The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (BFMEII) is a
real-time strategy video game by Electronic Arts. It is based on the
fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
and the Lord of the Rings live-action film trilogy. The game is the
sequel to Electronic Arts' 2004 title The Lord of the Rings: The Battle
for Middle-earth. The Windows version of the game was released on March
2, 2006, and the Xbox 360 version was released on July 5, 2006. In the
game, the Good Campaign focuses on Glorfindel, an Elf who, with help
from the Dwarves and other Good forces, attempts to eliminate Sauron and
his army to restore peace in Middle-earth. In the Evil Campaign, Sauron
sends the Mouth of Sauron and the Nazgûl to muster wild Goblins as part
of his plan to destroy the remaining Good forces with his army. BFMEII
received generally favorable reviews from video game critics. Reviews
praised the game's integration of the Lord of the Rings universe into a
real-time strategy title, while criticism targeted the game's unbalanced
multiplayer mode. BFMEII received numerous awards, including the
Editors' Choice Award from IGN.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Battle_for_Middle-…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
The College of Arms, one of the few remaining official heraldic
authorities in Europe, was established by royal charter in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Arms>
1836:
Texas Revolution: At a convention of delegates in Washington-
on-the-Brazos, the Mexican state of Texas adopted a declaration of
independence, establishing the Republic of Texas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_1836>
1919:
Communist, revolutionary socialist, and syndicalist delegates
met in Moscow to establish the Communist International.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Congress_of_the_Comintern>
1939:
Italian Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected as Pope and took
the name Pius XII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII>
1962:
American basketball player Wilt Chamberlain (pictured), then
playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, scored 100 points in a game
against the New York Knicks at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey,
Pennsylvania, still a record in the National Basketball Association
today.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain%27s_100-point_game>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
party favor:
A small gift given to a guest at a party, as a souvenir.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/party_favor>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of
humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a
tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of
laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how
things can be in whack.
--Dr. Seuss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss>
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Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by the American singer-
songwriter Bob Dylan, released in August 1965. Having until then
recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing
band on every track of the album, except for the closing 11-minute
ballad, "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way in
which Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of
poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural chaos of
contemporary America. Leading with the single "Like a Rolling Stone" (a
top-10 hit in several countries), the album features songs that Dylan
has continued to perform live over his long career, including "Ballad of
a Thin Man" and "Highway 61 Revisited". He named the album after the
major North American highway connecting his birthplace, Duluth,
Minnesota, to southern cities famed for their musical heritage,
including St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. The album, which peaked
at No. 3 in the United States charts and No. 4 in the United Kingdom,
was ranked No. 4 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
"Like a Rolling Stone" was listed at No. 1 on Rolling Stone's 500
Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_61_Revisited>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1874:
In one of the longest cases ever heard in an English court, the
defendant was convicted of perjury for attempting to assume the identity
of the heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tichborne_case>
1893:
USS Indiana (pictured), the lead ship of her class and the
first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign
battleships of the time, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indiana_(BB-1)>
1972:
Japanese police stormed a mountain lodge near Karuizawa, Nagano
prefecture, to end a ten-day siege by members of the paramilitary group
United Red Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asama-Sans%C5%8D_incident>
1975:
In London an underground train failed to stop at Moorgate
terminus station and crashed into the end of the tunnel, killing 43
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorgate_tube_crash>
2002:
During the 2002 Gujarat violence in India, mobs of Hindus
attacked Muslims in Naroda Patiya and Chamanpura, resulting in 166
deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbarg_Society_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
compere:
(chiefly UK) A master of ceremonies in a television, variety or quiz
show. Also used more generally for any master of ceremonies.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/compere>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My single pair of eyes Contain the universe they see; Their mirrored
multiplicity Is packed into a hollow body Where I reflect the many, in
my one.
--Stephen Spender
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Spender>
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Fort Dobbs was an 18th-century fort in the Yadkin–Pee Dee River Basin
region of the Province of North Carolina, near what is now Statesville
in Iredell County. Used for frontier defense during and after the French
and Indian War, the fort was built to protect the British settlers of
the western portion of what was then Rowan County from Cherokee,
Catawba, Shawnee, Delaware and French raids into North Carolina. The
fort's name honored Arthur Dobbs, the colonial Governor of North
Carolina from 1754 to 1765. When in use, it was the only fort on the
frontier between South Carolina and Virginia. On February 27, 1760, the
fort was the site of an engagement between Cherokee warriors and
provincial soldiers that ended in a victory for the provincials. Fort
Dobbs was abandoned after 1766, but archaeological work in the
20th century and historical research in 2005 and 2006 led to the
discovery of the fort's exact location and probable appearance. The site
on which the fort sat is now operated by North Carolina's Division of
State Historic Sites and Properties as Fort Dobbs State Historic Site,
and supporters of the site have developed plans for the fort's
reconstruction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Dobbs_(North_Carolina)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1560:
The Treaty of Berwick was signed, which set the terms under
which an English fleet and army could come to Scotland to expel the
French troops who were defending the Regency of Mary of Guise.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berwick_(1560)>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: A Patriot victory in the Battle of
Moore's Creek Bridge resulted in the capture or arrest of 850 Loyalists
over the next few days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moore%27s_Creek_Bridge>
1870:
The current flag of Japan was first adopted as the national
flag for Japanese merchant ships.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Japan>
1988:
The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was the target
of a violent pogrom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumgait_pogrom>
2004:
The initial version of the John Jay Report, with details about
the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jay_Report>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dystocia:
(medicine, veterinary medicine) A slow or difficult labour or delivery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dystocia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou
art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow>
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Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park in
northwestern Wyoming, established on February 26, 1929. Approximately
310,000 acres (130,000 ha), it includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-
long (64 km) Teton Range and most of the northern sections of the
valley known as Jackson Hole. Human history dates back 11,000 years,
when the first nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated into the region. The area
was explored by mountain man John Colter in 1807, but permanent white
settlers did not inhabit it until the 1880s. Efforts to preserve the
area as a national park began in the late 19th century and the eventual
expansion of the park in 1950 was a watershed in the land conservation
movement. Though the Teton Range is the youngest mountain chain in the
Rocky Mountains, some of the rocks in the park are the oldest found in
any U.S. National Park, at nearly 2.7 billion years. More than
1000 species of vascular plants, dozens of species of mammals, 300
species of birds, more than a dozen fish species and a few species of
reptiles and amphibians exist. The park is a popular destination for
mountaineering, camping and fishing, and has over 200 miles (320 km) of
hiking trails.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
747 BC:
According to Ptolemy, the reign of the Babylonian king
Nabonassar began and with it, a new era characterized by the systematic
maintenance of chronologically precise historical records.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabonassar>
364:
Following the death of the Roman emperor Jovian, officers of the
army at Nicaea in Bithynia selected Flavius Valentinianus to succeed
him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentinian_I>
1815:
Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba, an island off the coast
of Italy where he had been exiled after the signing of the Treaty of
Fontainebleau one year earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon>
1935:
Adolf Hitler ordered the German air force Luftwaffe reinstated,
violating the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of the First World
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe>
1991:
British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee introduced
WorldWideWeb, the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG HTML editor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldWideWeb>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
beaver away:
(idiomatic) To work hard at a task.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beaver_away>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Such is the privilege of genius; it perceives, it seizes relations where
vulgar eyes see only isolated facts.
--François Arago
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Arago>
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Typhoon Chataan was the deadliest natural disaster in the history of
Chuuk, a state in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The typhoon
formed on June 28, 2002, near the FSM, and for several days it
meandered while producing heavy rainfall across the region. On Chuuk,
the highest 24-hour precipitation total was 506 mm (19.9 in), greater
than the average monthly total. The rain produced floods up to 1.5 m
(4.9 ft) deep, causing deadly landslides that killed 47 people. There
was also one death on nearby Pohnpei, and damage in the FSM totaled over
$100 million. After affecting the FSM, Chataan began a northwest track
as an intensifying typhoon. Its eye passed just north of Guam on
July 4, though the eyewall moved across the island and dropped heavy
rainfall, causing significant damage to property and some injuries.
Typhoon Chataan attained its peak intensity of 175 km/h (110 mph) on
July 8. It weakened while turning to the north, and after diminishing
to a tropical storm Chataan struck eastern Japan on July 10, flooding
more than 10,000 houses and causing damage of about $500 million. The
name Chataan means "rainy day" in the Chamorro language, which is spoken
on Guam.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Chataan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1570:
Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis to
excommunicate Queen Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of
England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnans_in_Excelsis>
1901:
U.S. Steel, the first billion-dollar corporation and once the
world's largest producer of steel, was incorporated by industrialist J.
P. Morgan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Steel>
1933:
USS Ranger, the first ship of the United States Navy
constructed as an aircraft carrier, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ranger_(CV-4)>
1986:
In the Philippines, the non-violent People Power Revolution
culminated with the removal of Ferdinand Marcos from power and the
inauguration of Corazon Aquino as the nation's first female President.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution>
2009:
Members of the Bangladesh Rifles mutinied at its headquarters
in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Bangladesh_Rifles_revolt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
king's ransom:
(idiomatic) A very large sum of money.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/king%27s_ransom>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My best friend is he who rights my wrongs or reproaches my mistakes.
--José de San Martín
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_de_San_Mart%C3%ADn>
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Persoonia levis, commonly known as the broad-leaved geebung, is a shrub
native to New South Wales and Victoria in eastern Australia. It was
first collected by Luis Née in the vicinity of Port Jackson (Sydney) in
April 1797. It reaches 5 m (16 ft) in height and has dark grey papery
bark and bright green asymmetrical sickle-shaped leaves up to 14 cm
(5.5 in) long and 8 cm (3.2 in) wide. The small yellow flowers appear
in summer and autumn (December to April), followed by small green fleshy
fruit known as drupes. The fruit is juicy but stringy when unripe, and
the seeds and skin are inedible. Found in dry sclerophyll forest on
sandstone-based nutrient-deficient soils, P. levis is adapted to a
fire-prone environment; the plants resprout epicormic buds from beneath
their thick bark after bushfires, and can live for over 60 years.
Regeneration also takes place after fire by a ground-stored seed bank.
The longtongue bee Leioproctus carinatifrons is a pollinator of the
flowers, and the fruit are consumed by vertebrates such as kangaroos,
possums and currawongs. Despite its horticultural appeal, P. levis is
rare in cultivation as it is very hard to propagate, either by seed or
cuttings.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persoonia_levis>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1711:
George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian language
opera written specifically for the London stage, premiered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinaldo_(opera)>
1803:
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Marbury v. Madison, declared an act
of Congress unconstitutional for the first time, forming the basis of
judicial review in the U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison>
1868:
Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. President to be impeached.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson>
1944:
World War II: The United States Army long-range penetration
special operations unit known as Merrill's Marauders began a 1000-mile
(1600 km) march over the Patkai region of the Himalayas and into the
Burmese jungle behind Japanese lines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrill%27s_Marauders>
2006:
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state
of emergency in an attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_state_of_emergency_in_the_Philippines>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
technopeasant:
(informal) One who is disadvantaged or exploited within a modern
technological society, especially through inability to use computer
technology.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/technopeasant>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way
to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the
only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found
it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart,
you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just
gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t
settle.
--Steve Jobs
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs>
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John Jackson (1908–42) was an Australian fighter ace and squadron
commander of World War II. He was credited with eight aerial victories,
and led No. 75 Squadron during the Battle of Port Moresby in 1942. A
grazier and businessman who operated his own private plane, he joined
the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve in 1936. Called up for active
service in 1939, Jackson served with No. 23 Squadron in Australia
before he was posted to the Middle East in November 1940. As a fighter
pilot with No. 3 Squadron he flew Gloster Gladiators, Hawker Hurricanes
and P-40 Tomahawks during the North African and Syria–Lebanon
campaigns. Jackson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and
mentioned in despatches for his actions in the Middle East. Subsequently
posted to the South West Pacific theatre, he was promoted to squadron
leader in March 1942 and given command of No. 75 Squadron at Port
Moresby, Papua, operating P-40 Kittyhawks. He earned praise for his
leadership during the defence of Port Moresby before his death in combat
on 28 April. Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby, is named in
his honour. His younger brother Les took over No. 75 Squadron, and also
became a fighter ace.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Jackson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1739:
The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been
living under an alias in York, was uncovered by his former
schoolteacher, who recognised his handwriting, leading to Turpin's
arrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Turpin>
1903:
The Cuban–American Treaty was finalized, allowing the United
States to lease Guantánamo Bay from Cuba in perpetuity for the purposes
of operating coaling and naval stations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guant%C3%A1namo_Bay>
1927:
German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg wrote a letter
to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli in which he described his uncertainty
principle for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg>
1945:
Second World War: In an Allied bombing run on Pforzheim,
Germany, approximately 31% of the town's population were killed and 83%
of its buildings were destroyed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Pforzheim_in_World_War_II>
2005:
The controversial French law on colonialism, requiring lycée
teachers to teach their students "the positive role" of French
colonialism, was passed, creating so much public uproar and opposition
that it was repealed less than one year later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_law_on_colonialism>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
salami tactics:
The piecemeal removal or scaling back of something (especially political
opposition); a gradual attack on an opposing position, group, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salami_tactics>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the search for the truth, not possession of the truth which is the
way of philosophy. Its questions are more relevant than its answers, and
every answer becomes a new question.
--Karl Jaspers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Jaspers>
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Alexis Bachelot (1796–1837) was a Roman Catholic priest and first
Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands who led the first permanent
Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii. He arrived in Hawaii in 1827,
expecting the approval of King Kamehameha II. He learned upon arrival
that the king had died and that the new government was hostile towards
Catholic missionaries. Bachelot converted and then quietly ministered to
a small group of Hawaiians for four years before being deported on the
orders of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui of Hawaii. Bachelot traveled to
California, where he served as an assistant minister. In 1837, having
learned of Kaʻahumanu's death and King Kamehameha III's willingness to
allow Catholic priests, Bachelot returned to Hawaii, but found that
Kamehameha III had changed his mind. Bachelot was removed from the
island and confined to a ship for several months. He was freed after the
French and British navies imposed a blockade on Honolulu harbor. He
later secured passage on a ship to Micronesia, but died en route. His
treatment prompted the government of France to dispatch a frigate to
Hawaii, an intervention that led to the emancipation of Catholics there.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Bachelot>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1371:
Robert II became King of Scots as the first monarch of the
House of Stewart.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_II_of_Scotland>
1819:
Under the terms of the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sold Florida
and other North American territory to the United States for about
US$5 million.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams%E2%80%93On%C3%ADs_Treaty>
1958:
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Syrian President
Shukri al-Quwatli signed a union pact to form the United Arab Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Republic>
1995:
The photos taken by the Corona spy satellite program were
declassified under an executive order signed by U.S. President Bill
Clinton.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite)>
2011:
New Zealand suffered one of its worst peacetime disasters when
a 6.5 ML earthquake struck Christchurch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fugacious:
Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fugacious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But, ah, my
foes, and, oh, my friends — It gives a lovely light.
--Edna St. Vincent Millay
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_St._Vincent_Millay>
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Look Mickey is a 1961 oil on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Based
on an illustration showing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck during a fishing
mishap, it is widely regarded as the bridge between his abstract
expressionism and pop art works. It is notable for its ironic humor and
aesthetic value as well as being the first example of the artist's
employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery as a
source for a painting. Building on his late 1950s drawings of comic
strips characters, Look Mickey marks Lichtenstein's first full
employment of painterly techniques to reproduce almost faithful
representations of pop culture and so satirize and comment upon the then
developing process of mass production of visual imagery. In this,
Lichtenstein pioneered a motif that became influential not only in 1960s
Pop art but continuing to the work of artists today. The work dates from
Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition, and is regarded by art critics as
revolutionary both as a progression of pop art and as a work of modern
art in general. It was later shown hanging prominently in Lichtenstein's
studio in his 1973 painting, Artist's Studio—Look Mickey.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_Mickey>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: The Confederate Army began an attempt to
gain control of the Southwest with a major victory in the Battle of
Valverde.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valverde>
1918:
The Carolina Parakeet (pictured), the only parrot species
native to the eastern United States, became extinct when the last
individual died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Parakeet>
1921:
Rezā Khan seized Tehran to make himself the most powerful
person in Iran, which eventually led to the establishment of the Pahlavi
dynasty.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_events_of_1921>
1965:
Black nationalist Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a
speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X>
1973:
After accidentally having strayed into Israeli airspace, Libyan
Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by two Israeli fighter planes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Arab_Airlines_Flight_114>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jump the shark:
1. (idiomatic, of a television program or other narrative) To undergo a
storyline development which heralds a fundamental and generally
disappointing change in direction.
2. (more generally) To experience a decline in quality, appeal, popularity,
etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jump_the_shark>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Follow, poet, follow right To the bottom of the night, With your
unconstraining voice Still persuade us to rejoice; With the farming of a
verse Make a vineyard of the curse, Sing of human unsuccess In a rapture
of distress; In the deserts of the heart Let the healing fountains
start, In the prison of his days Teach the free man how to praise.
--W. H. Auden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._H._Auden>
HMS Eagle was an early aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Ordered by
Chile as the Almirante Latorre-class battleship Almirante Cochrane, she
was laid down on 20 February 1913. In early 1918 she was purchased by
Britain for conversion to an aircraft carrier. The ship was initially
assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and then later to the China Station.
Eagle spent the first nine months of World War II in the Indian Ocean
searching for German commerce raiders. She was equipped solely with
Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers until late 1940. She was transferred to
the Mediterranean in May 1940, where she escorted multiple convoys to
Malta and Greece and attacked Italian shipping, naval units and bases in
the Eastern Mediterranean. Whenever Eagle was not at sea, her aircraft
were disembarked and used ashore. The ship was relieved by a more modern
carrier in March 1941 and ordered to hunt for Axis shipping in the
Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. After completing a major refit in
early 1942, the ship made multiple trips delivering fighter aircraft to
Malta to boost its air defences. Eagle was torpedoed and sunk by the
German submarine U-73 in August 1942 while escorting a convoy to Malta.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Eagle_(1918)>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's opera buffa The Barber of
Seville was hissed by the audience during its debut at the Teatro
Argentina in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville>
1872:
New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art (pictured), today
containing a collection of over two million works of art, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art>
1943:
The Saturday Evening Post published the first of Norman
Rockwell's Four Freedoms, some of the most widely distributed paintings
ever produced, in support of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's "Four
Freedoms".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_(Norman_Rockwell)>
1959:
The Canadian government under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
cancelled the Avro CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft program amid much
political debate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow>
1988:
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from
Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
take a flyer:
(idiomatic) To make a choice with an uncertain outcome; to take a
chance.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_a_flyer>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don’t believe in the “supernatural,” I believe in the
“supernormal.” To me there is nothing that goes against nature. If
it seems incomprehensible, it’s because we haven’t been able to
understand it yet.
--Richard Matheson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson>