The Coldrum Long Barrow is a ruined British Early Neolithic chambered
long barrow near the village of Trottiscliffe, Kent. Probably
constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, it was built by pastoralist
communities soon after the introduction of agriculture to Britain. Built
out of earth and around fifty local sarsen-stone megaliths, the barrow
consisted of a tumulus enclosed by kerb-stones. At the eastern end of
the tumulus was a stone chamber containing the remains of at least
seventeen human bodies, at least one of which had been dismembered
before burial, potentially reflecting a tradition of excarnation and
secondary burial. The long barrow later became dilapidated, possibly
exacerbated through deliberate destruction by iconoclasts or treasure
hunters. Local folklore associates the site with the burial of a prince
and the countless stones motif. Excavations took place in the early 20th
century, and in 1926, ownership was transferred to the National Trust.
Entry is free, and the stones are the site of various modern Pagan
rituals.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldrum_Long_Barrow>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1486:
Elizabeth of York married King Henry VII, becoming queen
consort of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_York>
1788:
The armed tender HMSÂ Supply, the first ship of the First
Fleet, arrived at Botany Bay, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Supply_%281759%29>
1956:
Navvab Safavi, an Iranian Shia cleric and the founder of the
Fada'iyan-e Islam fundamentalist group, was executed with three of his
followers for unsuccessfully attempting to assassinate Prime Minister
Hossein Ala'.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navvab_Safavi>
1977:
The lung infection Legionnaires' disease was found to be caused
by a previously unknown bacterium now known as Legionella (colonies
pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
banausic:
1. (formal) Of or pertaining to technical matters; mechanical.
2. (formal) Uncultured, unrefined, utilitarian.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banausic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the
decay of its principles. Â
--The Spirit of the Laws
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_the_Laws>
Apororhynchus is a genus of small, parasitic spiny-headed (or thorny-
headed) worms, the only genus in the order Apororhynchida. A lack of
features commonly found in Acanthocephala suggests an evolutionary
branching from the other three orders of class Archiacanthocephala. The
distinguishing features of this order are a highly enlarged proboscis
containing small hooks, and differently structured musculature around
this proboscis in its receptacle and receptacle protrusor. The genus
contains six species that are distributed globally, being collected
sporadically in Hawaii, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
These worms exclusively parasitize birds by attaching themselves around
the cloaca using their hooks and adhesives secreted from cement glands.
The bird hosts are of different orders, including owls, waders, and
passerines. Infection by an Apororhynchus species may cause enteritis
and anemia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apororhynchus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1773:
On James Cook's second voyage, his ship HMSÂ Resolution became
the first vessel to cross the Antarctic Circle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_James_Cook>
1920:
The Volstead Act went into effect, beginning the prohibition of
alcohol in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States>
1945:
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of
Jews from the Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody during the Siege
of Budapest and was never seen in public again.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg>
1948:
Indonesian National Revolution: The Renville Agreement between
the Netherlands and Indonesian republicans was ratified, in an
ultimately unsuccessful attempt to resolve disputes arising from the
Linggadjati Agreement of 1946.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renville_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snatch and run:
An unsophisticated method of committing robbery by grabbing someone's
property and attempting to flee with it.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snatch_and_run>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don't matter, or
like you don't have a place in our American story — because you do.
And you have a right to be exactly who you are. But I also want to be
very clear: This right isn't just handed to you. No, this right has to
be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted.
Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part
to preserve and protect those freedoms. Â
--Michelle Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama>
Ninian Park was an association football stadium in the Leckwith area of
Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City Football Club from
1910 to 2009, and of the Wales national football team from 1911 until
the late 1980s. Named after Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, it was
originally constructed with a single wooden stand and three large banks
made of ash, but gradual improvements saw the construction of the Canton
Stand, the Grange End, and the Popular Bank in addition to the
grandstand (pictured). A record 62,634 fans watched a match against
England on 17 October 1959, but the stadium's capacity was eventually
reduced to 21,508 over safety concerns. The ground hosted its last match
on 25 April 2009 against Ipswich Town and was demolished soon after,
being replaced by the newly constructed Cardiff City Stadium located
opposite. The site was converted into a residential housing estate named
Ninian Park.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninian_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
Peninsular War: French forces under Jean-de-Dieu Soult attacked
the British's amphibious evacuation under Sir John Moore at Corunna in
Galicia, Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corunna>
1920:
The League of Nations, the first worldwide intergovernmental
organization with a focus on peace and security, held its first council
meeting in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations>
1945:
World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the
Führerbunker in Berlin (entrance pictured), where he would eventually
commit suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrerbunker>
2018:
In Mrauk U, Myanmar, police fired into a crowd protesting the
ban of an event to mark the anniversary of the end of the Kingdom of
Mrauk U, resulting in seven deaths and twelve injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrauk_U_riot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bounden:
1. (dated) Now chiefly in the term bounden duty: made obligatory;
binding.
2. (obsolete) Bound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bounden>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 For Peace. Against War. Who is not? But how can you stop those
bent on genocide without making war? Â
--Susan Sontag
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag>
Soeara Berbisa (Indonesian for Venomous Voice) is a 1941 film from the
Dutch East Indies. Produced by Ang Hock Liem for Union Films and
directed by RÂ Hu, this black-and-white film starred Raden Soekarno,
Ratna Djoewita, Oedjang, and Soehaena. The story, written by
Djojopranoto, follows two young men who compete for the affections of a
woman before learning that they are long-lost brothers. Completed
between September and October 1941, Soeara Berbisa featured kroncong
music and was shot partly in western Java. It was released to coincide
with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and rated for all ages. Advertisements
(example shown) emphasised the film's appeal to both Native and Dutch
audiences, and a review in De Indische Courant was positive. This was
Union's penultimate production before the company closed after the
Japanese occupied the Indies in March 1942. Soeara Berbisa was screened
as late as 1949 and is now likely lost..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_film>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
Wilson Bentley took the first known photograph of a snowflake
by attaching a bellows camera to a microscope (process pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bentley>
1947:
The mutilated corpse of the "Black Dahlia", a 22-year-old woman
whose murder is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the U.S., was
found in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dahlia>
1975:
Portugal signed the Alvor Agreement with the nationalist
factions of UNITA, the MPLA, and the FNLA, ending the Angolan War of
Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvor_Agreement>
1993:
Salvatore Riina, one of the most powerful members of the
Sicilian Mafia, was arrested in Palermo after 23Â years as a fugitive.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Riina>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
field of vision:
The area that a person, an animal, etc., can see with its eyes (or each
eye individually) without turning the head.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/field_of_vision>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Education does have a great role to play in this period of
transition. But it is not either education or legislation; it is both
education and legislation. It may be true that morality cannot be
legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law
cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I
think that’s pretty important also. It may be true that the law cannot
change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless, and this is what we
often do and we have to do in society through legislation. We must
depend on religion and education to change bad internal attitudes, but
we need legislation to control the external effects of those bad
internal attitudes. And so there is a need for meaningful civil right
legislation. Â
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
Transandinomys talamancae is a widespread and common rodent in the genus
Transandinomys that occurs from Costa Rica to southwestern Ecuador and
northern Venezuela. Its habitat is lowland forests up to an altitude of
1,525Â m (5,003Â ft). It is a medium-sized rice rat with soft fur,
reddish to brownish on the overparts and whitish on the underparts. The
ears and feet are long, and the tail is dark brown above and lighter
below. The whiskers are very long. The species was first described in
1891 by Joel Asaph Allen. It was considered to be conspecific with what
is now Hylaeamys megacephalus from the 1960s until the 1980s and was
then placed in the genus Oryzomys until 2006, when it was moved to its
current genus. This is a terrestrial nocturnal rat that eats plants and
insects. It breeds throughout the year, but few individuals survive for
more than a year. After a gestation of about 28 days, two to five young
are born, which reach sexual maturity within two months..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_maturity>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1724:
Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, abdicated in favour
of his seventeen-year-old eldest son, who became Louis I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_Spain>
1907:
An earthquake registering 6.5 Mw struck Kingston, the capital
of Jamaica (damage pictured), resulting in approximately 1,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_Kingston_earthquake>
1960:
The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and
banknote-issuing authority, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_Australia>
1970:
The self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria
surrendered to the federal government less than three years after
declaring independence, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
darkly:
1. With a dark appearance.
2. Faintly seen in the dark.
3. (figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly.
4. (figuratively) Mysteriously; forebodingly, ominously.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/darkly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We cannot abdicate our conscience to an organization, nor to a
government. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Most certainly I am! I cannot
escape my responsibility by saying the State will do all that is
necessary. It is a tragedy that nowadays so many think and feel
otherwise. Â
--Albert Schweitzer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer>
The South China Sea raid was conducted by the United States Third Fleet
between 10 and 20 January 1945 during the Pacific War. Undertaken to
support the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, it targeted Japanese
warships, supply convoys and aircraft in the region. After attacking
airfields and shipping at Formosa and Luzon, the Third Fleet entered the
South China Sea and aircraft from its carriers attacked Japanese
shipping off French Indochina on 12 January, sinking 44 vessels. The
fleet then sailed north and attacked Formosa again on 15 January.
Further raids were conducted against Hong Kong, Canton and Hainan the
next day. The South China Sea raid was highly successful as the American
force destroyed a large number of Japanese ships and aircraft, while
losing relatively few aircraft. According to historians, the destruction
of cargo vessels and oil tankers was the most important result of the
raid, as these contributed to closing a supply route which was vital to
the Japanese war effort.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Sea_raid>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1895:
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural
Beauty, a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Trust_for_Places_of_Historic_Interes…>
1911:
The University of the Philippines College of Law, from which
many leading Filipino political figures have since graduated, was
founded in Quezon City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Law>
1964:
Rebels led by John Okello overthrew Sultan Jamshid bin
Abdullah, ending 200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Revolution>
2010:
An earthquake registering 7.0 Mw struck Haiti (damage
pictured), affecting an estimated three million people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
charlotte russe:
A dessert of custard or whipped cream enclosed in sponge cake, often in
the form of ladyfingers.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charlotte_russe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will
fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. It
is not enough in a situation of trust in the commonwealth, that a man
means well to his country; it is not enough that in his single person he
never did an evil act, but always voted according to his conscience, and
even harangued against every design which he apprehended to be
prejudicial to the interests of his country. This innoxious and
ineffectual character, that seems formed upon a plan of apology and
disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of publick duty. That
duty demands and requires, that what is right should not only be made
known, but made prevalent; that what is evil should not only be
detected, but defeated. Â
--Edmund Burke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke>
The Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece
struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1925 as a
commemorative coin in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Battles of
Lexington and Concord. It was designed by Chester Beach. Members of the
Massachusetts congressional delegation introduced legislation in 1924 to
authorize a commemorative half dollar for the anniversary. The bill
passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Calvin
Coolidge. Beach had to satisfy committees from both Lexington and
Concord, and the Commission of Fine Arts passed the design only
reluctantly, feeling he had been given poor materials to work with. The
coins were sold for $1, and were vended at the anniversary celebrations
in Lexington and in Concord; they were sold at banks across New England.
Although just over half of the authorized mintage of 300,000 was struck,
almost all the coins that were minted were sold. Depending on condition,
they are catalogued in the hundreds of dollars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexington-Concord_Sesquicentennial_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1693:
The most powerful earthquake in Italian history, registering
7.4 Mw, struck the island of Sicily.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1693_Sicily_earthquake>
1943:
Italian-American journalist and trade-union activist Carlo
Tresca, a leading public opponent of the Mafia infiltration of unions,
was assassinated in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Tresca>
1986:
The Gateway Bridge was opened in Brisbane, Australia, as the
largest prestressed concrete, single-box bridge in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges>
2013:
French special forces failed in an attempted rescue of a DGSE
agent, who had been taken hostage in 2009 by Al-Shabaab, in Buulo
Mareer, Somalia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulo_Marer_hostage_rescue_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
blotto:
(informal) (Very) drunk or intoxicated.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blotto>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the
State to the acquisition of wealth. An ambitious man might make his own
aggrandizement, by the aid of a foreign power, the price of his
treachery to his constituents. The history of human conduct does not
warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue, which would make it wise
in a Nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as
those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the
sole disposal of a Magistrate created and circumstanced as would be a
President of the United States. Â
--Alexander Hamilton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton>
Ham Wall is an English wetland and National Nature Reserve located 4
kilometres (2.5Â mi) west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels. It is
managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which helps
coordinate conservation issues across the Somerset Levels as part of the
Avalon Marshes Partnership. The reserve was constructed originally to
provide reed bed habitat for the bittern, which in 1997 was at a low
population level in the UK. The site is divided into sections with
independently controllable water levels, and machinery and cattle are
used to maintain the quality of the reed beds. The reserve hosts
important breeding populations of the rare little bittern and great
white egret, and has other uncommon animals and plants. Potential future
threats may include heavy summer rains and extensive flooding. Sea level
rise may make drainage more difficult, and current water pumping
facilities may become inadequate.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_Wall>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1909:
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted the
British flag 97.5 nautical miles (180.6Â km; 112.2Â mi) from the South
Pole, the farthest south explorers had reached at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South>
1972:
Seawise University, formerly RMSÂ Queen Elizabeth, an ocean
liner that sailed the Atlantic for Cunard Line, caught fire in Victoria
Harbour, Hong Kong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth>
1991:
Representatives from the United States and Iraq met at the
Geneva Peace Conference to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Peace_Conference_%281991%29>
2015:
Contaminated beer served at a funeral in Tete Province,
Mozambique, killed 75 people and made at least 230 others ill.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_funeral_beer_poisoning>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cryptodepression:
(geography, limnology) The portion of a lake which lies below sea level.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cryptodepression>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Together with the rest of the world, let us resolve to move
forward from the beginnings we have made. Let us continue to bring down
the walls of hostility which have divided the world for too long, and to
build in their place bridges of understanding — so that despite
profound differences between systems of government, the people of the
world can be friends. Let us build a structure of peace in the world in
which the weak are as safe as the strong — in which each respects the
right of the other to live by a different system — in which those who
would influence others will do so by the strength of their ideas, and
not by the force of their arms. Let us accept that high responsibility
not as a burden, but gladly — gladly because the chance to build such
a peace is the noblest endeavor in which a nation can engage; gladly,
also, because only if we act greatly in meeting our responsibilities
abroad will we remain a great Nation, and only if we remain a great
Nation will we act greatly in meeting our challenges at home. Â
--Richard Nixon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>