Baldwin of Forde (c. 1125 – 1190) was Archbishop of Canterbury between
1185 and 1190. The son of a clergyman, he studied canon law and
theology at Bologna and was tutor to Pope Eugene III's nephew before
returning to England to serve successive bishops of Exeter. After
becoming a Cistercian monk he was named abbot of his monastery, and
subsequently elected to the episcopate at Worcester. Before becoming a
bishop, he wrote theological works and sermons, some of which have
survived. As a bishop Baldwin came to the attention of King Henry II of
England, who was so impressed he insisted that Baldwin become
archbishop. In that office, Baldwin quarrelled with his cathedral
clergy over the founding of a church, which led to the imprisonment of
the clergy in their cloister for more than a year. Baldwin spent some
time in Wales with Gerald of Wales, preaching and raising money for the
Third Crusade. After the coronation of King Richard I of England, the
new king sent Baldwin ahead to the Holy Land, where he became embroiled
in the politics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin died in the Holy
Land while participating in the crusade; his long-running dispute with
his clergy led one chronicler to characterise Baldwin as more damaging
to Christianity than Saladin. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1766:
A mutiny by captive Madagascans began at sea on the slave ship Meermin,
leading to the ship's destruction, and subsequent rulings in the Dutch
East India Company's Council of Justice were a "huge step in the
recognition of oppressed people as free-thinking individuals."
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meermin_slave_mutiny>
1878:
Competition between two merchants in Lincoln County, New Mexico
Territory, US, turned into a range war when a member of one faction was
murdered by the other.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_County_War>
1942:
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army began the systematic
extermination of perceived hostile elements among Chinese Singaporeans.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching_massacre>
1943:
Joseph Goebbels , Hitler's propaganda minister, delivered the
Sportpalast speech to motivate the German people when the tide of World
War II was turning against Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech>
2010:
Rebels attacked the presidential palace in Niamey, Niger, and replaced
President Mamadou Tandja with a ruling junta, the Supreme Council for
the Restoration of Democracy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Nigerien_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
commiserate (v):
Feel or express compassion or sympathy for (someone or something)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/commiserate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Great Spirit does not toil within the bounds of human time, place,
or casualty.
The Great Spirit is superior to these human questionings. It teems
with many rich and wandering drives which to our shallow minds seem
contradictory; but in the essence of divinity they fraternize and
struggle together, faithful comrades-in-arms.
The primordial Spirit branches out, overflows, struggles, fails,
succeeds, trains itself. It is the Rose of the Winds.
--Nikos Kazantzakis
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis>
100px|Abbas Kiarostami at the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008
Abbas Kiarostami (born 1940) is an internationally acclaimed Iranian
film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active
filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films,
including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical
acclaim for directing the Koker Trilogy (1987–94), Taste of Cherry
(1997), and The Wind Will Carry Us (1999). Kiarostami has worked
extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, art director and producer
and has designed credit titles and publicity material. He is also a
poet, photographer, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer.
Kiarostami is part of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New
Wave, a Persian cinema movement that started in the late 1960s and
includes pioneering directors such as Forough Farrokhzad, Sohrab Shahid
Saless, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Bahram Beizai, and Parviz Kimiavi. The
filmmakers share many common techniques including the use of poetic
dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with political and
philosophical issues. Kiarostami has a reputation for using child
protagonists, for documentary style narrative films, for stories that
take place in rural villages, and for conversations that unfold inside
cars, using stationary mounted cameras. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, best-known as a proponent of
heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe, was burned at the stake
as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno>
1859:
The French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was
manned by 1,000 Nguyá»…n Dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon
and other regions of southern Vietnam.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Saigon>
1862:
American Civil War: The Union Army captured Columbia, South Carolina,
and began burning it to the ground.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Columbia>
1913:
In the U.S. National Guard's 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, the
Armory Show opened, introducing Americans to avant-garde and modern
art.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armory_Show>
2006:
A massive landslide in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte
killed over 1,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Southern_Leyte_mudslide>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ultracrepidarian (adj):
Of a critic, giving opinions on something beyond his or her knowledge
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ultracrepidarian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
88px
I understand Being in all and over all, as there is nothing without
participation in Being, and there is no being without Essence. Thus
nothing can be free of the Divine Presence.
--Giordano Bruno
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno>
100px|Trevor Linden playing for the Vancouver Canucks
Trevor Linden (born 1970) is a retired Canadian professional ice
hockey player. He played centre and right wing with four different
teams: the Vancouver Canucks (in two stints), New York Islanders,
Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals. In addition to appearing
in two NHL All-Star Games, Linden was a member of the 1998 Canadian
Olympic team and participated in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Throughout his career, Linden has been recognized as a respected leader
on and off the ice. He was named captain of the Canucks at the age of
21, making him one of the youngest captains in league history. While
captaining the Canucks, Linden led the team to within a game of winning
the Stanley Cup in 1994. It was during this time that he began to be
called Captain Canuck. In 1998 he was elected President of the National
Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), a position he held for
eight years. As President, he played an instrumental role in the
2004–05 NHL lockout, including negotiations with league owners. After
19 seasons in the NHL, Linden retired on June 11, 2008, twenty years to
the day after he was drafted into the NHL. Linden's jersey number 16
was retired by the Canucks on December 17, 2008, the second number
retired by the team. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1250:
Seventh Crusade: After three days of fighting, the Ayyubids
successfully defended Al Mansurah, Egypt, from invading crusaders.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Al_Mansurah>
1826:
University College London was founded as the first secular university
in England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_London>
1858:
Fourteen-year-old peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous reported the first
of eighteen Marian apparitions in Lourdes, France, resulting in the
town becoming a major site for pilgrimages by Catholics.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes_apparitions>
1919:
Friedrich Ebert was elected the first President of the German Weimar
Republic by the Weimar National Assembly.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ebert>
1990:
Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27
years, was released from Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, South
Africa.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thin-film interference (n):
(optics) [[interference
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thin-film_interference>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I was sixteen years old when the first World War broke out, and I lived
at that time in Hungary. From reading the newspapers in Hungary, it
would have appeared that, whatever Austria and Germany did was right
and whatever England, France, Russia, or America did was wrong. A good
case could be made out for this general thesis, in almost every single
instance. It would have been difficult for me to prove, in any single
instance, that the newspapers were wrong, but somehow, it seemed to me
unlikely that the two nations located in the center of Europe should be
invariably right, and that all the other nations should be invariably
wrong. History, I reasoned, would hardly operate in such a peculiar
fashion, and it didn't take long until I began to hold views which were
diametrically opposed to those held by the majority of my schoolmates.
--Leó Szilárd
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3_Szil%C3%A1rd>
100px|Willow Lake, located in the Big Butte Creek watershed
Big Butte Creek is a 12-mile (19Â km) long tributary of the Rogue
River located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains approximately 245
square miles (630Â km2) of Jackson County. The north fork of the creek
begins on Rustler Peak and the south fork's headwaters are near Mount
McLoughlin. They meet near Butte Falls, and Big Butte Creek flows
generally northwest until it empties into the Rogue River about 1 mile
(1.6Â km) southwest of Lost Creek Dam (William L. Jess Dam). Big Butte
Creek's watershed was originally settled over 8,000Â years ago by the
Klamath, Upper Umpqua, and Takelma tribes of Native Americans. In the
Rogue River Wars of the 1850s, most of the Native Americans were either
killed or forced into Indian reservations. The first non-indigenous
settlers arrived in the 1860s, and the area was quickly developed. The
creek was named after Snowy Butte, an early name for Mount McLoughlin.
In the late 19th century, the watershed was primarily used for
agriculture and logging. The small city of Butte Falls was incorporated
in 1911. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Butte_Creek>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroyed the bulk of the
Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the
Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elizabeth_City>
1936:
Second Italo-Abyssinian War: The Battle of Amba Aradam began and ended
nine days later in a decisive tactical victory for Italy and the
neutralisation of almost the entire Ethiopian army as a fighting force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Amba_Aradam>
1962:
"Rudolf Abel", a Soviet spy arrested by the FBI, was exchanged for Gary
Powers, the pilot of the CIA spy plane that had been shot down over
Soviet airspace two years earlier.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilyam_Genrikhovich_Fisher>
2008:
An arson fire severely damaged the Namdaemun gate in Seoul, the first
of South Korea's National Treasures.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Namdaemun_fire>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
love goggles (pl n):
(idiomatic, plurale tantum) Blindness to criticism or objectivity
directed at a person that one is in love with
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/love_goggles>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let nothing be called natural
In an age of bloody confusion,
Ordered disorder, planned caprice,
And dehumanized humanity, lest all things
Be held unalterable!
--Bertolt Brecht
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht>
100px|Frederick Russell Burnham in 1901
Frederick Russell Burnham (1861–1947) was an American scout and world
traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in
colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus
becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international
Scouting Movement. Burnham had little formal education, attending high
school but never graduating. He began his career at 14 in the American
Southwest as a scout and tracker for the U.S. Army in the Apache Wars
and Cheyenne Wars. Sensing the Old West was getting too tame, as an
adult Burnham went to Africa where this background proved useful. He
soon became an officer in the British Army, serving in several battles
there. During this time, Burnham became friends with Baden-Powell, and
passed on to him both his outdoor skills and his spirit for what would
later become known as Scouting. Burnham eventually moved on to become
involved in espionage, oil, conservation, writing and business. His
descendants are still active in Scouting. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Russell_Burnham>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes,
the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams>
1913:
A group of meteors was visible across much of the eastern seaboard of
North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had
been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_procession_of_February_9%2C_1913>
1945:
World War II: HMSÂ Venturer sank U-864 in history's only incident where
one submarine has intentionally sunk another while both were fully
submerged.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_February_1945>
1959:
The Soviet R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic
missile, became fully operational.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_Semyorka>
1971:
A 6.6 Mw earthquake struck the northern San Fernando Valley near the
Los Angeles district of Sylmar, killing 65 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_San_Fernando_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
twitcher (n):
(informal) A compulsive bird watcher, travelling long distances to see
rare species
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twitcher>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither
thou goest.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet
riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but
time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his
time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds
that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil
time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
--Ecclesiastes
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ecclesiastes>
100px|Stone Chariot at the Vitthala Temple in Hampi
The Vijayanagara Empire was an empire based in South Indian in the
Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his
brother Bukka Raya I of the Yadava lineage. The empire rose to
prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers against
Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. It lasted until 1646
although its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by
the Deccan sultanates. The empire is named after its capital city of
Vijayanagara (pictured), whose impressive ruins surround modern Hampi,
now a World Heritage Site in modern Karnataka, India. The writings of
medieval European travelers such as Domingo Paes, Fernão Nunes and
Niccolò Da Conti and the literature in local vernaculars provide
crucial information about its history. The empire's legacy includes
many monuments spread over South India, the best known being the group
at Hampi. Secular royal structures show the influence of the Northern
Deccan Sultanate architecture. Efficient administration and vigorous
overseas trade brought new technologies like water management systems
for irrigation. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature
to reach new heights in the languages of Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and
Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. The
Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that
transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1887:
The Dawes Act, a law meant to help the assimilation of Native Americans
into American society but ended up having a negative effect instead,
was signed by President Grover Cleveland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Act>
1915:
Film director D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation was released,
becoming one of the most influential and controversial films in the
history of American cinema.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation>
1950:
The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, was established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi>
1965:
After taking evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision just after
takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Eastern
Air Lines Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and exploded,
killing all 84 people on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_663>
2010:
A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggered a
series of at least 36 avalanches, that buried over two miles (3.2Â km)
of road, killed at least 172 people and trapped over 2,000 travellers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Salang_avalanches>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hypocoristic (adj):
Pertaining to a nickname, usually indicating intimacy with the person
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hypocoristic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of
joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the
greatest numbers of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest,
who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has
also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his
possessions, over the lives of others.
--John Ruskin
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Ruskin>
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the pilot episode of the animated
television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the
United States on August 13, 1997. The episode introduces child
protagonists Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh and Kenny
McCormick, who attempt to rescue Kyle's younger brother Ike from being
abducted by aliens. At the time of the writing of the episode, South
Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not yet have a series
contract with Comedy Central. Short on money, the creators animated the
episode using paper cutout stop motion technique, similarly to the
short films that were the precursors to the series. As such, "Cartman
Gets an Anal Probe" remains the only South Park episode animated
largely without the use of computer technology. Part of a reaction to
the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, South
Park is deliberately offensive. Much of the show's humor, and of
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", arises from the juxtaposition of the
seeming innocence of childhood and the violent, crude behavior
exhibited by the main characters. The episode also exemplifies the
carnivalesque, which includes humor, bodily excess, linguistic games
that challenge official discourse, and the inversion of social
structures. Initial reviews of the episode were generally negative;
critics singled out the gratuitous obscenity of the show for particular
scorn. Regarding the amount of obscenities in the episode, Parker later
commented that they felt "pressure" to live up to the earlier shorts
which first made the duo popular. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1904:
The Great Baltimore Fire in Maryland began, and would destroy over
1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Baltimore_Fire>
1907:
Over 3,000 women trudged through the cold and the rutty streets of
London in the Mud March, the first large procession organized by the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, to advocate for women's
suffrage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_March_%28Suffragists%29>
1943:
World War II: Japan successfully withdrew its troops from Guadalcanal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ke>
1986:
President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country after a
popular uprising, ending 28 years of one-family rule in the nation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Duvalier>
1995:
Ramzi Yousef , one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, was
arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzi_Yousef>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
senescence (n):
The state or process of ageing, especially in humans; old age
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/senescence>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In no victory do they glory so much as in that which is gained by
dexterity and good conduct without bloodshed. In such cases they
appoint public triumphs, and erect trophies to the honour of those who
have succeeded; for then do they reckon that a man acts suitably to his
nature, when he conquers his enemy in such a way as that no other
creature but a man could be capable of, and that is by the strength of
his understanding.
--Thomas More
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_More>