The steamer SS Princess Alice sank on 3 September 1878 after a
collision with the collier vessel SS Bywell Castle on the River Thames.
Between 600 and 700 people died, all from the paddle steamer, in the
greatest loss of life of any British inland waterway shipping accident.
Princess Alice was owned by the London Steamboat Co and captained by
William R. H. Grinstead. The collision occurred in an area where
75 million imperial gallons (340,000 m3) of London's raw sewage had
just been released. The steamer broke into three parts, and many of her
passengers drowned in the heavily polluted waters. The jury in the
coroner's inquest put more of the blame on the collier; the inquiry run
by the Board of Trade found that Princess Alice had not followed the
right path and was culpable. In the aftermath of the sinking, changes
were made to the release and treatment of sewage. The Marine Police
Force were provided with steam launches, after the rowing boats used up
to that point had proved insufficient.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_SS_Princess_Alice>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The Treaty of Selymbria was concluded between the Republic of
Venice and the Ottoman prince Musa Çelebi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Selymbria>
1901:
For the first time, the flag of Australia flew from the Royal
Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Australia>
1987:
In a military coup d'état in Burundi, Pierre Buyoya deposed
the incumbent president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza while he was abroad in
Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Bagaza>
2017:
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test
at Punggye-ri, causing a magnitude-6.3 earthquake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_North_Korean_nuclear_test>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
grawlix:
1. A series of images or symbols used in speech bubbles in comic strips
to indicate one or more swear words.
2. An image resembling an illegible scribble used for this purpose.
3. A string of typographical symbols (such as "@#$%&!") used for this
purpose.
4. A series of violence-related images (such as bombs, daggers, and
skulls) used for this purpose.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grawlix>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
True art, springing fresh from Nature, must have in it, to live,
much of the glance of an eye, much of the sound of a voice, much of the
life of a life. … Nature is strong, generous, comprehensive, fecund,
subtile … in growth and decadence she continually sets forth the drama
of man's life. … thro' the rotating seasons, thro' the procession of
the years, thro' the march of the centuries, permeating all, sustaining
all, there murmurs the still, small voice of a power that holds us in
the hollow of its hand.
--Louis Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Sullivan>
His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket in
the City of Westminster, London. It stands on the site of the Queen's
Theatre (1705) designed by John Vanbrugh, where more than 25 operas by
George Frideric Handel premiered. The present building, designed by
Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert
Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)
there. In the early 20th century, the theatre hosted spectacular
productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and premieres by
such playwrights as Bernard Shaw and Noël Coward. The theatre's
capacity is 1,216 seats, and it was Grade II* listed by English
Heritage in 1970. LW Theatres has owned the building since 2000. The
land beneath it is on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate. Andrew
Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera has run at His Majesty's since
1986. It was known as "Her Majesty's Theatre" during the reigns of
Victoria and Elizabeth II.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Theatre,_London>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: Due to an overwhelming fear that foreign
armies would attack Paris and prisoners would revolt, revolutionaries
began the summary execution of more than a thousand prisoners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Massacres>
1946:
The interim government of India, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru,
was formed to assist the transition of India from British rule to
independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru>
1957:
South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm began an official
visit to Australia, the first by a foreign incumbent head of state to
the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem_presidential_visit_to_Australia>
1967:
Paddy Roy Bates proclaimed HM Fort Roughs, a former World War
II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk, England,
as an independent sovereign state: the Principality of Sealand
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
e.g.:
1. An initialism used to introduce an illustrative example or short list
of examples: for the sake of an example; for example.
2. (informal, nonstandard, proscribed) An example.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/e.g.>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
At certain moments, words are nothing; it is the tone in which
they are uttered.
--Paul Bourget
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Bourget>
Banksia dentata is a species of tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs in
northern Australia, southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as
a gnarled tree up to 7 m (23 ft) high, it has leaves up to 22 cm
(8.7 in) long with toothed margins. The cylindrical yellow flower
spikes, up to 13 cm (5 in) high, appear between November and May,
attracting honeyeaters, sunbirds, sugar gliders and insects. Flowers
fall off the spikes, which swell and develop follicles containing up to
two seeds each. Collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, B. dentata is
one of the four Banksia species published in 1782 as part of Carl
Linnaeus the Younger's original description of Banksia. It is classified
in Salicinae, a series, or group of species, from Australia's eastern
states. Genetic studies show it to be an early offshoot within the
group. It is found in savanna, associated with Pandanus and Melaleuca.
After bushfires it regrows from its woody base, known as a lignotuber.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_dentata>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1604:
The Guru Granth Sahib (folio depicted), the religious text of
Sikhism, was installed in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib>
1859:
A powerful solar flare caused a coronal mass ejection that
struck Earth a few hours later, generating the most intense geomagnetic
storm ever recorded and causing bright aurorae visible in the middle
latitudes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event>
1911:
Construction began on the Saline Valley salt tram, which during
its operation was the steepest tram in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_Valley_salt_tram>
1972:
In a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation,
American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer became the 11th World Chess
Champion with his victory over Russian Boris Spassky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Spassky>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
letters patent:
(law) A type of legal document in the form of an open letter issued by
an authority to direct that some action be taken; to grant a monopoly,
right, status, or title to a person or organization; or to record a
contract.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/letters_patent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
ੴ One Universal Creator God. The Name Is Truth. Creative
Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying, Beyond
Birth, Self-Existent. … True In The Primal Beginning. True
Throughout The Ages. True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever And Ever True.
By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds
of thousands of times. By remaining silent, inner silence is not
obtained, even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within. The hunger
of the hungry is not appeased, even by piling up loads of worldly goods.
Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks, but not even one of them will go
along with you in the end. So how can you become truthful? And how can
the veil of illusion be torn away? O Nanak, it is written that you
shall obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.
By His Command, bodies are created; His Command cannot be described. By
His Command, souls come into being; by His Command, glory and greatness
are obtained. By His Command, some are high and some are low; by His
Written Command, pain and pleasure are obtained. Some, by His Command,
are blessed and forgiven; others, by His Command, wander aimlessly
forever. Everyone is subject to His Command; no one is beyond His
Command. O Nanak, one who understands His Command, does not speak in
ego.
--Sri Guru Granth Sahib
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib>
In fiction, the planet Mars, fourth from the Sun, has appeared as a
setting in at least 5,000 works, portrayed differently as planetary
science has advanced. It became the most popular celestial object in
fiction in the late 1800s as it became clear there is no life on the
Moon. Mars then was a setting for utopian fiction. The War of the Worlds
(1897), H. G. Wells's novel about an invasion of Earth by sinister
Martians, had a major influence on science fiction. After 1900, life on
Mars was often depicted as decadent, as in Edgar Rice Burroughs's
Barsoom series. Exotic life appeared in stories like Stanley G.
Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey". Later in the 20th century, Mars
colonization became a popular theme, as it became clear Mars is
lifeless, though some works, like Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles,
feature native life. Terraforming Mars became a major theme in works
like Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, and some works depict an
initial expedition to the planet.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_in_fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
The body of Mary Ann Nichols, the alleged first victim of an
unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper (depicted), was
found in Buck's Row, London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper>
1942:
The Matagorda hurricane, the most intense and costliest
tropical cyclone of the 1942 Atlantic hurricane season, dissipated after
causing $26.5 million in damages and eight deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942_Matagorda_hurricane>
1969:
On the final day of the Isle of Wight Festival 1969, an event
attended by approximately 150,000 people over three days, Bob Dylan
appeared in his first gig in three years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival_1969>
2019:
A sightseeing helicopter crashed in the mountains of
Skoddevarre in Alta, Norway, killing all six people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Alta_helicopter_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kampung:
1. (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) A traditional village.
2. (Singapore) A district or suburb where a former village once stood.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kampung>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The real story can never be told. It is untellable. The real (as
real) is inaccessible, being gone in time. There is no point in glancing
at the past, in summoning it up, in re-examining it, except on behalf of
art — that is, the meaningful-real.
--William Saroyan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan>
The Next Day is the 25th studio album by the English musician David
Bowie (pictured), released in March 2013. It was his first studio
release in ten years, as Bowie had retreated from public view after
undergoing surgery for a blocked artery in 2004. Co-produced by Bowie
and Tony Visconti, the album was recorded in secret in New York City
between May 2011 and October 2012. Primarily an art-rock album, The
Next Day references Bowie's earlier glam and funk releases. The album
was released through ISO Records in association with Columbia Records.
The lead single, "Where Are We Now?", and news of the album were posted
online on 8 January 2013, Bowie's 66th birthday, surprising fans who
thought that he had retired from music. The Next Day topped charts
worldwide and debuted at number one and two on the UK Albums Chart and
the US Billboard 200, respectively. Bowie's highest-charting US album
to date, it was praised by critics as Bowie's best in decades and placed
on several year-end lists.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Day>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1574:
Guru Ram Das became the fourth of the Sikh gurus, the spiritual
masters of Sikhism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Ram_Das>
1594:
James VI of Scotland held a masque at the baptism of Prince
Henry, his first child.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masque_at_the_baptism_of_Prince_Henry>
1959:
South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Đán was elected
to the National Assembly, despite soldiers being bussed in to vote
multiple times for President Ngô Đình Diệm's candidate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Quang_%C4%90%C3%A1n>
2007:
A heavy bomber plane that had been unintentionally loaded with
nuclear missiles transported them from North Dakota to Louisiana before
they were recognized.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
conduce:
1. (transitive, obsolete)
2. To cause (something) to occur; to bring about.
3. To contribute (something).
4. (also figurative) To conduct or lead (someone or something).
5. (rare) To advantage or benefit (someone or something).
6. (rare, possibly) To carry on or continue (an activity).
7. (intransitive)
8. To contribute or lead to a specific result.
9. (obsolete) To be advantageous to; to advantage, to benefit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conduce>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don't have a problem with guilt about money. The way I see it
is that my money represents an enormous number of claim checks on
society. It is like I have these little pieces of paper that I can turn
into consumption. If I wanted to, I could hire 10,000 people to do
nothing but paint my picture every day for the rest of my life. And the
GNP would go up. But the utility of the product would be zilch, and I
would be keeping those 10,000 people from doing AIDS research, or
teaching, or nursing]. I don't do that though. I don't use very many of
those claim checks. There's nothing material I want very much. And I'm
going to give virtually all of those claim checks to charity when my
wife and I die.
--Warren Buffett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett>
Lost in Translation is a 2003 romantic comedy-drama film written and
directed by Sofia Coppola (pictured). Bill Murray stars as Bob Harris, a
fading American movie star who travels to Tokyo and befriends Charlotte,
played by Scarlett Johansson. The film explores themes of alienation and
disconnection against a backdrop of cultural displacement in Japan.
Coppola started writing the film after spending time in Tokyo and
becoming fond of the city. She kept a flexible schedule during filming
and allowed a significant amount of improvisation. Lost in Translation
premiered on August 29, 2003, at the Telluride Film Festival and had a
theatrical release on September 12, 2003. Critics praised the
performances of Murray and Johansson, as well as the writing and
direction of Coppola; minor criticism was given to the film's depiction
of Japan. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as
well as three Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Translation_%28film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1786:
Farmers in western Massachusetts angered by high tax burdens
and disfranchisement began an armed uprising led by Daniel Shays against
the U.S. federal government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Shays>
1831:
Michael Faraday first experimentally demonstrated
electromagnetic induction, leading to the formulation of the law of
induction named after him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction>
1960:
Air France Flight 343 crashed while attempting to land at Yoff
Airport, Dakar, killing all 63 occupants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_343>
2016:
Chen Quanguo became the Chinese Communist Party secretary of
Xinjiang, later overseeing the creation of the Xinjiang internment
camps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Quanguo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
intense:
1. Of a characteristic: extreme or very high or strong in degree;
severe; also, excessive.
2. Of a thing: possessing some characteristic to an extreme or very high
or strong degree.
3. Of feelings, thoughts, etc.: strongly focused; ardent, deep, earnest,
passionate.
4. Of a person: very emotional or passionate.
5. (also figurative) Under tension; tightly drawn; strained, stressed,
tense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intense>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a
world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world
filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled
with distrust, we must still dare to believe.
--Michael Jackson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson>
USS Marmora was a sternwheel steamer serving in the Union Navy from
1862 to 1865 in the American Civil War. Built in 1862 as a civilian
vessel, she was bought for military service in September, and converted
into a tinclad warship. Commissioned on October 21, she served on the
Yazoo River and was on the Yazoo during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in
December. She was assigned in 1863 to a fleet operating against Fort
Hindman, but was absent when the fort surrendered on January 11. From
February to April, she participated in the Yazoo Pass expedition, and in
June burned two Arkansas settlements. In August, she saw action on the
White River when the Little Rock campaign was beginning, and patrolled
on the Mississippi River late that year. She fought in the Battle of
Yazoo City on March 5. She was declared surplus in May 1865 and put in
reserve status at Mound City, Illinois. She was decommissioned in July,
and sold at auction on August 17, after which nothing is known.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Marmora_%281862%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
With the first use of his 1.2-metre (3.9 ft) telescope, then
the largest in the world, William Herschel discovered a new moon of
Saturn, later named Enceladus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus>
1909:
The 1909 Monterrey hurricane dissipated; one of the deadliest
Atlantic tropical cyclones on record, it killed an estimated 4,000
people throughout Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1909_Monterrey_hurricane>
1963:
American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered
the speech "I Have a Dream" during the March on Washington, calling for
civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream>
1987:
Construction began on the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, the
tallest building in North Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
contraction:
1. Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into,
especially entering into a contract.
2.
3. An act of incurring debt; also (generally), an act of acquiring
something (generally negative).
4. (archaic) An act of entering into a contract or agreement;
specifically, a contract of marriage; a contracting; also (obsolete), a
betrothal.
5. (biology, medicine) The process of contracting or becoming infected
with a disease.
6. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
7. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope,
size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking.
8. (archaic or obsolete) An abridgement or shortening of writing, etc.;
an abstract, a summary; also (uncountable), brevity, conciseness.
9. (biology, medicine) A stage of wound healing during which the wound
edges are gradually pulled together.
10. (biology, medicine) A shortening of a muscle during its use;
specifically, a strong and often painful shortening of the uterine
muscles prior to or during childbirth.
11. (economics) A period of economic decline or negative growth.
12. (linguistics) A process whereby one or more sounds of a free
morpheme (a word) are reduced or lost, such that it becomes a bound
morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
13. (linguistics, phonology, prosody) Synonym of syncope (“the elision
or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel
sound with loss of a syllable”)
14. (orthography) In the English language: a shortened form of a word,
often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical
mark.
15. (by extension) A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the
purpose of brevity.
16. (obsolete, rare) An act of collecting or gathering.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/contraction>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations
of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is
something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold
which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our
rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek
to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness
and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of
dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to
degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
The CBS Building is a 38-story tower at 51 West 52nd Street in Midtown
Manhattan, New York City. Built from 1962 to 1965, it is the
headquarters of the American broadcasting network CBS, which owned the
structure until 2021. The only skyscraper designed by Eero Saarinen, the
building occupies the eastern side of Sixth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd
Streets, near the Museum of Modern Art. The interior spaces and
furnishings were designed by Saarinen and Florence Knoll Bassett. Its
nickname, "Black Rock", is derived from the design of its facade, which
consists of angled dark-gray granite piers alternating with dark tinted
glass. The CBS Building has won several architectural awards, but
according to critic Ada Louise Huxtable, "The dark dignity that appeals
to architectural sophisticates puts off the public, which tends to
reject it as funereal." The New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission designated the CBS Building as a city landmark in 1997.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_Building>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1896:
In the shortest recorded war in history, the Sultanate of
Zanzibar surrendered to the United Kingdom after less than an hour of
conflict.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War>
1955:
The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_World_Records>
1964:
South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh entered into a
triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện
Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, both of whom had been involved in plots to
unseat Khánh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_V%C4%83n_Minh>
2003:
The planet Mars made its closest approach to Earth in almost
60,000 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bumbershoot:
(originally and chiefly US, slang, humorous) An umbrella.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bumbershoot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Rulers, Statesmen, Nations, are wont to be emphatically commended
to the teaching which experience offers in history. But what experience
and history teach is this, that peoples and governments never have
learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.
Each period is involved in such peculiar circumstances, exhibits a
condition of things so strictly idiosyncratic, that its conduct must be
regulated by considerations connected with itself, and itself alone.
Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help. It
is useless to revert to similar circumstances in the Past. The pallid
shades of memory struggle in vain with the life and freedom of the
Present.
--Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel>
Frank Bladin (26 August 1898 – 2 February 1978) was a senior
commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in rural
Victoria, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in
1920 and transferred to the RAAF in 1923. He took command of No. 1
Squadron in 1934. Ranked wing commander at the outbreak of World
War II, by September 1941 Bladin was promoted to acting air commodore.
He became Air Officer Commanding (AOC) North-Western Area in
March 1942, and earned the US Silver Star. In 1943, he was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire and posted to No. 38 Group
RAF in Europe. Promoted acting air vice-marshal in 1946, Bladin was
among the senior officers who helped shape the post-war RAAF, serving as
Chief of Staff of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan,
AOC Eastern Area, and Air Member for Personnel. Appointed a Companion of
the Order of the Bath in 1950, he retired from the RAAF in 1953. He was
also active in veterans' affairs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bladin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the
people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_C…>
1940:
The 1940 New England hurricane formed over the Atlantic Ocean;
it would go on to cause widespread damage despite never making landfall
in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_New_England_hurricane>
1968:
The Beatles released "Hey Jude", which became the then-longest
single to top the UK charts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude>
1980:
A bomb was planted at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline,
Nevada, which the FBI later described as the most complex improvised
explosive device ever created.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gazehound:
Synonym of sighthound (“a hound that primarily hunts by sight and speed,
instead of by scent and endurance”)
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gazehound>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Most true points are fine points. There never was a dispute
between mortals where both sides hadn't a bit of right.
--John Buchan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Buchan>
The 1998 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 32-team 1998
FIFA World Cup, played on 12 July at the Stade de France (pictured) in
Paris, France, between defending champions Brazil and hosts France.
Before the match, speculation surrounded the fitness of striker Ronaldo,
who was at first left out of Brazil's starting line-up, only to be
restored before kick-off. France took the lead shortly before the half-
hour mark, when Zinedine Zidane outjumped Leonardo to connect with a
header from an in-swinging corner from the right taken by Emmanuel
Petit. Zidane scored again, with another header from a corner, shortly
before half-time to give France a 2–0 lead. Petit then added a third
goal in second-half injury time, striking the ball low into the net
following a pass by Patrick Vieira, to complete a 3–0 win for France,
giving them their first World Cup title. Zidane was named the man of the
match, while Ronaldo was awarded the Golden Ball as FIFA's outstanding
player of the tournament.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup_final>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1537:
The Honourable Artillery Company, now the oldest surviving
regiment in the British Army, was granted a royal charter by
Henry VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honourable_Artillery_Company>
1875:
Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English
Channel, doing so in approximately 21 hours 40 minutes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Webb>
2001:
American singer Aaliyah and several members of her record
company were killed when their overloaded aircraft crashed shortly after
taking off from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Marsh_Harbour_Cessna_402_crash>
2012:
The NASA space probe Voyager 1 became the first man-made
object to enter interstellar space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
storm:
1. (impersonal, chiefly US) Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have
strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or
snow.
2. (transitive)
3. To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or
something) violently.
4. (figurative)
5. To disturb or trouble (someone).
6. To use (harsh language).
7. (chiefly military) To violently assault (a fortified position or
stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.
8. (figurative, often poetic) To assault or gain control or power over
(someone's heart, mind, etc.).
9. (Britain, dialectal, agriculture) To protect (seed-hay) from stormy
weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.
10. (intransitive)
11. Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually
lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
12. To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather.
13. (figurative)
14. To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun sense 1), usually in
a state of anger or uproar.
15. (by extension, chiefly military) To move quickly in the course of an
assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.
16. To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage.
17. Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or
unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface
involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually
lightning, thunder, and precipitation; a tempest.
18. (by extension) A heavy fall of precipitation (hail, rain, or snow)
or bout of lightning and thunder without strong winds; a hail storm,
rainstorm, snowstorm, or thunderstorm.
19. (by extension) Synonym of cyclone (“a weather phenomenon consisting
of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric
pressure”)
20. (by extension, Canada, Scotland, US, dated) A period of frosty
and/or snowy weather.
21. (meteorology) A disturbed state of the atmosphere between a severe
or strong gale and a hurricane on the modern Beaufort scale, with a wind
speed of between 89 and 102 kilometres per hour (55–63 miles per hour;
10 on the scale, known as a "storm" or whole gale), or of between 103
and 117 kilometres per hour (64–72 miles per hour; 11 on the scale,
known as a "violent storm").
22. (figurative)
23. A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are
thrown, etc.).
24. A violent agitation of human society; a domestic, civil, or
political commotion.
25. A violent commotion or outbreak of sounds, speech, thoughts, etc.;
also, an outpouring of emotion.
26. (pathology) Chiefly with a qualifying word: a violent attack of
diease, pain, physiological reactions, symptoms, etc.; a paroxysm.
27. (Canada, US, chiefly in the plural) Ellipsis of storm window (“a
second window (originally detachable) attached on the exterior side of a
window in climates with harsh winters, to add an insulating layer of
still air between the outside and inside”).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/storm>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The nature of man remains ever the same: in the ten thousandth
year of the World he will be born with passions, as he was born with
passions in the two thousandth, and ran through his course of follies to
a late, imperfect, useless wisdom. We wander in a labyrinth, in which
our lives occupy but a span; so that it is to us nearly a matter of
indifference, whether there be any entrance or outlet to the intricate
path.
--Johann Gottfried Herder
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Herder>