RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor is an 89-hectare (220-acre) wetlands nature
reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, run by the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It lies on the
junction of the A633 and A6195 roads and is bordered by the Trans
Pennine Trail long-distance path. Old Moor is managed to benefit
bitterns, breeding waders such as lapwings, redshanks and avocets, and
wintering golden plovers. Passerine birds include a small colony of tree
sparrows and good numbers of willow tits, thriving despite a steep
decline elsewhere in the UK. The reserve, along with others nearby,
forms part of a landscape-scale project to create wildlife habitat in
the Dearne Valley. As of 2018, the reserve had about 100,000 visits per
year. It may benefit from future habitat creation beyond the reserve
and improved accessibility, although there is also a potential threat
from climate change and flooding.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSPB_Dearne_Valley_Old_Moor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
Union General Ulysses S. Grant pulled his troops out of the
Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia, ending one of the
bloodiest, most lopsided battles in the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cold_Harbor>
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary
during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl>
1994:
The Boeing 777, the world's largest twinjet, made its first
flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777>
1999:
In the aftermath of the bombing of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo
War, the NATO-led Kosovo Force entered Kosovo with a mandate of
establishing a secure environment in the territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Force>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tokamak:
(nuclear physics) A torus-shaped chamber used in nuclear fusion research
in which a plasma is magnetically confined.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tokamak>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the
present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after
moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
--Yamamoto Tsunetomo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yamamoto_Tsunetomo>
Cyclone Raja was a severe tropical cyclone that spawned in the South
Pacific in December 1986. It holds the 24-hour rainfall record of
674.9 mm (26.57 in) for the French Overseas Territory of Wallis and
Futuna. After it was named on 23 December, it unexpectedly headed
southeast toward Futuna. The system peaked at Category 3 on 28 December,
with sustained winds of around 150 km/h (90 mph). It turned southwest
the next day, toward Fiji and several smaller islands in the Lau group.
The storm dissipated on 5 January over the north Tasman Sea. Raja caused
two deaths as it impacted the island nations of Tuvalu, Wallis and
Futuna, Tonga and Fiji. Gusty winds and rough seas caused extensive
damage to crops, coastal installations and buildings in Tuvalu, and
greater destruction in Futuna. Raja was responsible for the worst flood
of the Labasa River in Fiji since 1929. The name Raja was later retired
from the South Pacific naming lists.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Raja>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
In the Philippines, Philip II of Spain recognized the right to
govern of the Principalía, the local nobles and chieftains who had
converted to Roman Catholicism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%C3%ADa>
1963:
The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor George
Wallace stepped aside after defiantly blocking the entrance to an
auditorium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door>
2008:
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologised to the First
Nations for past governments' policies of forced assimilation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
esquamulose:
(botany, mycology) Not covered in scales or scale-like objects; having a
smooth skin or outer covering.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/esquamulose>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
He is a narrow-minded man, that affects a triumph in any glorious
study; but to triumph in a lie, and a lie themselves have forged, is
frontless. Folly often goes beyond her bounds; but Impudence knows none.
--Ben Jonson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson>
Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (c. 622 – 687) was an early Islamic revolutionary
based in Kufa who led a rebellion against the Umayyads during the Second
Islamic Civil War and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months.
Mukhtar had allied with the Mecca-based rival caliph Abd Allah ibn al-
Zubayr following Husayn ibn Ali's death at the Battle of Karbala, but
returned to Kufa after caliph Yazid's death. He declared Muhammad ibn
al-Hanafiyyah, a son of Ali, to be the Mahdi, and took power in his name
in 685. Hostile relations with Ibn al-Zubayr ultimately led to Mukhtar's
death at the hands of the Zubayrid governor of Basra, Mus'ab ibn al-
Zubayr, following a four-month siege. Mukhtar's followers formed a
radical Shia sect; later called Kaysanites, they developed novel
doctrines and played a significant role in the Abbasid Revolution.
Mukhtar is a controversial figure among Muslims, revered by Shia but
condemned by many others as a false prophet.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_al-Thaqafi>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1786:
Ten days after it was created during an earthquake, a landslide
dam on the Dadu River in China was destroyed by an aftershock, causing a
flood that killed an estimated 100,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1786_Kangding-Luding_earthquake>
1886:
Mount Tarawera, a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand,
erupted (depicted), killing around 120 people and creating the Waimangu
Volcanic Rift Valley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1886_eruption_of_Mount_Tarawera>
1925:
The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant
church, held its inaugural service in Toronto's Mutual Street Arena.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada>
1991:
Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in South Lake
Tahoe, California; she remained a captive until 2009.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Dugard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disimprovement:
Reduction from a better to a worse state.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disimprovement>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the
soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown,
and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we
describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is
our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of
ourselves.
--Saul Bellow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saul_Bellow>
Round the Horne is a British radio comedy show, first broadcast by the
BBC in four series of weekly shows between 1965 and 1968, and frequently
repeated since then. The programme was created by the writers Barry Took
and Marty Feldman (pictured), and stars Kenneth Horne, with a supporting
cast of Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and, in the first
three series, Bill Pertwee. Horne plays a benign central figure
surrounded by a gallery of larger-than-life characters including the
camp pair Julian and Sandy, the disreputable eccentric J. Peasmold
Gruntfuttock, and the singer of dubious folk songs, Rambling Syd Rumpo,
who all became nationally familiar throughout the UK. The show was much
criticised by morality campaigners for its irreverence and double
entendres, but attracted an unusually large audience at the time, and in
a 2019 poll was voted the BBC's third-best radio show of any genre, and
the best British radio comedy series of all.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_the_Horne>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1523:
Simon de Colines, a Parisian printer, was fined for printing
Biblical commentary by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples without obtaining
prior approval.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_de_Colines>
1915:
Unhappy with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's handling of the
RMS Lusitania sinking, William Jennings Bryan resigned as Secretary of
State.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan>
1944:
World War II: In reprisal for successful French Resistance
attacks, the SS and SD hanged 99 men in the town of Tulle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulle_massacre>
1965:
The Viet Cong commenced combat with the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in
the Vietnam War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%C4%90%E1%BB%93ng_Xo%C3%A0i>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ennead:
1. (obsolete) The number nine.
2. (rare) Any grouping or system containing nine objects.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ennead>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at
all, So tell me why it should be true That I get a kick out of you?
--Cole Porter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cole_Porter>
Kim Clijsters (born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian tennis player who competed
professionally from 1997 to 2012. A former world No. 1 in both singles
and doubles, she won four Grand Slam singles titles, including three US
Open championships. Together with Justine Henin, she established Belgium
as a force in women's tennis, leading their country to its first Fed Cup
crown in 2001. Clijsters won forty-one Women's Tennis Association (WTA)
singles titles, including three WTA Tour Championships. After retiring
at the age of 23, Clijsters returned to tennis and won a record-tying
three Grand Slam singles titles as a mother on the way to becoming the
only mother to be ranked No. 1 in singles by the WTA. She was known for
her athleticism, in particular her ability to perform splits on court in
the middle of points. Clijsters won the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship
Award eight times. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame in 2017.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Clijsters>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: British forces defeated the
Continental Army at the Battle of Trois-Rivières, the last battle of
the American invasion of Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trois-Rivi%C3%A8res>
1929:
Margaret Bondfield became the first female member of the
Cabinet of the United Kingdom when she was named Minister of Labour by
Ramsay MacDonald.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Bondfield>
1967:
The Israeli Air Force attacked the U.S. Navy intelligence ship
USS Liberty in international waters, killing 34 and wounding 173.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident>
2009:
Two American journalists, having been arrested for illegal
entry into North Korea, were sentenced to twelve years hard labor before
being pardoned two months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_imprisonment_of_American_journalists_by_…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
polynya:
(hydrology, oceanography) A naturally formed area of open water
surrounded by sea ice, especially in the Arctic.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polynya>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the
propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency
to miss lunch.
--Tim Berners-Lee
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee>
The history of aluminium in human usage goes back at least 2,500 years,
when its compound alum was used for dyeing and fire-resistant coating.
During the Middle Ages, alum was traded in international commerce. In
the Age of Enlightenment, the earth of alum, alumina, was shown to be an
oxide of a new metal which was then discovered in the 1820s. Pure
aluminium remained scarce until industrial production began in 1856;
since the 1886 discovery of the Hall–Héroult process, production has
grown exponentially. Engineering and construction applications began in
the first half of the 20th century; aluminium was a vital strategic
resource for aviation during both world wars. In 1954, it surpassed
copper as the most produced non-ferrous metal. In the following decades,
aluminium production spread throughout the world, and the metal became
an exchange commodity and gained usage in transportation and packaging.
Aluminium production in the 21st century exceeds that of all other non-
ferrous metals combined.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
Virginia statesman Richard Henry Lee presented a resolution to
the Second Continental Congress, which called for the Thirteen Colonies
to declare independence from Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Resolution>
1917:
First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines
under the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-
made explosion in history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_%281917%29>
1969:
The rock supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Steve
Winwood and Ginger Baker, played their only UK show in Hyde Park in
front of 100,000 fans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
merit:
1. (transitive) To deserve, to earn.
2. (intransitive) To be deserving or worthy.
3. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To reward.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/merit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My Poem is life, and not finished. It shall never be finished.
My Poem is life, and can grow.
--Gwendolyn Brooks
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks>
Smythe's Megalith was a chambered long barrow near the village of
Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably
constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early
Neolithic period, it was discovered in 1822, at which point it was
dismantled. Built out of earth and at least five local sarsen megaliths,
the long barrow consisted of a roughly rectangular earthen tumulus with
a stone chamber in its eastern end. Archaeologists have established that
the monument was built by pastoralist communities shortly after the
introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe. Part of
an architectural tradition of long barrows that was widespread across
Neolithic Europe, Smythe's Megalith belonged to a regional variant
produced near the River Medway, now known as the Medway Megaliths.
Several of these still survive: Coldrum Long Barrow, Addington Long
Barrow, Chestnuts Long Barrow, Kit's Coty House, the Little Kit's Coty
House, and the Coffin Stone.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smythe%27s_Megalith>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1749:
A plot by Muslim slaves in Malta to assassinate Manuel Pinto da
Fonseca of the Knights Hospitaller was uncovered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_of_the_Slaves>
1894:
Colorado Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered his state militia
to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners'
strike.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_1894>
1944:
World War II: The Invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious
military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the
beaches of Normandy in France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings>
1971:
Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collided with a U.S. Marine Corps
F-4B Phantom II near Duarte, California, killing 50 people, the radar
intercept officer of the F-4B being the sole survivor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_Airwest_Flight_706>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
polemology:
The study of human conflict and war.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polemology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set
upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our
religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to
their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy
blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He
may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but
we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by
the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be
sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is
won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be
shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from
the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight
to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice
arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but
for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will
never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic
servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home — fathers, mothers,
children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose
thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to
rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great
sacrifice.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt>
The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a species of extremely
venomous snake native to parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the second-
longest venomous snake after the king cobra; mature specimens generally
exceed 2 metres (6.6 feet) and commonly grow to 3 m (10 ft). Specimens
of 4.3 to 4.5 m (14.1 to 14.8 ft) have been reported. Its skin colour
varies from grey to dark brown. The species is both terrestrial
(ground-living) and arboreal; it inhabits savannah, woodland, rocky
slopes and, in some regions, dense forest. It is diurnal and is known to
prey on birds and small mammals. Over suitable surfaces, it can move at
speeds up to 16 km/h (10 mph) for short distances. It is capable of
striking at considerable range and may deliver a series of bites in
rapid succession. Its venom, primarily composed of neurotoxins, is
frequently fatal unless antivenom is administered. Despite its
reputation as a formidable and highly aggressive species, the black
mamba rarely attacks humans.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_mamba>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
Vietnamese guerrilla leader Trương Định decided to defy
Emperor Tự Đức and the Treaty of Saigon, choosing to fight on
against the Europeans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%8Bnh>
1941:
Second Sino-Japanese War: During one sortie in a five-year
bombing campaign on Chongqing, 4,000 people died of asphyxiation when
the tunnel they were hiding in became blocked.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Chongqing>
1981:
The Centers for Disease Control recorded a cluster of
Pneumocystis pneumonia cases among homosexual men in Los Angeles, the
first reported cases of AIDS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS>
2009:
After almost two months of civil disobedience, at least 31
people were killed in clashes between the National Police and indigenous
people in Peru's Bagua Province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Peruvian_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rubbish:
1. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, Britain) Garbage, junk, refuse,
trash, waste.
2. (by extension, chiefly Australia, New Zealand, Britain) An item, or
items, of low quality.
3. (by extension, chiefly Australia, New Zealand, Britain) Nonsense.
4. (archaic) Debris or ruins of buildings. […]
5. (transitive, chiefly Australia, New Zealand, Britain, colloquial) To
criticize, to denigrate, to denounce, to disparage.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rubbish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The social object of skilled investment should be to defeat the
dark forces of time and ignorance which envelope our future.
--The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_General_Theory_of_Employment,_Interest_an…>
Droxford railway station was a rural station on the Meon Valley Railway
in Hampshire, England. In 1944 it was used by Winston Churchill during
preparations for the Normandy landings. Based in an armoured train
parked in its sidings, he met with numerous ministers, military
commanders and leaders of allied nations. On 4 June 1944, shortly before
the landings were due to take place, Free French leader Charles de
Gaulle visited Churchill at Droxford, and was informed of the invasion
plans. Churchill told de Gaulle that if ever forced to choose between
France and the US he would always side with the US, a remark which
instilled in de Gaulle a suspicion of Britain and caused long-term
damage to the relationship between France and the UK. In 1955 the
station closed to passengers and in 1962 to goods, after which the
station and a section of its track were used for demonstrating an
experimental railbus and as a driving school, before becoming a private
residence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droxford_railway_station>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound in the
Pacific Northwest for Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound>
1913:
Emily Davison, an activist for women's suffrage in the United
Kingdom, was fatally injured when she was trampled by King George V's
horse at the Epsom Derby.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davison>
1944:
World War II: A United States Navy task group captured German
submarine U-505.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505>
1989:
The People's Liberation Army suppressed the Tiananmen Square
protests in Beijing, leaving many dead and wounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ghrelin:
(biochemistry) A peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty,
that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the
pituitary gland.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghrelin>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If every one of those good words — liberty, equality,
fraternity, democracy, human rights — has been called "bourgeois",
what on earth does that leave for us?
--Fang Lizhi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fang_Lizhi>
The 24 Kaiman-class ships were high-seas torpedo boats built for the
Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1904 and 1910. Yarrow Shipbuilders built
the lead ship (launched on 3 June 1905), Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
of Trieste built 13 boats, and Ganz-Danubius constructed the remaining
10 boats at their shipyards at Fiume. The class was considered to be a
very successful design, and all boats saw extensive active service
during World War I, undertaking a range of tasks, including escort
duties, shore bombardments and minesweeping. All survived, although
several were damaged by naval mines and collisions. One was torpedoed
and badly damaged by a French submarine, and two sank an Italian
submarine. All the boats were transferred to the Allies and scrapped at
the end of the war, except for four that were allocated to the navy of
the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. These were
discarded and broken up between 1928 and 1930.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiman-class_torpedo_boat>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1844:
The last known pair of great auks (specimens depicted), the
only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed on Eldey, off
the coast of Iceland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk>
1950:
Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition became
the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_French_Annapurna_expedition>
1969:
During a SEATO exercise HMAS Melbourne of the Royal Australian
Navy collided with the U.S. Navy's USS Frank E. Evans, cutting the
latter in two and killing 74 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne%E2%80%93Evans_collision>
1982:
An assassination attempt on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli
ambassador to the United Kingdom, failed; this was later used as
justification for the 1982 Lebanon War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Argov>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disport:
(transitive, intransitive, reflexive, dated) To amuse oneself
divertingly or playfully; in particular, to cavort or gambol.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disport>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let's forget today who is friend or foe, and hold each other in
caring embrace. Let your love be the magnet to bring the humanity to
Allah's grace. Remember those in perennial fast, constantly in hunger
and deprivation, Share with the poor, orphans and the destitutes, to
make inclusive your celebration.
--Kazi Nazrul Islam
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kazi_Nazrul_Islam>