Brian Horrocks (1895–1985) was a British Army officer who commanded
XXX Corps during the Second World War. He also served in the First
World War and the Russian Civil War, was taken prisoner twice, and
competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Later he was a television
presenter, a military history author, and Black Rod in the House of
Lords. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery identified Horrocks as one of
his most able officers, appointing him to corps commands in North Africa
and Europe. Horrocks was seriously wounded in 1943, and took more than a
year to recover before returning to command a corps. His wound caused
continuing health problems and led to his early retirement from the
army. Since 1945, Horrocks has been regarded by some historians as one
of the most successful British generals of the war; Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in Western Europe, called him
"the outstanding British general under Montgomery".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Horrocks>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1698:
Most of London's Palace of Whitehall, from 1530 the main
residence of the English monarchs, was destroyed by fire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Whitehall>
1798:
After his investiture as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine
Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Hangerli>
1951:
Korean War: Chinese and North Korean troops captured Seoul.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Seoul>
1989:
Two American F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Floggers
that appeared to be attempting to engage them over the Gulf of Sirte in
the Mediterranean Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_air_battle_near_Tobruk>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
prescient:
Exhibiting or possessing prescience: having knowledge of, or seemingly
able to correctly predict, events before they take place.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prescient>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work,
chances are you'll end up boring, stupid and monotonous. Work is a much
better explanation for the creeping cretinization all around us than
even such significant moronizing mechanisms as television and education.
People who are regimented all their lives, handed off to work from
school and bracketed by the family in the beginning and the nursing home
at the end, are habituated to hierarchy and psychologically enslaved.
Their aptitude for autonomy is so atrophied that their fear of freedom
is among their few rationally grounded phobias.
--Bob Black
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Black>
The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason American college football
bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls played
in Canada at the Rogers Centre (pictured) in Toronto on January 3,
2009. Connecticut represented the Big East Conference; Buffalo was the
Mid-American Conference champion. At the pregame luncheon, members of
the 1958 Buffalo Bulls were honored. The 1958 team was the first from
the university to be invited to a bowl game, the Tangerine Bowl, where
they would have faced Florida State. Because that stadium prohibited
integrated football games, the team's African-American
players—starting running back Willie Evans and backup defensive end
Mike Wilson—were not allowed to play. The players unanimously voted to
reject the bowl bid, and Buffalo would not play in a bowl until the 2009
game, which ended in a 38–20 victory for Connecticut.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_International_Bowl>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
The 36-inch (91 cm) refracting telescope at the Lick
Observatory near San Jose, California, the largest in the world until
1897, was used for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_Observatory>
1919:
Emir Faisal of Iraq signed an agreement with Zionist leader
Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and
an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal%E2%80%93Weizmann_Agreement>
1961:
Twenty-five people died in Finland's worst civilian air
accident when Aero Flight 311 crashed near Kvevlax.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Flight_311>
2009:
The bitcoin cryptocurrency network was created when Satoshi
Nakamoto mined the first block of the chain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
castle in the air:
(idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be
realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a
near impossibility.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/castle_in_the_air>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Appetitus rationi pareat. Let your desires be ruled by reason.
--Cicero
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cicero>
The Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) is a bird native to much of
southern and northeastern Australia. Its plumage is all black with
glossy upperparts, and its strong legs and feet are grey-black. Nicholas
Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the bird in 1827, with a
species name highlighting its similarity to the carrion crow (C.
corone). The preferred habitat is open woodland and transitional zones.
It has adapted well to urban environments and is a common city bird in
Sydney, Canberra and Perth. An opportunistic feeder, it eats a wide
variety of plant and animal material, as well as food waste from urban
areas. In eastern Australia its range includes many sheep farms, and it
has been blamed for attacking healthy lambs, but very rarely does. The
Australian raven is territorial, with pairs breeding between July and
September and generally bonding for life. The nest is a bowl-shaped
structure of sticks sited high in a tree, or occasionally in a man-made
structure.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_raven>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1680:
Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram of Java and his
courtiers stabbed Trunajaya to death a week after the rebel leader
surrendered to the Dutch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunajaya_rebellion>
1920:
Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer, Department of Justice agents launched a series of raids against
radical leftists and anarchists in more than 30 cities and towns in 23
states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids>
1981:
English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper",
was arrested in Sheffield, ending one of the largest police
investigations in British history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sutcliffe>
2016:
Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia, was
executed by the Saudi government along with 46 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Saudi_Arabia_mass_execution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tumultuous:
1. Characterized by loud, confused noise.
2. Causing or characerized by tumult; chaotic, disorderly, turbulent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tumultuous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is better to go to defeat with free will than to live in a
meaningless security as a cog in a machine.
--Isaac Asimov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>
Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht (Time, which day and year doth make),
BWV 134a, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for a
celebration of New Year's Day in 1719 at the court of Leopold, Prince of
Anhalt-Köthen (hall in the palace pictured). The libretto by the author
Christian Friedrich Hunold portrays a dialogue between two allegorical
figures, Time (representing the past) and Divine Providence (the
future). Bach set the words to eight movements consisting of alternating
recitatives and arias, culminating in a choral finale. Most movements
are duets for alto and tenor, supported by a Baroque instrumental
ensemble of two oboes, strings and continuo. The character of the music
is close to Baroque opera, including its French dances. In Leipzig in
1724, Bach used this secular work as the basis for a church cantata for
the Third Day of Easter, omitting two movements and changing only the
text.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Zeit,_die_Tag_und_Jahre_macht,_BWV_134a>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1773:
The hymn "Amazing Grace" was probably first used in a prayer
meeting in Olney, England, without the music familiar to modern
listeners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace>
1801:
Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the dwarf planet
Ceres, naming it after the Roman goddess of agriculture and of motherly
love.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29>
1945:
World War II: In retaliation for the massacre of captured
Americans by Waffen SS soldiers, U.S. Army personnel killed 60 Wehrmacht
prisoners near Chenogne, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenogne_massacre>
2011:
A bomb exploded at a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria,
Egypt, killing 23 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Alexandria_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
New Year's resolution:
A vow that one makes on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day for the coming
year.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/New_Year%27s_resolution>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A humanist has four leading characteristics — curiosity, a free
mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race.
--E. M. Forster
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._M._Forster>
John Doubleday (about 1798 – 1856) was a British craftsperson,
restorer, and dealer in antiquities. He was employed by the British
Museum for the last 20 years of his life as a specialist restorer,
perhaps the first person in that role. In 1845 the Portland Vase, a
Roman cameo glass piece, was smashed into hundreds of pieces, and
Doubleday was selected for the restoration. Guided by a watercolour of
the fragments by Thomas H. Shepherd, he glued the vase whole again
within a few months, omitting only 37 small splinters. This restoration
would remain for more than 100 years, until the adhesive grew
increasingly discoloured. In other work for the museum, he cleaned
bronzes from Nimrud, and he at least twice testified in criminal trials.
By the time of his death he had amassed one of the largest collections
of casts of seals in the world. In 2006 William Andrew Oddy of the
British Museum ranked him "in the forefront of the craftsmen-restorers
of his time".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doubleday_%28restorer%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
Queen Victoria selected Ottawa, then a small logging town, to
be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa>
1963:
Despite Prime Minister Roy Welensky's efforts, the Central
African Federation officially collapsed, subsequently becoming three
separate nations: Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Welensky>
1986:
Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140
others (rescue efforts depicted), making it the second deadliest hotel
fire in United States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupont_Plaza_Hotel_arson>
1999:
Panama took control of the Panama Canal Zone from the United
States, in accordance with the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
auld lang syne:
(idiomatic) Days gone by; former times.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auld_lang_syne>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must present democracy as a force holding within itself the
seeds of unlimited progress by the human race. By our actions we should
make it clear that such a democracy is a means to a better way of life,
together with a better understanding among nations. Tyranny inevitably
must retire before the tremendous moral strength of the gospel of
freedom and self-respect for the individual, but we have to recognize
that these democratic principles do not flourish on empty stomachs, and
that people turn to false promises of dictators because they are
hopeless and anything promises something better than the miserable
existence that they endure. However, material assistance alone is not
sufficient. The most important thing for the world today in my opinion
is a spiritual regeneration which would reestablish a feeling of good
faith among men generally. Discouraged people are in sore need of the
inspiration of great principles. Such leadership can be the rallying
point against intolerance, against distrust, against that fatal
insecurity that leads to war. It is to be hoped that the democratic
nations can provide the necessary leadership.
--George Marshall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Marshall>
First Tennessee Park is a baseball park in downtown Nashville,
Tennessee, in the United States. It opened in 2015 as the home of the
Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League. It was built on
the site of the former Sulphur Dell, a minor league ballpark in use from
1870 to 1963. The design of the park incorporates imagery inspired by
country music, Sulphur Dell, and the city's former baseball players and
teams. Its most distinctive feature is its guitar-shaped scoreboard.
During construction of the park, artifacts dating to around 1150 were
uncovered; these are now on permanent display in the Tennessee State
Museum's Mississippian Period exhibit. Archaeologists believe them to be
the remnants of a workshop in a Native American settlement where mineral
water from underground springs was boiled to collect salt. The park is
on a flood plain of the Cumberland River that flooded in 2010.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Tennessee_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1853:
The United States purchased approximately 29,700 square miles
(77,000 km2) of land south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande
(map pictured) from Mexico for $10 million.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase>
1906:
The All-India Muslim League, a political party in British India
that developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as
a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent, was founded in Dhaka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-India_Muslim_League>
1958:
The Guatemalan Air Force fired upon Mexican fishing boats which
had strayed into Guatemalan territory, causing a conflict between the
two nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93Guatemala_conflict>
2013:
Supporters of religious leader Paul-Joseph Mukungubila attacked
television studios, the airport and a military base in Kinshasa, DR
Congo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2013_Kinshasa_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
supine:
1. Lying on its back; reclined.
2. (figuratively) Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral
weakness; apathetic or passive towards something; lazy, lethargic,
listless.
3. (rare, now poetic) Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/supine>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I imagine that a hero is a man who does what he can. The others
do not do it.
--Romain Rolland
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Romain_Rolland>
Mensa (Latin for "table") is a constellation in the southern celestial
hemisphere near the south celestial pole. It is one of the 88 modern
constellations, and one of twelve drawn up in the 18th century by
French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. Originally named for Table
Mountain overlooking Cape Town, South Africa, where Lacaille made
observations, it covers a keystone-shaped wedge of sky of approximately
153.5 square degrees. Other than the south polar constellation of
Octans, it is the most southerly of constellations and is only
observable south of the 5th parallel of the Northern Hemisphere. Barely
visible in suburban skies, Mensa is one of the faintest constellations
in the night sky. At least three of its star systems have been found to
have exoplanets. Parts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, several star
clusters and a quasar lie in the area covered by the constellation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_%28constellation%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1876:
A railway bridge over the Ashtabula River in Ohio collapsed
when a Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway train was crossing over
it, killing 92 people and injuring 64 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster>
1911:
Sun Yat-sen was elected in Nanjing as the Provisional President
of the Republic of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>
1959:
Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's
Plenty of Room at the Bottom", anticipating the field of nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>
1997:
In order to prevent the spread of the H5N1 flu virus, the Hong
Kong government began the slaughter of 1.3 million chickens.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_spread_of_H5N1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dashcam:
(automotive) A digital video recorder mounted on the dashboard of a
vehicle or elsewhere inside the vehicle to record occurrences in the
vicinity, such as traffic accidents that the vehicle has been involved
in, to provide evidence for criminal prosecutions, insurance claims,
etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dashcam>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes
your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.
--Mary Tyler Moore
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Tyler_Moore>
"Halo" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her third
studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). Inspired by Ray LaMontagne's
2004 song "Shelter", "Halo" was written by Ryan Tedder, E. Kidd Bogart,
Eric Nealante Phillips, and Beyoncé herself. The song is a pop power
ballad, with lyrics describing a sublime love. The single won Best Song
at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Female Pop Vocal
Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards, and was nominated for Record of
the Year. "Halo" topped the singles charts of Brazil, Norway and
Slovakia, and reached the top five in Australia, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the US. Philip
Andelman directed Beyoncé and actor Michael Ealy in the accompanying
music video. The song was performed on the television show Glee and has
been covered by many artists, including Florence and the Machine, Harper
Blynn, and Westlife.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_%28Beyonc%C3%A9_song%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1768:
Taksin the Great was crowned king of the newly established
Thonburi Kingdom in the new capital at Thonburi, present-day Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin>
1918:
Irishwoman Constance Markievicz became the first female Member
of Parliament elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,
although she never served.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Markievicz>
1943:
World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house
fighting, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured Ortona, Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona>
2006:
Somali Civil War: Troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal
Government and their Ethiopian allies captured Mogadishu unopposed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Mogadishu>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
count coup:
(intransitive, US, historical) To win prestige in battle by performing
an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and
escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/count_coup>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Work as if you live in the early days of a better world.
--Alasdair Gray
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray>
The Carolwood Pacific Railroad was a 7 1⁄4-inch (184 mm) gauge
ridable miniature railroad run by the American animator and producer
Walt Disney at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles,
California. It featured the Lilly Belle, a 1:8-scale live steam
locomotive named after his wife Lillian and built by the Walt Disney
Studios' machine shop. It pulled a set of freight cars, as well as a
caboose that was built almost entirely by Disney himself. The railroad,
which became operational in 1950, was 2,615 feet (797 m) long and
encircled his house. It attracted visitors who rode and occasionally
drove the miniature train. In 1953, after a guest was injured in an
accident, the railroad was closed to the public. It inspired Disney to
include an encircling railroad in the design for Disneyland in Anaheim,
California. Railroad attractions in Disney theme parks around the world
are now commonplace.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolwood_Pacific_Railroad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
Aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin left Plymouth, England, on
the expedition to South America that made his name as a naturalist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle>
1932:
New York City's Radio City Music Hall opened with the world's
largest auditorium at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_City_Music_Hall>
2008:
In response to rocket attacks from Palestinian armed groups,
Israel launched a surprise attack against the Gaza Strip, opening the
three-week Gaza War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_War_%282008%E2%80%9309%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trice:
Now only in the term in a trice: a very short time; an instant, a
moment. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trice>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The greatness of human actions is measured by the inspiration
that it brings. Blessed is he who carries within himself a God, an ideal
of beauty and obeys it: an ideal of art, ideal of science, ideal of
country, ideal virtues of the Gospel! These are the wellsprings of great
thoughts and great actions. All reflections illuminate infinity.
--Louis Pasteur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur>
Allied naval bombardments of Japan during the last weeks of World War II
in 1945 targeted industrial and military facilities. Warships of the
United States Navy, the British Royal Navy, and the Royal New Zealand
Navy, mostly cruisers and battleships, caused heavy damage to several
factories, as well as nearby civilian areas. One goal was to provoke the
Japanese military into committing some of its reserve force of aircraft
into battle, but the Allied forces were not attacked, and none of their
warships suffered damage. US Navy ships attacked the cities of Kamaishi
and Muroran, a joint American and British force bombed targets around
the city of Hitachi, and cruisers and destroyers shelled areas including
Nojima Saki and Shionomisaki. In the final bombardment on 9 August,
Kamaishi was hit again by American, British and New Zealand warships. Up
to 1,739 Japanese were killed, and as many as 1,497 were wounded. The
Allies lost 32 prisoners of war during the bombardments of Kamaishi.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_naval_bombardments_of_Japan_during_Wor…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1811:
Seventy-two people died when a theater in Richmond, Virginia,
U.S., was destroyed by fire—the worst urban disaster in American
history at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Theatre_fire>
1871:
Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, made
its debut at the Gaiety Theatre, London, UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_%28opera%29>
1898:
At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie
Curie (both pictured) announced the discovery of a new element, naming
it radium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium>
1996:
Six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found
beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder,
Colorado, a murder that generated extensive coverage from the American
media.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
box:
1. (transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
2. (transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way
that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
3. (transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to
ensure that the color is identical.
4. (transitive, agriculture) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for
the purpose of procuring the sap.
5. (transitive, architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc.,
so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
6. (transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a
wheel) with a box.
7. (transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text,
etc.) in a box.
8. (transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a
primitive type into a corresponding object.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/box>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All about us we see a world in revolt; but revolt is negative, a
mere finishing-off process. In the midst of destruction we carry with us
also our creation, our hopes, our strength, our urge to be fulfilled.
The climate changes as the wheel turns, and what is true for the
sidereal world is true for man. The last two thousand years have brought
about a duality in man such as he never experienced before, and yet the
man who dominates this whole period was one who stood for wholeness, one
who proclaimed the Holy Ghost. No life in the whole history of man has
been so misinterpreted, so woefully misunderstood as Christ's.
--Henry Miller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Miller>