Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester,
England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in
Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills
of the Pennines, 6.2 miles (10.0 km) east of Manchester. "Ashton",
deriving from Old English for "settlement by ash trees", probably dates
from the Anglo-Saxon period. In the Middle Ages, Ashton-under-Lyne was a
parish and township and Ashton Old Hall was held by the de Asshetons,
lords of the manor. Granted a Royal Charter in 1414, the manor spanned a
rural area of marshland, moorland, villages and hamlets. By the mid-
19th century Ashton had emerged as an important mill town at a
convergence of newly constructed canals and railways. The transport
network allowed for an economic boom in cotton spinning, weaving, and
coal mining, which led to the granting of municipal borough status in
1847. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton-under-Lyne>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1683:
Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, the world's first
university museum, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmolean_Museum>
1913:
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia married Prince Ernest
Augustus of Hanover, one of the last great social events of European
royalty before World War I began fourteen months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Victoria_Louise_of_Prussia>
1948:
Arab–Israeli War: After five days of fighting, Egyptian
forces finally captured the Israeli community of Yad Mordechai after the
defenders had abandoned it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yad_Mordechai>
1982:
The port city of Khorramshahr was liberated by Iranian forces
during the Iran–Iraq War after 575 days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_of_Khorramshahr>
2006:
An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film that has been
credited for raising international public awareness of climate change
and re-energizing the environmental movement, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
consilience:
1. (logic) The concurrence of multiple inductions drawn from different
data sets. [from mid 19th c.]
2. The agreement, co-operation, or overlap of academic disciplines.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consilience>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring
to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most
interesting game in the world — making the most of one's best.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Emerson_Fosdick>
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for
California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they were
snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range from November 1846 to
February 1847. Some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism to survive,
eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation and sickness.
The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the
Donner Party had been slowed by following a new route called the
Hastings Cutoff across Utah's Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake
Desert. They lost many cattle and wagons in the rugged terrain, and
divisions formed within the group. Their food supplies ran low after
they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall high in the mountains.
In mid-December some of the group set out on foot and were able to
obtain help. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived to reach
California. Historians have described the episode as one of the most
spectacular tragedies in California history.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1895:
Backed by Samuel J. Tilden, the Astor and Lenox libraries
agreed to merge and form the New York Public Library (pictured in 1908),
now the second-largest in the U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library>
1951:
Delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama and the government of the
newly established People's Republic of China signed the Seventeen Point
Agreement, affirming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Point_Agreement>
1999:
Professional wrestler Owen Hart died immediately before a match
after dropping 70 feet (21 m) onto the ring during a botched entrance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_Edge_%281999%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pall:
1. (transitive) To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or
spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
2. (intransitive) To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose
life, spirit, strength, or taste.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pall>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Only the dreamer shall understand realities, though, in truth,
his dreaming must not be out of proportion to his waking!
--Margaret Fuller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller>
Cortinarius violaceus, the violet webcap, is a fungus found
predominantly in conifer forests in North America and deciduous forests
in Europe. The fruit bodies are dark purple mushrooms with caps up to
15 cm (6 in) across, sporting gills underneath. The stalk measures 6
to 12 centimetres (2 1⁄3 to 4 2⁄3 in) by 1 to 2 centimetres
(3⁄8 to 3⁄4 in), sometimes with a thicker base. The dark flesh has
a smell reminiscent of cedar wood. Though they are edible, the
mushrooms' appearance is more distinctive than their taste. The species
forms symbiotic (mycorrhizal) relationships with the roots of various
plants. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and has
undergone several name changes. Other populations once identified as
C. violaceus or close to that species have now been described as new
and separate species, such as C. palatinus, C. neotropicus,
C. altissimus, C. kioloensis and C. hallowellensis.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_violaceus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
A riot broke out in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, over
high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_and_Littleport_riots_of_1816>
1960:
An earthquake measuring ~9.5 MW – the strongest ever
recorded – devastated Valdivia, Chile (damage pictured), and
generated destructive tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake>
1980:
Pac-Man, an arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular
culture, made its debut in Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man>
2002:
Washington, D.C., police announced that the skeletal remains of
Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for
a year, were found in Rock Creek Park.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Levy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mouthbrooder:
(zoology) Any animal that cares for its offspring, either eggs or
juveniles, by holding them in its mouth for extended periods of time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mouthbrooder>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Amazingly, we take for granted that instinct for survival, fear
of death, must separate us from the happiness of pure and uninterpreted
experience, in which body, mind, and nature are the same. And this
debasement of our vision, the retreat from wonder, the backing away like
lobsters into safe crannies, the desperate instinct that our life passes
unlived, is reflected in proliferation without joy, corrosive money rot,
the gross befouling of the earth and air and water from which we came.
--Peter Matthiessen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Matthiessen>
Title TK is the third studio album by American alternative rock band the
Breeders, released in May 2002 on 4AD. The album, whose name means
"title to come", generated three singles: "Off You", "Huffer", and "Son
of Three"; it reached the top 100 in France, Germany, the UK, and
Australia. After multiple changes in personnel and aborted recording
attempts in the mid-to-late 1990s, singer and songwriter Kim Deal
(pictured) began sessions with engineer Steve Albini in 1999. Musicians
Mando Lopez, Richard Presley, and Jose Medeles, as well as former member
Kelley Deal—Kim’s sister—joined the band, who continued recording
with Albini in 2001 in Chicago. Two other songs were recorded with
engineers Andrew Alekel and Mark Arnold in Los Angeles. The album has
received generally positive reviews from critics, who have noted its
inclusion of unexpected sounds, minimal instrumentation, and
unconventional, sometimes dark lyrics.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_TK>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1894:
The Manchester Ship Canal, linking Manchester in North West
England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the world's
largest navigation canal at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal>
1911:
Mexican President Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary
Francisco Madero signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to end the fighting
between the forces of both men, concluding the initial phase of the
Mexican Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez>
1939:
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth dedicated Canada's National
War Memorial in Ottawa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_War_Memorial_%28Canada%29>
2005:
The world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, opened at Six
Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingda_Ka>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
orature:
The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk
songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in
writing. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orature>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some old men, by continually praising the time of their youth,
would almost persuade us that there were no fools in those days; but
unluckily they are left themselves for examples.
--Alexander Pope
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope>
Homer Davenport (1867–1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from
the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of
the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, especially Ohio Senator Mark Hanna.
Although Davenport had no formal art training, he became one of the
highest paid political cartoonists in the world. He was also one of the
first major American breeders of Arabian horses and one of the founders
of the Arabian Horse Club of America. In 1893 he studied and drew the
Arabian horses exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1904 he
drew a favorable cartoon of President Theodore Roosevelt that boosted
Roosevelt's election campaign. The president in turn helped Davenport in
1906 when the cartoonist required diplomatic permission to travel abroad
in his quest to purchase pure desert-bred Arabian horses. The 27 horses
Davenport purchased and brought to America had a lasting impact on
Arabian horse breeding.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Davenport>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1609:
Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's
sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets>
1882:
The Triple Alliance was created between the German Empire,
Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Alliance_%281882%29>
1983:
A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier
published their discovery of HIV, but were not then certain that it
caused AIDS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Montagnier>
1993:
"One for the Road", the series finale of American television
sitcom Cheers, was watched by 42.4 million American households on its
original airing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_the_Road_%28Cheers%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caravel:
(nautical, historical) A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used
by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century,
first for trade and later for voyages of exploration.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caravel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A penniless man who has no ties to bind him is master of himself
at any rate, but a luckless wretch who is in love no longer belongs to
himself, and may not take his own life. Love makes us almost sacred in
our own eyes; it is the life of another that we revere within us; then
and so begins for us the cruelest trouble of all.
--Honoré de Balzac
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_de_Balzac>
In the United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania
on May 18, 2010, Congressman Joe Sestak (pictured) defeated incumbent
Arlen Specter, who had been in the Senate for five terms as a
Republican. Just before the primary campaign, Specter switched to the
Democratic Party in anticipation of a difficult primary challenge by Pat
Toomey. Sestak was ultimately defeated by Toomey in the general
election. Political observers and journalists described the race between
Specter and Sestak as one of the bitterest and most watched of all the
2010 primary elections. Specter led Sestak by more than 20 percentage
points for most of the race, but this lead narrowed in the final month
of the campaign, when Sestak concentrated his funds and efforts on
television commercials questioning Specter's Democratic credentials.
Political observers said that Sestak's commercials and a national swing
in momentum against incumbents harmed Specter's chances.
(Full article...) .
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_Senate_Democratic_primary_…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1655:
Anglo-Spanish War: England invaded Spanish Jamaica, capturing
it a week later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Jamaica>
1743:
French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a
mercury thermometer with the centigrade scale, with 0 representing the
freezing point of water and 100 its boiling point.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius>
1911:
Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, was
established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the
Interior.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_Canada>
1991:
With the local Serb population boycotting the polls, voters in
Croatia passed a referendum supporting independence from the Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Croatian_independence_referendum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gnomon:
1. An object such as a pillar or a rod that is used to tell time by the
shadow it casts when the sun shines on it, especially the pointer on a
sundial.
2. An object such as a pillar used by an observer to calculate the
meridian altitude of the sun (that is, the altitude of the sun when it
reaches the observer's meridian), for the purpose of determining the
observer's latitude.
3. The index of the hour circle of a globe.
4. (geometry) A plane figure formed by removing a parallelogram from a
corner of a larger parallelogram.
5. (mathematics, by extension) A number representing the increment
between two figurate numbers (“numbers equal to the numbers of dots in
geometric figures formed of dots”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gnomon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For me the important distinction is between a stylistic approach
to the design; and an analytical approach giving the process of due
consideration to time, place, and purpose ... My analytical approach
requires a full understanding of the three essential elements ... to
arrive at an ideal balance among them.
--I. M. Pei
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/I._M._Pei>
Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings in
Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial
estate in the country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia".
Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace
in 1704. The son of his successor, Charles Eugene, completed it and
refurbished parts in the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles
Eugene abandoned the palace in 1775, and it began a decline until the
future Duke, and then King, Frederick moved in in 1795. As King,
Frederick, and his Queen, Charlotte, renovated the entirety of the
palace in the Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in
1918. It underwent periods of restoration, including for its
tricentenary in 2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually
since 1947. The palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque
(Blühendes Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in
1800.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of
the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of
Vicksburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg>
1936:
In a crime that shocked Japan, Sada Abe strangled her lover
Kichizo Ishida, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her
for several days until her arrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sada_Abe>
1965:
Eli Cohen, a spy who is credited with gathering significant
intelligence for Israel in the Six-Day War against Syria, was publicly
hanged after having been captured four months earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Cohen>
2009:
The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader
and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to
the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velupillai_Prabhakaran>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
schlubby:
(chiefly US, informal) Clumsy, oafish, or socially awkward; unattractive
or unkempt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schlubby>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every man would like to be God, if it were possible; some few
find it difficult to admit the impossibility.
--Bertrand Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>
Edward II (1284–1327) was King of England from 1307 until he was
deposed in January 1327. He married Isabella, the daughter of the
powerful King Philip IV of France, in 1308. Edward had a close and
controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his
household in 1300. Gaveston's arrogance and power as Edward's favourite
provoked discontent among both the barons and the French royal family,
and Edward was forced to exile him. On Gaveston's return, the barons
pressured the king into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms, called the
Ordinances of 1311. A group of barons seized and executed Gaveston in
1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. English forces
were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by
Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. After the exiled
Roger Mortimer invaded England with a small army in 1326, Edward's
regime collapsed and he relinquished his crown in favour of his 14-year-
old son, Edward III.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II_of_England>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
The International Telecommunication Union, an international
organization that standardizes and regulates international radio and
telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in
Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Telecommunication_Union>
1954:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v.
Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools
because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and
therefore unconstitutional.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education>
1974:
The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated a series of
car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 34 people and
injuring almost 300 more.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_and_Monaghan_bombings>
2009:
Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected the first female President of
Lithuania, receiving 69.1% of the vote.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalia_Grybauskait%C4%97>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fjord:
A long, narrow, deep inlet between cliffs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fjord>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
People have often asked me, "If you weren’t in show business,
what would you be doing?" The truth is, I don’t think there’s
anything else I could be doing, so the answer would have to be, nothing.
Then again, there's nothing I love more than making people laugh, so I
guess you could say I’m in the only business I could be in. I was born
to enjoy life and I've always wanted everyone to enjoy it along with me.
--Tim Conway
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Conway>
William H. Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States
Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869. A determined opponent of the
spread of slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War, he was a
dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years. While
Governor of New York, he signed laws that advanced the rights of black
residents. He was elected as a U.S. Senator in 1849, serving two six-
year terms. Though he was the favorite for the Republican presidential
nomination in 1860, delegates sought a moderate on the slavery question,
choosing Abraham Lincoln. As Secretary of State, his firm stance against
foreign intervention helped deter the United Kingdom and France from
entering the conflict. He was a target of the 1865 assassination plot
that killed Lincoln, and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis
Powell. Seward remained at his post through the presidency of Andrew
Johnson, during which he negotiated the Alaska Purchase in 1867.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1929:
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood
Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards>
1960:
American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working
laser at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Maiman>
1961:
The Military Revolution Committee, led by Park Chung-hee,
carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Bo-seon,
ending the Second Republic of South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_16_coup>
1975:
Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach
the summit of Mount Everest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junko_Tabei>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
terse:
1. (obsolete) Burnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce.
2. (by extension) Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.
3. (by extension) Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short;
curt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/terse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge
that you'll grow out of it.
--Doris Day
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doris_Day>
Tropical Depression Nineteen-E was a weak tropical cyclone that caused
flooding in northwestern Mexico and the United States during the 2018
Pacific hurricane season. By September 7, 2018, the storm had entered
the northeastern Pacific Ocean, after crossing Central America. Despite
disorganization and its close proximity to land, the meandering
disturbance developed into a tropical depression in the Gulf of
California on September 19, with peak maximum sustained winds reported
as 35 mph (55 km/h). Although the storm quickly deteriorated after
landfall, thirteen people were killed in Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora,
and recorded agricultural losses exceeded US$40 million. Overall, the
storm affected eleven Mexican states, with torrential rainfall and
flooding in Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Remnant moisture
from Nineteen-E led to severe flooding in the U.S. states of Arizona,
Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, with damage estimates totalling about
$250 million.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Depression_Nineteen-E_%282018%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (both pictured)
founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, breaking away from the
American Equal Rights Association which they had also previously
founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Woman_Suffrage_Association>
1904:
Russo-Japanese War: After striking several mines off Port
Arthur, the Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima sank.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yashima>
1948:
One day after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Egypt,
Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invaded Israel to
begin the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War>
2004:
Arsenal became the first football team in England's top flight
to finish a season undefeated since Preston North End did so in
1888–1889.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%E2%80%9304_Arsenal_F.C._season>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
primigravida:
(obstetrics, veterinary medicine) A woman or female animal who is
pregnant for the first time, or who has been pregnant once.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/primigravida>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he
took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything. "You people
with hearts," he said, "have something to guide you, and need never do
wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives
me a heart of course I needn't mind so much."
--L. Frank Baum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum>