Project E was a Cold War arrangement under which the United States
provided the United Kingdom with nuclear weapons for the Royal Air Force
(RAF). It was later expanded to provide warheads to the British Army,
and there was a maritime version known as Project N that provided
nuclear depth bombs. US personnel retained custody of the weapons, and
handled their storage, maintenance and readiness. The first bombers
equipped with Project E weapons were Canberras (example pictured). Due
to the operational restrictions, and the loss of independence of the
British nuclear deterrent, Project E bombs were phased out in the
strategic role in 1962, although they still equipped tactical bombers,
and were used on the Thor missiles operated by the RAF from 1959 to 1963
under Project Emily. The British Army acquired Project E warheads for
its Corporal, Honest John and Lance missiles, and its artillery pieces.
The last Project E weapons were withdrawn from service in 1992.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_E>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1655:
Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, the
largest natural satellite of the planet Saturn.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28moon%29>
1807:
The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in
the British Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807>
1949:
The Soviet Union began mass deportations of more than 90,000
people from the Baltic states to Siberia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Priboi>
1975:
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew
Faisal bin Musaid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_bin_Musaid>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
adytum:
1. (Ancient Greece, religion) The innermost sanctuary or shrine in an
ancient temple, from where oracles were given.
2. (by extension) A private chamber; a sanctum.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adytum>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of
ignorance. Â
--Robert Quillen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Quillen>
The Emesa helmet is an iron Roman cavalry helmet from the early first
century AD. Its face mask, covered in a thin sheet of silver, presents
the individualised portrait of a face, likely that of its owner.
Decorations, some gilded, adorn the head piece. Ornately designed yet
highly functional, the helmet was probably intended for both parades and
battle. Its delicate covering is too fragile to have been put to use
during cavalry tournaments, but the thick iron core would have defended
against blows and arrows. It bears acanthus scroll ornamentation,
indicating that the helmet may have come from the luxury workshops of
Antioch. Confiscated by Syrian police in 1936 soon after looters
discovered it amidst a complex of tombs in the modern-day city of Homs,
the helmet was eventually restored at the British Museum. It has been
exhibited internationally, and is now in the collection of the National
Museum of Damascus.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emesa_helmet>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1848:
Scottish settlers on the John Wickliffe, captained by William
Cargill, arrived at what is now Port Chalmers in the Otago Region of
New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cargill>
1931:
Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of
the Indian independence movement, and two others were executed by
British authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh>
1989:
Two researchers announced the discovery of cold fusion, a claim
which was later discredited.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion>
2007:
The Iranian military arrested 15 Royal Navy personnel, claiming
that they had entered Iran's territorial waters.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iranian_arrest_of_Royal_Navy_personnel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bulldog clip:
1. A binder clip with rigid handles.
2. (surgery) A surgical instrument with serrated jaws and a spring-
loaded handle used to grip blood vessels or similar organs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bulldog_clip>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Man's life cannot "be lived" by repeating the pattern of his
species; he must live. Man is the only animal that can be bored, that
can be discontented, that can feel evicted from paradise. Man is the
only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to
solve and from which he cannot escape. He cannot go back to the prehuman
state of harmony with nature; he must proceed to develop his reason
until he becomes the master of nature, and of himself. Â
--Erich Fromm
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm>
Xixiasaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late
Cretaceous. The only known specimen (a partial skull, jaw with teeth,
and forelimb) was discovered in Xixia County, Henan Province, in central
China, and was given a species description in 2010. Xixiasaurus is
estimated to have been 1.5 metres (5Â ft) long and to have weighed 8
kilograms (18Â lb). As a troodontid with some similarities to
Byronosaurus, the genus would have been bird-like and lightly built,
with grasping hands and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on the second
toe. Its skull was long, with a long, low snout that formed a tapering
U-shape when seen from below. The frontal bone of the forehead was dome-
like in side view, indicating an enlarged braincase. Troodontids had
keen senses and were probably agile. The lack of serrated teeth
indicates that Xixiasaurus and some other troodontids were herbivorous,
as they had lost the ability to slice meat.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xixiasaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
The Massachusetts Bay Colony expelled Anne Hutchinson from its
ranks for dissenting from Puritan orthodoxy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson>
1913:
Phan XÃch Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, was
arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French
Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the
following day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_X%C3%ADch_Long>
1942:
Second World War: The Royal Navy confronted Italy's Regia
Marina at the Second Battle of Sirte in the Mediterranean Sea near the
Gulf of Sirte.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Sirte>
2014:
A massive landslide in Oso, Washington, killed 43 people after
engulfing a rural neighborhood, the largest death toll for a standalone
landslide in U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Oso_mudslide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dihydrogen monoxide:
(inorganic chemistry, humorous) Hâ‚‚O, water.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dihydrogen_monoxide>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 History is not made only by kings and parliaments, presidents,
wars, and generals. It is the story of people, of their love, honor,
faith, hope and suffering; of birth and death, of hunger, thirst and
cold, of loneliness and sorrow. Â
--Louis L'Amour
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_L%27Amour>
Fôrça Bruta (Brute Force) is the seventh studio album by Brazilian
singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben, recorded with the Trio
Mocotó band (pictured) and released by Philips Records in September
1970. It introduced an acoustic samba-based music that was mellower,
moodier, and less ornate than Ben's preceding work. In a largely
unrehearsed nighttime recording session, the singer improvised and
experimented with unconventional rhythmic arrangements, musical
techniques, and elements of soul, funk, and rock. Ben's lyrics explored
themes of romantic passion, melancholy, sensuality, and—in a departure
from the carefree sensibility of past releases—identity politics and
elements of postmodernism. A commercial and critical success, Fôrça
Bruta established Ben as a leading artist in Brazil's Tropicália
movement and pioneered a sound later known as samba rock. The album's
first American release came in 2007, the same year that Rolling Stone
Brasil named it the 61st greatest Brazilian music record.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B4r%C3%A7a_Bruta>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1861:
Vice President of the Confederate States of America Alexander
H. Stephens extemporaneously gave the "Cornerstone Speech", in which he
laid out the Confederacy's causes for declaring secession.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone_Speech>
1937:
A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto
Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest
of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 21
people and injuring 235 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponce_massacre>
1983:
In the West Bank, a number of Palestinian girls complained of
breathing difficulties due to strange odors, leading to accusations of
poison gas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_West_Bank_fainting_epidemic>
2006:
A man using a hammer smashed the statue of Phra Phrom in the
Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, and was subsequently beaten to death
by bystanders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erawan_Shrine>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
carceral:
(formal or literary) Of or pertaining to imprisonment or a prison.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carceral>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Poets are all who love, who feel great truths, And tell them;
and the truth of truths is love. Â
--Philip James Bailey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_James_Bailey>
The 1896 Cedar Keys hurricane was a powerful tropical cyclone that
devastated much of the East Coast of the United States, starting with
Florida's Cedar Keys, near the end of September. The storm's rapid
movement allowed it to maintain much of its intensity after landfall,
becoming one of the costliest United States hurricanes at the time. The
fourth tropical cyclone of the 1896 Atlantic hurricane season, it washed
out the railroad connecting the Cedar Keys to the mainland with a
10.5Â ft (3.2Â m) storm surge, and submerged much of the island group
(Cedar Key flooding pictured). The hurricane killed at least 70 people
in mainland Florida, and razed 5,000 sq mi (13,000 km2) of dense pine
forests in the northern part of the state. In Savannah, Georgia, fierce
winds unroofed thousands of structures. In Washington, D.C., the White
House grounds were left in disarray. Monuments at the Gettysburg
Battlefield were damaged. Along the storm's path, it caused at least 202
deaths.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Cedar_Keys_hurricane>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was first published,
profoundly affecting attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in
the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin>
1923:
The Arts Club of Chicago hosted the opening of Pablo Picasso's
first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo
Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_Club_of_Chicago>
1939:
Germany issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding they return
the KlaipÄ—da Region under threat of invasion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_German_ultimatum_to_Lithuania>
1993:
The Troubles: The second of two bomb attacks by the Provisional
IRA in Warrington, England, killed two children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrington_bomb_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
teething troubles:
(idiomatic) Also teething trouble: small problems such as are to be
expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teething_troubles>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Fas est et ab hoste doceri. It is right to learn even from an
enemy. Â
--Metamorphoses
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Metamorphoses>
John C. Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a senator from
South Carolina, a Cabinet member, and the seventh Vice President of the
United States, from 1825 to 1832, under presidents John Quincy Adams and
Andrew Jackson. Calhoun began his political career in the House of
Representatives as a prominent leader of the war hawk faction supporting
the War of 1812. Early in his career, he was a modernizer and a
proponent of a strong national government and protective tariffs. By the
late 1820s, his views reversed and he became a leading proponent of
states' rights, limited government, and opposition to high tariffs. His
support for South Carolina's right to nullify federal tariff legislation
put him into conflict with unionists such as Jackson, and in 1832 he
resigned as vice president and entered the Senate. As Secretary of State
under John Tyler from 1844 to 1845, he supported the annexation of Texas
as a means to promote slavery, and helped settle the Oregon boundary
dispute with Britain.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Calhoun>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
Lord Stanley of Preston pledged to donate an award for Canada's
top-ranked amateur ice hockey club, now known as the Stanley Cup, the
oldest professional sports trophy in North America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup>
1906:
Romanian inventor Traian Vuia became the first person to fly a
heavier-than-air monoplane with an unassisted takeoff.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traian_Vuia>
1969:
Vietnam War: The United States began secretly bombing the
Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South
Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanouk_Trail>
1996:
The deadliest fire in Philippine history burned a nightclub in
Quezon City, leaving 162 dead.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_Disco_fire>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jar:
1. (transitive) To preserve (food) in a jar. […]
2. (transitive) To knock, shake, or strike sharply, especially causing a
quivering or vibrating movement.
3. (transitive) To harm or injure by such action.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To shock or surprise.
5. (transitive, figuratively) To act in disagreement or opposition, to
clash, to be at odds with; to interfere; to dispute, to quarrel.
6. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause something to) give forth a
rudely tremulous or quivering sound; to (cause something to) sound
discordantly or harshly.
7. (intransitive) To quiver or vibrate due to being shaken or struck.
8. (intransitive, figuratively) Of the appearance, form, style, etc., of
people and things: to look strangely different; to stand out awkwardly
from its surroundings; to be incongruent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jar>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Ethics occupies a central place in philosophy because it is
concerned with sin, with the origin of good and evil and with moral
valuations. And since these problems have a universal significance, the
sphere of ethics is wider than is generally supposed. It deals with
meaning and value and its province is the world in which the distinction
between good and evil is drawn, evaluations are made and meaning is
sought. Â
--Nikolai Berdyaev
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikolai_Berdyaev>
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral is a Gothic revival cathedral in Cork,
Ireland, whose modern building was completed in 1879, and today belongs
to the Church of Ireland. The cathedral is dedicated to Finbarr of Cork,
patron saint of the city, who may have founded a monastery on the
grounds in the seventh century. During the medieval period, the site
underwent successive wars and repeated construction and damage. Fin
Barre's rebuilding was commissioned in the mid-19th century as the first
major project for the Victorian architect William Burges, who designed
most of its architecture, interior sculpture, stained glass, mosaics and
interior furniture. Many of the external sculptures, including the
gargoyles, were modeled by Thomas Nicholls. The exterior is capped by
three spires, and is mostly built from local stone. The main entrance
contains representations of over a dozen biblical figures, capped by a
tympanum showing a Resurrection scene.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Fin_Barre%27s_Cathedral>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1677:
Franco-Dutch War: France captured the town of Valenciennes in
the Spanish Netherlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Valenciennes_%281676%E2%80%9377%29>
1860:
The First Taranaki War began at Waitara, marking an important
phase of the New Zealand Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Taranaki_War>
1969:
Golda Meir became the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir>
1979:
The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the Scottish Borders region of
Scotland collapsed during refurbishing construction, killing two
workers, and leading to the abandonment of the tunnel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penmanshiel_Tunnel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clarsach:
(music) A small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin; a Celtic
harp.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clarsach>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I arise today Through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s
might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me God’s eye to look
before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s host
to secure me against snares of devils against temptations of vices
against inclinations of nature against everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and anear, alone and in a crowd. Â
--Saint Patrick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick>
Tom Thomson (1877–1917) was a Canadian artist active in the early 20th
century. During his short career he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on
small wood panels and around 50 larger pieces on canvas. His works
consist almost entirely of landscapes depicting trees, skies, lakes, and
rivers. He used broad brush strokes and a liberal application of paint
to capture the beauty and colour of the Ontario landscape. His
paintings The Jack Pine (pictured) and The West Wind have taken a
prominent place in the culture of Canada and are some of the country's
most iconic works. Although he died before the formal establishment of
the Group of Seven, Thomson's art is typically exhibited with theirs.
Nearly all of his work remains in Canada—mainly at the Art Gallery of
Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the
McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg and the Tom Thomson Art
Gallery in Owen Sound. His accidental death at 39 by drowning is seen as
a tragedy for Canadian art.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thomson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1190:
Around 150 Jews inside York Castle in York, England, died, with
the majority committing mass suicide to avoid being killed by a mob.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Castle>
1782:
American Revolutionary War: Spain captured the island of
Roatán off the coast of what is now Honduras.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roat%C3%A1n>
1935:
Conscription was re-introduced in Nazi Germany, and the German
military was renamed the Wehrmacht.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht>
1984:
William Buckley, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency station
chief in Beirut, Lebanon, was kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Francis_Buckley>
2014:
Annexation of Crimea: The Autonomous Republic of Crimea held a
controversial referendum where voters overwhelmingly chose to join
Russia as a federal subject.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
growl:
1. (intransitive) To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to
give forth an angry, grumbling sound.
2. (intransitive, jazz) Of a wind instrument: to produce a low-pitched
rumbling sound.
3. (intransitive, software) To send a user a message via the Growl
software library.
4. (transitive) To express (something) by growling.
5. (transitive, jazz) To play a wind instrument in a way that produces a
low-pitched rumbling sound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/growl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Odious ideas are not entitled to hide from criticism behind the
human shield of their believers' feelings. Â
--Richard Stallman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman>