Johann von Klenau (1758–1819) was a field marshal in the Habsburg
army, and fought in Austria's wars with the Ottoman Empire, the French
Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. In the early years of the
French Revolutionary Wars, he distinguished himself at the First Battle
of Wissembourg in 1793, and led a battle-winning charge at
Handschuhsheim in 1795. As commander of the Coalition's left flank in
the Adige campaign in northern Italy in 1799, he was instrumental in
isolating the French-held fortresses on the Po River by organizing and
supporting a peasant uprising. He led key elements of the army at the
victory at Aspern-Esslingen and its defeat at Wagram, where his troops
covered the retreat of the main force. He commanded the IV Corps at the
1813 Battle of Dresden and at the Battle of Nations at Leipzig,
preventing the French from outflanking the main Austrian force on the
first day of the engagement. He then organized and implemented the
successful Dresden blockade and negotiated the French capitulation
there. In the 1814–15 campaign, he commanded the Corps Klenau of the
Army of Italy. After the war in 1815, Klenau was appointed commanding
general in Moravia and Silesia.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_von_Klenau>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1598:
King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting
freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces
conducted a surprise attack against a Continental Army outpost at Bound
Brook, New Jersey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bound_Brook>
1829:
The Roman Catholic Relief Act was granted Royal Assent,
removing the most substantial restrictions on Catholics in the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Relief_Act_1829>
1943:
The neoclassical Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., was
formally dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Memorial>
1943:
World War II: German news announced the discovery of a mass
grave of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces, causing a
diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile and the USSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pink slime:
1. (paper manufacture) An undesirable pink-colored microbial mass occurring
in the slurry used in making paper.
2. (informal) A meat byproduct produced from otherwise unusable material
such as skin and connective tissue, spinal bones, and digestive tissue
by heating and then mixing with ammonia in a centrifuge to produce a
food additive.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pink_slime>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let us do something while we have the chance! It is not every day
that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others
would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they
were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at
this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like
it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us
represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate
consigned us!
--Samuel Beckett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett>
John Le Mesurier (1912–83) was an English actor perhaps best
remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC
situation comedy Dad's Army between 1968 and 1977. He debuted on stage
in 1934, and became one of television's pioneering actors when he
appeared in The Marvellous History of St Bernard in 1938. From there, Le
Mesurier had a prolific film career and appeared in over 120 films
across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts in
comedies; his roles often portrayed figures of authority such as army
officers, policemen and judges. He took a relaxed approach to acting and
described himself as a "jobbing actor", a term he used for the title of
his autobiography. On one of the few occasions he played the lead role
in his career, he received a British Academy of Film and Television Arts
"Best Television Actor" award for his performance in the Dennis Potter
television play Traitor. He later said that his parts he played were
those of "a decent chap all at sea in a chaotic world not of his own
making". After his death, critics reflected that for an actor who
normally took minor roles, the viewing public were "enormously fond of
him".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Le_Mesurier>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England,
collapsed, reportedly owing to a mechanical resonance induced by troops
marching over the bridge in step.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge>
1910:
The SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the
Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Zr%C3%ADnyi>
1961:
Aboard Vostok 3KA-3, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the
first man to enter outer space, completing one orbit in a time of 108
minutes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin>
1968:
Six thousand sheep were killed on ranches near Dugway Proving
Ground in Utah as a result of the U.S. Army spraying a nerve agent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_sheep_incident>
2007:
The canteen of the Council of Representatives of Iraq building
was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing one Member of Parliament and
wounding 23 other people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iraqi_Parliament_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ungulate:
Having hooves.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ungulate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The basic drive behind real philosophy is curiosity about the
world, not interest in the writings of philosophers. Each of us emerges
from the preconsciousness of babyhood and simply finds himself here, in
it, in the world. That experience alone astonishes some people. What is
all this — what is the world? And what are we? From the beginning of
humanity some have been under a compulsion to ask these questions, and
have felt a craving for the answers. This is what is really meant by any
such phrase as "mankind's need for metaphysics."
--Bryan Magee
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bryan_Magee>
SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser built by the Imperial German
Navy. She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly
believed to be the specifications of the British Invincible-
class battlecruisers. Blücher was larger than earlier armored cruisers
and carried more heavy guns, but was unable to match the size and
armament of the new battlecruisers. The ship was named for Gebhard von
Blücher, commander of Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. After
being commissioned in 1909, Blücher served in the I Scouting Group for
most of her career, including World War I. She took part in the
bombardment of Yarmouth and the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and
Whitby in 1914. At the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915, she was slowed
significantly after being hit by British gunfire. Franz von Hipper, the
German commander, decided to abandon Blücher to the pursuing enemy
ships in order to save his more valuable battlecruisers. She was sunk
and British destroyers began recovering the survivors, although they
were forced to withdraw when a German zeppelin began bombing them,
mistaking Blücher for a British ship. Estimates of the number of
casualties range from 747 to around 1,000.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Bl%C3%BCcher>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1544:
Italian War of 1542–1546: French and Spanish forces fought a
massive pitched battle in the Piedmont region of Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ceresole>
1913 - The Nevill Ground's pavilion was destroyed in the only
suffragette arson attack on a cricket ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevill_Ground>
1945:
World War II: American forces liberated the Buchenwald
concentration camp (watchtower pictured) near Weimar, Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp>
1951:
U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur of his commands for making public statements about the
Korean War that contradicted the administration's policies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Truman%27s_relief_of_General_Dougla…>
1979:
Uganda–Tanzania War: The Uganda National Liberation Army and
Tanzanian forces captured Kampala, forcing Ugandan President Idi Amin to
flee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda%E2%80%93Tanzania_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
covenstead:
1. (Wicca) A permanent circle or temple used to meet for rituals and to
store religious items, often a mundane location.
2. (Wicca) A Wiccan congregation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/covenstead>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A first grader should understand that his or her culture isn't a
rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and they
all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than
truth; that there are lots of alternatives to our own society. Cultural
relativity is defensible and attractive. It's also a source of hope. It
means we don't have to continue this way if we don't like it.
--Kurt Vonnegut
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut>
The Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement in the spring of 1963
organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to draw
attention to the unequal treatment of black Americans in Birmingham,
Alabama. Organizers, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. (pictured) used
nonviolent direct action tactics, beginning with a boycott of
businesses. Sit-ins and marches followed, intended to provoke mass
arrests. After the campaign ran low on adult volunteers, high school,
college, and elementary students were trained to participate, resulting
in hundreds of arrests and greater media attention. To dissuade
demonstrators and control the protests the local police used water jets
and dogs on children and bystanders. In some cases, bystanders attacked
the police, who responded with force. Scenes of the ensuing mayhem
caused an international outcry, leading to intervention by the Kennedy
administration. By the end of the campaign, King's reputation surged,
the "Jim Crow" signs in Birmingham came down, and public places became
more open to blacks. The campaign brought national force to bear on the
issue of racial segregation and was a major factor in the push towards
the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_campaign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Mount Tambora in Indonesia began one of the most violent
volcanic eruptions in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people,
and affecting worldwide temperatures for the next two years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora>
1868:
A British military expedition to Abyssinia culminated in a rout
of Ethiopians and the later suicide of Emperor Tewodros II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Expedition_to_Abyssinia>
1925:
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby>
1970:
In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul
McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>
1992:
Nagorno-Karabakh War: At least 40 Armenian civilians were
massacred in Maraga, Azerbaijan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraga_Massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
popliteal:
(anatomy) Of the area behind the knee.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/popliteal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I know now that it was meant to be this way. Sometimes, we have
to look beyond what we want and do what's best. This is the path that
I've chosen. Let's talk about something else. …You've become a truly
great warrior … yet, you've remained humble. You've shown me that
power is nothing if not guided by love. And watching you grow has helped
me grow … That's why I'm here. in
--Dragon Ball GT
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_GT:_Season_2#Piccolo.27s_Decision>
The pilot episode of the American comedy television series Parks and
Recreation originally aired on April 9, 2009. It was written by series
co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, and directed by Daniels. The
episode introduces the protagonist Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler
(pictured), a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation
department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. Knope sets out to
turn a construction pit into a park after local nurse Ann Perkins
(Rashida Jones) complains about it. Her anti-government boss Ron Swanson
(Nick Offerman) reluctantly allows her to form an exploratory committee
after her friend and colleague Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider)
secretly intervenes. Daniels and Schur began writing the script in the
summer of 2008, when they were in the early stages of conceiving the
series. The episode received generally mixed reviews, although Poehler
was widely praised by most television critics. According to Nielsen
Media Research, it was watched by 6.77 million households in its
original airing. Like the rest of the series, it was filmed in the same
mockumentary style as The Office, the NBC comedy series also created by
Daniels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(Parks_and_Recreation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1413:
Henry V, who is featured in three plays by William Shakespeare,
was crowned King of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England>
1917:
First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of
attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
1940:
During the German invasion of Norway, Vidkun Quisling seized
control of the government in a Nazi-backed coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling>
1959:
NASA announced the selection of the Mercury Seven (pictured),
the first astronauts in Project Mercury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Seven>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the
statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firdos_Square_statue_destruction>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unheralded:
Without prior warning; unexpected or unannounced.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unheralded>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones on record to
affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a
tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and slowly
strengthened as it moved northwestward, developing into a major
hurricane. While paralleling the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United
States, the storm produced strong winds and rough seas that caused minor
coastal flooding and slight damage to houses. It made landfall on Long
Island, New York, and Connecticut on August 31 near peak intensity.
Early on the following day, Carol transitioned into an extratropical
cyclone over New Hampshire. In New York, storm surge flooded LaGuardia
Airport and inundated Montauk Highway, leaving the eastern portion of
Long Island isolated. There were 65 deaths and 1,000 injuries in New
England. About 150,000 people were left without electricity in the
region, and over 1,500 houses were destroyed. Overall, Carol caused
68 fatalities and damage totaled about $460 million (1954 USD),
making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time. Following
the storm, Carol became the first name to be removed from the naming
lists in the Atlantic basin.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Carol>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1271:
The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers to
the army of the Mamluk sultan Baibars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers>
1740:
War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the
Spanish ship of the line Princesa and mustered her into British service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_(1740)>
1904:
British occultist and writer Aleister Crowley began
transcribing The Book of the Law, a Holy Book in Thelema.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Law>
1911:
Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered
superconductivity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity>
2008:
The wind turbines at the Bahrain World Trade Center (pictured),
the first building to incorporate turbines into its design, became
operational.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain_World_Trade_Center>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cross swords:
(idiomatic) To quarrel or argue with someone, to have a dispute with
someone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cross_swords>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is short, short, brother! Ain't it the truth? And there is
no other Ain't it the truth? You gotta rock that rainbow while you still
got your youth! Oh! Ain't it the solid truth?
--Yip Harburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg>
Canis Minor is a small constellation in the northern celestial
hemisphere. In the second century, it was included as an asterism, or
pattern, of two stars in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted
among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "smaller dog"
(1801 illustration shown) in contrast to Canis Major, the "larger dog".
Canis Minor contains only two stars brighter than fourth magnitude,
Procyon and Gomeisa. Procyon is the seventh-brightest star in the night
sky, as well as one of the closest. A yellow-white main sequence star,
it has a white dwarf companion. Gomeisa is a blue-white main sequence
star. Luyten's Star is a ninth-magnitude red dwarf and the Solar
System's next closest stellar neighbour in the constellation after
Procyon. The fourth-magnitude HD 66141, which has evolved into an orange
giant towards the end of its life cycle, was discovered to have a planet
in 2012. Known as Thor's Helmet or the Duck Nebula, NGC 2359 is a tenth-
magnitude nebula surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star. There are two faint deep
sky objects within the constellation's borders. The 11 Canis-Minorids
are a meteor shower that can be seen in early December.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Minor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1788:
American pioneers established the town of Marietta (in modern
Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original
Thirteen Colonies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pioneers_to_the_Northwest_Territory>
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederates at the
Battle of Shiloh, the bloodiest battle in U.S. history at the time, in
Hardin County, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh>
1948:
The United Nations established the World Health Organization to
act as a coordinating authority on international public health.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization>
1955:
Aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally in
his old age, Winston Churchill retired as Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill>
2010 - Thousands rioted in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek resulting in
the collapse of the Kurmanbek Bakiyev government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyz_Revolution_of_2010>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lollapalooza:
(informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lollapalooza>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I call that mind free, which jealously guards its intellectual
rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content
itself with a passive or hereditary faith, which opens itself to light
whencesoever it may come, which receives new truth as an angel from
heaven.
--William Ellery Channing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ellery_Channing>
Carmen is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet,
first performed on 3 March 1875. It was not at first particularly
successful and Bizet knew nothing of its later success as he died before
its initial run was concluded. The opera tells the story of the downfall
of Don José, a naive soldier seduced by the fiery gypsy Carmen (first
played by Célestine Galli-Marié, pictured in costume). José abandons
his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses
Carmen's love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo after which José
kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life,
immorality and lawlessness, and the tragic outcome, broke new ground in
French opera, and after the premiere most reviews were critical. Carmen
initially gained its reputation outside France, and was not revived in
Paris until 1883; thereafter it rapidly acquired celebrity at home and
abroad, and continues to be one of the most frequently performed operas.
The music of Carmen has been widely acclaimed for its brilliance of
melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for the skill with
which Bizet represented musically the emotions and suffering of his
characters.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1652:
Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck established the first permanent
European settlement in South Africa at what eventually became known as
Cape Town.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town>
1793:
French Revolution: The Committee of Public Safety was
established, and would become the de facto executive government during
the forthcoming Reign of Terror.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety>
1808:
John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, the profits
from which would make him the United States' first multi-millionaire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor>
1893:
The Salt Lake Temple, the largest of more than 140 temples of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was dedicated in Salt
Lake City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_Temple>
2010:
Rebels from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) ambushed a
Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Dantewada district, India,
killing 76 CRPF officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2010_Maoist_attack_in_Dantewada>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lek:
(biology) An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship
and display.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one could have less faith in the absolute and definitive
importance of the work created by man, because I believe that this world
is nothing but a dream.
--Gustave Moreau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Moreau>
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (1863–1950) was the eldest
daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and his first
wife Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Victoria married Prince Louis
of Battenberg, her father's first cousin and an officer in the UK's
Royal Navy, in a love match and lived most of her married life in
various parts of Europe at her husband's naval posts and visiting her
many royal relations. She was perceived by her family as liberal in
outlook, straightforward, practical and bright. During World War I, two
of her sisters who had married into the Russian imperial family were
murdered by communist revolutionaries, and she and her husband abandoned
their German titles and adopted the British-sounding surname of
Mountbatten, which was simply a translation into English of the German
"Battenberg". She was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Victoria_of_Hesse_and_by_Rhine>
_______________________________
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>
1609:
Forces of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma captured the
castle on Ryukyu Island, beginning the process that turned the Ryukyu
Kingdom into a vassal state under Satsuma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Ryukyu>
1847:
Britain's first civic public park, Birkenhead Park in
Birkenhead, Merseyside, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkenhead_Park>
1900:
Archaeologists led by Arthur Evans in Knossos, Crete,
discovered a large cache of clay tablets with a script used for writing
Mycenaean Greek now known as Linear B.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B>
2009:
The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from
the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking
concerns by other nations that it may have been a trial run of
technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reptilianness:
The quality of the embodiment of reptile characteristics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reptilianness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In any country, regardless of what its laws say, wherever people
act upon the idea that the disadvantage of one man is the good of
another, there slavery exists. Wherever, in any country the whole people
feel that the happiness of all is dependent upon the happiness of the
weakest, there freedom exists.
--Booker T. Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>
Maya Angelou (born 1928) is an American author and poet. She has
published six autobiographies, five books of essays, several books of
poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television
shows spanning more than fifty years. She has received dozens of awards
and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her
series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult
experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of
her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international
recognition and acclaim. Angelou's list of occupations includes pimp,
prostitute, night-club dancer and performer, castmember of the musical
Porgy and Bess, coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, author, journalist in Egypt and Ghana
during the days of decolonization, and actor, writer, director, and
producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1993,
Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill
Clinton's inauguration, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural
recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1287:
Wareru created the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in today's Lower Burma
and declared himself king following the collapse of the Pagan Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wareru>
1873:
The Kennel Club, the oldest kennel club in the world, was
founded in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kennel_Club>
1949:
Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO,
an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby
its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by
any external party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO>
1973:
The World Trade Center in New York City was officially
dedicated, about a year after the second of the building complex's twin
towers was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center>
1988:
Governor of Arizona Evan Mecham was removed from office after
being convicted in his impeachment trial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
roundabout:
Indirect, circuitous or circumlocutionary; that does not do something in
a direct way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roundabout>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace
the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.
--William Gladstone
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Gladstone>