Æthelberht was the King of Wessex from 860 until his death in 865. He
was the third son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife, Osburh. In 855
Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome and appointed Æthelberht as king
of the recently conquered territory of Kent. Æthelberht's older
brother, Æthelbald, was named king of Wessex. After the deaths of his
father in 858 and his brother in 860, Æthelberht ruled both Wessex and
Kent without appointing a sub-king, fully uniting the two territories
for the first time. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he reigned
"in good harmony and in great peace". He appears to have been on good
terms with his younger brothers, the future kings Æthelred I and
Alfred the Great. The kingdom came under attack from Viking raids during
his reign, but these were minor compared to the invasions after his
death. Æthelberht died in the autumn of 865 and was buried next to his
brother Æthelbald at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. He was succeeded by
Æthelred.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelberht,_King_of_Wessex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
Realizing that the Russification of Lithuania was not working,
the Russian Empire lifted the 40-year-old ban on publications using the
Lithuanian language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_press_ban>
1932:
An estimated 400 ramblers committed a willful trespass of
Kinder Scout in the Peak District of England to highlight the denial of
access to areas of open country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_trespass_of_Kinder_Scout>
1965:
The Dominican Civil War broke out due to tensions caused by a
military coup of the democratically elected government two years
previous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Civil_War>
1990:
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the Space
Shuttle Discovery in mission STS-31.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
loath:
1. Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling.
2. (obsolete) Angry, hostile.
3. (obsolete) Loathsome, unpleasant.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loath>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I cannot hold with those who wish to put down the insignificant
chatter of the world.
--Anthony Trollope
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope>
Marjorie Cameron (April 23, 1922 – June 24, 1995) was an American
artist, poet, actress, and occultist. After serving in the navy during
the Second World War, she settled in Pasadena, California. There she met
the rocket pioneer Jack Parsons, whom she married in 1946. After
Parsons' death in an explosion at their home in 1952, Cameron came to
suspect that her husband had been assassinated, and began rituals to
communicate with his spirit. She was part of the avant-garde artistic
community of Los Angeles; among her friends were the filmmakers Curtis
Harrington and Kenneth Anger. She appeared in two of Harrington's films,
The Wormwood Star and Night Tide, as well as in Anger's film
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. In later years, she made appearances
in art-house films created by John Chamberlain and Chick Strand.
Cameron's recognition as an artist increased after her death, and her
paintings were shown in exhibitions across the country.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Cameron>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1516:
The best-known version of the Reinheitsgebot, the German Beer
Purity Law, was adopted across the entirety of Bavaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot>
1879:
A fire destroyed the second version of the Main Building of the
University of Notre Dame.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Building_%28University_of_Notre_Dame%29>
1979:
Activist Blair Peach suffered fatal head injuries when he was
knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in
Southall, London, against a National Front election meeting in the town
hall.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Blair_Peach>
2009:
Gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 was detected, coming from the most
distant astronomical object of any kind known at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_090423>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Gramarye:
(literary, Arthurian, rare) The island of Britain.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gramarye>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as
derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness.
Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing,
postulates consciousness.
--Max Planck
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Planck>
The Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar was a commemorative half
dollar designed by Charles Keck and struck by the United States Bureau
of the Mint in 1936, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the
incorporation of Lynchburg, Virginia. The obverse of the coin depicts
former Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Senator Carter Glass, a native
of Lynchburg. The reverse depicts a statue of the goddess Liberty, her
arms outstretched in welcome. In the background is the Old Lynchburg
Courthouse and the city's Confederate monument. After Congress
authorized the half dollar, the Commission of Fine Arts proposed that it
should bear the portrait of John Lynch, founder of Lynchburg, instead of
Glass, but no portrait of him was known. Glass became the third living
person to appear on a U.S. coin, and the first to be shown alone. Issued
for $1, the coins have appreciated over the years, with 2018 estimates
of value ranging between $225 and $365.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchburg_Sesquicentennial_half_dollar>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
More than 50,000 people rushed to claim a piece of the
available two million acres (8,000 km2) in the Unassigned Lands, the
present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma, founding Oklahoma City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rush_of_1889>
1951:
Korean War: The People's Volunteer Army of China attacked
positions occupied mainly by Australian and Canadian forces, starting
the Battle of Kapyong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kapyong>
2004:
Flammable cargo exploded at Ryongchon Station in Ryongchon,
North Korea, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than a
thousand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryongchon_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
agrology:
1. (rare) A subdiscipline of agronomy (the science of utilizing animals,
plants, and soils) and of soil science which addresses the influence of
edaphic (soil-related) conditions on crop production for optimizing it.
2. (chiefly Canada) The science and art of agriculture.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/agrology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our own political life is predicated on openness. We do not
believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate
without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to
avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be
free to enquire. We know that the wages of secrecy are corruption. We
know that in secrecy error, undetected, will flourish and subvert.
--Robert Oppenheimer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer>
Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small religious wood sculptures
produced during the 15th and 16th centuries, mostly in today's Low
Countries. They were formed from intricate layers of reliefs often
rendered at nearly microscopic levels, with around 150 examples extant
today. The majority are spherical beads known as prayer nuts,
statuettes, skulls, or coffins; some 20 are in the form of polyptychs
including triptych and diptych altarpieces, tabernacles, and
monstrances. Typically imagery includes scenes from the Crucifixion of
Jesus and extensive vistas of Heaven and Hell. Each miniature required
exceptional craftsmanship and may have taken decades to complete.
Important collections are in the Art Gallery of Ontario, the British
Museum, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_boxwood_miniature>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1615:
The Wignacourt Aqueduct in Malta was inaugurated and was used
to carry water to Valletta for about 300 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wignacourt_Aqueduct>
1914:
Mexican Revolution: The United States detained a German steamer
carrying materiel for the Mexican federal government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypiranga_incident>
1934:
The "Surgeon's Photograph", purportedly showing the Loch Ness
Monster (later revealed to be a hoax), was published in the Daily Mail.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster>
1970:
In response to a dispute over wheat production quotas, the
Principality of Hutt River proclaimed its secession from Western
Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hector:
1. (transitive) To dominate or intimidate in a blustering way; to bully,
to domineer.
2. (intransitive) To behave like a hector or bully; to bluster, to
swagger; to bully.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hector>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The word "resurrection" has for many people the connotation of
dead bodies leaving their graves or other fanciful images. But
resurrection means the victory of the New state of things, the New Being
born out of the death of the Old. Resurrection is not an event that
might happen in some remote future, but it is the power of the New Being
to create life out of death, here and now, today and tomorrow. Where
there is a New Being, there is resurrection, namely, the creation into
eternity out of every moment of time. The Old Being has the mark of
disintegration and death. The New Being puts a new mark over the old
one. Out of disintegration and death something is born of eternal
significance. That which is immersed in dissolution emerges in a New
Creation. Resurrection happens now, or it does not happen at all. It
happens in us and around us, in soul and history, in nature and
universe. Reconciliation, reunion, resurrection — this is the New
Creation, the New Being, the New state of things.
--Paul Tillich
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Tillich>
King's Highway 420 is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of
Ontario that connects the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with downtown
Niagara Falls. The roadway continues east as the limited-access
expressway Niagara Regional Road 420, which was transferred to the
jurisdiction of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in 1998; it
connects with the Rainbow Bridge at the border with the United States
over the Niagara River. King's Highway 420 has a speed limit of 80
kilometres per hour (50 mph), making it the only 400-series highway to
have a speed limit less than 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for its
entirety. Originally constructed as a divided four-lane road with two
traffic circles, the route of Highway 420 formed part of the QEW
between 1941 and 1972. It was assigned a unique route number during its
reconstruction as a freeway and the construction of the large
interchange at its western terminus at Montrose Road.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_420>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1657:
Anglo-Spanish War: An English fleet sank much of a Spanish
treasure fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands but was
unable to capture the treasure.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife_%281657%29>
1828:
French explorer René Caillié became the first European to
enter Timbuktu and return safely, for which he received a 10,000-franc
prize from the Société de géographie.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Cailli%C3%A9>
1939:
Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national
holiday in Nazi Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_50th_birthday>
1999:
Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on a massacre,
killing 13 people and wounding over 20 others before committing suicide
at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nauplius:
(zoology) A crustacean larva that has three pairs of locomotive organs
(corresponding to antennules, antennae, and mandibles), a median eye,
and little or no segmentation of the body.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nauplius>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Autumn to winter, winter into spring, Spring into summer, summer
into fall, — So rolls the changing year, and so we change; Motion so
swift, we know not that we move.
--Dinah Craik
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dinah_Craik>
Irritator was a spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil
about 110 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous. It is known
from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the
Araripe Basin. The genus name reflects the irritation of paleontologists
who found that the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by
collectors. Estimated at between 6 and 8 meters (20 and 26 ft) in
length, Irritator weighed around 1 tonne (1.1 short tons), making it one
of the smallest spinosaurids known. Its long, shallow and slender snout
was lined with straight and unserrated conical teeth. Lengthwise atop
the head ran a thin sagittal crest, to which powerful neck muscles were
likely anchored. A generalist diet—like that of today's
crocodilians—has been suggested. Irritator inhabited the tropical
environment of a coastal lagoon surrounded by dry regions. It coexisted
with other carnivorous theropods as well as turtles, crocodyliforms, and
a large number of pterosaur and fish species.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irritator>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
War of the Fifth Coalition: The French won a hard-fought
victory over Austria in Lower Bavaria when their opponents withdrew from
the field of battle that evening.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Teugen-Hausen>
1956:
Actress Grace Kelly became Princess consort of Monaco upon
marrying Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Kelly>
1971:
The first space station, Salyut 1, was launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR, USSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_1>
2015:
In Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., Freddie Gray died of injuries
sustained a week earlier while in the custody of the Baltimore Police
Department.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Bronx cheer:
(US, idiomatic) Synonym of raspberry (“a sound intended to resemble
flatulence made by blowing air out of the mouth while the tongue is
protruding from and pressed against the lips, used humorously or to
express disdain or scorn”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Bronx_cheer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles
with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this
passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any
more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he
took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among
yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the
vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave
thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which
is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup
after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which
is shed for you.
--Gospel of Luke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke>
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Sissinghurst in the Weald of Kent in
England, was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her
husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Designated Grade I on
Historic England's register of historic parks and gardens, it had nearly
200,000 visitors in 2017. It was bought by Sackville-West in 1930, and
over the next thirty years, working with, and later succeeded by, a
series of notable head gardeners, she and Nicolson transformed a
farmstead of "squalor and slovenly disorder" into one of the world's
most influential gardens. The garden design is based on axial walks that
open onto enclosed gardens, termed "garden rooms", one of the earliest
examples of this gardening style. Following Sackville-West's death in
1962, the estate was gifted to the National Trust for Places of Historic
Interest or Natural Beauty. It is one of the Trust's most popular
properties.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1847:
Mexican–American War: Winfield Scott's United States troops
out-flanked and drove Santa Anna's larger Mexican army from a strong
defensive position in the Battle of Cerro Gordo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerro_Gordo>
1915:
World War I: French aviator Roland Garros landed his aircraft
behind enemy lines and was taken prisoner.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Garros_%28aviator%29>
1949:
Ireland officially left the British Commonwealth and became a
republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland>
1955:
Representatives from 29 African and Asian countries met in the
inaugural Bandung Conference in Indonesia to promote economic and
cultural cooperation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
footbath:
1. The act of soaking or washing the feet.
2. A small basin or bath designed for soaking or washing the feet.
3. A liquid mixture, often medicinal, for soaking or washing the feet
with.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/footbath>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The objector and the rebel who raises his voice against what he
believes to be the injustice of the present and the wrongs of the past
is the one who hunches the world along.
--Clarence Darrow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clarence_Darrow>
Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was an English food
writer and poet. In 1845 her cookbook Modern Cookery for Private
Families was released. It was one of Britain's first cookbooks aimed at
the domestic reader and introduced the now-universal practice of listing
ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe. It
included the first recipes in English for Brussels sprouts and for
spaghetti, and contains the first printed reference to Christmas
pudding. Engagingly written, the book was well received by reviewers. It
was reprinted within the year and several editions followed until 1918.
In the later years of its publication, Modern Cookery was eclipsed by
the success of Isabella Beeton's bestselling Mrs Beeton's Book of
Household Management (1861), which included several recipes plagiarised
from Acton's work. Many English cooks have been influenced by Acton,
including Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Delia Smith and Rick Stein.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Acton>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1797:
French Revolutionary Wars: British Lieutenant General Ralph
Abercromby and a force of 7,000 invaded Spanish-controlled Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_%281797%29>
1969:
Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the assassination of United
States Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirhan_Sirhan>
1986:
Having supposedly been at war for 335 years without a single
shot having been fired and no casualties incurred, the Netherlands and
the Isles of Scilly declared peace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hundred_and_Thirty_Five_Years%27_War>
2014:
NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-186f (artist's
impression shown), the first exoplanet with a radius similar to Earth's
discovered in the habitable zone of another star.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-186f>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
implacable:
1. Not able to be placated or appeased.
2. Impossible to prevent or stop; inexorable, unrelenting, unstoppable.
3. Adamant; immovable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/implacable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As angels in some brighter dreams Call to the soul when man doth
sleep, So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, And into
glory peep.
--Henry Vaughan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Vaughan>
Courbet was the lead ship of her class of four dreadnought battleships,
the first ones built for the French Navy. In World War I, after helping
to sink the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Zenta in August
1914, she provided cover for the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the
Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, and often served as a
flagship. Although upgraded several times before World War II, by the
1930s she was no longer considered to be a first-line battleship and
spent much of that decade as a gunnery training ship. A few weeks after
the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940, Courbet was hastily
reactivated. She supported Allied troops in the defence of Cherbourg
during mid-June. As part of Operation Catapult, she was seized in
Portsmouth by British forces on 3 July and was turned over to the Free
French a week later. She was used as a stationary anti-aircraft battery
and as an accommodation ship there.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Courbet_%281911%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
Slavery in Washington, D.C., ended when the District of
Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act became law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Compensated_Emancipation…>
1919:
Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launched the Vilna
offensive to capture Vilnius (now in Lithuania) from the Red Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilna_offensive>
1947:
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch
first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet
Union and the United States as a "cold war".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War>
2014:
The South Korean ferry MV Sewol sank 1.5 km (0.93 mi)
offshore of Donggeochado, Jindo County, with around 300 of the 476
onboard killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
boiling frog:
(idiomatic, often attributively) A person who, or thing which, is in a
gradually worsening situation without any realization of the peril until
it is too late.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/boiling_frog>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The church of Notre-Dame de Paris is still no doubt, a majestic
and sublime edifice. But, beautiful as it has been preserved in growing
old, it is difficult not to sigh, not to wax indignant, before the
numberless degradations and mutilations which time and men have both
caused the venerable monument to suffer, without respect for
Charlemagne, who laid its first stone, or for Philip Augustus, who laid
the last. On the face of this aged queen of our cathedrals, by the side
of a wrinkle, one always finds a scar. Tempus edax, homo edacior; which
I should be glad to translate thus: time is blind, man is stupid.
--The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre-Dame>
The Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon is a Gothic funerary monument in the
church of Saint-Étienne at Bar-le-Duc in northeastern France. It
consists of an altarpiece and a limestone statue of a putrefied and
skinless corpse which stands upright; its left arm is raised as if
gesturing towards heaven. Completed sometime between 1544 and 1557, the
majority of its construction is attributed to the French sculptor Ligier
Richier. Other elements, including the coat of arms and funeral drapery,
were added later. The tomb dates from a period of societal anxiety over
death, as plague, war and religious conflicts ravaged Europe. It was
commissioned as the resting place of René of Chalon, Prince of Orange,
brother-in-law of Duke Antoine of Lorraine. Unusually for contemporary
objects of this type, the skeleton is standing, making it a "living
corpse", an innovation that was to become highly influential. It was
designated a Monument historique on June 18, 1898.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaver_Tomb_of_Ren%C3%A9_of_Chalon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
A rebellion by Catholic Japanese peasants in Shimabara over
increased taxes was put down by the Tokugawa shogunate, resulting in
greater enforcement of the policy of national seclusion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion>
1912:
The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty
minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic>
1952:
The B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered,
strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force for most of the
aircraft's history, made its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress>
1989:
A human crush during an FA Cup semi-final match between
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield,
England, caused 96 deaths, making it the worst disaster in British
sporting history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mummy brown:
1. A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of
Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc.
2. The colour of this pigment, a variable brown nearly intermediate
between raw umber and burnt umber. mummy brown colour:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mummy_brown>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we pretend to respect the artist at all we must allow him his
freedom of choice, in the face, in particular cases, of innumerable
presumptions that the choice will not fructify. Art derives a
considerable part of its beneficial exercise from flying in the face of
presumptions, and some of the most interesting experiments of which it
is capable are hidden in the bosom of common things.
--Henry James
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_James>