Nebula Science Fiction was the first Scottish science fiction magazine.
It was published from 1952 to 1959, and was edited by Peter Hamilton, a
young Scot who was able to take advantage of spare capacity at his
parents' printing company, Crownpoint, to launch the magazine. Nebula's
circulation was international, with only a quarter of the sales in the
United Kingdom: this led to disaster when both South Africa and
Australia imposed import controls on foreign periodicals at the end of
the 1950s. Excise duties imposed in the UK added to Hamilton's
financial burdens, and he was rapidly forced to close the magazine
down. The last issue was dated June 1959. The magazine was popular with
writers, partly because Hamilton went to great lengths to encourage new
writers, and partly because he paid better rates per word than much of
his competition. Initially he could not compete with the American
market, but he offered a bonus for the most popular story in the issue,
and eventually was able to match the leading American magazines. He
published the first stories of several well-known writers, including
Robert Silverberg, Brian Aldiss, and Bob Shaw. Nebula was also a fan
favourite: author Ken Bulmer recalls that it became "what many fans
regard as the best-loved British SF magazine". (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Science_Fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
447:
An earthquake destroyed large sections of the Walls of Constantinople .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople>
1868:
Boshin War: The Battle of Toba-Fushimi, where pro-Imperial forces
defeated those of the Tokugawa shogunate and which was a catalyst for
the Meiji Restoration, began in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Toba-Fushimi>
1888:
Two weeks after a group of over thirty explorers and scientists met in
Washington, D.C., to organize "a society for the increase and diffusion
of geographical knowledge," the National Geographic Society, publisher
of the National Geographic Magazine, was incorporated.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society>
1980:
With the assistance of Canadian government officials, six American
diplomats who had avoided capture in the Iran hostage crisis escaped to
Zurich, Switzerland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Caper>
2002:
An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, killed
at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_Armoury_Explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dubitation (n):
1. The process of doubting or the state of being in doubt; hesitation,
uncertainty.
2. A pang or expression of doubt
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dubitation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I suppose every child has a world of his own — and every man, too, for
the matter of that. I wonder if that's the cause for all the
misunderstanding there is in Life?
--Lewis Carroll
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll>
100px|James Nesbitt in July 2008
James Nesbitt (born 1965) is a Northern Irish actor. Nesbitt got his
breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in the romantic
comedy-drama Cold Feet (1998–2003), which won him a British Comedy
Award, a Television and Radio Industries Club Award, and a National
Television Award. His first significant film role came when he appeared
as pig farmer "Pig" Finn in Waking Ned (1998). With the rest of the
starring cast, Nesbitt was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In Lucky Break (2001), he made his debut as a film lead playing
prisoner Jimmy Hands. The next year, he played Ivan Cooper in the
television film Bloody Sunday, about the 1972 shootings in Derry.
Nesbitt has also starred in Murphy's Law (2001–2007) as undercover
detective Tommy Murphy, in a role that was created for him by writer
Colin Bateman. Nesbitt has since appeared in several more dramatic
roles; he starred alongside Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven
(2009), and was one of three lead actors in the television miniseries
Occupation (2009) and The Deep (2010). He also starred in the movies
Outcast (2010) and Emilio Estevez's The Way (2011), and has been cast
in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (2012/13). (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
565:
Justinian the Great deposed Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople,
after he refused the Byzantine Emperor's order to adopt the tenets of
the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of Monophysites.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_Eutychius_of_Constantinople>
1689:
The Convention Parliament convened to justify the overthrow of James
II, the last Roman Catholic king of England, who had vacated the throne
when he fled to France in 1688.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_Parliament_%281689%29>
1944:
World War II: The Allies commenced Operation Shingle, an amphibious
landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shingle>
1946:
Iran Crisis: The Republic of Mahabad declared its independence, seeking
autonomy for the Kurds within Iran.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Mahabad>
1987:
After being convicted of receiving bribes, Pennsylvania Treasurer R.
Budd Dwyer committed suicide during a televised press conference.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
xenodochium (n):
A room (or separate guesthouse) in a monastery for the temporary
accommodation of guests or pilgrims
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xenodochium>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in
passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon.
--Francis Bacon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>
100px|Bird, Variegated Fairy-wren, Malurus lamberti
The Variegated Fairywren is a fairywren that lives in diverse
habitats spread across most of Australia. Four subspecies are
recognised. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the brightly
coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and blue crown and ear
coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have
predominantly grey-brown plumage. Notably, females of the two
subspecies rogersi and dulcis have mainly blue-grey plumage. Like other
fairywrens, the Variegated Fairywren is a cooperative breeding species,
with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories
year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several
helper birds who assist in raising the young. Male wrens pluck yellow
petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display.
These birds are primarily insectivorous and forage and live in the
shelter of scrubby vegetation across 90% of continental Australia,
which is a wider range than that of any other fairywren. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegated_Fairywren>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be
the first American novel, was published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy>
1931:
Sir Isaac Isaacs became the first Australian-born Governor-General of
Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs>
1941:
Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania, the
day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and
pogrom, killing 125 Jews.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_rebellion_and_Bucharest_pogrom>
1968:
Vietnam War: The Vietnam People's Army attacked Khe Sanh Combat Base, a
U.S. Marines outpost in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, starting the
Battle of Khe Sanh.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh>
2008:
The Eyak language in Alaska became extinct after Marie Smith Jones, the
language's last native speaker, died, an event that became a symbol in
the fight against language extinction.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyak_language>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bacchanal (adj):
1. Relating to Bacchus or his festival.
2. Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bacchanal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The gods of the valley are not the gods of the hills, and you shall
understand it.
--Ethan Allen
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen>
75px|Henry Cornelius Burnett
Henry Cornelius Burnett (1825–1866) was a U.S. representative from
the state of Kentucky and a Confederate States senator. He represented
Kentucky's 1st congressional district during the lead-up to the Civil
War. This district contained the entire Jackson Purchase region of the
state, which was more sympathetic to the Confederate cause than any
other area of Kentucky. Burnett promised the voters of his district
that he would have President Abraham Lincoln arraigned for treason.
Besides championing the Southern cause in Congress, Burnett also worked
within Kentucky to bolster the state's support of the Confederacy. He
presided over a sovereignty convention in Russellville in 1861 that
formed a Confederate government for the state. The delegates to this
convention chose Burnett to travel to Richmond, Virginia to secure
Kentucky's admission to the Confederacy. Burnett also raised a
Confederate regiment at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and briefly served in
the Confederate States Army. Burnett's actions were deemed treasonable
by his colleagues in Congress, and he was expelled from the House in
1861. After the war, he was indicted for treason, but was never tried.
He returned to the practice of law, but died of cholera in 1866 at the
age of 40. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná , became the de facto
first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon%C3%B3rio_Hermeto_Carneiro_Le%C3%A3o%2C_Mar…>
1942:
The Holocaust: SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich and other senior
Nazi officials met at the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb of
Wannsee to discuss implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish
Question".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference>
1969:
Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and killed by
East Pakistani police, one of the casus belli that led to the
Bangladesh Liberation War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanullah_Asaduzzaman>
1990:
The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-independence
demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_January>
2007:
A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile
(1,759Â km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the
first time since 1958, and for the first time ever without mechanical
assistance.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pole_of_inaccessibility>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
devil-may-care (adj):
Carefree or recklessly irresponsible
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/devil-may-care>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place
where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our
founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our
democracy, tonight is your answer. ... It's the answer spoken by young
and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white,
Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not
disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never
been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and
blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the
answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be
cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their
hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a
better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on
this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to
America.
--Barack Obama
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
100px|Nick Drake's grave in Tanworth-in-Arden
Nick Drake (1948–1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician,
best known for his sombre guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide
audience during his lifetime, but now ranks among the most influential
English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake released his
debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. None of his first three albums
sold more than 5,000 copies on their initial release. Drake suffered
from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were
often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972's
Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording,
retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. He died from an
overdose of amitriptyline in 1974 (grave pictured). Drake was credited
as an influence by numerous artists during the 1980s, including The
Dream Academy, who in 1985 reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a
Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to him. By the early
1990s, Drake represented a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician
in the UK music press. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track
from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake
had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1607:
San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest church in the Philippines,
was completed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agustin_Church%2C_Manila>
1764:
English radical and politician John Wilkes was expelled from the
British Parliament and declared an outlaw for seditious libel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes>
1917:
Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in
Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing over 70
people and injuring over 400 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion>
1983:
The Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie was arrested in Bolivia, 32 years
after having fled to Argentina with the help of the US Army US Army
Counterintelligence Corps.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie>
2006:
In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24
aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary,
killing 42 of the 43 people on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Slovak_Air_Force_Antonov_An-24_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gnocchi (n):
Italian pasta-like dumplings made of potato or semolina
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gnocchi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I cannot consent to place in the control of others one who cannot
control himself.
--Robert E. Lee
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee>
100px|Nick Drake's grave in Tanworth-in-Arden
Nick Drake (1948–1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician,
best known for his sombre guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide
audience during his lifetime, but now ranks among the most influential
English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake released his
debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. None of his first three albums
sold more than 5,000 copies on their initial release. Drake suffered
from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were
often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972's
Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording,
retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. He died from an
overdose of amitriptyline in 1974 (grave pictured). Drake was credited
as an influence by numerous artists during the 1980s, including The
Dream Academy, who in 1985 reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a
Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to him. By the early
1990s, Drake represented a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician
in the UK music press. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track
from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake
had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years. (more...)
Recently featured: Mauna Kea – Press Gang – Diffuse panbronchiolitis
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1126:
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China abdicated the throne in
favour of his son Qinzong.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Huizong_of_Song>
1884:
Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate
his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial,
which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Price_%28physician%29>
1919:
World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opened in Versailles, France,
to set the peace terms for the Central Powers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Conference%2C_1919>
1943:
World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the
Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra>
1958:
African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first
game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in
professional ice hockey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree>
1990:
In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C.,
Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiasmus (n):
An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiasmus>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Elohim," the name for the creative power in Genesis, is a female
plural, a fact that generations of learned rabbis and Christian
theologians have all explained as merely grammatical convention. The
King James and most other Bibles translate it as "God," but if you take
the grammar literally, it seems to mean "goddesses." Al Shaddai, god of
battles, appears later, and YHWH, mispronounced Jehovah, later still.
--Robert Anton Wilson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson>
120px|Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa Observatory
Mauna Kea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing 4,205Â m
(13,796Â ft) above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state
of Hawaii. However, much of the mountain is under water; when measured
from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 10,000Â m (33,000 ft)
tall—significantly taller than Mount Everest. In Hawaiian mythology,
the peaks of the island of Hawaii are sacred, and Mauna Kea is the most
sacred of all. Mauna Kea can be ecologically divided into three
sections: an alpine climate at its summit, a Sophora
chrysophylla–Myoporum sandwicense forest on its flanks, and an Acacia
koa–Metrosideros polymorpha forest, now mostly cleared by the former
sugar industry, at its base. With its high altitude, dry environment,
and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the
world for astronomical observation, and one of the most controversial.
The Mauna Kea Observatories are used for scientific research across the
electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to radio, and comprise the
largest such facility in the world. Their construction on a "sacred
landscape", replete with endangered species, ongoing cultural
practices, and viewplanes used in the traditional Hawaiian measurement
of time, continues to be a topic of intense debate and protest.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1524:
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail westward from Madeira
to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_da_Verrazzano>
1893:
The Citizens' Committee of Public Safety led by Lorrin A. Thurston
overthrew the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani of the Kingdom of
Hawaii.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Kingdom_of_Hawaii>
1966:
A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress collided with a KC-135
Stratotanker during aerial refueling over the Mediterranean Sea,
dropping three hydrogen bombs on land near Palomares, Spain, and a
fourth one into the sea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash>
1989:
Patrick Purdy opened fire with an assault rifle on an elementary school
in Stockton, California, killing 5 and wounding 30 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_School_massacre>
2010:
The first spate of violence between Muslims and Christians began in
Jos, Nigeria, and would end in more than 200 deaths.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Jos_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chicken-hearted (adj):
Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chicken-hearted>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men. They have
the virtue of fortitude or they would not venture to own their heresy;
and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as
that would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not like
orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify them.
Do not, however mistake me. It is not to my good friend's heresy that I
impute his honesty. On the contrary, 'tis his honesty that has brought
upon him the character of heretic.
--Benjamin Franklin
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin>