US Highway 25 (US 25) was a highway in the state of Michigan that ran
northeasterly from the Ohio state line near Toledo through Monroe and
Detroit to Port Huron. Continuing near the foot of the Blue Water
Bridge, it proceeded north and northwesterly along the Lake Huron
shoreline to the tip of The Thumb in Port Austin. Created with the
initial US Highway System in 1926, US 25 followed some roadways dating
from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and replaced several state
highway designations. The highway was extended to Port Austin in 1933.
Starting in the early 1960s, segments of Interstate 75 and
Interstate 94 were built, and US 25 was shifted to follow them
concurrently south of Detroit to Port Huron. On September 26, 1973, the
entire designation was removed from the state. The final routing of the
highway is still maintained by the state under eight different
designations, some unsigned.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_25_in_Michigan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed (ruins
pictured) during an armed conflict between the Venetians under Francesco
Morosini and Ottoman forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
1907:
The British Colony of New Zealand officially became a dominion
to reflect its political independence since the 1850s.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_New_Zealand>
1983:
The racing yacht Australia II, captained by John Bertrand, won
the America's Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defense of
the trophy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_II>
2008:
Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy flew a wingpack powered by
jet engines across the English Channel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Rossy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apricate:
1. (intransitive, rare) To bask in the sun.
2. (transitive, also figuratively, rare) To disinfect and freshen by
exposing to the sun; to sun.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apricate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is
that we are still not thinking.
--Martin Heidegger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger>
Æthelbald was the King of Mercia in what is now the English Midlands
from 716 until he was killed in 757. He came to the throne after the
death of his cousin, King Ceolred, who had driven him into exile. During
his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons,
and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the
strong reigns of Mercian kings Penda and Wulfhere between about 628 and
675. When Æthelbald came to the throne, both Wessex and Kent were ruled
by stronger kings, but within fifteen years Æthelbald was ruling all
England south of the river Humber, according to the contemporary
chronicler Bede. Æthelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was
succeeded briefly by Beornred, of whom little is known. Within a year,
Offa, the grandson of Æthelbald's cousin Eanwulf, had seized the
throne, possibly after a brief civil war. Under Offa, Mercia entered its
most prosperous and influential period.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelbald_of_Mercia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1790:
Peking opera (modern performer pictured) was born when the Four
Great Anhui Troupes introduced Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the
Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera>
1944:
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from
the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation
Market Garden in defeat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1977:
About 4,200 people took part in the first modern Chicago
Marathon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Marathon>
1990:
The Ram Rath Yatra, a political-religious march organised to
erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid,
began in the Indian state of Gujarat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Rath_Yatra>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ruse:
1. (countable, often hunting) A turning or doubling back, especially of
animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
2. (countable, by extension) An action intended to deceive; a trick.
3. (uncountable) Cunning, guile, trickery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ruse>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The trouble begins when we start to be so impressed by the
strategies of our systematized thought that we forget that it does
relate to an obverse, that it is hewn from negation, that it is but very
small security against the void of negation which surrounds it. And when
that happens, when we forget these things, all sorts of mechanical
failures begin to disrupt the function of human personality.
--Glenn Gould
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould>
Operation Ke was the largely successful withdrawal of Japanese forces
from Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during World War II. All
attempts by the Japanese army to recapture Henderson Field, the only
airfield on the island being used by Allied aircraft, had been repulsed
with heavy losses. Japanese ground forces had been reduced from 36,000
to 11,000 through starvation, disease, and battle casualties. Attempting
to reinforce and resupply the ground forces on the island, Japanese
naval forces were also suffering heavy losses of troops and matériel,
including a submarine sunk in late January (wreckage pictured). The main
withdrawal was carried out on the nights of 1, 4, and 7 February by
destroyers. The Japanese evacuated 10,652 men from Guadalcanal, of whom
600 died during the withdrawal. On 9 February, Allied forces realized
that the Japanese were gone and declared Guadalcanal secure, ending the
six-month campaign for control of the island.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ke>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Raja Muda Hashim, uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, granted
Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sarawak>
1903:
Alfred Deakin became the second Prime Minister of Australia,
succeeding Edmund Barton who left office to become a founding Justice of
the High Court of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Deakin>
1964:
The Warren Commission released its report to the U.S.
president, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the
assassination of John F. Kennedy. The report was made public three days
later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission>
1975:
Dougal Haston and Doug Scott on the Southwest Face expedition
became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by
ascending one of its faces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_British_Mount_Everest_Southwest_Face_exp…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gamboge:
1. One of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South
and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.
2. The resin of the gamboge tree; a preparation of the resin used as a
pigment or for medicinal purposes.
3. A deep yellow colour. gamboge colour:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gamboge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever you feel like criticizing any one... just remember that
all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.
--F. Scott Fitzgerald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald>
The red-billed tropicbird is a seabird, one of three species in the
family Phaethontidae. Resembling a tern, it has mostly white plumage
with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask and a red
bill. Most adults have tail streamers that are about two times their
body length, and generally longer in males than in females. Described by
Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758), this
species ranges across the Indian Ocean, the tropical Atlantic, and the
eastern Pacific. Nesting takes place in loose colonies. A single egg is
laid, and incubated by both sexes for about six weeks. After a chick
fledges, the parents will usually stop visiting the nest and the chick
will leave. Red-billed tropicbirds of all ages feed on fish and squid,
catching them by diving from the air into the water. The birds sometimes
follow surface-feeding predators that drive prey to the surface, where
they can be seized.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-billed_tropicbird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1803:
Maratha troops were defeated by British forces at the Battle of
Assaye, one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt
against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal
directly to the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard
Nixon delivered the "Checkers speech", refuting accusations of
improprieties with contributions to his campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
2008:
A gunman shot and killed ten students at Seinäjoki University
of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Western Finland, before committing
suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauhajoki_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
raunchiness:
The characteristic of being raunchy; sleaze, titillation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raunchiness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poor man want to be rich Rich man want to be king And a king
ain't satisfied Till he rules everything. I want to go out tonight I
want to find out what I got. Well, I believe in the love that you gave
me I believe in the faith that can save me I believe in the hope And
I pray that some day it may raise me Above these badlands.
--Bruce Springsteen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen>
Guy Burgess (1911–1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, a
member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s
to the early years of the Cold War. His defection in 1951 to the Soviet
Union, with his fellow-spy Donald Maclean, led to a serious breach in
Anglo-American intelligence co-operation, and caused long-lasting
demoralisation in Britain's foreign and diplomatic services. Born into
a wealthy middle-class family, Burgess was educated at Eton College and
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he embraced left-wing politics and
joined the British Communist Party. He was recruited by Soviet
intelligence in 1935, on the recommendation of the future double-agent
Kim Philby. After working for the BBC as a producer, Burgess joined the
Foreign Office in 1944 and served in several sensitive posts, including
a spell as secretary to Hector McNeil, the deputy to Ernest Bevin, the
Foreign Secretary. In the critical postwar period Burgess had access to
information on all aspects of Britain's foreign policy, and may have
passed thousands of documents to his Soviet controllers. He fled to
Moscow in May 1951 and never left the Soviet Union.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Burgess>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des
Nibelungen by German composer Richard Wagner, was first performed in
Munich.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold>
1948:
Led by Gail Halvorsen, the U.S. Army Air Forces began Operation
"Little Vittles", delivering candy to children as part of the Berlin
Airlift.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Halvorsen>
1965:
The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a
resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in the Indo-Pakistani
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965>
1993:
A tugboat towing a barge collided with a rail bridge in Mobile,
Alabama, U.S., deforming the tracks and causing the derailment of a
passenger train eight minutes later, which killed 47 people and injured
an additional 103.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bayou_Canot_rail_accident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
abase:
1. (transitive) To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc.,
so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble,
to humiliate.
2. (transitive, archaic) To lower physically; to depress; to cast or
throw down; to stoop.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To lower in value, in particular by altering
the content of alloys in coins; to debase.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abase>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let it be your maxim through life, to know all you can know,
yourself; and never to trust implicitly to the informations of others.
--Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield>
Future Science Fiction and Science Fiction Stories were two American
magazines published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again
from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig for
the first few issues; Robert W. Lowndes took over in late 1941, and
remained editor until the end. The initial launch of the magazines came
as part of a boom in science fiction pulp magazine publishing at the end
of the 1930s, but in 1943 wartime paper shortages ended their run. In
the 1950s, with the market improving again, both magazines were
relaunched. Lowndes set a friendly and engaging tone in the magazines,
with letter columns and reader departments that interested fans. He was
successful in obtaining good stories partly because he had good
relationships with several well-known and emerging writers. Among the
stories he published were "The Liberation of Earth" by William Tenn and
"If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Science_Fiction_and_Science_Fiction_St…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1938:
The Great New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island,
New York, killing an estimated 682 people and injuring 1,754 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_England_hurricane>
1943:
Second World War: The German Army began the Massacre of the
Acqui Division on the Greek island of Cephalonia, executing 5,155
Italian soldiers by 26 September.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Acqui_Division>
1965:
Portugal accepted a Rhodesian mission in Lisbon despite
objections by Britain, which had required its colony to implement
democratic majority rule as a condition of independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesian_mission_in_Lisbon>
2013:
Unidentified gunmen began a three-day attack on the upmarket
Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting in the deaths of 67
people with at least another 175 wounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate_shopping_mall_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
utopographer:
One who describes a utopia.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/utopographer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is, though I do not know how there is or why there is, a
sense of infinite peace and protection in the glittering hosts of
heaven. There it must be, I think, in the vast and eternal laws of
matter, and not in the daily cares and sins and troubles of men, that
whatever is more than animal within us must find its solace and its
hope.
--H. G. Wells
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._G._Wells>
Dromaeosauroides was a theropod dinosaur that lived around 140 million
years ago during the Early Cretaceous, making it one of the oldest known
dromaeosaurs. In 2000 and 2008, two fossilised teeth from this genus
(cast pictured) were discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the
Robbedale valley, on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, in the Baltic Sea.
It is the first dinosaur reported from Denmark. After these discoveries,
remains and tracks of more dinosaurs were found in several formations on
Bornholm. Coprolites containing fish remains found in the Jydegaard
Formation may belong to Dromaeosauroides. The teeth are curved and
finely serrated. Based on a comparison with other dromaeosaur teeth, the
genus is estimated to have been 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 ft) in length,
with a weight of about 40 kilograms (88 lb), a hide covered with
feathers, and a large sickle claw on both feet. It lived in a coastal
lagoon environment with sauropods, as evidenced by a possible titanosaur
tooth.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromaeosauroides>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1498:
A tsunami caused by the Nankai earthquake washed away the
building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in in
Kamakura, Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dtoku-in>
1906:
The ocean liner RMS Mauretania, the largest and fastest ship in
the world at the time, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Mauretania_%281906%29>
1943:
World War II: Australian troops defeated Imperial Japanese
forces at the Battle of Kaiapit in New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kaiapit>
2008:
An explosive-laden truck detonated in front of the Marriott
hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabad_Marriott_Hotel_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cherish:
1. To treat with affection, care, and tenderness; to nurture or protect
with care.
2. To have a deep appreciation of; to hold dear.
3. (obsolete) To cheer, to gladden.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cherish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high
than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one
necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the former one does not
deprive the low of the freedom to reveal itself as fully as what it is.
--Leo Strauss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Strauss>
Kate Sheppard (1848–1934) was the most prominent member of the women's
suffrage movement in New Zealand, and is one of that nation's best-known
historical figures. Born in Liverpool, England, she migrated to New
Zealand with her family in 1868, joining religious and social
organisations there, including the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
(WCTU). In 1887 she was appointed the WCTU's National Superintendent for
Franchise and Legislation. Sheppard promoted women's suffrage by
organising petitions and public meetings, by writing letters to the
press, and by developing contacts with politicians. She was the editor
of the White Ribbon, the first woman-operated newspaper in New Zealand.
Through her skilful writing and persuasive public speaking, her work
culminated in the grant of the vote to women on 19 September 1893,
making New Zealand the first nation to grant universal suffrage.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Sheppard>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1692:
Salem witch trials: As Giles Corey was being crushed to death
for refusing to enter a plea to charges of witchcraft, he reportedly
kept telling officials, "More weight!"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Corey>
1940:
Polish resistance leader Witold Pilecki allowed himself to be
captured by German forces and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp
in order to gather intelligence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki>
1970:
The first Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield festival
in the world, was held at Michael Eavis's farm in Glastonbury, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Festival>
1982:
:-) and :-( were first proposed by Scott Fahlman for use as
emoticons.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Jolly Roger:
The traditional flag used on European and American pirate ships, often
pictured as a white skull and crossbones on a black field; the
blackjack.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is a spell of unresisted power In wonder-working weak
simplicity, Because it is not fear'd.
--Hartley Coleridge
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hartley_Coleridge>
Hurricane Isabel struck North Carolina on the East Coast of the United
States on September 18, 2003. Forming in early September in the
tropical Atlantic Ocean, the storm had moved northwestward, with peak
winds of 165 mph (265 km/h). Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks
with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h), then quickly weakened over land and
became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day. It produced
moderate to heavy damage across eastern North Carolina. Storm surge and
strong winds in Dare County damaged thousands of houses and created a
2,000-foot (600 m) inlet on Hatteras Island (pictured), washing out
parts of North Carolina Highway 12 and isolating the village of Hatteras
for two months. Across the state, up to 700,000 residents were left
without power. Three deaths in North Carolina were attributed to the
storm, and statewide damage was estimated at $450 million.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Isabel_in_North_Carolina>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1879:
The Blackpool Illuminations (example pictured) in the English
seaside town of Blackpool were switched on for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool_Illuminations>
1918:
World War I: The Central Powers' defeat in the Battle of Dobro
Pole played a role in the Bulgarian withdrawal from the war and opened
the way for the subsequent liberation of Vardar Macedonia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dobro_Pole>
1974:
Hurricane Fifi struck Honduras, destroying 182 towns and
villages in the first 24 hours, and ultimately causing over 8,000
deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Fifi%E2%80%93Orlene>
2001:
Five letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to various
media outlets in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cybernat:
(Britain, informal) A Scottish nationalist who takes part in Internet
activism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cybernat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief
happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures
immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and
expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment. If it be
asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to
indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation as
is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectation raised, not by the
common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an
expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and
the general rules of action to be broken.
--Samuel Johnson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson>
WestJet Encore is a Canadian regional airline that began operations in
2013 as a subsidiary of WestJet Airlines, Ltd., the holding company for
WestJet Airlines. It is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Originally
limited to Western Canada, air service was later supplemented by routes
in the eastern half of the country. Pilot bases are in Calgary and
Toronto, where many WestJet Encore flights operate. Because WestJet
Airlines operates only larger aircraft such as the Boeing 737, the
company could not profitably serve many routes with less traffic.
WestJet Encore was created to use smaller planes, allowing the company
to serve these routes and to increase the frequency of flights on other
routes. The airline is the fourth largest operator of the Bombardier
Q400 NextGen aircraft (pictured), a variant of the Bombardier Dash 8.
The airline was initially staffed with non-union employees but the
pilots have since unionized.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WestJet_Encore>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army under Richard
Montgomery began the Siege of Fort St. Jean in the British province of
Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_St._Jean>
1859:
Disgruntled with the legal and political structures of the
United States, Joshua Norton distributed letters to various newspapers
in San Francisco, proclaiming himself Emperor Norton.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton>
1914:
Andrew Fisher, whose previous term as Prime Minister of
Australia oversaw a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until
the 1940s, became Prime Minister for the third time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Fisher>
1980:
Solidarity, the Polish trade union, was founded as the first
independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Solidarity>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
warrant:
1. (transitive, obsolete) To protect, keep safe (from danger).
2. (transitive, obsolete) To give (someone) an assurance or guarantee
(of something); also, with a double object: to guarantee (someone
something).
3. (transitive) To guarantee (something) to be (of a specified quality,
value, etc.).
4. (transitive) To guarantee as being true; (colloquial) to believe
strongly.
5. (transitive) To authorize; to give (someone) sanction or warrant (to
do something).
6. (transitive) To justify; to give grounds for.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/warrant>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
One thing I am convinced more and more is true and that is this:
the only way to be truly happy is to make others happy. When you realize
that and take advantage of the fact, everything is made perfect.
--William Carlos Williams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams>