"Say Say Say" is a pop song written and performed by Paul McCartney and
Michael Jackson. The track was produced by George Martin for McCartney's
fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace (1983). The song was recorded during
the production of McCartney's 1982 Tug of War album. After its release
in October 1983, "Say Say Say" became Jackson's seventh top-ten hit in a
year. It was a number one hit in the United States, Norway, Sweden and
several other countries, reached number two in the United Kingdom, and
peaked within the top ten in more than 20 countries, including
Australia, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, the
song was promoted with a music video directed by Bob Giraldi. The
video – filmed in Santa Ynez Valley, California – features cameo
appearances by Linda McCartney and La Toya Jackson. The short film
centers around two con artists called "Mac and Jack" (played by
McCartney and Jackson), and is credited for the introduction of dialogue
and storyline to music videos.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_Say_Say>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1918:
World War I: Following his armed forces' defeat to the Allied
Powers, Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I abdicated in favor of his son
Boris III.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_III_of_Bulgaria>
1935:
Italian forces under General Emilio De Bono invaded Abyssinia
during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bono%27s_invasion_of_Abyssinia>
1957:
A California Superior Court judge ruled that Allen Ginsburg's
"Howl" was not obscene, and it went on to become the most popular
American poem to the present day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl>
1981:
The hunger strike by Irish Republican Army prisoners at the
Maze jail in Belfast ended after seven months and 10 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Irish_hunger_strike>
1990:
East and West Germany officially joined to form the first fully
sovereign united German state since the end of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unitive:
Causing or characterized by unity or union.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unitive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Don't ever make the mistake with people like me thinking we are looking
for heroes. There aren't any and if there were, they would be killed
immediately. I'm never surprised by bad behaviour. I expect it.
--Gore Vidal
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gore_Vidal>
The Battle of Bicocca was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian
War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de
Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial
and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna. Lautrec
then withdrew from Lombardy, leaving the Duchy of Milan in Imperial
hands. Having been driven from Milan by an Imperial advance in late
1521, Lautrec had regrouped, attempting to strike at Colonna's lines of
communication. When the Swiss mercenaries in French service did not
receive their pay, however, they demanded an immediate battle, and
Lautrec was forced to attack Colonna's fortified position in the park of
the Arcimboldi Villa Bicocca, north of Milan. The Swiss pikemen advanced
over open fields under heavy artillery fire to assault the Imperial
positions, but were halted at a sunken road backed by earthworks. Having
suffered massive casualties from the fire of Spanish arquebusiers, the
Swiss retreated. Unwilling to fight further, they marched off to their
cantons a few days later, and Lautrec retreated into Venetian territory
with the remnants of his army.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bicocca>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1263:
Scottish–Norwegian War: The armies of Norway and Scotland
fought at the Battle of Largs, an inconclusive engagement near the
present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Largs>
1928:
Spanish priest JosemarÃa Escrivá founded Opus Dei (logo
pictured), a worldwide organization of the Catholic Church which teaches
that everyone can be a saint.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei>
1937:
Under the orders of President Rafael Trujillo, Dominican troops
began mass killings of approximately 20,000 Haitians living in the
Dominican Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_Massacre>
1992:
In response to a prison riot, military police stormed the
Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil, killing at least 100
prisoners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carandiru_massacre>
2009:
The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was
approved at the second attempt, permitting the state to ratify the
European Union's Treaty of Lisbon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-eighth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_o…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
splurge:
1. To gush, to flow or move in a rush.
2. To spend (usually money) lavishly or extravagantly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/splurge>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and
everything else would be a bore.
--Wallace Stevens
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens>
Nancy Drew is a fictional character in various mystery fiction series.
She was created by Edward Stratemeyer and first appeared in 1930. The
books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published
under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Over the decades the
character has evolved in response to changes in American culture and
tastes. In the 1980s a new series was created, The Nancy Drew Files,
which featured an older and more professional Nancy as well as romantic
plots. In 2004 the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, begun in
1930, was ended and a new series, Girl Detective, was launched.
Illustrations of the character have also evolved over time to reflect
the Nancy Drew type in contemporary terms. Through all these changes,
the character has proved continuously popular worldwide: at least
80Â million copies of the books have been sold, and they have been
translated into more than 45 languages. A cultural icon, Nancy Drew has
been cited as a formative influence by a number of women. Feminist
literary critics have analyzed the character's enduring appeal, arguing
variously that Nancy Drew is a mythic hero, an expression of wish
fulfillment, or an embodiment of contradictory ideas about femininity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Drew>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
737:
Muslim conquest of Transoxiana: Turgesh tribes attacked the
exposed Umayyad baggage train, which had been sent ahead of the main
force, and captured it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Baggage>
1882:
The Vulcan Street Plant, the first hydroelectric central
station to serve a system of private and commercial customers in North
America, went on line in Appleton, Wisconsin, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Street_Plant>
1955:
American film actor James Dean suffered fatal injuries in a
head-on car accident near Cholame, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean>
1965:
Members of the 30 September Movement attempted a coup against
the Indonesian government, which was crushed by the military under
Suharto, leading to a mass anti-communist purge with over 500,000 people
killed over the following months.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_killings_of_1965%E2%80%931966>
2005:
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial
editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad, sparking protests across the
Muslim world by many who viewed them as Islamophobic and blasphemous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cutify:
1. (from the Latin word for skin, "cutis") To form skin, as, the wound area
was left to cutify.
2. (from "cute" + "-ify", perhaps modeled on "beautify") To make cute, as,
she cutified her room.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cutify>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being.
--Rumi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
Rhyolite, Nevada, is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of
Nevada. It is in the Bullfrog Hills, about 120 miles (190Â km) northwest
of Las Vegas, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in
early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a
prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold
rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners, and service
providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in
Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's
biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine. Rhyolite declined almost
as rapidly as it rose. After the richest ore was exhausted, production
fell. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the financial Panic of 1907
made raising development capital more difficult. By the end of 1910, the
mine was operating at a loss, and it closed in 1911. By this time, many
out-of-work miners had moved elsewhere, and Rhyolite's population was
close to zero by 1920. After 1920, Rhyolite and its ruins became a
tourist attraction and a setting for motion pictures.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
William the Conqueror and his fleet of around 600 ships landed
at Pevensey, Sussex, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England>
1901:
Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas killed more than
forty American soldiers in a surprise attack in the town of Balangiga on
Samar Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangiga_massacre>
1972:
Paul Henderson scored the game-winning goal against Vladislav
Tretiak, securing a Canadian victory in the Summit Series over the
Soviet ice hockey team.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Series>
1978:
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due
to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the most recent Year
of Three Popes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I>
1994:
The ferry MS Estonia sank while commuting between Tallinn,
Estonia, and Stockholm, Sweden, claiming 852 lives in one of the worst
maritime accidents in the Baltic Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Estonia>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
meadery:
A place where mead is made.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meadery>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of
principle.
--Confucius
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
A toothcomb is a dental structure most commonly known in lemuriform
primates (which includes lemurs and lorisoids). Similar dental
structures can be found in other mammals, such as colugos, treeshrews,
and some African antelopes, but these structures evolved independently
through convergent evolution. Toothcombs vary in dental composition and
structure. The toothcomb of lemuriform primates include incisors and
canine teeth that tilt forward at the front of the lower jaw, followed
by a canine-shaped first premolar. The toothcombs in other animals
usually have incisors only. The comb is formed by fine spaces between
the teeth, although in colugos the individual incisors are serrated,
providing multiple tines per tooth. The toothcomb is kept clean by
either the tongue or, in the case of lemuriforms, the sublingua, a
specialized "under-tongue". The toothcomb is usually used for grooming.
While licking the fur clean, the animal will run the toothcomb through
the fur to comb it. Fine grooves or striations are usually cut into the
teeth during grooming by the hair and may be seen on the sides of the
teeth when viewed through a scanning electron microscope.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothcomb>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1422:
The Treaty of Melno was signed, establishing the
Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for
about 500 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Melno>
1941:
SSÂ Patrick Henry, the first of 2,751 Liberty ships built
during World War II by the United States, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship>
1983:
Software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the
Unix-like GNU operating system (logo pictured), the first free software
developed by the GNU Project.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU>
1993:
War in Abkhazia: After capturing the city of Sukhumi, Abkhaz
separatists and their allies massacred large numbers of Georgian
civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhumi_massacre>
2001:
The Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, the only
university exclusively for the disabled in the world, was founded in
Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadguru_Rambhadracharya_Handicapped_Univers…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hallux:
The big toe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hallux>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether
there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and
religious liberty.
--Samuel Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>
Lettuce is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. First cultivated by
the ancient Egyptians, it was converted from a weed into a plant grown
for its leaves. The Greeks and Romans gave it the name "lactuca", from
which the modern "lettuce" derives. Varieties developed in Europe in the
16th through 18th centuries can still be found in gardens today. The
consumption of lettuce has now spread throughout the world. Lettuce is
most often used for salads, but is sometimes seen in other kinds of
food. It is a good source of vitamin A and potassium and a minor source
of several other vitamins and nutrients. Despite its beneficial
properties, lettuce can become contaminated with disease-causing
bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. Lettuce has also gathered
religious and medicinal significance.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed during an armed
conflict between the Venetians under Francesco Morosini and Ottoman
forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
1917:
First World War: The Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Third
Battle of Ypres, began near Ypres, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Polygon_Wood>
1933:
As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrendered to the FBI, he
supposedly shouted out, "Don't shoot, G-Men ('government men')!", which
became a nickname for FBI agents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Gun_Kelly>
1983:
Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov averted a possible
worldwide nuclear war by deliberately certifying what otherwise appeared
to be an impending attack by the United States as a false alarm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident>
2008:
Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy became the first person to
fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
exanimate:
1. Lifeless, not or no longer living.
2. Spiritless, dispirited.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exanimate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Right action is freedom From past and future also. For most of us, this
is the aim Never here to be realised; Who are only undefeated Because we
have gone on trying; We, content at the last If our temporal reversion
nourish (Not too far from the yew-tree) The life of significant soil.
in
--The Four Quartets
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Four_Quartets>
The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient
Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval
king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris' murderer, his brother Set,
usurps his throne, while Osiris' wife Isis restores her husband's body
and posthumously conceives a son, Horus, by him. Horus' triumph over Set
restores order to Egypt and completes the process of Osiris'
resurrection. The myth is integral to the Egyptian conceptions of
kingship and succession, conflict between order and disorder, and
especially, death and the afterlife. The Osiris myth reached its
essential form in or before the 25th century BC. Parts of the myth
appear in a wide variety of Egyptian texts, from funerary texts and
magical spells to short stories. The story is, therefore, more detailed
and more cohesive than any other ancient Egyptian myth. Greek and Roman
writings, particularly De Iside et Osiride by Plutarch, provide more
information but may not always accurately reflect Egyptian beliefs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris_myth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
622:
Muhammad and his followers completed their Hijra from Mecca to
Medina to escape religious persecution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(Islam)>
1180:
The Byzantine Empire was weakened by the death of Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos>
1853:
Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New
Caledonia for France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia>
1903:
Alfred Deakin became the second Prime Minister of Australia,
succeeding Edmund Barton who left office to become a founding justice of
the High Court of Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Deakin>
1964:
The Warren Commission released its report, concluding that Lee
Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of U.S. President John F.
Kennedy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
heretofore:
Prior to now, until now, up to the present time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heretofore>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating
another human being as a thing.
--John Brunner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner>
The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family
Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults
have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average
100–115 cm (39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215
cm (61–85 in) wingspan. The two subspecies, which differ slightly in
size, breed in Europe (north to Finland), northwestern Africa,
southwestern Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan), and southern Africa.
The White Stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from
tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the
Indian subcontinent. A carnivore, the White Stork eats a wide range of
animal prey, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small
mammals, and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground,
among low vegetation, and from shallow water. It is a monogamous
breeder, but does not pair for life. This conspicuous bird has given
rise to many legends across its range, of which the best-known is the
story of babies being brought by storks.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Stork>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1568:
Anglo–Spanish War: At San Juan de Ulúa (in modern Veracruz,
Mexico), Spanish naval forces forced English privateers to halt their
illegal trade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_de_Ul%C3%BAa_(1568)>
1779:
American Revolutionary War: John Paul Jones led the Continental
Navy to victory in the Battle of Flamborough Head, one of the most
celebrated naval actions of the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flamborough_Head>
1846:
Using mathematical predictions by French mathematician Urbain
Le Verrier, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle became the first
person to observe Neptune and recognise it as a hitherto unknown planet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_Neptune>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal
directly to the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard
Nixon delivered the "Checkers speech", refuting accusations of
improprieties with contributions to his campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
2008:
A gunman shot and killed ten students at Seinäjoki University
of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Western Finland, before committing
suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauhajoki_school_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
analemma:
An egg-shaped or figure-eight curve that results when the Sun's position
in the sky is plotted out over the year.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/analemma>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally.
No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no
forbidden fruit — just everyone getting and giving as much as he and
she can.
--Ray Charles
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Charles>