Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) was an Italian composer known for his 39
operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano
pieces, and some sacred music. In the period 1810–1823 he wrote his
most popular works including the comic operas L'italiana in Algeri, Il
barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola,
building on the traditions of masters such as Domenico Cimarosa. He also
composed opera seria works such as Otello, Tancredi and Semiramide. All
of these show innovation in melody, harmonic and instrumental colour,
and dramatic form. In 1824 he was contracted by the Opéra in Paris, for
which he produced an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X, Il
viaggio a Reims, later cannibalized for Le comte Ory, and in 1829 his
last opera, Guillaume Tell (William Tell). He retired from large-scale
composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his
popularity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioachino_Rossini>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1805:
Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptured British-held
Diamond Rock, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading
to Fort-de-France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Diamond_Rock>
1919:
First Red Scare: Anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani set off
eight bombs in eight cities across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings>
1967:
German university student Benno Ohnesorg was killed during a
protest in West Berlin against the visit of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
of Iran, sparking the formation of the militant group 2 June Movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_June_Movement>
1994:
The Royal Air Force suffered its worst peacetime disaster when
a Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, killing
all 29 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Scotland_RAF_Chinook_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rubicon:
1. A limit that when exceeded, or an action that when taken, cannot be
reversed.
2. (card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: a score which, if not
achieved by a losing player, increases the player's penalty.
3. (transitive, card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: to defeat
a player who has not achieved the rubicon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rubicon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If all hearts were open and all desires known — as they would
be if people showed their souls — how many gapings, sighings, clenched
fists, knotted brows, broad grins, and red eyes should we see in the
market-place!
--Thomas Hardy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy>
Cleopatra (69–30 BC) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic
Kingdom of Egypt, though nominally survived as pharaoh by her son
Caesarion. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of
its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion
of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a
province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period
that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC). While her
native language was Koine Greek, she was the first Ptolemaic ruler to
learn the Egyptian language. Cleopatra's legacy survives in numerous
works of art. She has been a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the
Victorian era, appearing in burlesque satire, Hollywood films such as
Cleopatra (1963), and commercial brands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
The Glorious First of June, the first and largest fleet action
of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the
French First Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars, was fought.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_First_of_June>
1942:
World War II: The crews of three Japanese Type A Kō-hyōteki-
class submarines scuttled their boats and committed suicide after
entering Sydney Harbour and launching a failed attack.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Sydney_Harbour>
1974:
In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich
introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the
"Heimlich maneuver", to help choking victims.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_thrusts>
1999:
On landing at Little Rock National Airport in the U.S. state of
Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 overran the runway and crashed
(wreckage pictured), resulting in 11 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_1420>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
oxishly:
(rare) In a manner like that of an ox.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oxishly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The truth is I've never fooled anyone. I've let men sometimes
fool themselves. Men sometimes didn’t bother to find out who and what
I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue
with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't. When they found
this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them — and fooling
them.
--Marilyn Monroe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe>
Good Girl Gone Bad is the third studio album by Barbadian singer
Rihanna, released on May 31, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP
Records. Inspired by Brandy Norwood's album Afrodisiac (2004), Good Girl
Gone Bad is a pop, dance-pop and R&B; album with 1980s influences. It
marks a departure from the Caribbean sound of Rihanna's previous
releases. Critics gave it generally positive reviews, praising its
composition and Rihanna's new musical direction, though some criticized
the lyrics. The album received seven Grammy Award nominations at the
2008 ceremony; the single "Umbrella" won in the Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration category, and later came in at number 412 on Rolling
Stone's updated 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The album debuted
at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, reached number one in
Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and had sold over 9 million
copies worldwide as of 2017. It spawned five singles, including
"Umbrella" and "Don't Stop the Music".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Girl_Gone_Bad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1795:
French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal, a court
instituted by the National Convention for the trial of political
offenders, was suppressed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Tribunal>
1935:
An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in the
British Raj, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake>
1981:
An organized mob of police and government-sponsored
paramilitias began burning the public library in Jaffna, Sri Lanka,
destroying more than 97,000 items in one of the most violent examples of
ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_Public_Library>
2009:
American physician George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the
country who performed late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott
Roeder, an anti-abortion activist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_George_Tiller>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ether:
1. (uncountable, literary or poetic) The substance formerly supposed to
fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular
as a medium breathed by deities.
2. (by extension) The medium breathed by human beings; the air.
3. (by extension) The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.
4. (uncountable, physics, historical) Often as aether and more fully as
luminiferous aether: a substance once thought to fill all unoccupied
space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact
with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy; its
existence was disproved by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment and the
theory of relativity propounded by Albert Einstein (1879–1955).
5. (uncountable, colloquial) The atmosphere or space as a medium for
broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space
through which Internet and other digital communications take place;
cyberspace.
6. (uncountable, colloquial) A particular quality created by or
surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.
7. (uncountable, organic chemistry) Diethyl ether (C4H10O), an organic
compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.
8. (countable, organic chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds
containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
9. (transitive, slang) To viciously humiliate or insult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ether>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A theory is only as good as its assumptions. If the premises are
false, the theory has no real scientific value. The only scientific
criterion for judging the validity of a scientific theory is a
confrontation with the data of experience.
--Maurice Allais
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maurice_Allais>
Scarlett Johansson (born 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her
performance in Lost in Translation (2003) won her a BAFTA Award for Best
Actress. She was nominated for Golden Globe Awards for this film and for
playing a 17th-century housemaid in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), an
estranged teenager in the drama A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), and a
seductress in the psychological thriller Match Point (2005). Her albums
Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008) and Break Up (2009) charted on the
Billboard 200. In 2010, Johansson debuted on Broadway in a revival of A
View from the Bridge, which won her a Tony Award for Best Featured
Actress. Later that year, she began portraying Black Widow in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. She voiced an intelligent computer operating system
in the 2013 comedy-drama Her, played an alien in the 2013 science
fiction film Under the Skin and a woman with psychokinetic abilities in
the 2014 science fiction action film Lucy. She was the highest-grossing
actress of 2016, and is also the highest-grossing actress of all time in
North America in nominal dollar terms.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_Johansson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the U.S.
territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and allowing their settlers to
determine if slavery would be permitted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act>
1914:
RMS Aquitania, the last surviving four-funnelled ocean liner,
departed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Aquitania>
1963:
Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination
was held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open
demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis>
2008:
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, prohibiting the use,
transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
BANANA:
(informal, humorous, derogatory, often attributively) One who objects to
the building of any structure in their neighbourhood, especially in
public policy debate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BANANA>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must make a very precise distinction between the official and
consequently dictatorial prerogatives of society organized as a state,
and of the natural influence and action of the members of a non-
official, non-artificial society.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>
New York State Route 74 and Vermont Route 74 (NY 74 and VT 74) are two
state highways connected by a cable ferry in the northeastern United
States. Together they extend 34 miles (55 km) through Essex County, New
York, and Addison County, Vermont. The connecting ferry route, predating
both NY 74 and VT 74, began operation in 1759. The ferry operation
upgraded to a cable system in 1946. NY 74 begins at exit 28 off
Interstate 87 in the hamlet of Severance in the Adirondack Mountains
region of northern New York State. It extends 20.44 miles (32.89 km) to
the western shore of Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga. There, the seasonal
Fort Ticonderoga – Larrabees Point Ferry carries cars across the state
border to VT 74, which starts at the lake's eastern shore and terminates
13.26 miles (21.34 km) later at a junction with VT 30 in the town of
Cornwall. Segments of NY 74 follow the alignment of the historic
Ticonderoga and Schroon Turnpike, a privately owned highway chartered in
1832.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Route_74_%28New_York%E2%80%93Vermont%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a successful
concert tour of the United States under the management of showman P. T.
Barnum.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind_tour_of_America,_1850%E2%80%9352>
1935:
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, the most-produced fighter aircraft in
history, made its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109>
1942:
Bing Crosby recorded his version of the song "White Christmas",
which went on to become the best-selling single of all time, with more
than 50 million copies sold.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_%28song%29>
1954:
The first annual Bilderberg Meeting of leaders from European
countries and the United States opened in Oosterbeek, Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Meeting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nick:
1. (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor
way.
2. (transitive) To make ragged or uneven, as by cutting nicks or notches
in; to deface, to mar.
3. (transitive, rare) To make a crosscut or cuts on the underside of
(the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of
nicks; to tally with.
5. (transitive) To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike
at the precise point or time.
6. (transitive, cricket) To hit the ball with the edge of the bat and
produce a fine deflection.
7. (transitive, gaming) To throw or turn up (a number when playing
dice); to hit upon.
8. (transitive, mining) To make a cut at the side of the face.
9. (transitive, Australia, Britain, slang) To steal.
10. (transitive, Britain, law enforcement, slang) To arrest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nick>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Across the gulfs and barriers that now divide us, we must
remember that there are no permanent enemies. Hostility today is a fact,
but it is not a ruling law. The supreme reality of our time is our
indivisibility as children of God and our common vulnerability on this
planet.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is a large bird in the stork family,
Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition
of his Systema Naturae. Measuring on average 95 to 100 cm (37 to
39 in) from beak tip to end of tail with a 145-to-155 cm
(57-to-61 in) wingspan, the adult black stork has mainly black plumage,
with white underparts, long red legs and a long pointed red beak. A
widespread, but uncommon, species, it breeds in scattered locations
across Europe (predominantly in Spain, and central and eastern Europe)
and Asia. It is a long-distance migrant, with European populations
wintering in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asian populations in the
Indian subcontinent. Unlike the closely related white stork, the black
stork is a shy and wary species. It is seen singly or in pairs, usually
in marshy areas, rivers or inland waters. It feeds on amphibians, small
fish and insects, generally wading slowly in shallow water to stalk its
prey.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_stork>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1608:
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi debuted his second opera
L'Arianna, now one of his lost works, at a royal wedding in Mantua.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Arianna>
1830:
U.S. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act
into law, authorizing him to negotiate with Native Americans for their
removal from their ancestral homelands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act>
1977:
A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky,
killed 165 patrons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Supper_Club_fire>
2010:
A train derailment and collision in the Paschim Medinipur
district of West Bengal, India, caused the deaths of at least 148
passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnaneswari_Express_train_derailment>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pyroballogy:
(weaponry, obsolete, rare) The study of artillery; the practice of using
artillery as a weapon.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pyroballogy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This country-right-or-wrong business is getting a little out-of-
date. Today we are fighting Communism. Okay. If I’d been alive fifty
years ago, the brand of Conservatism we have today would have been damn
near called Communism and we should have been told to go and fight that.
History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains
keep on changing parts.
--Ian Fleming
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Fleming>
Arthur Mold (27 May 1863 – 29 April 1921) was an English professional
cricketer. He began his cricket career playing for Banbury and
Northamptonshire in the mid-1880s, then played first-class cricket for
Lancashire as a fast bowler between 1889 and 1901. A Wisden Cricketer of
the Year in 1892, he was selected for England in three Test matches in
1893. Mold was one of the most effective bowlers in England during the
1890s but his career was overshadowed by controversy over his bowling
action; many critics thought he threw rather than bowled the ball. He
was penalised in 1900 and 1901 by the umpire Jim Phillips, who had
targeted several prominent bowlers with dubious bowling actions.
Although Mold took 1,673 wickets in first-class matches, many
commentators viewed his achievements as tainted. After his departure
from the game, throwing ceased to be a concern in English cricket for 50
years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Mold>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
Manchu regent Dorgon defeated rebel leader Li Zicheng of the
Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to
enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanhai_Pass>
1923:
French drivers André Lagache and René Léonard won the first
running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans>
1975:
The deadliest road accident in England took place when the
brakes on a coach failed and it crashed in North Yorkshire, killing 32
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibbles_Bridge_coach_crash>
1995:
American actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse,
leaving him a quadriplegic; he later became an activist on behalf of
people with spinal cord injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gouge:
1. (transitive) To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or
as if with a gouge.
2. (transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an
unfairly or unreasonably high price.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or scoop (something) out with or as
if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push
the eye (of a person) out of its socket.
4. (intransitive) To use a gouge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gouge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero
to be one of those men who goes into battle.
--Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Schwarzkopf,_Jr.>
The history of Aston Villa Football Club since 1961 includes a European
Cup victory in 1982 and a loss in the 2018 English Football League
Championship play-off Final. After a change of ownership and management
for the club and successive relegations, they returned in the 1971–72
season to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points. In
1974 Ron Saunders was appointed manager, and by 1975 he had led the club
back into the First Division and into European competition. The club won
the league in the 1980–81 season, and the European Cup final in the
next season. They were one of the founding members of the Premier League
in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural
season. They reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1957 in
2000. The arrival of a new manager and Randy Lerner as owner in 2006
marked the start of sweeping changes throughout the club. After several
years of narrowly avoiding the drop, Villa were relegated at the end of
the 2015–16 season. (
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Aston_Villa_F.C._%281961%E2%80%93p…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
The deadliest fire in Norwegian history took place at a church
in Grue, Norway, with at least 113 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire>
1865:
American Civil War: General Edmund Kirby Smith negotiated the
surrender of his army, the only significant Confederate Army force
remaining in the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kirby_Smith>
1940:
Second World War: The mass evacuation of British, French and
Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk
began (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation>
1999:
Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League to become the
first English football club to win three major championships in the same
season.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998%E2%80%9399_Manchester_United_F.C._season>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
facticity:
1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being a fact.
2. (uncountable, specifically, philosophy) In existentialism, the state
of being in the world without any knowable reason for such existence, or
of being in a particular state of affairs which one has no control over.
3. (countable) A fact that is not changeable or that is assumed to be
true without further evaluation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facticity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A wiki is always in the process of being organized. But for every
hour spent organizing, two more hours are spent adding new material. So
the status quo for a wiki is always partially organized.
--Ward Cunningham
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham>
The Crawford expedition was a campaign on the western front of the
American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the
conflict. Led by Colonel William Crawford (pictured), the campaign began
May 25, 1782. Its goal was to destroy American Indian towns along the
Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, with the hope of ending attacks on
American settlers. The expedition was one in a long series of raids that
both sides had conducted against enemy settlements throughout the war.
Crawford led about 500 volunteer militiamen, mostly from Pennsylvania.
The Indians and their British allies from Detroit gathered a force and
surrounded the Americans. Seventy were killed, including Crawford, who
was tortured and executed, probably in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten
massacre two months earlier. Indian and British losses were minimal, and
the rest of the Americans escaped and found their way back to
Pennsylvania.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1979:
During takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, an
engine detached from American Airlines Flight 191, causing a crash that
killed 273 people, the deadliest aviation accident in United States
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191>
2009:
North Korea conducted a nuclear test and several other missile
tests that were widely condemned by the international community and led
to sanctions from the United Nations Security Council.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_North_Korean_nuclear_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overt:
Open and not concealed or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the
goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this
period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the
long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or
expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the
appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid
and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until
certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine
development and for unmanned explorations — explorations which are
particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never
overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight.
But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon —
if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For
all of us must work to put him there.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
The Crawford expedition was a campaign on the western front of the
American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the
conflict. Led by Colonel William Crawford (pictured), the campaign began
May 25, 1782. Its goal was to destroy American Indian towns along the
Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, with the hope of ending attacks on
American settlers. The expedition was one in a long series of raids that
both sides had conducted against enemy settlements throughout the war.
Crawford led about 500 volunteer militiamen, mostly from Pennsylvania.
The Indians and their British allies from Detroit gathered a force and
surrounded the Americans. Seventy were killed, including Crawford, who
was tortured and executed, probably in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten
massacre two months earlier. Indian and British losses were minimal, and
the rest of the Americans escaped and found their way back to
Pennsylvania.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1810:
The Primera Junta, the first independent government in
Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking
the end of the May Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution>
1940:
Second World War: A German Panzer division captured Boulogne-
sur-Mer, France, forcing the evacuation of the British Expeditionary
Force through Dunkirk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boulogne>
1979:
During takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, an
engine detached from American Airlines Flight 191, causing a crash that
killed a total of 273 people, the deadliest aviation accident in United
States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191>
2009:
North Korea conducted a nuclear test and several other missile
tests that were widely condemned by the international community and led
to sanctions from the United Nations Security Council.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_North_Korean_nuclear_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
overt:
Open and not concealed or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the
goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this
period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the
long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or
expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the
appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid
and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until
certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine
development and for unmanned explorations — explorations which are
particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never
overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight.
But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon —
if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For
all of us must work to put him there.
--John F. Kennedy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>