Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy (Marine
Nationale). Laid down at Brest in January 1898, the vessel was launched
on 1 September and completed on 14 April 1902. The ship was assigned
to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her
career. Iéna frequently served as a flagship, participated in the
annual fleet manoeuvres and made many visits to French ports in the
Mediterranean. On 4 March 1907, while docked for repairs in Toulon,
the battleship was badly damaged and 120 people were killed by a
magazine explosion that was probably caused by the decomposition of old
propellant, known as Poudre B. Multiple investigations were launched
and the ensuing scandal forced the naval minister to resign. While
repairs were possible, Iéna was not considered worth the expense. The
salvaged hulk was used as a gunnery target in 1909 before it was sold
for scrap in 1912.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_I%C3%A9na>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
William "Boss" Tweed, a New York City politician who had been
arrested for embezzlement, was handed over to US authorities after
having escaped from prison and fled to Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Tweed>
1963:
The first episode of Doctor Who, the world's longest-running
science fiction television show, was broadcast on BBC One, starring
William Hartnell as the first incarnation of the title role.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Unearthly_Child>
1980:
An earthquake struck the Irpinia region of Italy, killing at
least 2,483 people, injuring more than 7,700 and leaving 250,000
homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Irpinia_earthquake>
2007:
MS Explorer became the first cruise ship to sink in the
Southern Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Explorer_%281969%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
intraordinary:
(rare, nonstandard) Falling within normal parameters; normal, ordinary.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intraordinary>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You have summoned me in my weakness. You must sustain me by your
strength.
--Franklin Pierce
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce>
James Humphreys (1930–2003) was an English businessman and criminal
who owned a chain of adult book shops and strip clubs in London in the
1960s and 1970s. In March 1958 he was sentenced to six years'
imprisonment after using explosives to open a safe and steal £8,260 in
money and postal orders. On his release he opened a strip club in Soho
(pictured in 2008), the centre of London's sex industry. When Humphreys
expanded his business and opened sex shops and book shops selling
obscene material, he could only operate by paying large bribes to
policemen, particularly those from the Obscene Publications Branch of
the Metropolitan Police. In the late 1970s his diaries detailing his
meetings with police officers and the bribes he paid were used as
evidence against twelve policemen imprisoned for corruption. The
character Benny Barrett, played by Malcolm McDowell in the 1996 BBC
television series Our Friends in the North, was based on Humphreys.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Humphreys_%28pornographer%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The French steamship Ville du Havre collided with a Scottish
iron clipper in the North Atlantic and sank with the loss of 226 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ville_du_Havre>
1986:
Mike Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick to win the World Boxing
Council title, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson>
1995:
Toy Story, the first feature film created using only computer-
generated imagery, was released in theaters in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
grace note:
1. (music) A musical note, indicated on a score in smaller type with or
without a slash through it, played to ornament the melody rather than as
part of it. Its note value does not count as part of the total time
value of the measure it appears in.
2. (figurative) Something that decorates, embellishes, or ornaments; a
finishing touch.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grace_note>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Give me no light, great heaven, but such as turns To energy of
human fellowship; No powers save the growing heritage That makes
complete manhood.
--George Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot>
Super Mario World is a 1990 platform game developed and published by
Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The story
follows Mario's quest to save Princess Toadstool from the series
antagonist Bowser and his minions. The gameplay is similar to that of
earlier Super Mario games: players control Mario or his brother Luigi
through a series of levels in which the goal is to reach the flagpole at
the end. Super Mario World introduced Yoshi, a dinosaur character.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development developed the game, led by
director Takashi Tezuka and producer and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto
(pictured). It is the first Mario game for the SNES and was designed to
make the most of the console's technical features. Super Mario World is
often considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It sold
over 20 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling SNES game.
It also led to a highly acclaimed prequel, Yoshi's Island, released in
1995.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_World>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
Irish War of Independence: On Bloody Sunday in Dublin, the IRA
assassinated a group of British intelligence agents, and British forces
killed 14 civilians at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_%281920%29>
1950:
Two trains collided near Valemount, Canada, killing 21 people;
the subsequent trial brought future prime minister John Diefenbaker to
greater political attention.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_River_train_crash>
1970:
Vietnam War: American forces raided the North Vietnamese Sơn
Tây prison camp in an attempt to rescue 61 American POWs who were
thought to be held there.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast>
2015:
The Belgian government imposed a four-day security lockdown in
Brussels based on information about potential terrorist attacks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Brussels_lockdown>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
well-boat:
(nautical) a fishing vessel designed to carry live fish in a tank or
well.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/well-boat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all
formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's
folly — that is the first law of nature.
--Voltaire
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire>
Sahure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth
Dynasty, who reigned for about 12 years in the early 25th century BC
during the Old Kingdom Period. He was probably the son of his
predecessor Userkaf with Queen Neferhetepes II, and was in turn
succeeded by his son Neferirkare Kakai. Sahure's reign marked the
political and cultural high point of the Fifth Dynasty. He launched
naval expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar trees, slaves
and exotic items. His expedition to the land of Punt brought back large
quantities of myrrh, malachite and electrum. A relief in his mortuary
temple shows him celebrating the success of this venture by tending a
myrrh tree. Sahure sent expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines in
Sinai and ordered military campaigns that captured livestock from Libyan
chieftains in the Western Desert. His pyramid in Abusir is smaller than
those of the preceding Fourth Dynasty, but his mortuary temple is more
elaborate.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahure>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1947:
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, married
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (both pictured), who was given the title
Duke of Edinburgh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh>
1990:
Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific
serial killers, was arrested in Novocherkassk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Chikatilo>
2003:
Suicide bombers blew up the British consulate and the
headquarters of HSBC Bank in Istanbul, killing 59 people, including
consul general Roger Short and actor Kerem Yılmazer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Istanbul_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Nuremberg defense:
1. (ethics, international law, idiomatic) An explanation offered as an
excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that
acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly
superiors) to do so.
2. (US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to
criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not
obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law
is itself unlawful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nuremberg_defense>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken. They
have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for
"We the People." We have won with the most votes ever cast for a
presidential ticket in the history of this nation — 74 million. I am
humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me. I pledge to
be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn't see
Red and Blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my
heart to win the confidence of the whole people. For that is what
America is about: The people.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
The Boat Race 2019 took place on 7 April 2019. Held annually, The Boat
Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities
of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the
River Thames in south-west London. For the fourth time in the history of
the event, the men's, the women's and both reserves' races were all held
on the Tideway on the same day. Cambridge won the women's and men's
races, increasing their lead in the overall record to 44–30 for the
women and 84–80 for the men. In the women's reserve race, Cambridge's
Blondie defeated Oxford's Osiris, their fourth consecutive victory. The
men's reserve race was won by Cambridge's Goldie, who defeated Oxford's
Isis. The races were watched by thousands of spectators lining the banks
of the Thames, and broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the BBC. They
were also live-streamed on YouTube, and by media organisations in
Germany, South Africa and China, and around the world.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race_2019>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Civil War: U.S. president Abraham Lincoln delivered
the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National
Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address>
1942:
World War II: Soviet troops launched Operation Uranus at the
Battle of Stalingrad with the goal of encircling Axis forces, turning
the tide of the battle in their favour.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus>
2010:
The first of four explosions occurred at the Pike River Mine in
the West Coast in New Zealand's worst mining disaster in nearly a
century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ordure:
1. Dung, excrement.
2. (by extension) Dirt, filth.
3. (by extension) Something regarded as contaminating or perverting the
morals; obscene material.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ordure>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially
profitable to dispense it. It becomes an ever-descending spiral.
--Dick Cavett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dick_Cavett>
Thomas White (1888–1957) was an Australian politician and First World
War pilot. In 1915, he was among the first Australian Flying Corps
members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the
Mesopotamian Half Flight. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He was elected to
the House of Representatives in 1929. He served as Minister for Trade
and Customs in Joseph Lyons's United Australia Party government from
1933 to 1938, but resigned when he was excluded from Lyons's inner
cabinet. After service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the
Second World War, he returned to parliament in 1945 as a member of the
newly formed Liberal Party. From 1949 to 1951, he was Minister for Air
and Minister for Civil Aviation in Robert Menzies's government. He was
Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1956,
and was knighted in 1952.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_White_%28Australian_politician%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1872:
American suffragette Susan B. Anthony was arrested and fined
$100 for having voted in the presidential election two weeks earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony>
1956:
At the Polish embassy in Moscow, Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev used the phrase "We will bury you" while addressing Western
envoys, prompting them to leave the room.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you>
1978:
Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to
mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its
members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Ryan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Minecrafter:
(video games) A person who plays the game Minecraft.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Minecrafter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anarchy means "without leaders", not "without order". With
anarchy comes an age of ordnung, of true order, which is to say
voluntary order... this age of ordung will begin when the mad and
incoherent cycle of verwirrung that these bulletins reveal has run its
course... This is not anarchy, Eve. This is chaos.
--V for Vendetta
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta>
The sovereign is a legal-tender gold coin of the United Kingdom with a
nominal value of one pound sterling. Struck from 1817 until the present
time, it was originally a circulating coin accepted in Britain and
elsewhere in the world; it is now a bullion coin and is sometimes
mounted in jewellery. In most recent years, it has borne the well-known
design of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse (pictured), created
by Benedetto Pistrucci. Issued as part of the Great Recoinage of 1816,
it not only became a popular circulating coin, but was used
internationally, trusted as a coin containing a known quantity of gold.
>From the 1850s until 1932, the sovereign was also struck at colonial
mints. With the start of the First World War in 1914, the sovereign
vanished from circulation in Britain, replaced by paper money, and it
did not return afterwards. In addition to its bullion use, it has been
struck since 1979 for collectors.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_%28British_coin%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1839:
Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, premiered at La Scala in
Milan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberto_%28opera%29>
1950:
The 14th Dalai Lama assumed full temporal power as ruler of
Tibet at the age of fifteen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Dalai_Lama>
1997:
Sixty-two people were killed by Islamist terrorists outside
Deir el-Bahari in Luxor, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_massacre>
2013:
Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashed during an aborted
landing at Kazan International Airport, Russia, killing all fifty people
on board and leading to the revocation of the airline's operating
certificate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatarstan_Airlines_Flight_363>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ulp:
1. The sound of a person gulping in fear. [...]
2. (computer science, mathematics) The value that the least significant
digit of a floating-point number represents, used as a measure of
accuracy in numeric calculations.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ulp>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I paint a gradual slipping out of the now, to that beautiful
then, where there are neither kings, presidents, landlords, national
bankers, stockbrokers, railroad magnates, patentright monopolists, or
tax and title collectors; where there are no over-stocked markets or
hungry children, idle counters and naked creatures, splendor and misery,
waste and need. I am told this is farfetched idealism, to paint this
happy, povertyless, crimeless, diseaseless world; I have been told I
"ought to be behind the bars" for it. Remarks of that kind rather
destroy the white streak of faith. I lose confidence in the slipping
process, and am forced to believe that the rulers of the earth are
sowing a fearful wind, to reap a most terrible whirlwind. When I look at
this poor, bleeding, wounded World, this world that has suffered so
long, struggled so much, been scourged so fiercely, thorn-pierced so
deeply, crucified so cruelly, I can only shake my head and remember:
The giant is blind, but he's thinking: and his locks are growing, fast.
--Voltairine de Cleyre
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltairine_de_Cleyre>
Jane Grigson (13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English
cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the
author of the food column for The Observer and wrote numerous books
about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. In 1966 she was
awarded the John Florio Prize for Italian translation. Her 1967 book
Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery was well received and, after a
recommendation by the food writer Elizabeth David, Grigson gained her
position at The Observer. Her books English Food (1974), Jane Grigson's
Vegetable Book (1978) and Jane Grigson's Fruit Book (1982) won
Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards. She was a political lobbyist,
campaigning against battery farming and for animal welfare, food
provenance and smallholders. Her writing put food into its social and
historical context, drawing on poetry, novels and the cookery writers of
the Industrial Revolution era, including Hannah Glasse, Elizabeth
Raffald, Maria Rundell and Eliza Acton. Through her writing she changed
the eating habits of the British, making many forgotten dishes popular
once again.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Grigson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
After a five-day trial following the North-West Rebellion, the
Canadian Métis leader and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel was hanged
for high treason.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel>
1920:
Qantas, Australia's national airline, was founded as Queensland
and Northern Territory Aerial Services (first office pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas>
1945:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO>
2002:
The first case of SARS, a zoonotic respiratory disease caused
by a coronavirus, was recorded in Guangdong, China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
circuitry:
1. (countable) A specific system of electrical circuits in a particular
device; (uncountable) the design of such a system.
2. (uncountable) Electrical (or, by extension, other) circuits
considered as a group.
3. (uncountable, figurative) The brain's neural network.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/circuitry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nobody performs her or his duties. Governments do not, because
they do not know, they are not able or they do not wish, or because they
are not permitted by those who effectively govern the world: The
multinational and pluricontinental companies whose power — absolutely
non-democratic — reduce to next to nothing what is left of the ideal
of democracy. We citizens are not fulfilling our duties either. Let us
think that no human rights will exist without symmetry of the duties
that correspond to them. It is not to be expected that governments in
the next 50 years will do it. Let us common citizens therefore speak up.
With the same vehemence as when we demanded our rights, let us demand
responsibility over our duties. Perhaps the world could turn a little
better.
--José Saramago
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago>
The 2019 Tour Championship was a professional snooker ranking
tournament, held from 19 to 24 March 2019 in Llandudno, Wales.
Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association,
it was the 18th ranking event of the 2018–19 season. The top eight
players based on the single-year ranking list took part in a single
elimination tournament. Each match was played over a minimum of two
sessions, the final as a best-of-25-frames match over two days. In a
repeat of the Players Championship final two weeks prior, Ronnie
O'Sullivan (pictured) met Neil Robertson in the final. O'Sullivan won
the match 13–11 to claim his 36th ranking title, equalling Stephen
Hendry's record of ranking event wins. This was O'Sullivan's third
ranking title win of the season. On winning the tournament, O'Sullivan
returned to the world number one position for the first time since
May 2010, and became the oldest world number one since Ray Reardon in
1983.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Tour_Championship>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1760:
The chapel of the newly constructed Castellania in Valletta,
Malta, was consecrated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellania_%28Valletta%29>
1859:
Sponsored by Greek businessman Evangelos Zappas, the first
modern revival of the Olympic Games took place in Athens.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappas_Olympics>
1935:
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was officially established,
with Manuel L. Quezon inaugurated as its president (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_the_Philippines>
1988:
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat
proclaimed the creation of the State of Palestine as "the state of
Palestinians wherever they may be".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unwearied:
1. Not wearied, not tired.
2. Never tiring; tireless.
3. Not stopping; persistent, relentless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unwearied>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Happy the heart to whom God has given enough strength and courage
to suffer for Him, to find happiness in simplicity and the happiness of
others.
--Johann Kaspar Lavater
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Lavater>
Project Excalibur was an American Cold War–era research program to
develop nuclear-device-powered, space-based X-ray lasers as a ballistic
missile defense. X-ray lasers were conceived in the 1970s by George
Chapline Jr. (pictured with George Maenchen) and further developed by
Peter L. Hagelstein, both working at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory under Edward Teller. After a promising test, Teller discussed
the proposal in 1981 with US president Ronald Reagan, who in 1983
incorporated it in his Strategic Defense Initiative. Further underground
nuclear tests suggested progress was being made. Reagan refused to
abandon the technology at the 1986 Reykjavík Summit arms-control talks,
even after a critical test demonstrated it was not working as expected.
Researchers at Livermore and Los Alamos began to raise concerns about
test results, and the infighting became public. In 1988 the program
budget was cut dramatically, after additional problems were revealed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excalibur>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1970:
Southern Airways Flight 932, chartered by the Marshall
University football team, crashed into a hill near Ceredo, West
Virginia, killing all 75 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Airways_Flight_932>
1990:
Music producer Frank Farian admitted that the German R&B; duo
Milli Vanilli did not sing the vocals on their album Girl You Know It's
True.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli>
2010:
Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers'
Championship after winning the final race of the season, becoming the
youngest Formula One champion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Vettel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pandect:
1. (Ancient Rome, law, historical) Usually in the plural form Pandects:
a compendium or digest of writings on Roman law divided in 50 books,
compiled in the 6th century C.E. by order of the Eastern Roman emperor
Justinian I (c. 482–565).
2. (by extension, rare) Also in the plural form pandects: a
comprehensive collection of laws; specifically, the whole body of law of
a country; a legal code.
3. (by extension, also figurative) A treatise or similar work that is
comprehensive as to a particular topic; specifically (Christianity) a
manuscript of the entire Bible.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pandect>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are, the great spiritual writers insist, most fully ourselves
when we give ourselves away, and it is egotism that holds us back from
that transcendent experience that has been called God, Nirvana, Brahman,
or the Tao. What I now realize, from my study of the different
religious traditions, is that a disciplined attempt to go beyond the ego
brings about a state of ecstasy. Indeed, it is in itself ekstasis.
Theologians in all the great faiths have devised all kinds of myths to
show that this type of kenosis, or self-emptying, is found in the life
of God itself. They do not do this because it sounds edifying, but
because this is the way that human nature seems to work. We are most
creative and sense other possibilities that transcend our ordinary
experience when we leave ourselves behind.
--Karen Armstrong
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong>