The Paleocene is a geological epoch that started 66 million years ago
with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and
75 percent of all species. The Paleocene was marked by the recovery of
the biosphere, with dense forests worldwide, while small mammals and
birds rapidly evolved to take advantage of the mass extinction. In the
seas, ray-finned fish rose to dominance. The supercontinents Laurasia
and Gondwana were still separating, the Rocky Mountains were being
uplifted, the Americas were divided, the Indian Plate was colliding with
Asia, and the North Atlantic Igneous Province was forming. Like the
preceding Mesozoic, the Paleocene had a greenhouse climate, with an
average global temperature of 24–25 °C (75–77 °F), compared to
14 °C (57 °F) today. It ended 56 million years ago with a sharp
rise in temperature in the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1790:
George Washington delivered the first State of the Union
address in New York City, then the provisional capital of the United
States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union>
1889:
American statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent for
his electromechanical tabulating machine for punched-card data.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith>
1972:
Following the country's defeat by India in the previous year's
war, new Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Bangladeshi
politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison in response to
international pressure.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Mujibur_Rahman>
2010:
Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the
Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus transporting the Togo national
football team to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, killing three
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_national_football_team_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mind-boggling:
That causes the mind to boggle; that is beyond one's ability to
understand or figure out.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mind-boggling>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Don't live by generalities, unless it be to act virtuously, and
don't ask desire to follow precise laws, for you will have to drink
tomorrow from the water you scorn today.
--Baltasar Gracián
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baltasar_Graci%C3%A1n>
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th
president of the United States, the last president from the Whig Party.
Born into poverty in the Finger Lakes area of New York state, he became
a prominent attorney in the Buffalo area and was elected to the New York
State Assembly in 1828, and to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1832. As Ways and Means Committee chairman, he helped pass the Tariff of
1842. In 1848, he was elected vice president and succeeded to the
presidency in July 1850 upon the death of President Zachary Taylor.
Fillmore considered slavery an evil, but beyond the powers of the
federal government. He pushed to pass the Compromise of 1850, leading to
a brief truce in the battle over slavery. He also enforced the Fugitive
Slave Act, a controversial part of the Compromise. The Whigs nominated
Winfield Scott in 1852 instead of him. In 1856, he was nominated for
president by the Know Nothing Party, but he finished third, winning only
Maryland.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millard_Fillmore>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia as the United
States's first de facto central bank.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_North_America>
1940:
Winter War: Outnumbered Finnish troops decisively defeated
Soviet forces at the Battle of Raate Road.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raate_Road>
2010:
In Nag Hammadi, Egypt, Muslim gunmen opened fire on a crowd of
Coptic Christians leaving church after attending Christmas mass, killing
eight of them, as well as one Muslim bystander.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
to say nothing of:
(idiomatic) An apophasis used to mention another important, usually
related, point: not taking into account, not to mention, without
considering.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/to_say_nothing_of>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I accept this idea of democracy. I am all for trying it out. It
must be a good thing if everybody praises it like that. If our
government has been willing to go to war and sacrifice billions of
dollars and millions of men for the idea I think that I ought to give
the thing a trial. The only thing that keeps me from pitching head long
into this thing is the presence of numerous Jim Crow laws on the statute
books of the nation. I am crazy about the idea of Democracy. I want to
see how it feels.
--Zora Neale Hurston
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston>
Gottlob Berger (1896–1975) was a senior German Nazi official and the
chief of the Main Office of the Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II.
He was transferred to the SS in 1936 by its commander, Heinrich Himmler.
Berger was responsible for the growth of the armed wing of the SS, the
Waffen-SS, evading controls over conscription and overseeing recruitment
within and outside Germany, including among those who in no way
reflected Himmler's ideas of "racial purity". Often clashing with senior
military officers and even with his superiors over his recruiting
methods, Berger grew the Waffen-SS to 38 divisions by the war's end. He
placed his friend Oskar Dirlewanger in command of a unit of convicted
criminals that later committed many war crimes. Indicted for war crimes
himself on 6 January 1949, Berger was convicted on 13 April, including
for his involvement in slave labour schemes and as a conscious
participant in the concentration camp program.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottlob_Berger>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
The oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas,
the Colegio de Santa Cruz, was founded in Tlatelolco, Mexico City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_Santa_Cruz_de_Tlatelolco>
1912:
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presented his theory
of continental drift, the precursor of plate tectonics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift>
1960:
National Airlines Flight 2511, traveling from New York City to
Miami, exploded in mid-air due to a bomb placed by an unknown party,
resulting in the deaths of all 34 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Airlines_Flight_2511>
1994:
Two-time American Olympic figure-skating medalist Nancy
Kerrigan was hit on the leg with a police baton by an assailant hired by
the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonya_Harding>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Slavi:
The Russian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated from January 6
through 13 in outstate Alaska, USA, wherever there is a sizable Russian
Orthodox population.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Slavi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anarchism can teach Christian thinkers to see the realities of
our societies from a different standpoint than the dominant one of the
state. What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all
appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm.
--Jacques Ellul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul>
Venture Science Fiction was an American science fiction magazine
published from 1957 to 1958, and revived for a brief run in 1969 and
1970. There were ten issues of the 1950s version, and six in the second
run. Robert P. Mills edited the 1950s version, and Edward L. Ferman was
editor for the second run. A British edition ran for 28 issues between
1963 and 1965 reprinting material from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science
Fiction as well as from the US edition of Venture. An Australian edition
was identical to the British version but dated two months later. The
1950's version was only moderately successful, failing due to poor sales
within two years. The publisher, Joseph W. Ferman, said that he wanted
well-told stories of action and adventure; the resulting fiction
contained more sex and violence than was usual for the genre in the late
1950s, and science fiction historian Mike Ashley has noted that the
magazine was ahead of its time. The second US version was also
unsuccessful, with poorer cover art and little in the way of notable
fiction. By the end of 1970, Venture had ceased publication permanently.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Science_Fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier
defeated a larger Qing Chinese force at the Battle of Núi Bop in
northern Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_N%C3%BAi_Bop>
1936:
Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_%28magazine%29>
1972:
Rose Heilbron became the first female judge to sit at the
Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Heilbron>
2004:
Spirit, the first of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover mission, successfully landed on Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_%28rover%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shorthand:
1. A rough and rapid method of writing by substituting symbols for
letters, words, etc.
2. (by extension) Any brief or shortened way of saying or doing
something.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shorthand>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or the
mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and
directed to contrary parts.
--Isaac Newton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton>
Cyclone Ada was a small but intense tropical cyclone that severely
impacted the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia, in January
1970. It formed over the far eastern Coral Sea early in the month,
remaining weak and disorganised for nearly two weeks before being named.
The extremely compact cyclone, with a reported gale radius of 55 km
(35 mi), intensified into a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone just
before striking the Whitsunday Islands on 17 January. Resorts on
Daydream, South Molle, Hayman and Long islands were obliterated. Based
on the severity of the damage, wind gusts were later estimated at
220 km/h (140 mph). Near the point of Ada's landfall, almost all the
homes in Cannonvale, Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour were destroyed.
Rainfall totals as high as 1.25 m (49 in) caused massive river
flooding in coastal waterways between Bowen and Mackay. Ada killed 14
people, including 11 at sea, and caused A$12 million in damage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Ada>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1833:
With the arrival of two British naval ships at the Falkland
Islands, the United Kingdom re-asserted sovereignty there.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassertion_of_British_sovereignty_over_the_F…>
1911:
A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroyed the city of Almaty in Russian
Turkestan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_Kebin_earthquake>
1976:
The multilateral International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, part of the International Bill of Human Rights, came
into effect.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Economic,_Social_an…>
1990:
United States invasion of Panama: General Manuel Noriega, the
deposed strongman of Panama, surrendered to American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
castle in the air:
(idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be
realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a
near impossibility.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/castle_in_the_air>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
How long will men dare to call anything expedient that is not
right? Can odium and infamy be of service to any empire, which ought to
be supported by glory and by the good-will of its allies?
--Cicero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicero>
Albatros was the fourth of six Type 23 torpedo boats (schematic shown)
built for the German Navy. Launched in July 1926 and commissioned in May
1927, she often served as a flagship of various torpedo boat units. The
ship made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War
in the late 1930s. After an attack by aircraft of the Spanish Republican
Air Force that killed German sailors in 1937, Albatros participated in
the retaliatory bombardment of Almería. At the beginning of World
War II in 1939, she helped to lay minefields and made anti-shipping
patrols before participating in Operation Weserübung, the German
invasion of Norway in April 1940. Albatros fired the first shots of the
campaign when she encountered and crippled a Norwegian patrol boat. She
was lightly damaged during the Battle of Horten Harbor. Albatros then
ran aground and was wrecked while maneuvering in an attempt to avoid
Norwegian coastal artillery.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_torpedo_boat_Albatros>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
Uruguayan War: Brazilian and Colorado Party forces captured the
city of Paysandú from its Uruguayan defenders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paysand%C3%BA>
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>
1959:
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 (replica pictured), the first
spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon, was launched by a Vostok
rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1>
1976:
An extratropical cyclone began affecting parts of western
Europe, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern portions of
the North Sea and leading to at least 82 deaths over the next few days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_of_January_1976>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tumultuous:
1. Characterized by loud, confused noise.
2. Causing or characterized by tumult; chaotic, disorderly, turbulent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tumultuous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All you have to do is take a close look at yourself and you will
understand everyone else. We’re in no way different ourselves... You
show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you
someone who has built up a false image of himself.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>
The Battle of Calais took place in the early morning of 1 January 1350,
during the Hundred Years' War. English troops in the occupied French
city of Calais ambushed and defeated an unsuspecting French force which
was attempting to take the city. Despite a truce being in effect, the
French commander Geoffrey de Charny had planned to take the city by
subterfuge, and bribed Amerigo of Pavia, an Italian officer of the city
garrison, to open a gate for them. The English king, Edward III, became
aware of the plot and personally led his household knights and the
Calais garrison in a surprise counter-attack. The French were routed by
this smaller force, with significant losses and all of their leaders
captured or killed. Later that day, Edward dined with the highest-
ranking captives, treating them with royal courtesy except for Charny,
whom he taunted for having abandoned his chivalric principles by both
fighting during a truce and attempting to purchase his way into Calais
rather than fight.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Calais>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist
movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United
States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet
abolished.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_Prohibiting_Importation_of_Slaves>
1928:
Joseph Stalin's personal secretary, Boris Bazhanov, crossed the
Iranian border and defected from the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Bazhanov>
1965:
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which later
helped the country become a republic, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan>
2009:
A nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand, killed 66 patrons
celebrating the New Year.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santika_Club_fire>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
calends:
1. Often with initial capital: the first day of a month, particularly
(Ancient Rome, historical) the first day of a month of the Roman
calendar.
2. (by extension) A day for settling debts and other accounts.
3. (by extension, biblical, Judaism, obsolete) Synonym of Rosh Hodesh
(“the Jewish festival of the new moon, which begins the months of the
Hebrew calendar”)
4. (rare) Synonym of calendar; (figuratively) an account, a record.
5. (figuratively, obsolete) The first day of something; a beginning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calends>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be
suspect and must be opposed. … Equality, rightly understood, as our
founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation
of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so
tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to
despotism.
--Barry Goldwater
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater>
Turbinellus floccosus, the shaggy chanterelle, is a cantharelloid
mushroom of the fungus family Gomphaceae native to Asia and North
America. It was known as Gomphus floccosus until 2011, when it was found
to be only distantly related to the genus's type species, G. clavatus,
and transferred to Turbinellus. The orange-capped vase- or trumpet-
shaped mushrooms may reach 30 cm (12 in) high and 30 cm (12 in)
wide. The lower and outer surfaces are covered in wrinkles and ridges
rather than gills or pores, and are pale buff or yellowish to whitish.
T. floccosus forms symbiotic relationships with the roots of various
conifers in woodlands across Eastern Asia, from North Korea to Pakistan,
and in North America, more frequently in the west. The mild-tasting
mushrooms are consumed locally in northeastern India, Nepal and Mexico,
but can cause gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting and
diarrhea.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbinellus_floccosus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
Queen Victoria selected Ottawa (Parliament Hill pictured), then
a small logging town, to be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa>
1907:
New York City held its first annual ball drop event in Times
Square as part of New Year's Eve celebrations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball>
1999:
Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal Zone from the
United States, in accordance with the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties,
concluding a 20-year transition period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fullness of time:
The time which is appropriate for something; a time that is not too
soon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fullness_of_time>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining
of our democratic norms and ideals. We must never meekly accept the
daily sundering of our country, the personal attacks, the threats
against principles, freedoms and institution, the flagrant disregard for
truth and decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the
pettiest and most personal reasons — reasons having nothing whatsoever
to do with the fortunes of the people that we have been elected to
serve. None of these appalling features of our current politics should
ever be regarded as normal. We must never allow ourselves to lapse into
thinking that that is "just the way things are now." If we simply become
inured to this condition, thinking that it is just politics as usual,
then heaven help us. Without fear of the consequences and without
consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we
must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the
conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not
normal.
--Jeff Flake
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeff_Flake>
The Turn of the Screw is a British television film based on Henry
James's 1898 ghost story of the same name. Commissioned and produced by
the BBC, it was first broadcast on 30 December 2009, on BBC One. The
novella was adapted for the screen by Sandy Welch, and the film was
directed by Tim Fywell. Although generally true to the tone and story of
James's work, the film is set in the 1920s instead of the 1840s. The
story is told in flashbacks during consultations between the
institutionalised Ann, played by Michelle Dockery (pictured), and a
psychiatrist, Dr Fisher (Dan Stevens). Ann tells how she was hired by an
aristocrat (Mark Umbers) to care for the orphans Miles (Josef Lindsay)
and Flora (Eva Sayer) at their home, Bly House. Ann soon begins to see
unknown figures around the manor, and seeks an explanation. Though the
film generally received a positive response, critics disagreed over
whether it retained the novella's much-discussed ambiguity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw_%282009_film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1702:
Queen Anne's War: James Moore, the British colonial governor of
Carolina, abandoned a siege against St. Augustine in Spanish Florida,
retreating to Charles Town in disgrace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_St._Augustine_%281702%29>
1903:
In the deadliest single-building fire in United States history,
the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago claimed over 600 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire>
1954:
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to
consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single
agency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Investigation_%28Finland%29>
2009:
Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several
Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests held on
the holy day of Ashura.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_30,_2009_Iranian_pro-government_rall…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hyperthymesia:
(neuroscience) A rare condition in which an individual possesses a
superior autobiographical memory and is able to recall the vast majority
of personal events and experiences in life.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hyperthymesia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The emperor needs all the headmasters he can get. If a quarter of
his people were headmasters he would be perfectly happy. But more than
two poets would tear his kingdom apart.
--Alasdair Gray
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray>
The red-tailed tropicbird is a seabird native to the tropical Indian and
Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird, it
has four subspecies. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it
has almost all-white plumage with a black mask and a red bill. The sexes
have similar plumage. Adults have red tail streamers that are about
twice their body length, which gives rise to its common name. Nesting
takes place in loose colonies on oceanic islands, the nest itself a
scrape found on a cliff face, in a crevice, or a sandy beach. A single
egg is laid, being incubated by both sexes for about six weeks. The red-
tailed tropicbird eats fish, mainly flying fish, and squid, catching
them by plunge-diving into the ocean. This bird is considered to be a
least-concern species according to the IUCN, though it is adversely
affected by human contact. Rats and feral cats prey on eggs and young at
nesting sites.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_tropicbird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional president of the
Republic of China in Nanjing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>
1940:
The Blitz: The Luftwaffe conducted a major night bombing raid
on the British capital, beginning what was later called the "Second
Great Fire of London".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London>
1959:
Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's
Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at Caltech, anticipating the field of
nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
succour:
1. (transitive) To give aid, assistance, or help.
2. (transitive, military) To provide aid or assistance in the form of
military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place
under siege.
3. (transitive, obsolete except dialectal) To protect, to shelter; to
provide a refuge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/succour>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every child, at birth, is the Universal Man. But, as it grows, we
turn it into "a petty man." It should be the function of education to
turn it again into the original "Universal Man." The child which by
birth was the universal man is fettered by us with such constraints as
country, language, religion, caste, race and colour. To free it from all
these limitations and transform it into "the enlightened soul", that is
to say, the universal man, — this should become the first and foremost
function of our education, culture, civilization, and what not.
--Kuvempu
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kuvempu>