Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in
Rochester, Kent, South East England. The 12th-century keep or stone
tower, which is the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best
preserved in England or France. Located along the River Medway and
Watling Street, Rochester was a strategically important royal castle.
The first castle at Rochester was founded in the aftermath of the Norman
Conquest. During the Rebellion of 1088, the castle first saw military
action; the city and castle were besieged after Bishop Odo made
Rochester a headquarters for the rebellion. After the garrison
capitulated, this first castle was abandoned. It saw further action
during the First Barons' War (1215–1217), the Second Barons' War
(1264–1267), and the Peasants' Revolt (1381). The castle was opened to
the public in the 1870s as a park. At various points during the 19th and
20th centuries repairs were carried out. The castle is protected as a
Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument. Today the ruins are in
the guardianship of English Heritage and open to the public.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Castle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
678:
Saint Agatho (pictured), who later convened the Third Council of
Constantinople to condemn monothelitism as heretical, began his reign as
Pope.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Agatho>
1571:
Elizabeth I of England issued a royal charter establishing
Jesus College, the first Protestant college at the University of Oxford.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_College,_Oxford>
1899:
A. E. J. Collins scored 628 runs not out, the highest-ever
recorded score in cricket.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._J._Collins>
1986:
In Nicaragua v. United States, the International Court of
Justice ruled that the United States had violated international law by
supporting the Contras in their rebellion against the Nicaraguan
government
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States>
1989:
The International Labour Organization Convention 169, a major
binding international convention concerning indigenous peoples, and a
forerunner of the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_and_Tribal_Peoples_Convention,_1989>
2008:
President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe was overwhelmingly re-
elected after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week earlier,
citing violence against his party's supporters.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_presidential_election,_2008>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
philander:
To make love to women; to play the male flirt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/philander>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented
cages.
--Jacques Deval
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Deval>
The first season of Homicide: Life on the Street, an American police
procedural drama television series, originally aired in the United
States on NBC between January 31 and March 31, 1993. Created by Paul
Attanasio and adapted from the 1991 non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on
the Killing Streets by David Simon (pictured), Homicide: Life on the
Street followed the fictional detectives of the Baltimore Police
Department homicide unit and the murder cases they investigate. The
first season was broadcast Wednesdays at 9Â p.m. EST, with the exception
of the series premiere, which aired immediately after Super Bowl XXVII.
The season introduced regular cast members Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty,
Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Wendy Hughes, Clark Johnson, Yaphet
Kotto, Melissa Leo, Jon Polito and Kyle Secor. Most of the primary
characters were based on real-life Baltimore detectives from Simon's
book, including Gary D'Addario, Terrence McLarney, Harry Edgerton,
Donald Worden and Jay Landsman. Many of the season story arcs were also
adapted from the book, most notably the 1988 Baltimore slaying of 11
-year-old Latonya Kim Wallace, which was the basis for the murder case
of Adena Watson in Homicide. The first season received consistently
positive reviews, with several commentators declaring it one of the best
shows on television at the time. However, the Nielsen ratings declined
throughout the season, which Homicide producers attributed to a poor
time-slot and heavy competition from the ABC comedies Home Improvement
and Coach. The ratings led NBC executives to demand changes to the show
before renewing Homicide for a second season.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide:_Life_on_the_Street_(season_1)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
The Firebird, the first major work by Russian composer Igor
Stravinsky (pictured), was premiered in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firebird>
1940:
Second World War – The evacuation of nearly 200,000 Allied
soldiers from French ports was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ariel>
1950:
The Korean War began with North Korean forces launching a pre-
dawn raid over the 38th parallel into South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War>
1960:
Two cryptographers working for the United States National
Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to
the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_and_Mitchell_defection>
1967:
More than 400 million people viewed Our World, the first live,
international satellite television production.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_World_(TV_special)>
2006:
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in a cross-border
raid from the Gaza Strip on the crossing Kerem Shalom, and was held
hostage by Hamas until 2011.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit>
2009:
Singer Michael Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest at
his Los Angeles home, which authorities later declared a homicide caused
by the combination of drugs in his body.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Michael_Jackson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
flense:
To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flense>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that
went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
--George Orwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell>
Nansen's Fram expedition was an 1893–1896 attempt by the Norwegian
explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by
harnessing the natural east–west current of the Arctic Ocean. In the
face of much discouragement from other polar explorers Nansen took his
ship Fram to the New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze
her into the pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the
pole. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the drift,
after 18 months Nansen and a chosen companion, Hjalmar Johansen, left
the ship with a team of dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did
not reach it, but they achieved a record Farthest North latitude before
a long retreat to Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile Fram continued to drift
westward, finally emerging in the North Atlantic Ocean. The ship was
rarely threatened during her long imprisonment, and emerged unscathed
after three years. The scientific observations carried out during this
period contributed significantly to the new discipline of oceanography,
which subsequently became the main focus of Nansen's scientific work.
Fram's drift and Nansen's sledge journey proved conclusively that there
were no significant land masses between the Eurasian continents and the
North Pole, and confirmed the general character of the north polar
region as a deep, ice-covered sea.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nansen%27s_Fram_expedition>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1858:
Edgardo Mortara, a six-year-old Jewish boy, was seized by papal
authorities and taken to be raised as a Roman Catholic, sparking an
international controversy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_Mortara>
1894:
Led by French historian Pierre de Coubertin, an international
congress at the Sorbonne in Paris founded the International Olympic
Committee to reinstate the ancient Olympic Games.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Coubertin>
1946:
Canada's largest onshore earthquake, measuring 7.3Â Mw, struck
Vancouver Island, but only caused two casualties since there were no
heavily populated areas near its epicenter.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Vancouver_Island_earthquake>
1972:
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
amended (primary author Patsy Mink pictured) to prohibit sexual
discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds, which
allowed for huge growth in women's sports for student athletes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX>
1985:
A bomb attributed to the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa
destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329
on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unbeknownst:
(followed by to) Without the knowledge of.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unbeknownst>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see
(Suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me.
--KT Tunstall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/KT_Tunstall>
Petrified Forest National Park is a United States national park in
Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. The park's
headquarters are about 26 miles (42Â km) east of Holbrook along
Interstate 40 (I-40), which parallels a railroad line, the Puerco River,
and historic U.S. Route 66, all crossing the park roughly east–west.
Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about
146 square miles (380Â km2), encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as
well as highly eroded and colorful badlands. The site, the northern part
of which extends into the Painted Desert, was declared a National
Monument in 1906 and a national park in 1962. About 600,000 people visit
the park each year and take part in activities including sightseeing,
photography, hiking, and backpacking. The Petrified Forest is known for
its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic,
about 225Â million years ago. The sediments containing the fossil logs
are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the
Painted Desert gets its name.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_Forest_National_Park>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1633:
Galileo Galilei was forced to recant his heliocentric view of
the Solar System by the Roman Inquisition, after which, as legend has
it, he muttered under his breath, "And yet it moves".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair>
1807:
The British warship HMSÂ Leopard pursued and attacked the
American frigate USSÂ Chesapeake in the belief that the latter had
deserters from the Royal Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake%E2%80%93Leopard_Affair>
1911:
George V and Mary of Teck (both pictured) were crowned King and
Queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck>
1937:
Camille Chautemps became Prime Minister of France for the third
time, in the second Popular Front ministry.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Chautemps>
2002:
An earthquake measuring 6.5Â Mw struck a region of northwestern
Iran, killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others, and
eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official
response.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Bou%27in-Zahra_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avocation:
1. A hobby or recreational or leisure pursuit.
2. Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment;
vocation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avocation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We see what we are told that we see. Repetition and pride are the keys
to this. To hear and to see Even an obvious lie Again And again and
again May be to say it, Almost by reflex Then to defend it Because we
have said it And at last to embrace it Because we've defended it.
--Octavia Butler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler>
Dan Leno (1860–1904) was a leading English music hall comedian and
musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was perhaps best
known, aside from his music hall act, for his dame roles in the annual
pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from
1888 to 1904. As a youth, he was famous for his clog dancing, and in his
teen years, he became the star of his family's act. As a solo artist, he
became increasingly popular during the late 1880s and 1890s, when he was
one of the highest-paid comedians in the world. He developed a music
hall act of talking about life's mundane subjects, mixed with comic
songs and surreal observations, and created a host of mostly working-
class characters to illustrate his stories. In 1901, still at the peak
of his career, he performed his "Huntsman" sketch for Edward VII at
Sandringham. The monarch was so impressed that Leno became publicly
known as "the king's jester". Leno continued to appear in musical
comedies and his own music hall routines until 1902, although he
suffered increasingly from alcoholism. This, together with his long
association with dame and low comedy roles, prevented him from being
taken seriously as a dramatic actor. He suffered a mental breakdown in
early 1903 and was committed to a mental asylum, but was discharged
later that year. After one more show, his health declined, and he died
aged 43.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Leno>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
217 BC:
Second Punic War: The Carthaginians under Hannibal executed
one of the largest military ambushes in history when they overwhelmingly
defeated the Romans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene>
1898:
In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the
United States captured Guam from Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Guam>
1919:
Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttled the German High Seas Fleet
in Scapa Flow to prevent the ships from being seized and divided amongst
the Allied Powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_German_fleet_in_Scapa_Flow>
1948:
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the world's
first stored-program computer, ran its first computer program.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Small-Scale_Experimental_Machine>
1963:
Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope
Paul VI (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_VI>
1964:
Three civil rights workers were lynched by members of the Ku
Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers_murders>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
angst:
1. A feeling of acute but vague anxiety or apprehension often accompanied
by depression, especially philosophical anxiety.
2. More commonly, painful sadness or emotional turmoil, as teen angst.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/angst>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's
inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr>
The Javan rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of
five extant rhinoceroses. Its horn is usually less than 25Â cm
(10Â inches), smaller than those of the other rhino species. Once the
most widespread of Asian rhinoceroses, the Javan rhinoceros ranged from
the islands of Java and Sumatra, throughout Southeast Asia, and into
India and China. The species is critically endangered, with only one
known population in the wild, and no individuals in captivity. It is
possibly the rarest large mammal on earth, with a population of as few
as 40 in Ujung Kulon National Park on Java in Indonesia. The decline of
the Javan rhinoceros is attributed to poaching, primarily for their
horns, which are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. The
Javan rhino can live approximately 30–45 years in the wild. It
historically inhabited lowland rain forest, wet grasslands and large
floodplains. The Javan rhino is mostly solitary, except for courtship
and offspring-rearing, though groups may occasionally congregate near
wallows and salt licks. Aside from humans, adults have no predators in
their range. Scientists and conservationists rarely study the animals
directly due to their extreme rarity and the danger of interfering with
such an endangered species. Researchers rely on camera traps and fecal
samples to gauge health and behavior. Consequently, the Javan rhino is
the least studied of all rhino species.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javan_rhinoceros>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
French Revolution: Meeting on a tennis court near the Palace of
Versailles, members of France's Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath,
pledging not to separate until a new constitution was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Court_Oath>
1862:
Barbu Catargiu, the first Prime Minister of Romania, was
assassinated after denying people the right of assembly to commemorate
the Revolutions of 1848.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbu_Catargiu>
1895:
The Kiel Canal (pictured), crossing the base of the Jutland
peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, was
officially opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_Canal>
1921:
Workers at the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of
Chennai, India, began a four-month strike.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_Buckingham_and_Carnatic_Mills_Strike>
2009:
During the Iranian election protests, the death of Neda Agha-
Soltan was captured on video and widely distributed on the Internet,
making it "probably the most widely witnessed death in human history".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Neda_Agha-Soltan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
demagogue:
(pejorative) An orator or leader who gains favor by pandering to or
exciting the passions and prejudices of the audience.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/demagogue>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The well taught philosophic mind To all compassion gives; Casts round
the world an equal eye, And feels for all that lives.
--Anna Letitia Barbauld
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Letitia_Barbauld>
Amador Valley High School is a public high school in Pleasanton,
California, a city east of San Francisco. Amador Valley is one of four
high schools in the Pleasanton Unified School District, which includes
Foothill High School, Village High School, and Horizon High School. The
school was founded as Amador Valley Joint Union High School, from which
its first class graduated in 1923. The school has been named a
California Distinguished School, a National School of Character, and a
National Blue Ribbon School. As of 2009, Amador Valley offers its
2,500Â students 23Â varsity sports, 20Â Advanced Placement courses, a
program to study local aquatic wildlife, and vocational training. A
monthly school publication, the Amadon, reports on athletics, academic
and extracurricular issues, and news of the school and community.
Student groups, including the Marching Band and Math Team, have toured
out-of-state after achieving high rankings in Californian competitions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amador_Valley_High_School>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-
trading companies, engaged in a violent confrontation in present-day
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Oaks>
1939:
Former American baseball player Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, now commonly known in the United States
as "Lou Gehrig's Disease".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig>
1978:
Garfield, created by American cartoonist Jim Davis, made its
debut, eventually becoming one of the world's most widely syndicated
comic strips.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield>
1987:
Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at the
Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 and injuring 45.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Hipercor_bombing>
2006:
The ceremonial "first stone" of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault,
a facility established to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds from
locations worldwide in an underground cavern in Spitsbergen, Norway, was
laid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
salad dodger:
(informal) An overweight person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salad_dodger>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside
the frame.
--Salman Rushdie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie>
The Washington quarter is the present quarter dollar or 25-cent piece
issued by the United States Mint. The coin was first struck in 1932; the
original version was designed by sculptor John Flanagan. The new silver
quarters entered circulation on August 1, 1932; they were struck in that
metal until the Mint transitioned to copper-nickel clad coinage in 1965.
A special reverse commemorating the United States Bicentennial was used
in 1975 and 1976, with all pieces bearing the double date 1776–1976;
there are no 1975-dated quarters. Since 1999, the original eagle reverse
has not been used; instead that side of the quarter has commemorated the
50 states, the nation's other jurisdictions, and National Park Service
sites—the last as part of the ongoing America the Beautiful Quarters
series, which will continue until 2021. The bust of Washington was made
smaller beginning in 1999; in 2010 it was restored to bring out greater
detail.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_quarter>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
618:
Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang (pictured), initiating
three centuries of the Tang Dynasty in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty>
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and
lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo>
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist
Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to
publish his theory of evolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace>
1908:
The University of the Philippines, the national university of
the Philippines, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines>
1983:
Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally Ride became
the first American woman in space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiaroscuro:
An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the
use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of
volume.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiaroscuro>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe we are born with our minds open to wonderful experiences, and
only slowly learn to limit ourselves to narrow tastes. We are taught to
lose our curiosity by the bludgeon-blows of mass marketing, which
brainwash us to see "hits," and discourage exploration.
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>
Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945) was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April
1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in
a Nazi-backed coup d'etat. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-
President, working with the occupying forces. His collaborationist
government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers
from Nasjonal Samling, the party he had founded in 1933. Among other
things, it participated – willingly or unwillingly – in Germany's
Final Solution. Quisling was put on trial during the post-war legal
purge in Norway and found guilty of charges including embezzlement,
murder and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus
Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. During World War II, quisling became
a synonym for traitor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1462:
Forces led by Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia attacked an Ottoman
camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Attack>
1631:
Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died in
childbirth; Jahan spent the next seventeen years constructing her
mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_and_architecture_of_the_Taj_Mahal>
1861:
American Civil War: The Battle of Vienna, Virginia, took place,
which involved one of the earliest military movements of troops by train
in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna,_Virginia>
1963:
Around 2,000 people rioted in South Vietnam, despite the
signing of the Joint Communique to resolve the ongoing Buddhist crisis
one day earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Communique>
1991:
The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population
Registration Act, which required that each inhabitant of South Africa be
classified and registered by race as part of the system of apartheid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Registration_Act>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
postilion:
A rider mounted on the near, leading horse pulling a carriage who guides
the team.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/postilion>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My work is a game, a very serious game.
--M. C. Escher
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._C._Escher>