The Beaune Altarpiece is a large polyptych altarpiece by the Early
Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden. It was commissioned in 1443
for the Hospices de Beaune by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of the Duchy of
Burgundy, and his wife Guigone de Salins, who was buried in front of the
altarpiece. The polyptych consists of fifteen paintings spread across
nine panels, of which six are painted on both sides. The inner panels
contain scenes from the Last Judgement, with a central image that shows
Christ seated in judgement, and the Archangel Michael holding scales as
he weighs souls. The panel on Christ's far right depicts the gates of
Heaven, that to his far left the entrance to Hell; souls are shown
moving towards each after being judged. The altarpiece is in poor
condition, having suffered from extensive paint loss, darkening of its
colours and accumulations of dirt. .
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_Hell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1879:
The Tay Bridge, spanning the Firth of Tay in Scotland between
Dundee and Wormit, collapsed during a violent storm while a train was
passing over it, killing all on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Bridge_disaster>
1907:
The last confirmed sighting of the now-extinct huia
(illustration shown) occurred in the Tararua Range on New Zealand's
North Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huia>
1989:
In one of Australia's worst natural disasters, an earthquake
measuring 5.6 ML struck Newcastle, New South Wales, killing 13 people
and injuring more than 160 others, and causing an estimated A$4 billion
in damages.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Newcastle_earthquake>
2009:
A suicide bomber attacked a Shia procession commemorating the
day of Ashura in Karachi, Pakistan, causing 43 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Karachi_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
forthcoming:
1. (not comparable) Approaching or about to take place.
2. Available when needed; in place, ready.
3. Willing to co-operate or provide information; candid, frank,
responsive.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forthcoming>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The universe is of the nature of a thought or sensation in a
universal Mind … To put the conclusion crudely — the stuff of the
world is mind-stuff. As is often the way with crude statements, I shall
have to explain that by "mind" I do not exactly mean mind and by "stuff"
I do not at all mean stuff. Still that is about as near as we can get to
the idea in a simple phrase. The mind-stuff of the world is something
more general than our individual conscious minds; but we may think of
its nature as not altogether foreign to feelings in our consciousness
… Having granted this, the mental activity of the part of world
constituting ourselves occasions no great surprise; it is known to us by
direct self-knowledge, and we do not explain it away as something other
than we know it to be — or rather, it knows itself to be.
--Arthur Eddington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Eddington>
Salih ibn Mirdas (died 1029) was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and
emir of Aleppo from 1025 until his death. His sons and grandsons ruled
Aleppo for most of the next five decades. In 1008 he seized the
Euphrates river fortress of al-Rahba. He was imprisoned and tortured in
1012 by the emir of Aleppo, Mansur ibn Lu'lu', before escaping two years
later and capturing Mansur in battle. With his Bedouin warriors, Salih
captured a string of fortresses along the Euphrates, including Manbij
and Raqqa, by 1022. He later allied with the Banu Kalb and Banu Tayy
tribes in their rebellion against the Fatimids of Egypt, who ruled
Aleppo. He annexed the central Syrian towns of Homs, Baalbek and Sidon
before conquering Aleppo in 1025 and establishing a well-organized
administration. He paid formal allegiance to the Fatimids, but his
alliance with the Banu Tayy drew him into conflict with the Fatimid
general, Anushtakin al-Dizbari, whose forces killed Salih in battle near
the Sea of Galilee.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salih_ibn_Mirdas>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1845:
John L. O'Sullivan, in his newspaper the New York Morning News,
argued that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon
Country "by the right of our manifest destiny", popularizing the term's
use.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny>
1904:
The stage play Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, by
Scottish author and dramatist J. M. Barrie, premiered in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Wendy>
1966:
A group of three men made the first descent into the Cave of
Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, in Aquismón,
Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Swallows>
2002:
The company Clonaid claimed that a cloned human baby had been
born, although it has yet to present any verifiable evidence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonaid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
golden touch:
(idiomatic) Synonym of Midas touch (“the ability to achieve financial
reward (or, more generally, success) easily and consistently”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/golden_touch>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Greeks understood the mysterious power of the hidden side of
things. They bequeathed to us one of the most beautiful words in our
language — the word "enthusiasm" — en theos [Εν Θεος] — a
god within. The grandeur of human actions is measured by the inspiration
from which they spring. Happy is he who bears a god within and obeys it.
--Louis Pasteur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur>
"A Rugrats Kwanzaa" is a television special from the American animated
series Rugrats, first broadcast on December 11, 2001. It was one of the
first mainstream television shows to feature the holiday Kwanzaa. In the
episode, the toddler Susie Carmichael and her friends – Tommy
Pickles, Chuckie and Kimi Finster, and Phil and Lil DeVille – learn
about the holiday during a visit from her great-aunt. Anthony Bell
directed the episode from a script by Lisa D. Hall, Jill Gorey, and
Barbara Herndon. "A Rugrats Kwanzaa" was praised by critics for its
representation of the holiday and the voice acting; there was a mixed
response to its commercialism. Cree Summer, who voices Susie, earned a
nomination for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance by a
Youth at the 34th NAACP Image Awards for her role in the episode. A
picture book entitled The Rugrats' First Kwanzaa was adapted from the
script.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rugrats_Kwanzaa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
Imperial Russian Army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in
protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder
brother Konstantin removed himself from the line of succession.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolt>
1919:
American baseball player Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red
Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, beginning the 84-year-long
"Curse of the Bambino".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth>
1996:
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called on its 1.2 million
members to refuse to work, beginning the largest organized strike in
South Korea's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397_strikes_in_South_Korea>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
take the gilt off the gingerbread:
(idiomatic) To take away the most attractive or appealing qualities of
something; to destroy an illusion.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_the_gilt_off_the_gingerbread>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
War has no longer the justification that it makes for the
survival of the fittest; it involves the survival of the less fit. The
idea that the struggle between nations is a part of the evolutionary law
of man's advance involves a profound misreading of the biological
analogy. The warlike nations do not inherit the earth; they represent
the decaying human element.
--Norman Angell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Angell>
Charles H. Stonestreet (1813–1885) was an American Catholic priest
and Jesuit who led several institutions in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
After becoming a professor at Georgetown University, he led St. John's
Literary Institution and St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick,
Maryland. He was appointed president of Georgetown University in 1851,
and oversaw the expansion of its library. The following year, he became
provincial superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Province, which faced
growing anti-Catholicism from the Know Nothings; as a result, he forbade
Jesuits from wearing their clerical attire in public. While president of
Gonzaga College in Washington, D.C. (today a high school), he oversaw
construction of St. Aloysius Church, becoming its first pastor. In the
trial of the conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he
was called to testify about a parishioner, Mary Surratt, and a former
student, Samuel Mudd.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Stonestreet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first
removal of an ovarian tumor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_McDowell>
1989:
Romanian Revolution: Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and
his wife Elena were condemned to death on a wide range of charges and
executed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_and_execution_of_Nicolae_and_Elena_Ceau…>
2009:
A fire destroyed Longford's 19th-century St Mel's Cathedral,
considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mel%27s_Cathedral>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Kris Kringle:
1. Synonym of Christkind (“a personification of the baby Jesus who, in
German-speaking parts of Europe, takes the place of Santa Claus in
bringing gifts to people at Christmastime”)
2. Synonym of Santa Claus
3. Synonym of secret Santa (“a Christmas tradition where a group of
people give anonymous gifts to each other, with each person randomly
selected to give a gift to one other person; a person who anonymously
gives a present to another in such a gift exchange”)
4. A gift given in a Kris Kringle or secret Santa gift exchange.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Kris_Kringle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Charles Lamb, in one of his most delightful essays, sets high
worth on the observance of All Fools' Day, because it says to a man:
"You look wise. Pray correct that error!" Christmas brings the universal
message to men: "You look important and great; pray correct that error."
It overturns the false standards that have blinded the vision and sets
up again in their rightful magnitude those childlike qualities by which
we enter the Kingdom. Christmas turns things inside out. Under the
spell of the Christmas story the locked up treasures of kindliness and
sympathy come from the inside of the heart, where they are often kept
imprisoned, to the outside of actual expression in deed and word. … It
is the vision of the Christ-child which enables all men to get at the
best treasures of their lives and offer them for use.
--Halford E. Luccock
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Halford_E._Luccock>
Frank Borman (born 1928) is a retired United States Air Force colonel,
aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and businessman, and the oldest
living former NASA astronaut. In 1968, he was the commander of Apollo 8,
the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon, for which he was
awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. A graduate of West
Point, he served as an air force fighter pilot and flight instructor,
and an assistant professor at West Point. He was one of five students
in the first class at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, and was
selected with the second group of NASA astronauts in 1962. He set a
fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record as commander of Gemini 7, and
served on the review board for the Apollo 1 fire. He became a senior
vice president at Eastern Air Lines in 1970, and later its chief
executive officer and chairman of the board, leading the company through
its four most profitable years before resigning in 1986. He currently
owns a ranch in Montana.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Borman>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
The Sultanate of Brunei ceded the island of Labuan to the
British Empire as a crown colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Colony_of_Labuan>
1955:
According to legend, the NORAD Tracks Santa program began after
children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to
inquire about Santa Claus's whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number
in an advertisement (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa>
1979:
The Soviet government deployed troops in Afghanistan, starting
the Soviet–Afghan War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War>
2008:
The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began
attacks on several villages in the north of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, killing hundreds and committing numerous atrocities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
party spirit:
1. A feeling or sense of celebration or enjoyment.
2. (politics) The feeling of common purpose and togetherness experienced
or shown by members or supporters of a group, especially a political
party, sometimes accompanied by unreasonable animosity towards members
or supporters of other groups.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/party_spirit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As far as I'm concerned we are all God. That's the difference.
If you really think another guy is God he doesn't lock you up … Funny
about that.
--Ram Dass
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ram_Dass>
Arthur Gilligan (23 December 1894 – 5 September 1976) was an English
first-class cricketer who captained the England cricket team nine times
in 1924 and 1925, winning four Test matches, losing four and drawing
one. In first-class cricket, he played mainly for Cambridge University
and Sussex, and captained the latter team between 1922 and 1929. A fast
bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, Gilligan completed the
double in 1923 and was one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year for 1924.
As a captain, Gilligan was well-liked by players and commentators,
although many did not believe he was an effective tactician. During his
playing days, Gilligan was a member of the British Fascists, and it is
possible he helped to establish small fascist groups in Australia when
he captained the England team there during the 1924–25 tour. As the
Marylebone Cricket Club president during England's 1968–69 tour of
South Africa, he played a part in the D'Oliveira affair.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Gilligan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis (painting
shown).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_resignation_as_commande…>
1919:
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was enacted, lifting
most of the existing common-law restrictions on women in the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Disqualification_%28Removal%29_Act_1919>
1984:
An engine fire caused Aeroflot Flight 3519 to crash shortly
after takeoff from Krasnoyarsk, USSR, killing all but one of the 111
people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_3519>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
run someone ragged:
(originally US, idiomatic) To exhaust; to demand excessive effort or
work from somebody.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/run_someone_ragged>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Laws, wisely administered, will secure men in the enjoyment of
the fruits of their labour, whether of mind or body, at a comparatively
small personal sacrifice; but no laws, however stringent, can make the
idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober. Such
reforms can only be effected by means of individual action, economy, and
self-denial; by better habits, rather than by greater rights. The
Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflex of
the individuals composing it. The Government that is ahead of the people
will inevitably be dragged down to their level, as the Government that
is behind them will in the long run be dragged up. In the order of
nature, the collective character of a nation will as surely find its
befitting results in its law and government, as water finds its own
level. The noble people will be nobly ruled, and the ignorant and
corrupt ignobly. Indeed all experience serves to prove that the worth
and strength of a State depend far less upon the form of its
institutions than upon the character of its men. For the nation is only
an aggregate of individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a
question of the personal improvement of the men, women, and children of
whom society is composed.
--Samuel Smiles
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Smiles>
The Maryland Tercentenary half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent
piece issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1934. It depicts
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on the obverse (pictured) and the
coat of arms of Maryland on the reverse. The Maryland Tercentenary
Commission sought a coin in honor of the 300th anniversary of the
arrival of English settlers in Maryland. The state's senators introduced
legislation, and it passed both houses of Congress with no opposition. A
design had already been prepared by Professor Hans Schuler; it passed
review by the Commission of Fine Arts, though there was controversy over
whether Lord Baltimore, a Cavalier and Catholic, would have worn a
collar typical of Puritans. The Commission sold about 15,000 of the full
issue of 25,000 for $1 each, and thereafter discounted the price for
large sales to dealers and speculators. The coins have increased in
value over time, and are now valued in the low hundreds of dollars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Tercentenary_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1769:
Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing dynasty agreed
to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Burmese_War_%281765%E2%80%931769%29>
1920:
The 8th Congress of Soviets approved the GOELRO plan, the first
Soviet plan for national economic recovery and development.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOELRO_plan>
1939:
Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of
Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian
National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the
request of the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Deliverance_%28India%29>
2001:
Richard Reid unsuccessfully attempted to detonate a bomb in his
shoe on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Miami, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lotologist:
A person who collects lottery tickets.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lotologist>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I write for one and only one purpose, to overcome the invincible
ignorance of the traduced heart. My poems are acts of force and violence
directed against the evil which murders us all.
--Kenneth Rexroth
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth>
Kal Ho Naa Ho (Tomorrow May Never Come) is a 2003 Indian romantic
comedy-drama film directed by Nikkhil Advani, starring Jaya Bachchan,
Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta (pictured). It tells the
story of Naina Catherine Kapur (Zinta), a pessimistic and uptight
business administration student. She falls in love with her neighbour
Aman Mathur (Shah Rukh Khan), a terminally ill patient who fears she
will grieve for him if he reciprocates her feelings. The film was
written by Karan Johar, who co-produced it with his father Yash Johar
under their Dharma Productions banner. The film received positive
critical feedback, and was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year.
Its themes include inter-caste marriage, terminal illness, and the
depiction of non-resident Indians. It won two National Film Awards,
eight Filmfare Awards, thirteen International Indian Film Academy
Awards, six Producers Guild Film Awards, three Screen Awards, and two
Zee Cine Awards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal_Ho_Naa_Ho>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1844:
The Rochdale Pioneers opened their store in Rochdale, England,
forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_Society_of_Equitable_Pioneers>
1919:
After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to
resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from
the United States to Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman>
1963:
An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish
Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to
538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Christmas_%281963%29>
1995:
In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew
from the city of Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of its
control to the Palestinian National Authority.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Sherman necktie:
(US, rail transport, historical, chiefly plural) A segment of rail that
has been heated and twisted into a loop, as a means of destroying a
railway.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sherman_necktie>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Fascism … is a headlong flight into fantasy from the necessity
for political thought … persons supporting Fascism behave as if man
were already in possession of principles which would enable him to deal
with all our problems, and as if it were only a question of appointing a
dictator to apply them.
--Rebecca West
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rebecca_West>
The Brothers Poem is a work by the archaic Greek poet Sappho
(c. 630 – c. 530 BC) that had been lost since antiquity until it
was rediscovered in 2014. Most of its text survives, apart from its
opening lines. Known only from papyrus fragments (pictured), it mentions
two of Sappho's brothers, Charaxos and Larichos. This is the only known
mention of their names in Sappho's writings, though they are known from
other sources. These references, and aspects of language and style, have
been used to establish her authorship. The poem is structured as an
address – possibly by Sappho herself – to an unknown person. The
speaker chastises the addressee for saying repeatedly that Charaxos will
return (possibly from a trading voyage), maintaining that his safety is
in the hands of the gods and offering to pray to Hera for his return.
The narrative then switches focus from Charaxos to Larichos, who the
speaker hopes will relieve the family from their troubles when he
becomes a man.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Poem>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1948:
Indonesian National Revolution: Dutch forces captured the
Indonesian Republic's temporary capital, Yogyakarta, and seized
President Sukarno.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kraai>
1971:
Two groups of French doctors involved in humanitarian aid
merged to form Médecins Sans Frontières.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9decins_Sans_Fronti%C3%A8res>
1987:
The deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history occurred
when the MV Doña Paz sank after colliding with an oil tanker in the
Tablas Strait, Philippines, resulting in an estimated 4,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Do%C3%B1a_Paz>
1999:
Portugal transferred the sovereignty of Macau, which it had
administered since the mid–16th century, to China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bewilder:
(transitive) To confuse, disorientate, or puzzle someone, especially
with many different choices.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bewilder>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our enemy really isn't capitalism, it's cynicism. That's one the
things I learned from Woody … Not to be cynical … That cynicism …
It destroys you, it rots you away from the inside. So that sense of
optimism and humanity … which 20 years ago I would have called
socialism but now I'll call compassion … You know, that idea is still
out there and alive and if you can plug into that and encourage that it
makes it all worth while.
--Billy Bragg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Billy_Bragg>
It Is the Law is a 1924 American silent mystery film directed by J.
Gordon Edwards and starring Arthur Hohl, Herbert Heyes, and Mona Palma.
It is a film adaptation of the 1922 Broadway play of the same name by
Elmer Rice. The film depicts the story of Ruth Allen (Palma), who
marries Justin Victor (Heyes) instead of competing suitor Albert
Woodruff (Hohl). Seeking revenge, Woodruff fakes his death by killing a
drifter who resembles him, and frames Victor for the murder. After
Victor goes to prison, Woodruff renews his courtship of Allen using an
assumed identity, but she sees through his disguise. When Victor gets
out of prison, he kills Woodruff, and goes free because he cannot be
convicted twice for the same crime. This was the final film for director
Edwards and was one of the last motion pictures produced at Fox Film's
New York studio. Like many of Fox's early works, it was probably lost
in the 1937 Fox vault fire.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_the_Law>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
Thomas Paine (portrait shown) published the first in a series
of pamphlets entitled The American Crisis, opening with the line: "These
are the times that try men's souls."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Crisis>
1941:
Second World War: six Italian Royal Navy divers on manned
torpedoes detonated limpet mines on Royal Navy ships, disabling two
vessels.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_%281941%29>
1984:
China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint
Declaration, agreeing to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to
China on 1 July 1997.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration>
2013:
The European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory was
launched, with the goal of constructing the largest and most precise
star catalogue ever made.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_%28spacecraft%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scut:
1. (obsolete) A hare; (hunting, also figuratively) a hare as the game in
a hunt.
2. A short, erect tail, as of a hare, rabbit, or deer.
3. (by extension) The buttocks or rump; also, the female pudenda, the
vulva. […]
4. (chiefly Ireland, colloquial) A contemptible person. […]
5. (also attributively) Distasteful work; drudgery; specifically
(medicine, slang) some menial procedure left for a doctor or medical
student to complete, sometimes for training purposes.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scut>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to
more people than a thousand rallies.
--Phil Ochs
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs>