Shelton Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former
amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling
Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including
wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In
addition, Benjamin has acted as an assistant coach in amateur
wrestling. He first spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held
the Southern Tag Team Championship four times. WWE then moved him to
the main roster and put him into an alliance with Kurt Angle and
Charlie Haas, known as Team Angle (and later the World's Greatest Tag
Team). During his tenure with the company, he has won the
Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States
Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas.
He currently wrestles for Ring of Honor, where he is currently one half
of the World Tag Team Champions with Charlie Haas.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelton_Benjamin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1755:
French and Indian War: The defeat in the Battle of the Monongahela
brought an end to Britain's attempt to capture the strategically
important Ohio Country.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Monongahela>
1815:
Talleyrand assumed his role as the first Prime Minister of France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Maurice_de_Talleyrand-P%C3%A9rigord>
1943:
World War II: The Allies began their invasion of Sicily, a large scale
amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land
combat.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily>
1999:
Six days of student protests began after Iranian police attacked a
University of Tehran dormitory following a peaceful student
demonstration against the closure of the reformist newspaper Salam.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_student_protests%2C_July_1999>
2002:
The African Union was formed as a successor to the amalgamated African
Economic Community and the Organization of African Unity, with
President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki as its first chairman.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mammothrept (n):
A spoilt child
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mammothrept>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask
ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give military victory to
whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the
question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to
prevent a military contest of which the issue must be disastrous to all
parties?
--Bertrand Russell
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of
the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first
broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the
first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006. The
two-part story features the Daleks, presumed extinct after the events
of the 2005 series' finale; and the Cybermen, who appeared in "Rise of
the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel". Both species unexpectedly arrived
on Earth at the conclusion of "Army of Ghosts". The plot consists
mostly of the Daleks and Cybermen waging a global war with humanity
caught in the crossfire. The Doctor and his companions fight for their
lives trying to revert the situation. The episode was filmed in
December 2005 and January 2006. One of the most popular Doctor Who
episodes since the show's revival, "Doomsday" is favoured by critics
for both the Cybermen–Dalek conflict and the farewell scene between the
Doctor and his companion, Rose Tyler.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_%28Doctor_Who%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1579:
Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was
discovered underground in Kazan, present-day Tatarstan, Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Kazan>
1758:
French and Indian War: French forces defeated the British at Fort
Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain in the British Colony of New
York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carillon>
1808:
Joseph Bonaparte approved the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter
intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonne_Statute>
1889:
The first issue of The Wall Street Journal, the world's most circulated
business daily newspaper, was published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_Street_Journal>
2004:
After a 19-month trial, U.S. Marine Corps Major Michael Brown was
convicted by a court in Naha, Okinawa, for an attempted indecent
assault on a Filipina bartender.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown_Okinawa_assault_incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moving spirit (n):
Someone who provides significant impetus or guidance in a given
venture, movement, enterprise etc
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moving_spirit>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There must be understanding between the artist and the people. In the
best ages of art that has always been the case. Genius can probably run
on ahead and seek out new ways. But the good artists who follow after
genius — and I count myself among these — have to restore the lost
connection once more.
--Käthe Kollwitz
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/K%C3%A4the_Kollwitz>
100px|River Parrett near Burrowbridge
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in
South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the
hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset
and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the
Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett
drains about 50Â per cent of Somerset's land area. The 37-mile (60Â km)
long river is tidal for 27 miles (43Â km) up to Oath. Because the fall
of the river between Langport and Bridgwater is only 1 foot per mile
(0.2Â m/km), it is prone to frequent flooding in winter and during high
tides. During the Roman era the river was crossed by a ford, and in
Anglo-Saxon times formed a boundary between Wessex and Dumnonia. From
the medieval period the river served the Port of Bridgwater, enabling
cargoes to be transported inland. The arrival of the railways led to a
decline and commercial shipping now only docks at Dunball. The Parrett
along with its connected waterways and network of drains supports an
ecosystem that includes several rare species of flora and fauna. The
River Parrett Trail has been established along the banks of the river.
(more...)
Recently featured: Primate – Battle of Osan – U.S. Route 491
Archive
– By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Parrett>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia signed the North
Pacific Fur Seal Convention banning open-water seal hunting, the first
international treaty to address wildlife conservation issues.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Fur_Seal_Convention_of_1911>
1963:
The police of Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of
President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem, attacked a group of American
journalists who were covering a protest during the Buddhist crisis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle>
1983:
After writing a letter to Soviet premier Yuri Andropov, American
schoolgirl Samantha Smith visited the Soviet Union as Andropov's
personal guest, becoming known as "America's Youngest Ambassador".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith>
1994:
Troops from the former North Yemen captured Aden, ending the Yemeni
civil war.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_civil_war_in_Yemen>
2005:
Suicide bombers killed 52 people in a series of four explosions on
London's public transport system .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vortical (adj):
Like a vortex
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vortical>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable,
I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free
because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
--Robert A. Heinlein
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein>
Primates are a mammalian order which includes modern humans. Most
non-human primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the
Americas, Africa, and Asia. Primates range in size from the Madame
Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs only 30 grams (1.1Â oz) to the
mountain gorilla weighing 200 kilograms (440Â lb). According to fossil
evidence, the primitive ancestors of primates may have existed in the
late Cretaceous period around 65Â million years ago, and the oldest
known primate is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis, c. 55–58 million years
ago. Primates are characterized by their large brains, and increased
reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell. These features
are most marked in monkeys and apes, and noticeably less so in lorises
and lemurs. Three-color vision has developed in some primates. Most
also have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1253:
Mindaugas, the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania, was crowned as King
of Lithuania, the only person to ever hold that title.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindaugas>
1535:
Thomas More , an opponent of the Protestant Reformation, was executed
for treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of
the Church of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More>
1892:
During a steelworkers' strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, US, a
day-long battle between strikers and Pinkerton agents resulted in ten
deaths and dozens of people wounded.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Strike>
1988:
An explosion and resulting fire destroyed Occidental Petroleum's oil
platform Piper Alpha in the North Sea, killing 168 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha>
2006:
Nathu La, a mountain pass in the Himalayas connecting India and China,
sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opened for trade after more than
40 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathu_La>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thoroughfare (n):
A public passage, path or road affording communication between two
places; a main street or highway
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thoroughfare>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that at every level of society — familial, tribal, national
and international — the key to a happier and more successful world is
the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we
need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us
to develop our good human qualities.
--Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso%2C_14th_Dalai_Lama>
The Battle of Osan was the first engagement between United States and
North Korean forces during the Korean War, on July 5, 1950. A U.S. task
force of 400 infantry supported by an artillery battery was moved to
Osan, south of the South Korean capital Seoul, and ordered to fight as
a rearguard to delay advancing North Korean forces while additional
U.S. forces arrived in-country to form a defensive line. The task force
lacked both anti-tank guns and effective infantry anti-tank weapons.
Aside from a limited number of HEAT shells for the unit's 105-mm
howitzers, crew-served weapons capable of defeating the T-34 had not
been distributed to U.S. Army forces in Korea at the time. In the first
encounter, a North Korean tank column overran the task force and
continued its advance south. After the column had successfully breached
American lines, the task force opened fire on a force of some 5,000
North Korean infantry approaching its position, temporarily holding up
the North Korean advance. Eventually, North Korean troops overwhelmed
American positions, and the remnants of the task force retreated in
disorder.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Osan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1687:
The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton was
first published, describing his laws of motion and his law of universal
gravitation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathemati…>
1937:
The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam , the canned precooked
meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore,
and urban legend.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28food%29>
1946:
Named after Bikini Atoll, the site of the nuclear weapons test
Operation Crossroads in the Marshall Islands, the modern bikini was
introduced at a fashion show in Paris.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bikini>
1962:
The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same
broadcaster, aired on Irish television for the first time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Late_Show>
2009:
A series of violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2009_%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi_riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scare quote (n):
(chiefly in plural) Each of a set of inverted commas or speech marks
seen as expressing the author's distance from, or unwillingness to
accept, the term enclosed
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scare_quote>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is not theory. It is reality, with inherent duties to everything
and everyone.
--Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tivadar_Csontv%C3%A1ry_Kosztka>
U.S. Route 491 is a north–south U.S. Highway serving the Four Corners
region of the United States. One of the newest designations in the U.S.
Highway System, it was created in 2003 as a renumbering of U.S. Route
666. With the 666 designation, this road was nicknamed Devil's Highway
because of the common Christian belief that 666 is the Number of the
Beast. This satanic connotation, combined with a high fatality rate
along the New Mexico portion, convinced some people the highway was
cursed. The problem was compounded with persistent sign theft. These
factors led to two efforts to renumber the highway, by officials in
Arizona and then in New Mexico. Since the renumbering, as a result of
safety improvement projects, fatality rates have decreased. The highway
runs through Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the tribal
nations of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Features along
the route include an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock, Mesa Verde
National Park, and the self-proclaimed pinto-bean capital of the world,
Dove Creek, Colorado.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_491>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1054:
Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest star",
which was in actuality the supernova that created the Crab Nebula.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula>
1776:
In Philadelphia, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of
Independence, announcing that the thirteen American colonies were no
longer a part of the British Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence>
1862:
In a rowing boat on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow, author
Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would
eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland>
2005:
The NASA space probe Deep Impact impacted the nucleus of the comet
Tempel 1, excavating debris from its interior so that its composition
could be studied.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_%28spacecraft%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
auteur (n):
A creative artist, especially a film director, seen as having a
specific, recognisable artistic vision, and who is seen as the single
or preeminent ‘author’ of their works
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auteur>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not
be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is, to resist
the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom, to know when it ought to be
resisted, and when to be obeyed.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne>
Transformers is a 2007 American science fiction action film based on
the Transformers toy line. The film, which combines computer animation
with live action, is directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven
Spielberg. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a teenager involved
in a war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two
factions of alien robots that can disguise themselves by transforming
into everyday machinery. The Decepticons desire control of the
AllSpark, the object that created their robotic race, with the
intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines
of Earth. Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, Anthony
Anderson and John Turturro also star, while actors Peter Cullen and
Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.
Transformers was a box-office success, despite mixed critical reaction.
Two sequels have been released: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in
2009 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_%28film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
324:
Roman Emperor Constantine the Great defeated colleague Licinius in the
Battle of Adrianople.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople_%28324%29>
1608:
French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City , considered to
be the first European-built city in non-Spanish North America.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City>
1940:
World War II: The British Navy attacked the French fleet, fearing that
the ships would fall into German hands after the armistice between
those two nations.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on Belfast,
Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish republican
resistance.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
2005:
Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Spain>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
amenity (n):
1. Pleasantness; the quality of being nice or agreeable.
2. (chiefly in plural) An advantageous feature
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amenity>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all.
No... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games
of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... overthrows
life. Unbiddable, ungovernable — like a riot in the heart, and nothing
to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love — like there has never been in a
play.
--Tom Stoppard
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard>
Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln, a member
of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the
nephew of Roger of Salisbury, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of
England under King Henry I, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of
Ely. Unlike his relatives, he held no office in the government before
his appointment as Bishop of Lincoln in 1123. Alexander became a
frequent visitor to King Henry's court after his elevation to the
episcopate, often witnessing royal documents, and he served as a royal
justice in Lincolnshire. Although Alexander was known for his
ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle, he founded a number of religious
houses in his diocese and was an active builder and literary patron. He
also attended church councils and reorganized his diocese by increasing
the number of archdeaconries and setting up prebends to support his
cathedral clergy. Under Henry's successor, King Stephen, Alexander was
caught up in the fall from favour of his family, and was imprisoned
together with his uncle Roger in 1139. He subsequently briefly
supported Stephen's rival, Matilda, but by the late 1140s Alexander was
once again working with Stephen. He spent much of the late 1140s at the
papal court in Rome, but died in England in early 1148. Alexander was
the patron of medieval chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon and Geoffrey of
Monmouth, and also served as an ecclesiastical patron of the medieval
hermit Christina of Markyate and Gilbert of Sempringham, founder of the
Gilbertines.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_of_Lincoln>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1559:
During a jousting match, Gabriel Montgomery of the Garde Écossaise
mortally wounded King Henry II of France , piercing him in the eye with
his lance.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_France>
1860:
Seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of
Species, several prominent British scientists and philosophers
participated in an evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum in
Oxford, England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_Oxford_evolution_debate>
1971:
The Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft suffered an uncontrolled decompression
during reentry, killing cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov, Georgiy
Dobrovolskiy and Viktor Patsayev—the only human deaths to occur in
space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11>
1987:
The Royal Canadian Mint introduced the Canadian one-dollar coin,
commonly known as the Loonie.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie>
2007:
In an attempted terrorist attack, a car loaded with propane canisters
was driven into the terminal of Scotland's Glasgow International
Airport and set ablaze.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Glasgow_International_Airport_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
aggiornamento (n):
A bringing up to date, modernisation; specifically, that carried out on
the Roman Catholic Church by the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aggiornamento>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Before the five senses were opened, and earlier than any beginning
They waited, ready, for all those who would call themselves mortals,
So that they might praise, as I do, life, that is, happiness.
--Czesław Miłosz
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Czes%C5%82aw_Mi%C5%82osz>
Theoren Fleury is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for
the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Chicago
Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), Tappara of the
SM-liiga, and the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League. One of
the smallest players of his generation, Fleury played a physical style
that often led to altercations; he was at the centre of the infamous
Punch-up in Piestany, a brawl that resulted in the disqualification of
Canada and the Soviet Union from the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey
Championships. He was selected 166th overall by the Flames in the 1987
draft and played over 1,000 NHL games between 1989 and 2003. A
seven-time all-star, Fleury scored over 1,000 points in his NHL career
and won the Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989. He twice represented
Canada at the Winter Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002. He battled
drug and alcohol addictions throughout his career, and in his 2009
autobiography Playing with Fire made allegations that he had been
sexually abused by former coach Graham James. Since overcoming his
addictions, Fleury has become a businessman, played two professional
baseball games for the Calgary Vipers and embarked on a career as a
motivational speaker encouraging sexual abuse victims to speak out.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoren_Fleury>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1149:
Second Crusade: An army led by Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the forces of
Antioch led by Prince Raymond in the Battle of Inab.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Inab>
1444:
Albanians led by Skanderbeg scored a resounding victory in their
rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Torvioll.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Torvioll>
1950:
In one of the greatest upsets in sporting history, the United States
defeated England during the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_v_United_States_%281950%29>
1974:
Isabel Perón was sworn in as the first female President of Argentina,
replacing her ill husband Juan Perón, who died two days later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Mart%C3%ADnez_de_Per%C3%B3n>
1985:
The European Economic Community adopted the Flag of Europe , a flag
previously adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Europe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
defray (v):
To pay or discharge (a debt, expense etc.); to meet (the cost of
something)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defray>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What though our eyes with tears be wet?
The sunrise never failed us yet.
The blush of dawn may yet restore
Our light and hope and joy once more.
Sad soul, take comfort, nor forget
That sunrise never failed us
yet!
--Celia Thaxter
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Celia_Thaxter>