Thescelosaurus is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur known from Upper
Cretaceous rocks of western North America. It belonged to the last
dinosaurian fauna of North America before the Cretaceous–Paleogene
extinction event at approximately 66 million years ago, living
alongside dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops. This common
genus was described from a specimen discovered in 1891, but not unpacked
and studied until the 1910s. These circumstances suggested the names of
the genus and type species T. neglectus, which roughly translate to
"godlike, wondrous, or marvelous neglected lizard". Thescelosaurus is
best known from several partial skeletons representing three species: T.
neglectus, T, assiniboiensis, and T. garbanii. One specimen unearthed in
1993 was initially thought to include a preserved heart, but later study
found the object is probably a concretion. Thescelosaurus was a bipedal
animal with a relatively long pointed skull and robust limbs. Typical
individuals measured on the order of 2.5 to 4.0 metres (8.2 to 13 ft)
long. It was probably primarily herbivorous and may have preferred to
live near streams.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thescelosaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1738:
At a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate, London, John Wesley
experienced a spiritual rebirth, leading him to launch the Methodist
movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley>
1830:
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first common carrier and
Class I railroad in the United States, opened for scheduled service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad>
1956:
The first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in
Lugano, Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1956>
1960:
Cordón Caulle in the Andes in Chile, began to erupt, less than
two days after the Valdivia earthquake struck the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyehue-Cord%C3%B3n_Caulle>
1991:
The Israel Defense Forces began Operation Solomon, a covert
operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Solomon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shylock:
(intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shylock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Peace is an awareness of reserves from beyond ourselves, so that
our power is not so much in us as through us. Peace is the gift, not of
volitional struggle, but of spiritual hospitality.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Emerson_Fosdick>
The Zong massacre was the killing of approximately 142 enslaved
Africans by the crew of the slave ship Zong in the days following
29 November 1781. The Zong was owned by a Liverpool slave-trading
syndicate that had taken out insurance on the lives of the slaves. When
the ship ran low on water following navigational mistakes, the crew
drowned some of the slaves in the sea. The owners of the Zong made a
claim to their insurers for the loss of the slaves. When the insurers
refused to pay, the resulting court cases held that in some
circumstances the deliberate killing of slaves was legal, and that
insurers could be required to pay for the slaves' deaths. The hearings
brought the massacre to the attention of the anti-slavery campaigner
Granville Sharp, who tried unsuccessfully to have the ship's crew
prosecuted for murder. Reports of the massacre stimulated the nascent
abolitionist movement and became a powerful symbol of the horrors of the
Middle Passage of slaves to the New World. The massacre has also
inspired several works of art and literature, including The Slave Ship
by J. M. W. Turner (pictured).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong_massacre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1533:
The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer annulled
Henry VIII's marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, beginning
of a chain of events that would culminate in the English Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Reformation>
1844:
Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad Shírází proclaimed that he was "the
Báb", after a Shi`a religious concept, marking the beginning of the
Bábí movement, the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism>
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/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police>
1934:
During a strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company in
Toledo, Ohio, US, a mob of nearly 10,000 began a riot and a five-day
running battle with the Ohio National Guard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Lite_strike>
2008:
To resolve a 29-year-old territorial dispute, the International
Court of Justice awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to
Singapore.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_Branca_dispute>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thagomizer:
(anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various
stegosaurs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thagomizer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
the greatest Grace we can aspire to is the strength to see the
wounded walk with the forgotten and pull ourselves from the screaming
blood of our losses to fight on undaunted all the more
--Jewel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jewel_(singer)>
Richard Wagner (1813–83) was a German composer, theatre director,
polemicist, and conductor primarily known for his operas. His
compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for
their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the
elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual
characters, places, ideas or plot elements. These innovations greatly
influenced the development of classical music; his Tristan und Isolde is
sometimes described as marking the start of modern music. Wagner
revolutionised opera through his synthesis of the poetic, visual,
musical and dramatic arts, first fully realised in his four-opera Ring
cycle. He had his own opera house built at Bayreuth, containing many
novel design features, where his most important stage works continue to
be performed in an annual festival run by his descendants. Wagner's
controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted
extensive comment in recent decades, especially where they express
antisemitic sentiments. The effects of his ideas can be traced in many
of the arts throughout the 20th century.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1826:
HMS Beagle departed on its first voyage from Plymouth for a
hydrographic survey of the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego regions of
South America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Beagle>
1915:
Five trains were involved in a crash near Gretna Green,
Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintinshill_rail_disaster>
1980:
Pac-Man, an arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular
culture, made its debut in Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man>
1990:
The Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of
Yemen merged to become the Republic of Yemen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_unification>
2003:
Swedish golfer Annika Sörenstam became the first woman to play
in a PGA Tour event in 58 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annika_S%C3%B6renstam>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sangfroid:
Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a
dangerous situation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sangfroid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am not the law, but I represent justice so far as my feeble
powers go.
--Arthur Conan Doyle
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle>
Tripura is the third-smallest state in India, bordered by the states of
Assam and Mizoram and by Bangladesh. The Kokborok-speaking Tripuri
people (children pictured) are the major group among 19 tribes and many
subtribes; Bengali people form the ethno-linguistic majority. Before
becoming part of the newly independent India in 1949, the area was ruled
for several centuries by the Tripuri dynasty. Ethnic strife between the
indigenous people and Bengalis has been eased by the establishment of an
autonomous tribal administrative agency and other strategies. Five
mountain ranges run north to south; Agartala, the capital, is located on
a plain to the west. Forests cover more than half of the area, in which
bamboo and cane tracts are common. Tripura, which has a tropical savanna
climate, has the highest number of primate species found in any Indian
state. Economic progress is hindered by its geographical isolation –
only one major highway connects it with the rest of India. Most
residents are involved in agriculture and allied activities. Mainstream
Indian cultural elements, especially from Bengali culture, coexist with
traditional practices of the ethnic groups.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1403:
King Henry III of Castile sent an embassy to the court of Timur
(Tamerlane) to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and
Castile against the Ottoman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timurid_relations_with_Europe>
1863:
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant denomination
distinguished by its emphasis on the imminent second coming (Advent) of
Jesus, was founded in Battle Creek, Michigan, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church>
1894:
The Manchester Ship Canal, linking Greater Manchester in North
West England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the largest
navigation canal in the world at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal>
1979:
Riots erupted in San Francisco (rioters pictured) after former
Supervisor Dan White was only sentenced for voluntary manslaughter for
the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor
Harvey Milk.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Night_riots>
1991:
Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by
a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Rajiv_Gandhi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cloudburst:
A sudden heavy rainstorm.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cloudburst>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, "Let Newton
be!" and all was light.
--Alexander Pope
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope>
Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland (1653–1708)
was the husband of Queen Anne of Great Britain. His marriage to Anne was
arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish
alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. This made him unpopular with
his Dutch brother-in-law William of Orange, who was married to Mary,
Anne's sister. William and Mary became joint monarchs of Britain in 1689
after the "Glorious Revolution" deposed James II and VII, the father of
Anne and Mary. William excluded George from active military service, and
neither Anne (who was heiress presumptive) nor George wielded any great
influence until after the deaths of William and Mary, when Anne became
queen. He had an easy-going manner and little interest in politics; his
appointment as Lord High Admiral in 1702 was largely honorary. Anne's
seventeen pregnancies by George resulted in twelve miscarriages or
stillbirths, four infant deaths, and a chronically sick son William, who
died at the age of eleven. Despite the history of their children, George
and Anne's marriage was a strong one. He died aged 55 from a recurring
and chronic lung disease, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_George_of_Denmark>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
325:
The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the
Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea>
685:
The Picts defeated the Northumbrians near Dunnichen, severely
weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dun_Nechtain>
1875:
Representatives from seventeen countries signed the Metre
Convention which set up an institute for the purpose of coordinating
international metrology and for coordinating the development of the
metric system.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre_Convention>
1927:
By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the
sovereignty of King Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to
become Saudi Arabia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Saud>
1983:
A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier
published their discovery of HIV, although they did not know yet if it
caused AIDS.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Montagnier>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
much of a muchness:
(idiomatic) Of two or more things, having little difference of any
significance between them.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/much_of_a_muchness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Love has its own instinct, finding the way to the heart, as the
feeblest insect finds the way to its flower, with a will which nothing
can dismay nor turn aside.
--Honoré de Balzac
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_de_Balzac>
Joppenbergh Mountain is a nearly 500-foot (150 m) mountain in Rosendale
Village, in Ulster County, New York. The mountain is composed of a
carbonate bedrock overlain by glacially deposited material. It was named
after Rosendale's founder, Jacob Rutsen, and mined throughout the late
19th century for dolostone that was used in the manufacture of natural
cement. Extensive mining caused a large cave-in on December 19, 1899,
that destroyed equipment and collapsed shafts within Joppenbergh. During
the late 1930s, Joppenbergh became the site of several ski jumping
competitions, which continued until the early 1940s. Skiing began again
in the 1960s, when a new slope was built on the mountain, and the
revived competitions continued until 1971. In March 2011, the Open
Space Institute offered to purchase Joppenbergh and sell it to the town.
The Rosendale town board initially agreed to the deal the following
month, with payment planned to come from a surplus fund. That June,
however, the board found that the surplus fund had already been
exhausted and could not cover the entire cost of the purchase.
Ultimately, the OSI completed its purchase of Joppenbergh in October
2011, without town money.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joppenbergh_Mountain>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1542:
The Prome Kingdom, in present-day central Burma, was conquered
by the Taungoo Dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prome_Kingdom>
1743:
French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a
mercury thermometer with the centigrade scale where zero represents the
freezing point of water and 100 its boiling point.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison west of
Montreal surrendered to British troops in the Battle of The Cedars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_The_Cedars>
1911:
Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, was
established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the
Interior.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_Canada>
1997:
The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, which encompasses the most
ecologically diverse region in Mexico, was established as a result of
grassroots efforts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Gorda>
2010:
In Bangkok, the Thai military concluded a week-long crackdown
on widespread protests by forcing the surrender of opposition leaders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Thai_military_crackdown>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
front runner:
(idiomatic) The most likely winners in a contest, election, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/front_runner>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Upon the progress of knowledge the whole progress of the human
race is immediately dependent: he who retards that, hinders this also.
--Johann Gottlieb Fichte
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Fichte>
Juwan Howard (born 1973) is an American professional basketball player
who plays for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association
(NBA). He signed for the Heat (his eighth NBA team) in 2010, reaching
the playoffs for the sixth time and making his first career NBA Finals
appearance. Howard won his first NBA championship with Miami the
following year. A one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward,
he began his NBA career as the fifth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft
by the Washington Bullets. Before he was drafted, he starred as an All-
American on the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. At Michigan
he was part of the Fab Five recruiting class of 1991 that twice reached
the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's
Division I Basketball Championship. During his rookie year with the
Bullets, he became the first player to graduate on time with his class
after leaving college early to play in the NBA. After one season as an
All-Rookie player and a second as an All-Star and an All-NBA performer,
he became the first NBA player to sign a $100 million contract. He has
developed a reputation as a humanitarian for his civic commitment.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juwan_Howard>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of
the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of
Vicksburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg>
1869:
One day after surrendering at the Battle of Hakodate, Enomoto
Takeaki turned over Goryōkaku to Japanese forces, signaling the
collapse of the Republic of Ezo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ezo>
1927:
Disgruntled school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe set off a
series of explosives in Bath Township, Michigan's elementary school,
which had a final death toll of 45 and is the deadliest mass murder in a
school in United States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster>
1944:
World War II: Polish forces under Lieutenant General
Władysław Anders captured Monte Cassino, Italy, after a four-month
battle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino>
1955:
Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000
Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French
Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of
the First Indochina War, ended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Passage_to_Freedom>
1980:
The stratovolcano Mount St. Helens erupted (pictured), killing
57 people in southern Washington State, reducing hundreds of square
miles to wasteland, and causing over US$1 billion in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
upend:
1. (transitive) To end up; to set on end.
2. To tip or turn over.
3. To destroy, invalidate, overthrow, or defeat.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/upend>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never
accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into
something that he can understand.
--Bertrand Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>
The Flame Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a
moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern
Australia, including Tasmania. First described by the French naturalists
Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830, it is often
simply but inaccurately called the Robin Redbreast. Like many brightly
coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring
12–14 cm (5–6 in) long, the Flame Robin has dark brown eyes and a
small thin black bill. The male has a brilliant orange-red chest and
throat, and a white patch on the forehead above the bill. Its upper
parts are iron-grey with white bars, and its tail black with white tips.
The female is a nondescript grey-brown. Its song has been described as
the most musical of its genus, and it employs song and plumage displays
to mark out and defend its territory. It mostly breeds in and around the
Great Dividing Range, the Tasmanian highlands and islands in Bass
Strait. With the coming of cooler autumn weather, most birds disperse to
lower and warmer areas. Classified by BirdLife International as Near
Threatened, the species has suffered a marked decline in the past
25 years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_Robin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1521:
English nobleman Edward Stafford, whose father had been
beheaded for rebelling against King Richard III, was himself executed
for treason against King Henry VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Stafford,_3rd_Duke_of_Buckingham>
1792:
Twenty-four stock brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement to
establish the New York Stock Exchange.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange>
1863:
Rosalía de Castro published Cantares gallegos, a collection of
her poetry, the first book in the Galician language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosal%C3%ADa_de_Castro>
1954:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v.
Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools
because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education>
1980:
On the eve of the Peruvian general election, the Maoist
guerrilla group Shining Path attacked a polling location in the town of
Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the internal conflict in Peru.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_conflict_in_Peru>
2009:
Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected the first female President of
Lithuania, receiving 68.18 percent of the vote.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalia_Grybauskait%C4%97>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
morpheme:
(linguistics) The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry
a meaning, such as "un-", "break", and "-able" in the word
"unbreakable".
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/morpheme>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Music is like a mirror in front of you. You're exposing
everything, but surely that's better than suppressing. ... You have to
dig deep and that can be hard for anybody, no matter what profession. I
feel that I need to actually push myself to the limit to feel happy with
the end result.
--Enya
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Enya>
Final Fantasy XI is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game
(MMORPG), developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy
series. Designed and produced by Hiromichi Tanaka, it was released in
Japan on May 16, 2002 for Sony's PlayStation 2, and for Microsoft
Windows-based personal computers in November of that year. The game was
the first cross-platform MMORPG and the Xbox 360's first MMORPG. The
story is set in the fantasy world of Vana'diel, where player-created
avatars can both compete and cooperate in a variety of objectives to
develop an assortment of jobs, skills, and earn in-game item rewards.
Players can also undertake an array of quests and progress through the
in-game hierarchy and thus through the major plot of the game. Since its
debut in 2002, five expansion packs have also been released along with
six add-on scenarios. In 2006, between 200,000 and 300,000 active
players logged in per day, and the game was the dominant MMORPG in
Japan. Final Fantasy XI has a user base of around 500,000 subscribers,
and the total number of active characters exceeds 2 million. It is the
most profitable title in the Final Fantasy series.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XI>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1811:
Peninsular War: An allied force of British, Spanish, and
Portuguese troops clashed with the French at the Battle of Albuera south
of Badajoz, Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albuera>
1866:
The United States Congress authorized the minting of the
country's first copper-nickel five-cent piece, the Shield nickel
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_nickel>
1943:
Royal Air Force Dambusters embarked on a raid to deploy
bouncing bombs on German dams in Operation Chastise during the Second
World War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise>
1960:
American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working
laser at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser>
1966:
Chinese leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution
officially as a campaign to rid China of its liberal bourgeois elements
and to continue revolutionary class struggle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution>
1975:
Based on the results of a referendum held about one month
earlier, Sikkim abolished its monarchy and was annexed by India,
becoming its 22nd state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hue and cry:
1. (historical) The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to
warn others to give chase.
2. (by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of
protest or making some demand.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hue_and_cry>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Religion is a great force — the only real motive force in the
world; but what you fellows don't understand is that you must get at a
man through his own religion and not through yours. Instead of facing
that fact, you persist in trying to convert all men to your own little
sect, so that you can use it against them afterwards. You are all
missionaries and proselytizers trying to uproot the native religion from
your neighbor's flowerbeds and plant your own in its place. You would
rather let a child perish in ignorance than have it taught by a rival
sectary.
--George Bernard Shaw
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw>
Banksia aquilonia, commonly known as the northern banksia, is a tree in
the family Proteaceae native to north Queensland on Australia's
northeastern coastline. With an average height of 8 m (26 ft), it has
narrow glossy green leaves up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long and 6 to 10 cm
(2.4 to 3.9 in) high pale yellow flower spikes, known as inflorescences,
appearing in autumn. As the spikes age, their flowers fall off and they
develop up to 50 follicles, each of which contains 2 seeds. Alex
George described the plant in his 1981 monograph of the genus Banksia
as a variety of Banksia integrifolia, but later reclassified it as a
separate species. The species is found in wet sclerophyll forest and
rainforest margins on sandy soils. Banksia aquilonia regenerates after
bushfire by regrowing from epicormic buds under its bark, although
regeneration from root suckers has also been recorded. It adapts readily
to cultivation in humid or temperate climates, but is rarely cultivated.
A fast-growing plant, it can grow in acidic soils from pH 3.5 to 6.5.
Its inflorescences are energy-rich sources of food, and nectar is a food
item of many animals and birds, including the endangered mahogany
glider.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_aquilonia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1891:
Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum, that
addressed the condition of the working classes and is considered to be
the foundation of modern Catholic social teaching.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerum_Novarum>
1905:
Las Vegas (welcome sign pictured) was established as railroad
town, after 110 acres (0.45 km2) owned by the San Pedro, Los Angeles
and Salt Lake Railroad was auctioned off.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas>
1948:
The Australian cricket team, on tour in England set a first-
class world record that still stands by scoring 721 runs in a day
against Essex.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_cricket_team_in_England_in_1948>
1953:
Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, an event for Cub
Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America where wooden cars built by the
scouts are raced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinewood_derby>
1966:
Disapproving of his handling of the Buddhist Uprising, South
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky ordered an attack on the forces
of General Ton That Dinh and ousted him from the position.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton_That_Dinh>
2010:
Upon her return to Sydney three days before her 17th birthday,
Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail non-stop and
unassisted around the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Watson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
plangent:
Having a loud, mournful sound.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plangent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think the world is like a great mirror, and reflects our lives
just as we ourselves look upon it. Those who turn sad faces toward the
world find only sadness reflected. But a smile is reflected in the same
way, and cheers and brightens our hearts.
--L. Frank Baum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum>