The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by
Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in
Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two
photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10. The
pictures came to the attention of writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who
used them to illustrate an article on fairies he had been commissioned
to write for the Christmas 1920 edition of The Strand Magazine. Conan
Doyle, as a Spiritualist, was enthusiastic about the photographs, and
interpreted them as clear and visible evidence of psychic phenomena.
Public reaction was mixed; some accepted that the images were genuine,
but others believed they had been faked. Interest in the Cottingley
Fairies gradually declined after 1921. Both girls grew up, married and
lived abroad for a time. Yet the photographs continued to hold the
public imagination; in 1966 a reporter from the Daily Express newspaper
traced Elsie, who had by then returned to the UK. Elsie left open the
possibility that she believed she had photographed her thoughts, and
the media once again became interested in the story. In the early
1980s, both admitted that the photographs were faked using cardboard
cutouts of fairies copied from a popular children's book of the time.
But Frances continued to claim that the fifth and final photograph was
genuine. The photographs and two of the cameras used are on display in
the National Media Museum in Bradford.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1637:
The contract prices of rare tulip bulbs in the Dutch Republic, which
had been steadily climbing for three months, abruptly dropped, marking
the decline of tulip mania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tulip_mania>
1852:
The Argentine Confederation were defeated in the Battle of Caseros by
an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay and the
Argentine provinces of Entre RÃos and Corrientes, ending the Platine
War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platine_War>
1931:
New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster, the 7.9 M<sub>W</sub> Hawke's
Bay earthquake, struck, killing 256.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Hawke%27s_Bay_earthquake>
1984:
A woman under the care of Dr. John Buster of the Harbor–UCLA Medical
Center in Los Angeles, California, US, gave birth to a baby that
resulted from the first successful embryo transfer from one person to
another.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/embryo_transfer>
2010:
A cast of L'Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti
sold for £65 million (US$103.7 million), setting the record for most
expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Homme_qui_marche_I>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sesquiquadrate (adj):
{{astronomy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sesquiquadrate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Only he who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to
respect it, is capable of love and justice.
--Simone Weil
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil>
Lord of the Universe is a 1974 American documentary film about Prem
Rawat at an event in November 1973 at the Houston Astrodome called
"Millennium '73". Lord of the Universe was first broadcast on PBS on
February 2, 1974, and released in a VHS format on November 1, 1991. The
documentary chronicles Maharaj Ji, his followers and anti-Vietnam War
activist Rennie Davis who was a spokesperson of the Divine Light
Mission at the time. A counterpoint is presented by Abbie Hoffman who
appears as a commentator. It includes interviews with several
protagonists, including followers, ex-followers, a mahatma, a
born-again Christian, and a Hare Krishna. The production team of Top
Value Television produced the documentary, using Portapak video
cameras. The TVTV team followed Maharaj Ji across the United States
over a period of six weeks, and edited a large amount of tape down to
the fifty-eight minute piece. The documentary was generally
well-received, and garnered its TVTV production team the 1974 Alfred I.
du Pont/Columbia University Award in Broadcast Journalism. The
documentary received a negative review in the New York Post, and
positive reviews in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Los
Angeles Times, and the Chicago Sun-Times. The San Francisco Bay
Guardian wrote that the TVTV team had improved since their previous
work, but wanted them to move on to more challenging subjects.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Universe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1653:
The Dutch colony New Amsterdam received municipal rights, thus becoming
a city on territory that is now New York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam>
1659:
Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, produced the first bottle
of South African wine.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_wine>
1982:
The Syrian army bombarded the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt
by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing about 7,000–25,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre>
1994:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its final
ruling in Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation and Werner Erhard and
affirmed the decision of the District Court; Werner Erhard defaulted on
the payment due to Ney.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ney_v._Landmark_Education_Corporation_and_Wern…>
2004:
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the No. 1 ranked men's
singles player, a position he held for a record 237 weeks.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
valediction (n):
A speech made, or phrase said, when [[leave
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/valediction>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm not playing by their rules anymore!
--Bill Murray
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Murray>
The Common Firecrest is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet
family. It breeds in most of temperate Europe and northwestern Africa,
and is partially migratory, with birds from central Europe wintering to
the south and west of their breeding range. Firecrests in the Balearic
Islands and north Africa are widely recognised as a separate
subspecies. The head crest, orange in the male and yellow in the
female, is displayed during breeding, and gives rise to the English and
scientific names for the species. The song is a repetition of high thin
notes, slightly lower-pitched than those of its relative. The Common
Firecrest breeds in broadleaved or coniferous woodland and gardens,
building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Seven to
twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone. Both parents feed the
chicks, which fledge 22–24 days after hatching. This kinglet is
constantly on the move and frequently hovers as it searches for insects
to eat, and in winter it is often found with flocks of tits. Despite
some possible local declines, the species is not the subject of
significant conservation concerns owing to its large European
population and an expansion of its range over the last century.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Firecrest>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Thorn_%281411%29>
1814:
The most destructive eruption of the Mayon Volcano occurred, killing
over 2,000 people on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayon_Volcano>
1960:
Four African American students staged the first Greensboro sit-ins at a
lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins>
1972:
Kuala Lumpur gained city status, the first settlement in Malaysia to do
so after the nation's independence from the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur>
2001:
The Timor Leste Defence Force was established from the erstwhile
anti-Indonesian independence movement Falintil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor_Leste_Defence_Force>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
narwhal (n):
An Arctic cetacean, about twenty feet long; the male has a single
twisted, pointed {{soplink
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/narwhal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a
syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
--Langston Hughes
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes>
Masako Katsura (1913–1995) was a carom billiards player most active in
the 1950s who trailblazed a path for women in the sport by competing
and placing among the best in the male-dominated world of professional
billiards. First learning the game from her brother-in-law and then
under the tutelage of Japanese champion Kinrey Matsuyama, Katsura
finished second in Japan's national three-cushion billiards
championship three times. In exhibition she was noted for running
10,000 points at the game of straight rail. After marrying a U.S. army
officer in 1950, Katsura emigrated with him to the United States in
1951, where she was invited to play in the 1952 U.S.-sponsored World
Three-Cushion Championship, ultimately taking seventh place at that
competition. Katsura was the first woman ever to be included in any
world billiards tournament. Her fame cemented, Katsura went on an
exhibition tour of the United States with 8-time world champion Welker
Cochran, and later with 51-time world champion, Willie Hoppe. In 1953
and 1954 she again competed for the world three-cushion crown, taking
fifth and fourth places respectively.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masako_Katsura>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American telescope-maker and astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first
observed the faint white dwarf companion of Sirius , the brightest star
in the night sky.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius>
1917:
World War I: Germany announced its U-boats would resume unrestricted
submarine warfare, less than two years after suspending its attacks
when the United States protested the sinking of the ocean liner RMS
Lusitania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat_Campaign_%28World_War_I%29>
1943:
World War II: American and Australian forces stopped a Japanese advance
during the New Guinea campaign, killing around 1,200 troops during the
Battle of Wau.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wau>
1946:
In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a new constitution
established the six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia>
1971:
The Winter Soldier Investigation, a three-day media event sponsored by
the anti-war organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize
war crimes and other atrocities by American forces and their allies
during the Vietnam War, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Soldier_Investigation>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caltrop (n):
A small, metal object with spikes arranged so that, when thrown onto
the ground, one always faces up as a threat to [[passer-by
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caltrop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anybody can they say they are being "spiritual" — and they are, because
everybody has some type and level of concern. Let us therefore see
their actual conception, in thought and action, and see how many
perspectives it is in fact concerned with, and how many perspectives it
actually takes into account, and how many perspectives it attempts to
integrate, and thus let us see how deep and how wide runs that
bodhisattva vow to refuse rest until all perspectives whatsoever are
liberated into their own primordial nature.
--Ken Wilber
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber>
Trump International Hotel and Tower is a skyscraper condo-hotel in
downtown Chicago. The building, named after real estate developer
Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore,
Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 92-story structure,
which reached a height of 1,389Â feet (423 m) including its spire, its
roof topping out at 1,170Â feet (360 m). The building received publicity
when the winner of the first season of The Apprentice television show,
Bill Rancic, chose to manage the tower's construction. It is the
tenth-tallest building in the world and second-tallest building in the
United States after Chicago's Willis Tower. Trump Tower surpassed
Chicago's John Hancock Center as the building with the world's highest
residence above ground-level and held this title until the completion
of the Burj Khalifa. The building includes, from the ground up, retail
space, a parking garage, a hotel, and condominiums. The 339-room hotel
opened for business with limited accommodations and services on January
30, 2008. April 28, 2009, was the full accommodation and service grand
opening. A restaurant on the 16th floor, named Sixteen, opened in early
2008 to favorable reviews. The building topped out in late 2008 and
construction was completed in 2009.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_International_Hotel_and_Tower_%28Chicago…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1661:
Two years after his death, Oliver Cromwell's remains were exhumed for a
posthumous execution and his head was placed on a spike above
Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell%27s_head>
1847:
The town of Yerba Buena in Mexican California was renamed San
Francisco.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco>
1900:
The day before he was sworn in as Governor of Kentucky, William Goebel
was shot by an unknown assailant and mortally wounded. He remains the
only state governor in the United States to be assassinated while in
office.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goebel>
1948:
Nathuram Godse fatally shot Mahatma Gandhi, the political and spiritual
leader of India and the Indian independence movement, at Birla House in
Delhi.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi>
1972:
On Bloody Sunday, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot at
twenty-six civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing
at least thirteen people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_%281972%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
indign (adj):
(archaic) [[unworthy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indign>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Is there not glory enough in living the days given to us? You should
know there is adventure in simply being among those we love and the
things we love, and beauty, too.
--Lloyd Alexander
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander>
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation in Memphis, Tennessee. It
is the only Reform synagogue in Memphis, the oldest and largest Jewish
congregation in Tennessee, and one of the largest Reform congregations
in the United States. It was founded in 1853 by mostly German Jews as
Congregation B'nai Israel. Led initially by cantors, in 1858 it hired
its first rabbi, Jacob Peres, and leased its first building, which it
renovated and eventually purchased. The synagogue was one of the
founding members of the Union for Reform Judaism. It experienced
difficulty during the Great Depression—membership dropped, the
congregational school was closed, and staff had their salaries
reduced—but conditions had improved by the late 1930s. In 1943 the
synagogue changed its name to Temple Israel, and by the late 1940s
membership had almost doubled from its low point in the 1930s. Rabbi
Jimmy Wax became known for his activism during the Civil Rights era. In
1976 the congregation constructed its current building, closer to where
most members lived. Wax retired in 1978, and was succeeded by Harry
Danziger, who brought traditional practices back to the congregation.
He retired in 2000, and was succeeded by Micah Greenstein. As of 2010,
Temple Israel has almost 1,600 member families. Greenstein is the
senior rabbi, and the cantor is John Kaplan.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Israel_%28Memphis%2C_Tennessee%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issued a Warrant under the Royal
sign-manual that established the Victoria Cross, originally to
recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the
Crimean War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross>
1863:
Indian Wars in North America: The United States Army led by Patrick
Edward Connor massacred Chief Bear Hunter and forces of the Shoshone at
the Bear River Massacre in present day Franklin County, Idaho.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_River_Massacre>
1891:
Liliʻuokalani was proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant
of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani>
1943:
World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major naval
engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese
Navy during the Guadalcanal Campaign, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island>
2006:
India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test cricket
hat-trick in the opening over of a match.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irfan_Pathan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
spuria (npl):
[[spurious
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spuria>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Each of us is full of too many wheels, screws and valves to permit us
to judge one another on a first impression or by two or three external
signs.
--Anton Chekhov
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov>
Hurricane Kyle was the fourth longest-lived Atlantic tropical or
subtropical cyclone on record. The eleventh named storm and third
hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, Kyle developed as a
subtropical cyclone on September 20 to the east-southeast of Bermuda.
Looping westward, it transitioned into a tropical cyclone and became a
hurricane on September 25. For the next two weeks, Kyle tracked
generally westward, oscillating in strength several times because of
fluctuations in environmental conditions. On October 11, the cyclone
turned northeastward and made landfalls near Charleston, South
Carolina, and Long Beach, North Carolina, at tropical storm status.
After lasting as a cyclone for 22Â days, Kyle dissipated on October 12
as it was absorbed by an approaching cold front. The hurricane brought
light precipitation to Bermuda, but no significant damage was reported
there. Moderate rainfall accompanied its two landfalls in the United
States, causing localized flash flooding and road closures. Floodwaters
forced the evacuation of a nursing home and several mobile homes in
South Carolina. Kyle spawned at least four tornadoes, the costliest of
which struck Georgetown, South Carolina; it damaged 106Â buildings and
destroyed seven others, causing eight injuries. Overall damage totaled
about $5Â million (2002Â USD, $6Â million 2008Â USD), and no direct deaths
were reported. However, the remnants of Kyle contributed to one
indirect death in the British Isles.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kyle_%282002%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1500:
Spanish navigator, explorer, and conquistador Vicente Yáñez Pinzón
reached the north coast of what today is Brazil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Y%C3%A1%C3%B1ez_Pinz%C3%B3n>
1788:
Captain Arthur Phillip and the British First Fleet landed at Sydney
Cove on the shore of Port Jackson in present-day Sydney, establishing
the first permanent European settlement in Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Phillip>
1808:
Governor of New South Wales William Bligh was deposed by the New South
Wales Corps in the only successful armed takeover of government in
Australia's recorded history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion>
1905:
The Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found
at 3,106.75Â carats (621.35 g), was discovered at the Premier Mine in
Cullinan, Gauteng, South Africa.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond>
1950:
Indian independence movement: India officially became a republic under
a new constitution, with Rajendra Prasad as its first president.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajendra_Prasad>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ding-dong ditch (v):
(US, Canadian) To perform a children's prank in which a doorbell of a
house is [[ring
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ding-dong_ditch>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If you don't have enemies, you don't have character.
--Paul Newman
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Newman>