"On the Mindless Menace of Violence" was a speech given by United States
Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. He delivered it at
the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel on April 5, 1968, in the wake of riots and
chaos following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., an African-
American civil rights leader. Speechwriters worked early into the
morning on a full response to the assassination. After revising the
draft, Kennedy spoke for only 10 minutes in front of 2,200 people at the
City Club of Cleveland, outlining his views on violence in American
society. He faulted both the rioters and the white establishment who,
from his perspective, were responsible for the deterioration of social
conditions in the United States. He proposed no specific solutions, but
admonished the audience to seek common ground and cooperation.
Journalist Jack Newfield framed the address as a suitable epitaph for
the senator, who was himself assassinated two months later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Mindless_Menace_of_Violence>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1081:
The Komnenian dynasty came to full power when Alexios I
Komnenos was crowned Byzantine Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos>
1710:
The Statute of Anne, the first fully fledged law regulating
copyright, received royal assent and went into effect five days later in
Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne>
1936:
Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado hit
Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S., killing at least 216 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Tupelo%E2%80%93Gainesville_tornado_outbr…>
1986:
The Libyan secret service bombed a discotheque in West Berlin,
killing 3 people and injuring 229 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_West_Berlin_discotheque_bombing>
1998:
Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe,
opened to traffic, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world
to date with a main span length of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaiky%C5%8D_Bridge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eucatastrophe:
(literature) A catastrophe (dramatic event leading to plot resolution)
that results in the protagonist's well-being.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eucatastrophe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, but men cannot
make laws that will bind or retard the growth of manhood … progress is
the law of nature; under God it shall be our eternal guiding star.
--Booker T. Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>
The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 5
October 2014 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie. It was the 15th race
of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship, and the 30th Japanese
Grand Prix of the Formula One era. The 44-lap race was won by Mercedes
driver Lewis Hamilton, increasing his lead in the World Drivers'
Championship to ten points over his teammate, Nico Rosberg, who finished
second. Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel came in third. Heavy
rain from Typhoon Phanfone soaked the track surface and reduced
visibility. Jules Bianchi lost control of his Marussia on the 43rd lap
and collided with a tractor crane that was tending to Adrian Sutil's
car, which had spun off on the previous lap. Bianchi sustained severe
head injuries and died nine months later, the first death caused by a
Formula One race since Ayrton Senna's in 1994. Formula One's governing
body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, investigated and
found that the crash had no single cause.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Japanese_Grand_Prix>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
Bryant's Minstrels premiered the popular American song "Dixie"
in New York City as part of their blackface minstrel show.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_(song)>
1968:
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.>
1988:
Governor of Arizona Evan Mecham was removed from office after
being convicted in his impeachment trial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham>
1990:
The current flag of Hong Kong was adopted for post-colonial use
during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hong_Kong>
2013:
A building collapsed on tribal land in Mumbra, a suburb of
Thane in Maharashtra, India, causing 74 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Thane_building_collapse>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disemvowel:
(transitive, sometimes humorous) To remove the vowels from, for example,
for the purpose of expurgating offensive words.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disemvowel>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our aim is to persuade. We adopt the means of non-violence because
our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade
with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our
acts. We will always be willing to talk and seek fair compromise, but we
are ready to suffer when necessary and even risk our lives to become
witnesses to the truth as we see it. … But if physical death is the
price that a man must pay to free his children and his white brethren
from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing could be more
redemptive. This is the type of soul force that I am convinced will
triumph over the physical force of the oppressor.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
Banksia sphaerocarpa, the fox banksia, is a shrub (occasionally a tree)
in the family Proteaceae. Generally 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) high, this
banksia has narrow green leaves and, from January to July, brownish,
orange or yellow round flower spikes. The species is widely distributed
across the southwest of Western Australia, growing exclusively in sandy
soils. A dominant plant in scrubland or low woodland, it is pollinated
by, and is a food source for, birds, mammals, and insects. First
described in 1810 by botanist Robert Brown, the species has a
complicated taxonomic history, and several taxa once classified as part
of a broadly defined B. sphaerocarpa have since been named as species
in their own right. Most authorities recognise five varieties; the
largest, B. sphaerocarpa var. dolichostyla (ironcap banksia), is
sometimes given species rank as B. dolichostyla. According to the
Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia, B. sphaerocarpa is not
threatened. None of the varieties is commonly seen in cultivation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_sphaerocarpa>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1043:
Edward the Confessor (pictured on coin) was crowned King of
England, the last king of the House of Wessex.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor>
1559:
Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain signed a treaty to
end the Italian War of 1551–1559.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_War_of_1551%E2%80%931559>
1922:
Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin>
1948:
An uprising began on Jeju Island, eventually leading to the
deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000 individuals due to fighting between
its various factions, and the violent suppression of the rebellion by
the South Korean army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_uprising>
2008:
Texas law enforcement authorities raided the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' YFZ Ranch, eventually
removing 533 women and children from the premises.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YFZ_Ranch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chairness:
The essence of what it means to be a chair; the qualities that make a
chair what it is.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chairness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think if we study the primates, we notice that a lot of these
things that we value in ourselves, such as human morality, have a
connection with primate behavior. This completely changes the
perspective, if you start thinking that actually we tap into our
biological resources to become moral beings. That gives a completely
different view of ourselves than this nasty selfish-gene type view that
has been promoted for the last 25 years.
--Jane Goodall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall>
The Boat Races 2017 took place on 2 April. Held annually, the Boat Race
is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the
River Thames in south-west London. For the second time in the history of
the event, the men's, the women's and both reserves' races were all held
on the Tideway on the same day. In the men's reserve race, Cambridge's
Goldie were beaten by Oxford's Isis, and in the women's reserve race,
Cambridge's Blondie defeated Oxford's Osiris. In the women's race,
Cambridge won by a large margin following a disastrous start by the
Oxford boat. This win, their second in ten years, took Cambridge's
advantage in the overall standings to 42–30. The Oxford men's boat won
their race after leading from the start, their fourth victory in five
years, taking the overall record in the event to 82–80 in Cambridge's
favour. The races were watched by around a quarter of a million
spectators live, including, for the first time, on YouTube.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Races_2017>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León reached Florida,
becoming the first European known to do so, purportedly while searching
for the Fountain of Youth in the New World.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n>
1863:
In Richmond, Virginia, U.S., about 5,000 people, mostly poor
women, rioted in protest of the exorbitant price of bread.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bread_riots>
1973:
The Liberal Movement broke away from the Liberal and Country
League in South Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Movement_(Australia)>
1992:
Bosnian War (Yugoslav Wars): At least 48 civilians were killed
in the town of Bijeljina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijeljina_massacre>
2002:
Operation Defensive Shield: Approximately 200 Palestinian
militants fled the advancing Israel Defense Forces into the Church of
the Nativity in Bethlehem, starting a month-long standoff.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_Church_of_the_Nativity_in_Bethle…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
beer o'clock:
(slang, humorous) The time of the first beer (or alcoholic beverage) of
the day.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beer_o%27clock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I attacked those Western playwrights who use their influence and
affluence to preach to the world the nihilistic doctrine that life is
pointless and irrationally destructive, and that there is nothing we can
do about it. Until everyone is fed, clothed, housed and taught, until
human beings have equal leisure to contemplate the overwhelming fact of
mortality, we should not (I argued) indulge in the luxury of "privileged
despair."
--Kenneth Tynan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Tynan>
RAF Uxbridge (1 April 1918 – 31 March 2010) was a Royal Air Force
station in the London Borough of Hillingdon. In the Second World War, it
was the headquarters of No. 11 Group RAF, responsible for the aerial
defence of London and south-east England during the Battle of Britain.
Hillingdon House served as the group's headquarters. What is now called
the Battle of Britain Bunker was built nearby to house the 11 Group
Operations Room, which was also responsible for air support during the
evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 and the D-Day landings in 1944. It was
here that Winston Churchill first said, "Never in the history of mankind
has so much been owed by so many to so few", repeating the sentiment to
Parliament in a speech four days later. When the Uxbridge station closed
in 2010, many of its units moved to nearby RAF Northolt. Much of the
land around the River Pinn has been designated as green belt. All listed
buildings on the property were retained after redevelopment, including
the bunker, which is now a museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Uxbridge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
528:
The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of China's Northern Wei dynasty
underwent gender reassignment and was installed as Emperor for a single
day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Emperor_Xiaoming_of_Northern_Wei>
1833:
Mexican Texans met at San Felipe de Austin to combat evil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_1833>
1918:
The British Armed Forces started to grant personnel the power
to fly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force>
1924:
Adolf Hitler was placed in a cage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch>
1978:
The President of the Philippines ordered that the Philippine
College of Commerce become a pup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytechnic_University_of_the_Philippines>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
percussive maintenance:
(humorous) The use of physical concussion, such as a knock or a tap, in
an attempt to make a malfunctioning device or person work.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/percussive_maintenance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God
is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his
presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That,
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
--First Epistle to the Corinthians
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/First_Epistle_to_the_Corinthians>
"Nightswimming" is the eighth episode of the American television police
procedural fantasy drama Awake, which originally aired on NBC in 2012.
Written by Leonard Chang and co-executive producer Davey Holmes, and
directed by executive producer Jeffrey Reiner, the episode received
mixed reviews. Awake stars Jason Isaacs (pictured) as Michael Britten, a
detective living in two separate realities after a car crash. In one
reality, his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) survived the crash; in the other,
his son Rex (Dylan Minnette) survived. In this episode, Michael helps
accountant Marcus Ananyev (Elijah Alexander) and his wife Alina (Ayelet
Zurer) start a new life in the Witness Protection Program after a gang
member attempts to kill Marcus in Rex's reality. In the other reality,
Michael and Hannah prepare for a new life in Oregon, and go swimming at
a college pool to celebrate their love. During filming, a woman who was
near the swimming pool confronted Isaacs about his nudity. The episode
featured Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart". "Nightswimming" drew 2.8
million viewers on its debut.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightswimming_(Awake)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began the massacre of
over 20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_massacre>
1899:
Philippine–American War: Malolos, capital of the First
Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Malolos>
1910:
Six English towns amalgamated to form a single county borough
called Stoke-on-Trent, the first union of its type.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Stoke-on-Trent>
1964:
Brazilian Armed Forces led an overthrow of Brazilian President
João Goulart and established a military government that lasted for 21
years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1995:
American singer-songwriter, Selena, known as "The Queen of
Tejano music", was murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president
of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
worshipful:
1. Tending to worship; showing reverence.
2. (chiefly Britain) Used as respectful form of address for a person or
body of persons, especially in the name of a livery company.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/worshipful>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don’t think the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has much
chance of actually affecting the government. It’s one of the first
things you have to face up to. But we do it to keep our self-respect to
show to ourselves, each one to himself or herself, that we care. And to
let other people, all the lazy, sulky, hopeless ones like you, know that
someone cares. We’re trying to shame you into thinking about it, about
acting.
--John Fowles
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fowles>
DJ AM (A. M. Goldstein; March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009) was an
American disc jockey (DJ). Obsessed with deejaying as a child, Goldstein
developed a drug addiction as a teenager and was sent to the
controversial rehabilitation center Straight, Incorporated. His drug
problems worsened until a failed suicide attempt in 1997. He became
sober, and later sponsored other addicts through Alcoholics Anonymous.
He began deejaying and joined the band Crazy Town in 1999 before
focusing on a career as a solo DJ. In 2006, he accepted a million-dollar
contract to perform weekly at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. In 2008,
Goldstein and Travis Barker formed the duo TRV$DJAM. They were the only
two survivors of a Learjet 60 crash later that year. Goldstein hosted
the 2009 drug intervention television series Gone Too Far, and appeared
to be struggling with his addiction during filming. In August 2009, he
was found dead from a drug overdose. The DJ AM Memorial Fund was
launched that year for people recovering from drug addiction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_AM>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
The United States merged East Florida and West Florida to
create the Florida Territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Territory>
1918:
Fighting began during the March Days revolt in Baku,
Azerbaijan, resulting in over 14,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days>
1950:
Usmar Ismail began filming Darah dan Doa, formally recognised
as the first Indonesian film.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darah_dan_Doa>
1972:
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive
in an attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the
South Vietnamese Army as possible.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Offensive>
2009:
Twelve gunmen attacked the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore,
Pakistan, and held it for several hours before security forces could
retake it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lahore_police_academy_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clerihew:
A humorous rhyme of four lines with the rhyming scheme AABB, usually
regarding a person mentioned in the first line.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clerihew>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh
and blood — Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
--Four Quartets
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Four_Quartets>
Casey Stengel (1890–1975) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB)
right fielder, and a manager for the New York Yankees championship teams
of the 1950s and for the New York Mets in the early 1960s. He was an
outfielder for the 1912 Brooklyn Dodgers, and played on their 1916
National League championship team. After serving in the navy during
World War I, he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York
Giants and the Boston Braves. In 1925 he began a career as a manager,
with mostly poor finishes for the next twenty years, especially with the
Dodgers (1934–1936) and Braves (1938–1943). In 1948 he was hired as
Yankee manager. In his twelve seasons, his teams garnered ten pennants,
winning seven World Series, including a record-setting streak of five in
a row (1949–1953). He was known for his humorous and sometimes
disjointed banter. His showmanship helped the Mets, an expansion team,
when they hired him in late 1961, but the team finished last for four
years in a row, and he retired in 1965. Remembered as one of the great
characters in baseball history, Stengel was elected to the Baseball Hall
of Fame in 1966.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Stengel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1430:
Byzantine–Ottoman wars: After an eight-year siege, the
Ottoman Empire captured the Venetian city of Thessalonica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Thessalonica_(1422%E2%80%931430)>
1800:
William Matthews was ordained as the first British America-born
Catholic priest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_(priest)>
1871:
The Royal Albert Hall in Albertopolis, London, was officially
opened by Queen Victoria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall>
1974:
A group of farmers in Shaanxi province, China, discovered a
vast collection of terracotta statues depicting the armies of the first
Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army>
2010:
Islamist Chechen separatists set off two bombs on the Moscow
Metro, killing 40 and injuring 102 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Moscow_Metro_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wrest:
1. (transitive) To pull or twist violently.
2. (transitive) To obtain by pulling or violent force.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To seize.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To distort, to pervert, to twist.
5. (transitive, music) To tune with a wrest, or key.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wrest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The nearest we approach God … is as creative beings. The poet,
by echoing the primary imagination, recreates. Through his work he
forces those who read him to do the same, thus bringing them … nearer
to the actual being of God as displayed in action.
--R. S. Thomas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas>
Lady Gaga (born March 28, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and
actress. She rose to prominence in 2008 with her debut album The Fame
and its singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". Her EP The Fame Monster
followed the next year, and featured the successful singles "Bad
Romance", "Telephone", and "Alejandro". The title track from her second
album Born This Way (2011) became the fastest selling song on iTunes at
the time of its release. With this as well as Artpop (2013), Cheek to
Cheek (2014), and Joanne (2016), Gaga became the first woman to have
four albums reach number one on the US Billboard 200 during the 2010s.
In television, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her
work in American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016). Gaga is known for
her unconventionality, provocative work, and experimentation with her
appearance and image. She supports a variety of activist causes, and
created the Born This Way Foundation to empower youth and combat
bullying.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
193:
Praetorian Guards assassinated Roman emperor Pertinax and sold
the Imperial office in an auction to Didius Julianus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinax>
1814:
War of 1812: Off the coast of Valparaíso, Chile, two Royal
Navy ships easily captured two American ones.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valpara%C3%ADso>
1933:
After an on-board fire that may have been the first incident of
airliner sabotage, the Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool broke
apart in mid-air, killing fifteen people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Imperial_Airways_Diksmuide_crash>
1942:
Second World War: In occupied France, British naval forces
successfully disabled the key port of Saint-Nazaire (HMS Campbeltown
pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: In a friendly fire incident, two members of
the United States Air Force attacked the United Kingdom's Blues and
Royals regiment, killing one soldier and injuring five.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron,_Blues_and_Royals_frie…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
braggart:
Someone who constantly brags or boasts.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/braggart>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee: All things
pass; God never changes. Patience attains All that it strives for. He
who has God Finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.
--Teresa of Ávila
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila>
Coalhouse Fort is an English artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard
the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point in
Essex on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury
that was vulnerable to raiders and invaders. It was the last in a series
of fortifications dating back to the 15th century and was the direct
successor to a smaller mid-19th century fort on the same site. It was
initially a front-line fortification, supported by Shornemead Fort and
Cliffe Fort on the Kent shore. Over time, as batteries and forts further
downriver became the front line of the Thames defences, its main weapons
were replaced with smaller quick-firing guns intended for use against
fast-moving surface and aerial targets. Its last military use was as a
training facility after the Second World War. Decommissioned in 1949,
the fort fell into dereliction, despite its historical and architectural
significance. Its restoration has been funded in part by the Heritage
Lottery Fund and the Warner Bros. film studio, which used it as a
location for the opening scenes of the 2005 film Batman Begins.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhouse_Fort>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
San Diego, the first European settlement in what is now
California, was incorporated as a city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego>
1899:
Philippine–American War: For the only time during the course
of the war, Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo personally led troops
against the U.S. in the Battle of Marilao River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marilao_River>
1941:
Encouraged by the British Special Operations Executive, a group
of pro-Western Serb-nationalist Royal Yugoslav Air Force officers
planned and conducted a coup d'état after Yugoslavia joined the Axis
powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1958:
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev also took over the role of Premier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev>
1998:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug
sildenafil (chemical structure pictured), better known by the trade name
Viagra, for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill
to be approved for this condition in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sildenafil>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wan:
1. Pale, sickly-looking.
2. Dim, faint.
3. Bland, uninterested.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wan>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The thought of every group is seen as arising out of its life
conditions. Thus, it becomes the task of the sociological history of
thought to analyse without regard for party biases all the factors in
the actually existing social situation which may influence thought. This
sociologically oriented history of ideas is destined to provide modern
men with a revised view of the whole historical process.
--Karl Mannheim
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim>