Felix Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847) was a German
composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period,
who wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music, and chamber
music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music
for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, his mature Violin
Concerto, his String Octet, and his Songs Without Words for solo piano.
He was born into a prominent Jewish family in Berlin, baptised as a
Reformed Christian at age seven, and recognised early as a musical
prodigy. Mendelssohn revived interest in Bach's music, notably with a
performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. He enjoyed success in
Germany and in his travels throughout Europe as a composer, conductor
and soloist. Many of his major works premiered during his ten visits to
Britain. He founded the Leipzig Conservatory, which became a bastion of
his rather conservative tastes. After a long period of relative
denigration, he is among the most popular romantic composers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
The Argentine Confederation were defeated in the Platine War by
an alliance consisting of Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of
Entre RÃos and Corrientes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platine_War>
1930:
The Communist Party of Indochina, the Communist Party of Annam,
and the Communist League of Indochina merged to form the Communist Party
of Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Vietnam>
1959:
American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens,
and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their plane
crashed shortly after taking off from Mason City Municipal Airport in
Iowa (wreckage pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died>
2014:
Russia's first school shooting took place when a student opened
fire at School No. 263 in Otradnoye District, Moscow, resulting in the
deaths of a teacher and a police officer.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Moscow_school_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
flare:
1. (transitive) To cause to burn.
2. (transitive) To cause inflammation; to inflame.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To open outward in shape.
4. (transitive, intransitive, aviation) To (operate an aircraft to)
transition from downward flight to level flight just before landing.
5. (intransitive) To blaze brightly.
6. (intransitive) To shine out with a sudden and unsteady light; to emit
a dazzling or painfully bright light.
7. (intransitive, figuratively) To shine out with gaudy colours; to be
offensively bright or showy.
8. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly happen or intensify.
9. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly erupt in anger.
10. (intransitive, obsolete) To be exposed to too much light.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flare>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The longing in the depth of the heart for absolute good, and the
power, though only latent, of directing attention and love to a reality
beyond the world and of receiving good from it — constitutes a link
which attaches every man without exception to that other reality.
Whoever recognizes that reality recognizes also that link. Because of
it, he holds every human being without any exception as something sacred
to which he is bound to show respect. This is the only possible motive
for universal respect towards all human beings. Whatever formulation of
belief or disbelief a man may choose to make, if his heart inclines him
to feel this respect, then he in fact also recognizes a reality other
than this world's reality. Whoever in fact does not feel this respect is
alien to that other reality also. Â
--Simone Weil
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil>
Coenwulf was King of Mercia, in Anglo-Saxon England, from December 796
until his death in 821. He ascended the throne five months after the
death of Offa, one of the most powerful kings of early medieval England,
when Offa's son, Ecgfrith, died after a brief reign. In the early years
of Coenwulf's reign he had to deal with a revolt in Kent, which had been
under Offa's control. After Eadberht Præn returned from exile in
Francia to claim the Kentish throne, Coenwulf invaded and retook the
kingdom. He probably lost control of the kingdom of East Anglia during
the early part of his reign, as evidenced by an independent coinage
appearing under King Eadwald, but Coenwulf's coinage reappeared in 805.
Coenwulf was the last king of Mercia to exercise substantial dominance
over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms; within a decade of his death, the rise
of Wessex had begun under King Ecgberht, and Mercia never recovered its
former position of power.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenwulf_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
Brigham Young announced his decision to go to war against
Timpanogos who were hostile to the Mormon settlement at Fort Utah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_at_Fort_Utah>
1920:
The signing of the Treaty of Tartu ended the Estonian War of
Independence, with Russia agreeing to recognize the independence of
Estonia and renounce in perpetuity all rights to that territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tartu_%28Russian%E2%80%93Estonian%29>
1974:
The F-16 Fighting Falcon, the most numerous fixed-wing aircraft
in military service, made its first flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon>
2004:
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the top-ranked men's
singles player, a position he held for a record 237 consecutive weeks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Imbolc:
(Britain, Ireland) A Gaelic and Wiccan festival celebrated on 1 or 2
February which marks the beginning of spring.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Imbolc>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark
and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the
cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and
basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a
better fate than a long and lustrous winter. Â
--Groundhog Day
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_%28film%29>
Tropical Storm Marco was the only tropical cyclone to make landfall in
the United States during the 1990 Atlantic hurricane season. The 13th
named storm of the season, Marco formed from a cold-core low pressure
area along the northern coast of Cuba on October 9, and tracked
northwestward through the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Its circulation
produced 65Â mph (100Â km/h) winds over the western portion of Florida
before weakening to a tropical depression and moving ashore near Cedar
Key. The cyclone combined with a cold front and the remnants of
Hurricane Klaus to produce heavy rainfall in Georgia and the Carolinas.
After interacting with the nearby Hurricane Lili, Marco continued
northward until being absorbed by a cold front. In Florida, the cyclone
triggered flooding of some roadways. Rainfall across its path peaked at
19.89Â inches (505Â mm) in Louisville, Georgia. The flooding caused
12Â deaths, mostly due to drowning, as well as $57Â million in damage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Marco_%281990%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War>
1960:
Four African American students staged the first Greensboro sit-
ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins>
1972:
Kuala Lumpur gained city status, the first settlement in
Malaysia to do so after the nation's independence from the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur>
2009:
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female Prime
Minister and the world's first openly gay head of government of the
modern era.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3hanna_Sigur%C3%B0ard%C3%B3ttir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
inexorable:
1. Impossible to prevent or stop; inevitable.
2. Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting.
3. Adamant; severe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inexorable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Liberty sets the mind free, fosters independence and unorthodox
thinking and ideas. But it does not offer instant prosperity or
happiness and wealth to everyone. This is something that politicians in
particular must keep in mind. Â
--Boris Yeltsin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin>
Ambrose Rookwood (c. 1578 – 31 January 1606) was a member of the
failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant
English King James I with a Catholic monarch. Born into a wealthy
family of Catholic recusants, and educated by Jesuits at Flanders,
Rookwood became a horse-breeder. He was enlisted into the plot in
September 1605 by Robert Catesby, a religious zealot whose impatience
with James's treatment of English Catholics had grown so severe that he
conspired to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder, looking to kill
the king and much of the Protestant hierarchy. Rookwood's stable of
fine horses was seen as essential for the uprising to succeed. The plan
failed when the man left in charge of the gunpowder stored beneath the
House of Lords, Guy Fawkes, was discovered there and arrested. After
surviving an attack by the Sheriff of Worcestershire, Rookwood was
imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Rookwood>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1747:
The London Lock Hospital, the first clinic specialising in the
treatment of venereal diseases, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Lock_Hospital>
1862:
American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint
white dwarf companion of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius>
1961:
Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham the Chimp became the
first hominid launched into outer space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_%28chimpanzee%29>
2007:
Suspects were arrested in Birmingham, England, accused of
plotting to kidnap, and eventually behead, a Muslim British soldier
serving in Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_plot_to_behead_a_British_Muslim_soldier>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Tiggerish:
(Britain) (Excessively) cheerful and exuberant; bouncy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiggerish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I don't think life is absurd. I think we are all here for a huge
purpose. I think we shrink from the immensity of the purpose we are here
for. Â
--Norman Mailer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer>
Antlia (from Latin for "pump") is a constellation in the southern
celestial hemisphere. It was established by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in
the 18th century, and its name was later abbreviated from "Antlia
Pneumatica" by John Herschel. Completely visible from latitudes south of
49 degrees north, it is close to the stars forming the old constellation
of the ship Argo Navis. Antlia is a faint constellation; its brightest
star is Alpha Antliae, an orange giant that is a suspected variable
star, ranging between apparent magnitudes 4.22 and 4.29. S Antliae is an
eclipsing binary star system, changing in brightness as one star passes
in front of the other; sharing a common envelope, the stars are so close
they will one day merge to form a single star. Two star systems with
known exoplanets, HD 93083 and WASP-66, lie within Antlia, as do NGC
2997, a spiral galaxy, and the Antlia Dwarf Galaxy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1845:
American poet Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (illustration
shown) appeared in The Evening Mirror, its first publication attributed
to Poe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven>
1943:
World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major
naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial
Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal Campaign, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island>
1959:
The first Melodifestivalen, an annual Swedish music competition
that determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song
Contest, was held in Stockholm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodifestivalen>
2009:
The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt ruled that people who
did not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions are
also eligible to receive government identity documents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_identification_card_controversy>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Rafflesian:
1. Of or relating to Sir Stamford Raffles, a British colonial statesman
known for his founding of modern Singapore and British Malaya.
2. (Singapore) Of or relating to an educational institution named after
Sir Stamford Raffles.
3. (Singapore) A current or former student of an educational institution
named after Sir Stamford Raffles.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rafflesian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so
express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so
far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe
his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared
himself for the commission of every other crime. Â
--Thomas Paine
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine>
The 1956 Winter Olympics was a multi-sport event celebrated in Cortina
d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February. Cortina, which had
originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out Montreal,
Colorado Springs and Lake Placid for the right to host the 1956 Games.
The Cortina Games were the first to rely heavily on corporate
sponsorship for funding. Thirty-two nations—the largest number of
participating Winter Olympic countries to that point—competed in four
sports and twenty-four events. The Italian army transported large
amounts of snow to cover the alpine skiing courses. Toni Sailer of the
Austrian team became the first person to win all three alpine skiing
events in a single Olympics. The figure skating competition (pictured)
was held outdoors for the last time. These games were the first Winter
Olympics televised to a multi-national audience. For the first time at
an Olympic Games, the venues were built with television in mind.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Winter_Olympics>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1788:
Captain Arthur Phillip and the British First Fleet landed at
Sydney Cove on the shore of Port Jackson in present-day Sydney,
establishing the first permanent European settlement in Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet>
1905:
The Cullinan Diamond, the largest gem-quality rough diamond
ever found at 3,106.75 carats (621.350Â g), was discovered at the
Premier Mine in Cullinan, Gauteng, South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond>
1949:
The Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California, the
largest aperture optical telescope in the world for 28 years, saw first
light.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale_Telescope>
2009:
Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a
political crisis that led to the deposal of President Marc Ravalomanana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Malagasy_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
emu:
1. (obsolete) A cassowary (genus Casuarius).
2. A large flightless bird native to Australia, Dromaius
novaehollandiae.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/emu>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I shall set my course to the end that no man need fear to speak
the truth. I could not do less, for the opportunities for service my
country has given me and the honors it has conferred upon me have
imposed an obligation which is not discharged by the termination of
public service. Much that I have seen since my return to my native land
after an absence of many years has filled me with immeasurable
satisfaction and pride. Our material progress has been little short of
phenomenal. It has established an eminence in material strength so far
in advance of any other nation or combination of nations that talk of
imminent threat to our national security through the application of
external force is pure nonsense. It is not of any external threat that
I concern myself but rather of insidious forces working from within
which have already so drastically altered the character of our free
institutions — those institutions which formerly we hailed as
something beyond question or challenge — those institutions we proudly
called the American way of life. Â
--Douglas MacArthur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur>
ZETA was an early experiment in fusion power research. Built at the
Atomic Energy Research Establishment in England, it was much larger and
more powerful than any other fusion machine at that time. It went into
operation in August 1957, and by the end of the month was giving off
bursts of about a million neutrons per pulse. Measurements suggested
temperatures between 1 and 5 million kelvins, hot enough to produce
nuclear fusion reactions. Early results were leaked to the press, and
front-page headlines announced a breakthrough. Further experiments
revealed measurement errors, and the claim of fusion was publicly
withdrawn, casting a chill over the entire fusion establishment. The
neutrons were later explained as the product of instabilities in the
fuel. ZETA went on to have a long experimental lifetime, supporting work
in plasma theory and originating more accurate laser-based temperature
measurements that supported the tokamak approach a decade later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZETA_%28fusion_reactor%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1704:
English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their
native allies began a series of raids against a largely peaceful
population of Apalachee in Spanish Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apalachee_massacre>
1949:
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the first
Emmy Awards to honor excellence in the American television industry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Award>
1995:
A team of Norwegian and American scientists launched a Black
Brant XII sounding rocket, which was mistaken for a Trident missile by
Russian forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_rocket_incident>
2011:
The Day of Anger during the Egyptian revolution began,
eventually leading to the removal of Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years
of rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Egyptian_revolution_of_2011>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Cullen skink:
A thick soup made of smoked finnan haddock, milk, onions, and potatoes,
a local speciality of Cullen in Moray, Scotland.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cullen_skink>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Time, unfortunately, though it makes animals and vegetables bloom
and fade with amazing punctuality, has no such simple effect upon the
mind of man. The mind of man, moreover, works with equal strangeness
upon the body of time. An hour, once it lodges in the queer element of
the human spirit, may be stretched to fifty or a hundred times its clock
length; on the other hand, an hour may be accurately represented on the
timepiece of the mind by one second. This extraordinary discrepancy
between time on the clock and time in the mind is less known than it
should be and deserves fuller investigation. Â
--Orlando: A Biography
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orlando:_A_Biography>