The Kingdom of Mysore (1399–1947) was a kingdom of southern India,
traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of
the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar
family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire.
Around 1565, the kingdom became independent. The 17th century saw a
steady expansion of its territory and, under Narasaraja Wodeyar I
(pictured) and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the kingdom annexed large
expanses of what is now southern Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu to
become a powerful state in the southern Deccan. It reached the height of
its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century
under the de facto ruler Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. During this
time, it came into conflict with the Marathas, the British and the Nizam
of Hyderabad which culminated in the four Anglo-Mysore wars. The British
restored a subsidiary alliance, and a diminished Mysore was now
transformed into a Princely state until Indian independence in 1947. The
Mysore kings were not only accomplished exponents of the fine arts and
men of letters, they were enthusiastic patrons as well and their
legacies continue to influence music and art even today.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mysore>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1812:
French invasion of Russia: As Napoleon's Grande Armée began
its retreat, its rear guard was defeated at the Battle of Vyazma
(monument pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vyazma>
1942:
World War II: U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces began an
attempt to encircle and destroy a regiment of Imperial Japanese Army
troops.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koli_Point_action>
1957:
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, carrying
Laika the Russian space dog as the first living creature from Earth to
enter orbit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika>
1967:
Vietnam War: A series of major engagements that were some of
the hardest-fought and bloodiest battles of the war began at Đắk Tô
in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dak_To>
1996:
Abdullah Çatlı, a drug trafficker, a contract killer, and a
leader of the ultra-nationalist Nationalist Movement Party, was killed
in a car crash near Susurluk, Balıkesir Province, Turkey, sparking the
Susurluk scandal which exposed the depth of the state's complicity in
organized crime.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_%C3%87atl%C4%B1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caritative:
Charitable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caritative>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Once the masterpiece has emerged, the lesser works surrounding it fall
into place; and it then gives the impression of having been led up to
and foreseeable, though actually it is inconceivable — or, rather, it
can only be conceived of once it is there for us to see it.
--André Malraux
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux>
The Singapore strategy was a strategy of the British Empire between 1919
and 1941. It was a series of war plans that evolved over a twenty-year
period to deter or defeat aggression by the Empire of Japan by basing a
fleet of the Royal Navy in the Far East. Ideally, this fleet would be
able to intercept and defeat a Japanese force heading south towards
India or Australia. To be effective, it required a well-equipped base,
and Singapore was chosen as the most suitable location in 1919. Work
continued on a naval base and its defences over the next two decades.
The Singapore strategy was the cornerstone of British Imperial defence
policy in the Far East during the 1920s and 1930s. A combination of
financial, political and practical difficulties ensured that it could
not be implemented. The strategy ultimately led to the despatch of Force
Z to Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse by
Japanese air attack on 10 December 1941. The subsequent ignominious fall
of Singapore was described by Winston Churchill as "the worst disaster
and largest capitulation in British history".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_strategy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1898:
Organized cheerleading was born at the University of Minnesota
when student Johnny Campbell directed a crowd attending an American
college football game to cheer on their team.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading>
1932:
The Australian military began a "war against emus", a
flightless native bird blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western
Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War>
1964:
King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed by his half-brother
Faisal over concerns of the former's profligacy and his inability to
deal with the socialism of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saud_of_Saudi_Arabia>
1995:
Former South African Minister of Defence Magnus Malan and 10
other former senior military officers were arrested and charged with 13
murders in the KwaMakhutha massacre of 1987.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Malan>
2004:
Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, whose film Submission was
critical of the treatment of women in Islam, was assassinated by
Mohammed Bouyeri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_(film_director)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bone-eating snot flower worm:
(biology) A worm-like creature, Osedax mucofloris, that feeds on the
carcasses of minke whales in the North Sea.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bone-eating_snot_flower_worm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is
a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and
something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.
--Lois McMaster Bujold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold>
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror monster film, the first
sequel to Frankenstein (1931). Bride of Frankenstein was directed by
James Whale and stars Boris Karloff as the monster, Elsa Lanchester in
the dual role of his mate and Mary Shelley, Colin Clive as Henry
Frankenstein and Ernest Thesiger as Doctor Septimus Pretorius. The film
follows on immediately from the events of its predecessor, and it is
rooted in a subplot of the original Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein
(1818). In Bride of Frankenstein, a chastened Henry Frankenstein
abandons his plans to create life, only to be tempted and finally
coerced by the monster, encouraged by Henry's old mentor Dr. Pretorius,
into constructing a mate for him. Preparation began shortly after the
first film premiered, but script problems delayed the project. Principal
photography started in January 1935, with creative personnel from the
original returning in front of and behind the camera. Bride of
Frankenstein was released to critical and popular acclaim, although it
encountered difficulties with some state and national censorship boards.
Since its release the film's reputation has grown, and it is hailed as
Whale's masterpiece.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_of_Frankenstein>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1517:
According to traditional accounts, Martin Luther first posted
his Ninety-Five Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
present-day Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther>
1822:
Agustín de Iturbide, Emperor of the First Mexican Empire,
dissolved the Mexican Congress and replaced it with a military junta
answerable only to him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agust%C3%ADn_de_Iturbide>
1913:
Public transportation workers in Indianapolis, Indiana, US,
went on strike, shutting down mass transit in the city and sparking
riots when strikebreakers attempted to restart services.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Streetcar_Strike_of_1913>
1941:
Over 400 workers completed the 60-foot (18 m) busts of U.S.
Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and
Abraham Lincoln at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore>
1984:
Indira Gandhi (pictured), India's only female prime minister,
was assassinated by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, sparking anti-Sikh
riots throughout the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cauldron:
A large bowl-shaped pot used for boiling over an open flame.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cauldron>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people:
religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin. in
--It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/It%27s_the_Great_Pumpkin,_Charlie_Brown>
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) was an Irish composer, teacher
and conductor. He was instrumental in raising the status of the
Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to
perform with it. While still an undergraduate, Stanford was appointed
organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of
the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught
composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also the
professor of music at Cambridge. As a teacher, Stanford was sceptical
about modernism, and based his instruction chiefly on classical
principles as exemplified in the music of Brahms. Among his pupils were
rising composers whose fame went on to surpass his own, such as Gustav
Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. As a conductor, Stanford held posts
with the Bach Choir and the Leeds triennial music festival. He composed
a substantial number of concert works, including seven symphonies, but
his best-remembered pieces are his choral works for church performance,
chiefly composed in the Anglican tradition. Some critics regarded
Stanford, together with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, as
responsible for a renaissance in English music.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1501:
Cardinal Cesare Borgia held an infamous feast in the Papal
Palace where fifty prostitutes or courtesans were in attendance for the
sexual entertainment of the guests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet_of_Chestnuts>
1806:
War of the Fourth Coalition: Believing they were massively
outnumbered, the 5,300-man German garrison at Stettin, Prussia (now
Szczecin, Poland), surrendered to a much smaller French force without a
fight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitulation_of_Stettin>
1942:
Second World War: British sailors boarded German submarine
U-559 as it was sinking and retrieved cryptographic materials that
proved crucial to breaking the Enigma code.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-559>
1983:
Raúl Alfonsín became President of Argentina after the
country's first democratic election following the end of the military
dictatorship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_general_election,_1983>
1993:
The Troubles: Three members of the Ulster Defence Association
opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight
civilians and wounding thirteen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greysteel_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trainiac:
(informal) A railway enthusiast.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trainiac>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost
certain to be false.
--Paul Valéry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Val%C3%A9ry>
"Give Peace a Chance" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the
American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 109th
episode overall. Written by Peter Nowalk and directed by Chandra Wilson,
the episode was originally broadcast on the American Broadcasting
Company (ABC) in the United States on October 29, 2009. Grey's Anatomy
centers around a group of young doctors in training. In this episode,
Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey, pictured) performs an operation on
a hospital technician's "inoperable" tumor, despite the objections of
the chief of surgery, Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.). The
episode was designed to revolve around Dempsey's character. Mark Saul,
Jesse Williams, and Nora Zehetner returned as guest stars, while Faran
Tahir made his first and only appearance. Viewed by 13.74 million
people, "Give Peace a Chance" won Wilson an NAACP Image Award for
directing, and was generally well received among critics.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Peace_a_Chance_(Grey%27s_Anatomy)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1618:
English courtier and explorer Walter Raleigh was executed in
London after King James I reinstated a fifteen-year-old death sentence
against him.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh>
1923:
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became the first President of Turkey, a
new nation founded from remnants of the Ottoman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey>
1948:
Arab-Israeli War: As the Israel Defense Forces captured the
Palestinian Arab village of Safsaf, they massacred at least 52
villagers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safsaf_massacre>
1969:
A student at UCLA sent the first message on the ARPANET, the
precursor to the Internet, to a computer at Stanford Research Institute.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET>
1998:
Hurricane Mitch made landfall, whereupon it dropped up to
1,900 mm (75 in) of rain, causing flooding that killed over 11,000
people in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Mitch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
peri-urban:
Immediately adjoining an urban area; between the suburbs and the
countryside.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peri-urban>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is a certain nobility and dignity in combat soldiers and medical
aid men with dirt in their ears. They are rough and their language gets
coarse because they live a life stripped of convention and niceties.
Their nobility and dignity come from the way they live unselfishly and
risk their lives to help each other.
--Bill Mauldin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Mauldin>
The porbeagle is a species of mackerel shark in the family Lamnidae,
distributed widely in the cold and temperate marine waters of the North
Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. The porbeagle typically reaches 2.5 m
(8.2 ft) in length and a weight of 135 kg (300 lb). Gray above and
white below, the porbeagle has a very stout midsection that tapers
towards the long, pointed snout and the narrow base of the tail. It has
large pectoral and first dorsal fins, tiny pelvic, second dorsal, and
anal fins, and a crescent-shaped caudal fin. The most distinctive
features of this species are its three-cusped teeth, the white blotch on
the back of its first dorsal fin, and the two pairs of lateral keels on
its tail. Preying mainly on bony fishes and cephalopods, the porbeagle
is an opportunistic hunter that regularly moves up and down in the water
column, catching prey in midwater as well as off the bottom. It is well
regarded as a game fish by recreational anglers. The porbeagle's meat
and fins are highly valued, which has led to a long history of intense
human exploitation. However, this species cannot sustain heavy fishing
pressure because of its low reproductive capacity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porbeagle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1707:
The Hōei earthquake ruptured all of the segments of the Nankai
megathrust simultaneously—the only earthquake known to have done
this—with an estimated magnitude of 8.6 ML.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1707_H%C5%8Dei_earthquake>
1835:
Māori chiefs signed the Declaration of the Independence of New
Zealand and established the United Tribes of New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Tribes_of_New_Zealand>
1918:
Czechoslovakia proclaimed its independence from Austria-
Hungary.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovakia>
1965:
In St. Louis, Missouri, US, the 630-foot (190 m) tall
parabolic steel Gateway Arch was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch>
1971:
Prospero, the only British satellite to date launched on a
British rocket, lifted off from Launch Area 5B at Woomera, South
Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero_(satellite)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mulct:
(law) A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mulct>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Neither wisdom nor good will is now dominant. Hope lies in dreams, in
imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into
reality.
--Jonas Salk
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk>
Louis Riel is a 2003 historical biography in comics by Canadian
cartoonist Chester Brown. It deals with the relationship of Métis rebel
leader Louis Riel (pictured) with the newly established Canadian
government. It begins shortly before the 1869 Red River Rebellion, and
ends with Riel's 1885 hanging for high treason. The book explores the
possibly schizophrenic aspect of Riel's personality—he believed God
had named him Prophet of the New World, destined to lead the Métis
people to freedom. The work is noted for its emotional disengagement,
its intentionally flat dialogue, and a minimalist drawing style inspired
by Harold Gray's comic strip Little Orphan Annie. The lengthy, hand-
lettered appendix provides insight on Brown's creative process and
biases, and highlights where he changed historical facts to create a
more engaging story. It was the first comic book to receive a grant from
the Canada Council for the Arts. It was critically well received, and
won three Harvey Awards. The original serialization (1999–2003) sold
poorly, but the book version was a surprise bestseller. Its success
played a major part in gaining shelf space for serious graphic novels in
mainstream North American bookstores.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1553:
Condemned as a heretic for preaching nontrinitarianism and
anti-infant baptism, Michael Servetus was burned at the stake outside
Geneva.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Servetus>
1644:
English Civil War: The combined armies of Parliament inflicted
a tactical defeat on the Royalists, but failed to gain any strategic
advantage in the Second Battle of Newbury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Newbury>
1810:
The United States annexed West Florida, the western portion of
the Spanish colony of Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Florida>
1992:
U.S. Navy Petty Officer Allen R. Schindler, Jr. was killed in
Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, a victim of a hate crime for being gay,
sparking a national debate that led to the establishment of the U.S.
armed forces' "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_R._Schindler,_Jr.>
2005:
The deaths of three Muslim youths in the Clichy-sous-Bois
suburb of Paris triggered four months of rioting by mostly youths of
North African origins in various parts of France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wife-beating question:
A question which presupposes some controversial premise, such that it
cannot be directly answered without incriminating oneself; a loaded
question.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wife-beating_question>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at
close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
--Dylan Thomas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas>
Charles Carroll (1661–1720) was a wealthy lawyer and planter in
colonial Maryland. Carroll, a Catholic, is best known because his
efforts to hold office in the Protestant-dominated colony resulted in
the disfranchisement of Maryland Catholics. The second son of Irish
Catholic parents, Carroll was educated in France as a lawyer before
returning to England, where he pursued the first steps in a legal
career. Before that career developed, he secured a position as Attorney
General of the young colony of Maryland. Its founder George Calvert and
his descendants intended it as a refuge for Catholics. Carroll supported
Charles Calvert, the colony's Catholic proprietor, in an unsuccessful
effort to prevent the Protestant majority from gaining political
control. Following the overthrow of the Calvert proprietorship and the
subsequent exclusion of Catholics from colonial government, Carroll
turned his attention to planting, law, business, and various offices in
the proprietor's remnant organization. He was the wealthiest man in the
colony by the time of his death.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Carroll_the_Settler>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1341:
The Byzantine army proclaimed chief minister John VI
Kantakouzenos emperor, triggering a civil war between his supporters and
those of John V Palaiologos, the heir to the throne.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_civil_war_of_1341%E2%80%931347>
1813:
War of 1812: A force consisting of about 1,630 French Canadian
regulars and militia and Mohawk warriors under Charles de Salaberry
repulsed an American force of about 4,000 attempting to invade Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chateauguay>
1940:
The North American P-51 Mustang, one of the most effective
fighter aircraft for the Allies during World War II, made its first
flight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang>
1955:
Ngo Dinh Diem proclaimed himself president of the newly created
Republic of Vietnam after defeating former Emperor Bao Dai in a
fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Vietnam_referendum,_1955>
2000:
Laurent Gbagbo became the first President of Côte d'Ivoire
since Robert Guéï was thrown out of power during the 1999 Ivorian coup
d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antihero:
(literature) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as
by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antihero>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Have I been blind, have I been lost, inside myself and my own mind;
hypnotized, mesmerized, by what my eyes have seen?
--Natalie Merchant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant>
George II (1683–1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of
Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of
the Holy Roman Empire. His grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, became second
in line to the British throne after about fifty Catholics higher in line
were excluded by the Act of Settlement, which restricted the succession
to Protestants. After the deaths of Sophia and Queen Anne, his father,
George I, inherited the throne. As king from 1727, George II exercised
little control over British domestic policy, which was largely
controlled by parliament. He had a difficult relationship with his
eldest son, Frederick, who supported the parliamentary opposition.
George became the last British monarch to lead an army in battle when he
participated in the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. In 1745, supporters of
the Catholic claimant to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, led by
James's son Charles Edward Stuart, attempted and failed to depose
George. Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, and George's grandson,
George III, became king on George II's death in 1760. Historians
initially tended to view George II with disdain, but more recently, some
scholars have re-assessed his legacy and conclude that he held and
exercised influence in foreign policy and military appointments.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_II_of_Great_Britain>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1147:
Reconquista: Forces under Afonso I of Portugal captured Lisbon
from the Moors after a four-month siege in one of the few Christian
victories during the Second Crusade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lisbon>
1812:
War of 1812: USS United States captured HMS Macedonian, which
later became the first British warship to be brought into an American
harbor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_United_States_vs_HMS_Macedonian>
1944:
Heinrich Himmler ordered a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates,
a nonconformist youth group that assisted army deserters and others
hiding from the Nazis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_Pirates>
1980:
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, a multilateral treaty providing an
expeditious method to return a child taken from one member nation to
another, concluded at The Hague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_Inte…>
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia began an increasingly
violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
verily:
1. Truly, doubtlessly, in truth.
2. Confidently, certainly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verily>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of studie took he most cure and most hede. Noght o word spak he more
than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence, And short and
quik, and ful of hy sentence. Souninge in moral vertu was his speche,
And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.
--Geoffrey Chaucer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer>
Hadji Ali (c. 1888–92 – 1937) was a vaudeville performance artist
famous for acts of controlled regurgitation. Thought to be of Egyptian
extraction, his best-known feats included water spouting, smoke
swallowing and nut and handkerchief swallowing followed by disgorgement
in an order chosen by the audience. The mainstay of Ali's act was "water
spouting". After swallowing large amounts of water, 60 to 100 glasses at
a time, he spouted it in a continuous stream for a sustained period of
time, sometimes approaching one minute. Ali's most famous stunt, and the
highlight of his act, was drinking copious amounts of water followed by
kerosene, and then acting by turns as a human flamethrower and fire
extinguisher as he expelled the two liquids onto a theatrical prop. Ali
had a dedicated following on the vaudeville circuit in the United States
and performed for heads of state including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Ali's unusual gastric abilities led to rumors that the Rockefeller
Institute had offered a large sum of money to obtain his stomach post-
mortem. After he died in England his body was offered to Johns Hopkins
for study, though the offer was declined.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadji_Ali>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1851:
William Lassell discovered the Uranian moons Umbriel and Ariel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(moon)>
1912:
First Balkan War: Serbian forces defeated the Ottoman army at
the Battle of Kumanovo in Vardar Macedonia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kumanovo>
1945:
The UN Charter, the constitution of the United Nations, entered
into force after being ratified by the Republic of China, France, the
Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a majority of
the other signatories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Charter>
1964:
The military court of South Vietnamese junta chief Nguyen Khanh
acquitted Generals Duong Van Duc and Lam Van Phat of leading a
September 1964 coup attempt against Khanh, despite the pair's
proclamation of his overthrow during their military action.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lam_Van_Phat>
2007:
Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration
Program, was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
miniver:
A light gray or white fur used to trim the robes of judges or state
executives, used since medieval times.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miniver>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Praise the invisible sun burning beyond the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow.
--Denise Levertov
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denise_Levertov>