John Richard Clark Hall (1855–1931) was a British scholar of Old
English, and a barrister. Hall's A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
(pictured) became a widely used work upon its 1894 publication, and
after multiple revisions remains in print. His 1901 prose translation of
Beowulf was still the canonical introduction to the poem into the 1960s;
some later editions included a prefatory essay by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Hall's other work on Beowulf included a metrical translation in 1914,
and the translation and collection of Knut Stjerna's Swedish papers on
the poem in the 1912 work Essays on Questions Connected with the Old
English Poem of Beowulf. In the final decade of his life, Hall's
writings took to a Christian theme. The Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge published two of his works in this time: Herbert Tingle, and
Especially his Boyhood, and Birth-Control and Self-Control. Hall worked
as a clerk at the Local Government Board in Whitehall, becoming
principal clerk in 1898.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Richard_Clark_Hall>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1919:
First Red Scare: The anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani set
off eight bombs in eight cities across the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings>
1953:
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Elizabeth_II>
1994:
The Royal Air Force suffered a significant peacetime disaster
when a Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland,
killing all 29 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Mull_of_Kintyre_Chinook_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
snottite:
(bacteriology) A colony of single-celled extremophilic bacteria that
hangs in a sheet (having the consistency of snot or nasal mucus) from
the ceilings of some caves like stalactites.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snottite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 A man should be only partially before his time — to be
completely to the vanward in aspirations is fatal to fame. Had Philip's
warlike son been intellectually so far ahead as to have attempted
civilization without bloodshed, he would have been twice the godlike
hero that he seemed, but nobody would have heard of an Alexander. Â
--Thomas Hardy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy>
Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room complex of 18 buildings in Ludwigsburg,
Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial estate in the
country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia". Eberhard Louis,
Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace in 1704. Charles
Eugene, the son of his successor, completed it and refurbished parts in
the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles Eugene abandoned the
palace in 1775, and it began a decline until Frederick, the future duke,
moved into the palace in 1795. As King of Württemberg, Frederick and
his wife Queen Charlotte renovated the entirety of the palace in the
Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in 1918. It
underwent periods of restoration, including for its tercentenary in
2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually since 1947. The
palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque (Blühendes
Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in 1800.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
The Revolution of the Ganhadores, the first general strike in
Brazil, began in Salvador, Bahia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_the_Ganhadores>
1974:
In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich
introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the
Heimlich maneuver, to treat victims of choking.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Heimlich>
1988:
Group representation constituencies were introduced to the
parliament of Singapore.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_representation_constituency>
1999:
On landing at Little Rock National Airport in the U.S. state of
Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 overran the runway and crashed
(wreckage pictured), resulting in 11 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_1420>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
baby's tears:
Any of various plants having parts (such as leaves or spots on leaves,
petals, etc.) resembling teardrops; specifically, angel's tears
(Soleirolia soleirolii), a plant in the nettle family grown as a green,
mossy ground cover.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baby%27s_tears>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
  Once the expenditure of effort exceeds the value of the
political object, the object must be renounced and peace must follow.
We see then that if one side cannot completely disarm the other, the
desire for peace on either side will rise and fall with the probability
of further successes and the amount of effort these would require. …
If the incentive grows on one side, it should diminish on the other.
Peace will result so long as their sum total is sufficient — though
the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the
better bargain. Â
--Carl von Clausewitz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz>
The siege of Guînes took place from May to July 1352 when a French
army under Geoffrey de Charny unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the
French castle (pictured) at Guînes which had been seized by the English
the previous January. The siege was part of the Hundred Years' War and
took place during the uneasy and ill-kept truce of Calais. The strongly
fortified castle had been taken by the English during a period of
nominal truce and the English king, Edward III, decided to keep it.
Charny led 4,500 men and retook the town but was unable to either
recapture or blockade the castle. After two months of fierce fighting, a
large English night attack on the French camp inflicted a heavy defeat
and the French withdrew. Guînes was incorporated into the Pale of
Calais. The threat posed by this enclave caused the French to garrison
60 fortified positions around it, at ruinous expense. The castle was
besieged by the French in 1436 and 1514, but was relieved each time,
before falling to the French in 1558.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gu%C3%AEnes_%281352%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1223:
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan
Rus' army at the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River>
1468:
Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and
Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca
Marciana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana>
1935:
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in British
India, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake>
2013:
A tornado struck Central Oklahoma, killing 8 people and
injuring more than 150.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_El_Reno_tornado>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
contain multitudes:
(intransitive, idiomatic) To have a complex and apparently paradoxical
nature; to be inconsistent, especially in a way that is ultimately
admirable or noble.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/contain_multitudes>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the
animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for
the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate
tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward
the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man
or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with
the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the
open air every season of every year of your life, re examine all you
have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever
insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and
have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines
of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every
motion and joint of your body. Â
--Walt Whitman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman>
Nicholas of Worcester (died 1124) was the prior of the Benedictine
priory of Worcester Cathedral (crypt pictured) from about 1115 until his
death. He was born around the time of the Norman Conquest. It is not
known who his parents were, but William of Malmesbury wrote that he was
"of exalted descent", and it has been argued that he was a son of King
Harold Godwinson. Nicholas was the favourite pupil of Wulfstan, the
bishop of Worcester, who brought him up. Wulfstan was influential in
transmitting Old English culture to Anglo-Norman England, and Nicholas
carried on this work as prior. He was respected by the chroniclers
William of Malmesbury, John of Worcester and Eadmer for his assistance
with their histories. Nicholas was an English monk at a time when both
Englishmen and monks rarely received promotion in the church, and when
Bishop Theulf of Worcester died in October 1123, Nicholas led an
unsuccessful attempt of the monks of the priory chapter to be allowed to
choose the next bishop.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Worcester>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1644:
English Civil War: Royalist troops stormed and captured the
Parliamentarian stronghold of Bolton, leading to a massacre of defenders
and local residents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_Bolton>
1754:
French and Indian War: Led by 22-year-old George Washington, a
company of Virginia colonial militiamen ambushed a force of 35 Canadiens
at the Battle of Jumonville Glen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen>
1901:
Mozaffar ad-Din, Shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights to
prospect for oil in the country to William Knox D'Arcy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_Concession>
1937:
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession
as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being summoned to Buckingham
Palace to "kiss hands".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Neville_Chamberlain>
2002:
An independent commission appointed by the Football Association
voted two-to-one to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from London to
Milton Keynes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_Keynes>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
no strings attached:
(idiomatic, originally US, informal) Without conditions or obligations;
without a catch.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/no_strings_attached>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I have discovered that most people have no one to talk to, no
one, that is, who really wants to listen. When it does at last dawn on a
man that you really want to hear about his business, the look that comes
over his face is something to see. Â
--Walker Percy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walker_Percy>
SMSÂ Lothringen was the last of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the
Braunschweig class built for the Imperial German Navy. Launched in
May 1904, she was named for the then-German province of Lothringen. The
ship was armed with a battery of four 28Â cm (11Â in) guns and had a top
speed of 18 knots (33Â km/h; 21Â mph). She was to be replaced in
July 1914 by dreadnought battleships but World War I prevented her
retirement. The ship and the rest of IIÂ Squadron joined the
dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet to support a raid on Scarborough,
Hartlepool, and Whitby in December 1914. She primarily served as a
guard ship in the German Bight; in poor condition by 1916, she was
withdrawn from fleet service in February. She thereafter patrolled the
Danish straits until replaced by the battleship Hannover in
September 1917. After the war, she was converted into a depot ship for
F-type minesweepers and placed in reserve in March 1920. (This article
is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Battleships_of_Germ…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeated the
French Army of the Danube, capturing the strategically important Swiss
town of Winterthur.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winterthur>
1954:
The security clearance of American nuclear physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer, head of Project Y, was revoked.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_security_clearance_hearing>
1967:
Australians voted overwhelmingly for the number of Indigenous
Australians to be included in population counts for constitutional
purposes and for the federal government to make laws for their benefit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_%28Aboriginals%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
milliner:
1. (archaic) A person who sells (women's) apparel, accessories, and
other decorative goods, especially those originally manufactured in
Milan.
2. (specifically) A person involved in the design, manufacture, or sale
of hats for women.
3. To manufacture (women's apparel, specifically hats); also, to supply
(someone) with women's apparel, specifically hats.
4. (figurative) To adorn or decorate (something).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milliner>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 All is repose and peace, Untrampled lies the sod; The shouts of
battle cease, It is the Truce of God! Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be As sentinels to keep Your rest from
danger free. Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant
flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours.
Â
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow>
"The Day Before the Revolution" is a science fiction short story by
American writer Ursula K. Le Guin (pictured). First published in Galaxy
in August 1974, it was republished in Le Guin's The Wind's Twelve
Quarters (1975). Set in her fictional Hainish universe, the story has
strong connections to her novel The Dispossessed (also 1974), and is
sometimes referred to as a prologue to the novel. The story follows Odo,
an aging anarchist, who over the course of a day relives memories of her
life as an activist as she learns of plans for a general strike the next
day. The strike is implied to be the start of the revolt leading to the
idealized anarchist society based on Odo's teachings depicted in the
novel. The story was critically well-received. It won the Nebula and
Locus Awards for Best Short Story in 1975, and was also nominated for a
Hugo Award. Multiple scholars commented that it represented a shift in
Le Guin's writing toward non-linear narrative structures and works
infused with feminism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Before_the_Revolution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1894:
Germany's Emanuel Lasker defeated Wilhelm Steinitz to become
the world chess champion, beginning a record 27-year reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Lasker>
1999:
Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League final to become
the first English football club to win three major championships in the
same season.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998%E2%80%9399_Manchester_United_F.C._season>
2002:
Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridge (aftermath
pictured) near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing vehicles to fall into
the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
exsanguinate:
1. (transitive)
2. To drain (a living or dead body, or (medicine, surgery) a body part)
of blood.
3. To kill (a person or animal) by means of blood loss.
4. (intransitive)
5. To bleed profusely; also, to die by means of blood loss.
6. To cause blood to drain from a body or body part, or profuse
bleeding.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exsanguinate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
  Youth’s bright palaceIs overthrown,With its diamond
sceptreAnd golden throne;As a time-worn stoneIts turrets are
humbled—All hath crumbledBut grief alone! Â
--Denis Florence MacCarthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denis_Florence_MacCarthy>
George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang,
encompassing Penang Island and surrounding islets. With a population of
794,313 as of the 2020 census, it is the core city of Malaysia's second-
largest metropolitan area, which has a population of 2.84Â million.
George Town serves as the commercial centre for northern Malaysia. Its
technological sector, anchored by hundreds of multinational companies,
has made the city the top exporter in the country. It was the first
British settlement in Southeast Asia, and its proximity to maritime
routes along the Strait of Malacca attracted an influx of immigrants
from various parts of Asia. In 1974, the city was merged with the rest
of the island, throwing its administrative status into doubt until 2015,
when its jurisdiction was reinstated and expanded to cover the entire
island and adjacent islets. UNESCO designated the city centre of George
Town as a World Heritage Site in 2008.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Penang>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship
to English nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately
excluding Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toleration_Act_1688>
1963:
United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with
African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to
improve race relations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Kennedy_meeting>
2014:
A gunman involved in Islamic extremism opened fire at the
Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_of_Belgium_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
back-of-the-envelope:
(idiomatic, informal) Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other
reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/back-of-the-envelope>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We may try to see things as objectively as we please. None the
less, we can never see them with any eyes except our own. Â
--Benjamin N. Cardozo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_N._Cardozo>
The Mount Edziza volcanic complex (MEVC) is a group of volcanoes and
associated lava flows in northwest British Columbia, Canada. Located on
the Tahltan Highland, the MEVC has a broad, steep-sided lava plateau;
its highest summit is 2,786 metres (9,140 feet). Its volcanoes formed
over the last 7.5Â million years during five cycles of magmatic activity
which spanned four epochs; the most recent eruptions took place in the
last 11,000Â years. Current activity occurs in the form of hot springs.
The MEVC has warm summers and cold, snowy winters; snow and ice remain
on the highest peaks year-round. Indigenous peoples have lived adjacent
to the MEVC for thousands of years. Historically, the local Tahltan
people used volcanic glass from the MEVC to make tools and weaponry.
Animal species such as birds, rodents, bears, sheep, goats, moose and
caribou inhabit the area. A large provincial park dominates the MEVC,
which can only be accessed by aircraft or by a network of footpaths.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edziza_volcanic_complex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and
assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-West_Mounted_Police>
1934:
During a strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company in
Toledo, a fight began between nearly 10,000 American strikers and
sheriff's deputies, later involving the Ohio National Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Lite_strike_%281934%29>
1999:
Professional wrestler Owen Hart died immediately before a World
Wrestling Federation match after dropping 70 feet (21Â m) onto the ring
during a botched entrance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_Edge_%281999%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
with a will:
(idiomatic, originally nautical, dated) With willingness and zeal; with
all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/with_a_will>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
  Oh, Men, with Sisters dear!Oh, Men, with Mothers and Wives!It
is not linen you're wearing out,But human creatures' lives!' Â
--Thomas Hood
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hood>