The 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the
Union Army in the American Civil War. Formed mostly from a militia unit
in Norristown in southeastern Pennsylvania, the regiment enlisted at the
start of the war in April 1861 for a three-month period of service
under the command of Colonel John F. Hartranft. The regiment served as
part of the garrison of Washington, D.C., until late June, when it was
sent into Northern Virginia to join the army of Brigadier General Irvin
McDowell. The regiment suffered its only combat casualties in a picket
action on June 30 and was sent back to be mustered out on the eve of
the First Battle of Bull Run owing to disagreement among the men over
remaining after their term of service expired. Its men were denounced as
cowards for being members of the only regiment to refuse to fight at the
July 21 battle. Hartranft and a company commander stayed with the army
and both later received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Bull
Run.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Pennsylvania_Infantry_Regiment>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1784:
The Emerald Buddha, considered to be the sacred palladium of
Thailand, was installed in its current location at Wat Phra Kaew on the
grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Buddha>
1942:
Second World War: British and Italian naval forces fought the
Second Battle of Sirte in the Gulf of Sidra north of Libya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Sirte>
1992:
USAir Flight 405 crashed in Flushing Bay shortly after takeoff
from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 27 people, and leading
to studies into the effects of ice on aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAir_Flight_405>
2014:
A massive landslide in Oso, Washington, killed 43 people after
engulfing a rural neighborhood, the largest death toll for a standalone
landslide in U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Oso_mudslide>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
winterbourne:
(Britain) A stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather,
particularly in an area rich in limestone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/winterbourne>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 How much of what we do is free will, and how much is programmed
in our genes? Why is each people so narrow that it believes that it, and
it alone, has all the answers? In religion, is there but one road to
salvation? Or are there many, all equally good, all going in the same
general direction? I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their
beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no
book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many
times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to
learn. Â
--Louis L'Amour
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_L%27Amour>
Chinua Achebe (16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian
novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of
modern African literature. He garnered international attention for his
novel Things Fall Apart (1958) and published three further novels in
less than ten years. Achebe sought to escape the colonial perspective
that framed African literature. He drew from the traditions of the Igbo
people, Christianity and the clash of Western and African values. Achebe
supported Biafran independence in 1967 and was an ambassador for the
movement; during the Nigerian Civil War he appealed to Europe and the
Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region, he
involved himself in political parties but became disillusioned by the
corruption and elitism he witnessed. He moved to the United States in
1990 after a car crash left him partially disabled. He was a professor
of African studies at Brown University until his death in 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: During their march on Paris,
Coalition forces defeated Napoleon's French army on the final day of the
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arcis-sur-Aube>
1918:
First World War: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive
with Operation Michael, attempting to break through the Allied lines and
to seize ports on the English Channel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Michael>
1960:
Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of
unarmed black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing 69
people and wounding 180 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre>
2019:
A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China,
killed 78 people and injured 640 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Xiangshui_chemical_plant_explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gelotology:
(psychology, physiology) The study of humour and laughter, and its
effects on the body.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gelotology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the
time, and a courageous person afterward. Â
--Jean Paul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Paul>
The Branford Steam Railroad is a 7.2-mile (11.6Â km) standard-gauge
industrial railroad that serves the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in
North Branford, Connecticut, in the United States. It was founded in
1903 by Louis A. Fisk, a businessman from Branford, Connecticut, to
transport passengers to a trotting park for horses. By 1916, the company
had ended passenger service in favor of freight transport. The company
has hauled trap rock from the Totoket Mountain quarry in North Branford
continuously since 1914. A southern extension was built to a dock on
Long Island Sound at Pine Orchard, Branford, which remains in use today
to transfer rock to barges. Trap rock is also transported by rail to an
interchange with the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The company's
last steam locomotive was retired in 1960; the name is retained to
distinguish it from the nearby Branford Electric Railway, operated by a
museum dedicated to streetcars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branford_Steam_Railroad>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
King Charles IV of Spain was forced to abdicate in favour of
his son Ferdinand VII as a result of the Tumult of Aranjuez.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_Spain>
1962:
Influential American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous
debut album, mainly comprising traditional folk, blues and gospel songs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan>
1979:
The American cable television network C-SPAN, covering
government proceedings and public-affairs programming, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN>
2008:
The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B (artist's impression pictured),
the farthest object that could be seen by the naked eye, was observed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_080319B>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
feint:
1. (transitive, boxing, fencing)
2. To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an
attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real
attack on another part.
3. (rare) To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone).
4. (intransitive, boxing, fencing, also often military) To make a feint
or mock attack.
5. (often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
6. (boxing, fencing) A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement
resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from
a real attack on another part.
7. (figuratively) Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a
pretence or stratagem.
8. (boxing, fencing, also often military) Of an attack or offensive
movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike.
9. (obsolete) Feigned, counterfeit, fake. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feint>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Times change but principles endure. The jury has protected us
from the abuse of power. While human government exists the tendency to
abuse power will remain. This system, coming down from former
generations crowned with the honors of age, is today and for the future
our hope. Let us correct its defects with kindly hands, let us purge it
of its imperfections and it will be, as in the past, the bulwark of our
liberties. Â
--William Jennings Bryan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan>
Wiley Rutledge (1894–1949) served as an associate justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court from 1943 to 1949. The ninth and final justice appointed
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he is known for his impassioned
defenses of civil liberties. He practiced law in Colorado before
becoming a law school professor and dean. Rutledge supported New Deal
policies and other proposals by Roosevelt, who appointed him to the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals in 1939 and to the Supreme Court in 1943.
Rutledge favored broad interpretations of the First Amendment, and he
argued that the Bill of Rights applied in its totality to the states. In
other cases, Rutledge fervently supported broad due process rights in
criminal cases, and he opposed discrimination against women and racial
minorities. However, he joined the majority in two cases –
Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) and Korematsu v. United States
(1944) – that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans during
World War II.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Rutledge>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1921:
Russian Civil War: Bolshevik forces suppressed a rebellion of
sailors and civilians in Kronstadt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronstadt_rebellion>
1965:
Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov ventured outside the Soviet spacecraft
Voskhod 2, becoming the first person to walk in space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Leonov>
1985:
The first episode of the soap opera Neighbours was broadcast on
the Seven Network, later becoming the longest-running drama in
Australian television history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours>
1990:
Unidentified thieves stole thirteen works of art collectively
valued at $500Â million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in
Boston, Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum_theft>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
knock about:
1. (transitive) To hit (someone or something) all over repeatedly;
hence, to behave violently towards or mistreat (someone or something).
2. (intransitive)
3. To move or roam around aimlessly.
4. (by extension) To live an unconventional life.
5. To be present at or inhabit a certain place.
6. (by extension) To engage in a relaxing activity in a place; to hang
around in.
7. (by extension) Often followed by with: to spend time companionably;
to hang around.
8. (by extension, usually in present participial form) To be mislaid in
a place.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knock_about>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Today, 17th of March 2023, the International Criminal Court has
issued two warrants of arrest in the Ukraine situation for Vladimir
Putin, President of the Russian Federation and for Maria Lvova-Belova,
Commissioner of the Russian President's [office] for children’s
rights, for the alleged war crimes of deportation of children from
Ukrainian occupied territories into the Russian Federation. It is
forbidden by international law for occupying powers to transfer
civilians from the territory they live in to other territories. Children
enjoy special protection under the Geneva Convention. The contents of
the warrants are secret in order to protect victims. The ICC attaches
great importance to the protection of victims especially children.
Nevertheless, the judges of the chamber dealing with this case decided
to make the existence of the warrants public in the interest of justice
and to prevent the commission of future crimes. This is an important
moment in the process of justice before the ICC, the judges have
reviewed the information and evidence submitted by the prosecutor, and
determined that there are credible allegations against these persons for
the alleged crimes. Â
--International Criminal Court
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court>
The Bougainville counterattack (8–25 March 1944) was an unsuccessful
Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Cape Torokina, on
Bougainville Island (now part of Papua New Guinea), during the Pacific
War of the Second World War. The goal of the offensive was to destroy
the Allied beachhead, which accommodated three strategically important
airfields. The Allies detected Japanese preparations and strengthened
the base's defenses. The attack, hampered by inaccurate intelligence and
poor planning, was repulsed mainly by United States Army forces
(artillery pictured) after intense fighting. The Japanese commanders had
underestimated the strength of the U.S. defenders, who greatly
outnumbered them, and suffered severe casualties, while Allied losses
were light. This attack was the last big Japanese offensive in the
Solomon Islands campaign. In late 1944 Australian troops took over from
the Americans and began a series of advances across the island that
lasted until the end of the war in August 1945.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_counterattack>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1190:
Around 150 Jews died inside York Castle, with the majority
committing mass suicide to avoid being killed by a mob.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Castle>
1322:
Despenser War: A royalist army defeated troops loyal to Thomas,
2nd Earl of Lancaster, in the Battle of Boroughbridge, which allowed
King Edward II of England to hold on to power for another five years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boroughbridge>
1872:
In the inaugural final of the FA Cup (trophy pictured)
Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington,
London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_FA_Cup_final>
2001:
A series of bomb blasts in the city of Shijiazhuang, China,
killed 108 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shijiazhuang_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
fall at the last hurdle:
(intransitive, idiomatic) To fail near the end of an activity, a
project, etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fall_at_the_last_hurdle>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We want to replace proprietary software, with its unjust social
system with Free Software and its ethical social system. And so we
develop free replacements for proprietary software, and other free
programs whenever we get an idea, so that the world can live in freedom.
The part that uses computers, at least, in that one area of life.
Because winning and maintaining freedom in general is a much bigger,
much broader and harder activity, but this is one part of it. Â
--Richard Stallman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman>
Final Fantasy X-2 is a role-playing video game developed and published
by Square for the PlayStation 2, first released in Japan on March 13,
2003. A direct sequel to 2001's Final Fantasy X, the game follows Yuna
as she searches for Tidus, the main character of the previous game,
while trying to prevent political conflicts in Spira from escalating to
war. Its gameplay follows a similar structure to other titles in the
Final Fantasy series, with players commanding a cast of characters as
they progress through the story exploring the in-game world and battling
enemies. The game was the last in the series to be released by Square
before its merger with Enix, and the first to be a sequel to a previous
Final Fantasy game. X-2 was a commercial and critical success, selling
over 5 million copies on PlayStation 2 and winning a number of awards.
A high-definition remaster was released on PlayStation 3 and
PlayStation Vita in 2013 and on other consoles in subsequent years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X-2>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1845:
German composer Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was
performed for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_%28Mendelssohn%29>
1943:
The Holocaust: Nazi troops began the final liquidation of the
Kraków Ghetto in Poland, sending about 2,000 Jews to the Płaszów
labor camp (deportation pictured), with the remaining 5,000 either
killed or sent to Auschwitz.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_Ghetto>
1988:
The Seikan Tunnel, 53.85 km (33.46 mi) in length, opened
between the cities of Hakodate and Aomori, Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikan_Tunnel>
2013:
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis, making
him the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, and the first
from the Southern Hemisphere.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
neurodiverse:
1. Of a person: exhibiting neurodiversity; varying in mental
configuration from others, especially being on the autism spectrum; of a
group: made up of neurodivergent people.
2. Of or pertaining to neurodivergent people or groups.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neurodiverse>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I will cherish these few specks of time. Â
--Everything Everywhere All at Once
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Everything_Everywhere_All_at_Once>