoo
TV Tour in 1993. "Slug" has been praised as one of the best songs on the
album by critics from various publications.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug_%28song%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
Jereboam O. Beauchamp murdered Kentucky legislator Solomon P.
Sharp; Beauchamp later became the first person legally executed in the
state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauchamp%E2%80%93Sharp_Tragedy>
1917:
World War I: British forces captured Gaza following the
retreat of the Ottoman garrison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Gaza>
1972:
A ship collision with the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the U.S.
state of Georgia resulted in a bridge collapse, which killed ten people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Sidney_Lanier_Bridge_collapse>
1987:
Tunisian prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali deposed and
replaced President Habib Bourguiba by declaring him medically unfit for
the duties of the office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Tunisian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
legal beagle:
(idiomatic, informal) A lawyer, specifically one regarded as astute and
skilful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/legal_beagle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One never notices what has been done; one can only see what
remains to be done.
--Marie Curie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie_Curie>
The sieges of Berwick were the Scottish capture of the town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed and their subsequent unsuccessful siege of Berwick Castle,
and the English siege and recapture of the town. In 1355 the Second War
of Scottish Independence had been under way for over 22 years when,
encouraged by the French who were fighting the English in the Hundred
Years' War, the Scots assembled an army on the border. In September a
truce was agreed and much of the English army left to join King Edward
III's campaign in France. In October the Scots broke the truce. On 6
November a Scottish force led by the Earls of Angus and March captured
the town of Berwick in a pre-dawn escalade, but failed to take the
castle, which they besieged. Edward returned from France and gathered a
large army at Newcastle. Most of the Scots withdrew. When the English
army arrived in January 1356 the remaining Scots negotiated a safe
passage and also withdrew. The English army went on to invade and
devastate southern Scotland.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieges_of_Berwick_%281355_and_1356%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1939:
As part of their plan to eradicate the Polish intellectual
elite, the Gestapo arrested 184 professors, students and employees of
the Jagiellonian University (location pictured) in Kraków.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderaktion_Krakau>
1977:
The Kelly Barnes Dam in Stephens County, Georgia, collapsed;
the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused US$2.8 million in
damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Barnes_Dam>
2004:
A man committing suicide parked his car on the railway tracks
in Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, England, causing a derailment that also
killed six people on the train.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufton_Nervet_rail_crash>
2012:
Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay politician to be
elected to the United States Senate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Baldwin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mightily:
1. In a mighty manner.
2. With much physical force, power, or strength; also, with divine or
superhuman power or strength.
3. With much emotional, intellectual, or mental force or power.
4. Of a characteristic: provided to a powerful or strong extent.
5. (informal) To a great extent; extremely, greatly.
6. (obsolete) Put in place through the use of force or power.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mightily>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a
bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for
what we are too timid to attempt. … Excellence will become the
expectation across government, not the exception. In this new age we
make for ourselves, we will refuse to allow those who traffic in
division and hate to pit us against one another. In this moment of
political darkness, New York will be the light.
--Zohran Mamdani
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zohran_Mamdani>
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a failed assassination attempt against
King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial
English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the
House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November, as
the prelude to a revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-
old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic
head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of
securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded, leaving
many English Catholics disappointed. His fellow plotters (pictured) were
John and Christopher Wright, Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy,
Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Sir Ambrose
Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham. Fawkes was given charge
of the explosives. (This article is part of a featured topic: Gunpowder
Plot.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Gunpowder_Plot>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
Crimean War: Despite being severely outnumbered, and fighting
in heavy foggy conditions, the allied armies of the United Kingdom and
France defeated the Russians in present-day Inkerman, Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Inkerman>
1916:
An armed confrontation in Everett, Washington, between local
authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World resulted
in seven deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre>
1944:
World War II: Allied forces began a military campaign on
Japanese-occupied Singapore.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Singapore_%281944%E2%80%931945%29>
1990:
Ultra-Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York
City hotel by an Arab gunman.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Meir_Kahane>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
puzzle:
1. (transitive)
2. (also reflexive, often passive voice) To cause (oneself or someone,
or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot
understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; to confuse, to
mystify, to perplex.
3. To use (one's brain or mind) to try to work out a complicated matter,
a problem, etc.; also, to try to work out (a complicated matter, a
problem, etc.).
4. (obsolete)
5. To (intentionally) make (something) complicated or confused, and so
difficult to resolve or understand; to confuse, to complicate.
6. (chiefly passive voice) To cause (someone) to not know what to do due
to some problem, situation, etc.; to bewilder, to confound, to perplex.
7. (intransitive)
8. Often followed by about, over, or upon: to feel confused or mystified
because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
9. Often followed by about, over, or or upon: to think deeply in
bewilderment to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
10. To search in a confused or mystified manner.
11. Followed by through: to solve a complicated matter, a problem, etc.,
by working through confusing or difficult matters. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puzzle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above
partisanship to defend our Constitution.
--Dick Cheney
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney>
The 2019 Champion of Champions was a professional snooker tournament
that took place between 4 and 10 November 2019 at the Ricoh Arena in
Coventry, England. It was the ninth Champion of Champions event, the
first of which was held in 1978. The tournament featured 16 participants
who had won World Snooker events throughout the prior snooker season.
The 2019 Women's World Champion (pictured) competed at the tournament
for the first time. As an invitational event, the Champion of Champions
tournament carried no world-ranking points. Ronnie O'Sullivan was the
defending champion having defeated Kyren Wilson 10–9 in the final of
the 2018 event. O'Sullivan lost 5–6 to Neil Robertson in the semi-
finals. Robertson defeated reigning world champion Judd Trump 10–9 in
the final to win the championship, having required foul shots in the
penultimate frame to avoid losing the match.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Champion_of_Champions>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1924:
In a special election in Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the
first woman to be elected as a governor in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_Wyoming_gubernatorial_special_election>
1970:
Authorities in California discovered a 13-year-old feral child,
pseudonymously known as Genie, who had spent nearly her entire life in
social isolation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_%28feral_child%29>
1995:
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal
Amir, a right-wing extremist, at a peace rally at Kings of Israel Square
in Tel Aviv.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin>
2010:
In the first aviation incident involving an Airbus A380,
Qantas Flight 32 suffered an uncontained engine failure and made an
emergency landing at Changi Airport in Singapore with no casualties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_32>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
interlard:
1. (figurative) To embellish or vary (something) by interspersing or
mixing another thing with it; also, to intersperse or mix (something)
into another thing to embellish or vary it; to interweave, to mingle.
2. (obsolete)
3. (passive voice) To naturally intersperse (an animal's flesh or
muscle) with layers of fat.
4. (cooking) To place pieces of bacon, fat, etc., into (lean meat)
before cooking; also, to place (pieces of bacon, fat, etc.) into lean
meat before cooking.
5. (by extension) Followed by with: to coat the inside of a thing with
(a substance).
6. (figurative) Followed by with: to place layers or portions of a thing
into (something); also, to place layers or portions of (something) into
a thing; to interpolate, to interpose.
7. (obsolete, rare) The abdominal fat of an animal.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/interlard>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill thy Law's demands: Could
my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for Sin could
not atone: Thou must save, and Thou alone!
--Augustus Toplady
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustus_Toplady>
Nizaa is an endangered Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region
of northern Cameroon. Most of the language's speakers live in and around
the village of Galim in the department of Faro-et-Déo. Nizaa has a
complex sound system with 60 consonant phonemes, eleven tones, and a
contrast between oral and nasal vowels. In terms of grammar, it is the
only Bantoid language that allows multiple verbal suffixes on one verb.
It also is neither a head-initial nor head-final language (the head or
main element of a clause appears both before and after its modifiers
with roughly equal frequency). Nizaa was first extensively documented in
the 1980s by Norwegian linguists Rolf Theil Endresen (pictured) and
Bjørghild Kjelsvik. The language is endangered, but the exact number of
active speakers is unknown, as the last census of speakers took place in
1985, and a 1983 survey reported drastically different figures.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizaa_language>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
War of the Third Coalition: The Treaty of Potsdam was signed
compelling Prussia to join the coalition if it failed to negotiate peace
between Russia and France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Potsdam_%281805%29>
1848:
A new constitution drafted by Johan Rudolph Thorbecke was
proclaimed, limiting the powers of the Dutch monarchy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Rudolph_Thorbecke>
1935:
Almost 98 percent of reported votes in a Greek referendum
supported the restoration of George II as King of the Hellenes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_II_of_Greece>
1956:
Suez Crisis: During an invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israeli
soldiers shot and killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees and local
inhabitants in Khan Yunis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Yunis_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kigurumi:
1. A full-body costume of a cartoon character (typically a mascot of
cartoonish proportions) originating in Japan.
2. (anime) A full-body cosplay of a human cartoon character with
realistic proportions paired with an anime-style mask, originating in
Japan; also (metonymic), the anime-style mask used in such a cosplay.
3. (fashion) A themed onesie, typically in the style of a cartoon
animal.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kigurumi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the course of thousands of years of mechanical development,
the mechanistic concept, from generation to generation, has anchored
itself deeply in man's biological system. In so doing, it actually has
altered human functioning in the sense of the machine-like. In the
process of killing his genital function, man has become biologically
rigid. He has armored himself against that which is natural and
spontaneous within him, he has lost contact with the biological function
of self-regulation and is filled with a strong fear of that which is
alive and free.
--Wilhelm Reich
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich>
Allan Walters (2 November 1905 – 19 October 1968) was a senior
commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Over the course of
World War II, Walters led No. 1 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron in
Singapore, No. 1 (Fighter) Wing in Darwin, No. 72 Wing in Dutch New
Guinea, and Northern Command in Papua New Guinea. He was decorated with
the Air Force Cross in 1941 for his work with No. 1 Squadron, and
mentioned in despatches in 1944 for his service with No. 72 Wing.
Walters was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in
1946 for his service with Northern Command and later air officer
commanding (AOC) Southern Area Command, AOC RAAF Overseas Headquarters
in London, Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff in Washington,
DC, AOC Home Command, Air Member for Personnel, and AOC Support Command.
He was promoted to acting air vice-marshal in 1952 (substantive in
1954), and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1956 before
retiring in 1962.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Walters>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1932:
The Australian military began a "war against emus", flightless
native birds blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War>
1949:
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the
Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to
the United States of Indonesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch%E2%80%93Indonesian_Round_Table_Conferen…>
1994:
A lightning strike ruptured three oil tanks near Dronka, Egypt,
causing a flood that killed 469 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Dronka_floods_and_lightning_strike>
2000:
As members of Expedition 1, American astronaut William
Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko (all
pictured) became the first resident crew to arrive at the International
Space Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_1>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
graticule:
1. A grid of horizontal and vertical lines; specifically, one used as a
guide to proportionately enlarge or reduce a drawing.
2. (geography) The network of lines of latitude and longitude that make
up a coordinate system such as the one used for charts and maps of the
Earth.
3. (UK, optics) Synonym of reticle (“a transparent plate marked with a
crosshair, grid, or scale which is used in an optical instrument, etc.,
to aid in alignment, counting, or measurement of objects being observed;
also, the crosshair, grid, or scale on such a plate”).
4. (by extension) A (nearly) rectangular or square region created by a
grid of horizontal and vertical lines.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/graticule>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Power is a live thing, by which you reach out to grasp the
future. Revenge is a dead thing, reaching out from the past to grasp
you.
--Lois McMaster Bujold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold>