Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the
Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and
Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936, and was dedicated on
September 30, 1935, by President Franklin Roosevelt. Its construction
was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and
cost over a hundred lives. The winning bid to build the dam was
submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc., which began
construction on the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure
had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven.
The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also
presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the dam
to the Federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years early.
Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, and is located near Boulder City,
Nevada, a municipality originally created for workers on the
construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) south of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although mainly intended to control floods and provide irrigation
water, the dam's generators provide power for public and private
utilities in Nevada, Arizona and California.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1399:
Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, deposed Richard II to become
Henry IV of England, merging the Duchy of Lancaster with the crown.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry%C2%A0IV_of_England>
1744:
War of the Austrian Succession: The armies of France and Spain won a
pyrrhic victory over the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna
dell'Olmo near Cuneo, Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Madonna_dell%27Olmo>
1791:
The Magic Flute, one of the last operas composed by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, premiered at Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute>
1939:
World War II: General Władysław Sikorski became Prime Minister of the
Polish government-in-exile.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski>
1955:
Film actor James Dean suffered fatal injuries in a head-on car accident
near Cholame, California, US.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean>
2005:
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial editorial
cartoons depicting Muhammad, sparking protests across the Muslim world
by many who viewed them as Islamophobic and blasphemous.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
passively (adv):
1. In a passive manner; without conscious or self-directed action.
2. In an acquiescent manner; resignedly or submissively
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/passively>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Reason is like an officer when the King appears;
The officer then loses his power and hides himself.
Reason is the
shadow cast by God; God is the sun.
--Rumi
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi>
The Tower of London is a historic castle on the north bank of the River
Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by
the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded in 1066 as part of
the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire
castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a
resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling
elite. Since at least 1100, the castle has been used as a prison,
although that was not its primary purpose. The Tower of London has
played a prominent role in England's history. It was besieged several
times and controlling it has been important to controlling the country.
The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie,
the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of
the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The zenith of the castle's use
as a prison came in the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures
fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were
held within its walls. Today the Tower of London is a popular tourist
attraction. It is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and
is protected as a World Heritage Site.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, originally headquartered in
Great Scotland Yard, Westminster, was founded.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Service>
1885:
The Blackpool tramway, one of the first practical electric tramways in
the world, opened in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram>
1938:
At a conference in Munich, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, British
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and French Prime Minister Édouard
Daladier reached a settlement, signing it at about 1:30 am the next
day, stipulating that Czechoslovakia must cede the Sudetenland to
Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement>
1941:
The Holocaust: German Nazis aided by their collaborators began the Babi
Yar massacre in Kiev, Ukraine, killing over 30,000 Jewish civilians in
two days and thousands more in the months that followed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar>
1954:
Twelve countries signed a convention establishing the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), currently the world's largest
particle physics laboratory.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ornithopter (n):
An aircraft that generates lift through the flapping of its wings
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ornithopter>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I must speak the truth, and nothing but the truth.
--Miguel de Cervantes
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes>
The AMX-30 is a main battle tank designed by GIAT, first delivered to
the French Army in 1966. The production version of the AMX-30 weighed
36 metric tons (40 short tons), and sacrificed protection for increased
mobility. The French believed that it would have required too much
armour to protect against the latest anti-tank threats, thereby
reducing the tank's maneuverability. The tank's firepower was
manifested through its 105 mm (4.1 inch) cannon, firing an advanced
high explosive anti-tank warhead known as the Obus G. Speed was
provided by the 720 horsepower (540 kW) HS-110 diesel engine, although
the troublesome transmission adversely affected the tank's performance.
As the French Army began to modernize its fleet of tanks, a new
transmission, a new fin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator, and other
improvements were later introduced. As early as 1969, the AMX-30 and
variants were ordered by Greece, soon followed by Spain. In the coming
years, the AMX-30 would be exported to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Chile. By the end of production, 3,571
units of AMX-30s and its variants had been manufactured. In the 1991
Gulf War, AMX-30s were deployed by both the French and Qatari armies,
and Qatari AMX-30s saw action against Iraqi forces at the Battle of
Khafji.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMX-30>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
William the Conqueror and his fleet of around 600 ships landed at
Pevensey, Sussex, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England>
1542:
Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the first European to
travel along the coast of California, landed on what is now the City of
San Diego.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Cabrillo>
1928:
Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming noticed a
bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what
became known as penicillin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/penicillin>
1978:
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an
apparent myocardial infarction, an event that has spawned a variety of
murder conspiracy theories.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I>
1995:
Over 30 mercenaries led by Bob Denard landed on the Comoros in an
attempted coup, his fourth one on the African island nation since 1975.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Denard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
junket (n):
1. A type of cream cheese, made of sweetened curds or rennet.
2. A feast or banquet.
3. A pleasure-trip; especially a trip
ostensibly made for business but which entails merrymaking or
entertainment
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/junket>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The way which the superior man pursues, reaches wide and far, and yet
is secret. Common men and women, however ignorant, may intermeddle with
the knowledge of it; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which
even the sage does not know. Common men and women, however much below
the ordinary standard of character, can carry it into practice; yet in
its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage is not able to
carry into practice. Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some
things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the
superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the
world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in
its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it.
--Confucius
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley
between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater
Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and
17, and at least four of them were sexually assaulted. The murders are
so named because two of the victims were discovered in graves dug on
Saddleworth Moor (pictured); a third grave was discovered on the moor
in 1987, more than 20 years after Brady and Hindley's trial in 1966.
The body of a fourth victim is also suspected to be buried there, but
as of 2010, it remains undiscovered. The investigation was reopened in
1985, after Brady was reported in the press as having confessed to two
of the murders. Brady and Hindley were taken separately to Saddleworth
Moor to assist the police in their search for the graves, both by then
having confessed to the additional murders. Hindley later made several
appeals against her life sentence, claiming she was a reformed woman
and no longer a danger to society, but she was never released. She
later died in 2002 at the age of 60. Brady was declared criminally
insane in 1985, since when he has been confined in the high-security
Ashworth Hospital. He has made it clear that he never wants to be
released, and has repeatedly asked that he be allowed to die.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors_murders>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
American Revolutionary War: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, became the capital
of the United States for one day as members of the Continental Congress
fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster%2C_Pennsylvania>
1825:
Locomotion No. 1 hauled the first train on opening day of the Stockton
and Darlington Railway, one of the first railways to use steam
locomotives and carry passengers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway>
1905:
The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's
fourth Annus Mirabilis paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon
Its Energy Content?", which introduced the equation E=mc².
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence>
1908:
The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the
Piquette Plant in Detroit.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T>
1937:
The Bali Tiger, a small subspecies of tiger found solely on the small
Indonesian island of Bali, was officially declared extinct.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Tiger>
1940:
World War II: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan
signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, officially forming a military
alliance known as the Axis powers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_Pact>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rain on someone's parade (v):
To disappoint or discourage someone
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rain_on_someone%27s_parade>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are
worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them
against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from
our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger
and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care
and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the
present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to
be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of
them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are
in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us
contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the
rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. —
Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already
made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times,
more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation,
fortitude, and perseverance.
--Samuel Adams
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>
The 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was played on September 2,
2009, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. The
match determined the winner of the 2009 edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S.
Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams
affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. This was the 96th
edition of the oldest competition in United States soccer. The match
was won by Seattle Sounders FC, who defeated D.C. United 2–1. Seattle
became the second expansion team in Major League Soccer history to win
the tournament in their inaugural season. D.C. United entered the
tournament as the competition's defending champions. Both Sounders FC
and D.C. United had to play through two qualification rounds for MLS
teams before entering the official tournament. Prior to the final,
there was a public dispute between the owners of the two clubs
regarding the selection of D.C. United to host it at their home field,
RFK Stadium. As the tournament champions, Sounders FC earned a berth in
the preliminary round of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. The
club also received a $100,000 cash prize, while D.C. United received
$50,000 as the runner-up.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup_Final>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1580:
The Golden Hind sailed into Plymouth, England, as explorer Francis
Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind>
1789:
For his presidential administration, George Washington appointed Thomas
Jefferson as the first U.S. Secretary of State, John Jay as the first
U.S. Chief Justice, Samuel Osgood as the first U.S. Postmaster General,
and Edmund Randolph as the first U.S. Attorney General.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_George_Washington>
1907:
Newfoundland and New Zealand became dominions within the British
Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_Newfoundland>
1969:
Abbey Road, the final album recorded by The Beatles before publicly
announcing their breakup, was released.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles>
1983:
Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov averted a possible worldwide
nuclear war by deliberately certifying what otherwise appeared to be an
impending attack by the United States as a false alarm.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ridibund (adj):
Inclined to and easily brought to laughter
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ridibund>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever we inherit from the fortunate
We have taken from the defeated
What they had to leave us — a
symbol:
A symbol perfected in death.
And all shall be well and
All manner
of thing shall be well
By the purification of the motive
In the ground of our beseeching.
--T. S. Eliot
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot>
Diocletian (244–311) was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. Acclaimed
emperor by the army, his ascension to power ended the Crisis of the
Third Century. Diocletian appointed Maximian his Augustus, his senior
co-emperor, in 285. In 293, he appointed Galerius and Constantius as
Caesars, junior co-emperors. Under this "Tetrarchy", each emperor would
rule over a quarter-division of the empire. In campaigns against
Sarmatian and Danubian tribes (285–90), the Alamanni (288), and
usurpers in Egypt (297–98), Diocletian secured the empire's borders and
purged it of threats to his power. In 299, Diocletian led negotiations
with Persia, the empire's traditional enemy, and achieved a lasting and
favorable peace. He also separated and enlarged the empire's civil and
military services and reorganised the provincial divisions,
establishing the largest and most bureaucratic government in Roman
history. Not all Diocletian's plans were successful; the Edict on
Maximum Prices was counterproductive and quickly ignored. The
Diocletianic Persecution failed to destroy the empire's growing
Christian community. His Tetrarchic system collapsed after his
abdication. Despite his failures, Diocletian's reforms fundamentally
changed the structure of Roman government, enabling an empire that had
seemed near the brink of collapse in Diocletian's youth to remain
essentially intact for another century.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
Harold Godwinson of England defeated Harald Hardråde of Norway in
Yorkshire at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, marking the end of Viking
invasion of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stamford_Bridge>
1396:
Ottoman wars in Europe: Ottoman forces under Bayezid I defeated a
Christian alliance led by Sigismund of Hungary in the Battle of
Nicopolis near present-day Nikopol, Bulgaria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nicopolis>
1513:
Conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa , upon a peak in present-day Darién,
Panama, became the first European known to have seen the Pacific Ocean
from the New World, naming it Mar del Sur, or South Sea, a few days
later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez_de_Balboa>
1944:
World War II: British troops began their withdrawal from the Battle of
Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation Market Garden
in defeat.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arnhem>
1983:
In one of the largest prison escapes in British history, 38 Provisional
Irish Republican Army prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and
smashed their way out of HM Prison Maze in County Antrim, Northern
Ireland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_Prison_escape>
1996:
The last Magdalene Asylum, an institution to rehabilitate so-called
"fallen" women, in Ireland was closed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Asylum>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
haggle (v):
To argue for a better deal, especially over prices with a seller
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haggle>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by
artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when
a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. Since man is
mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something
behind him that is immortal since it will always move. This is the
artist's way of scribbling "Kilroy was here" on the wall of the final
and irrevocable oblivion through which he must someday pass.
--William Faulkner
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner>
The Liberty Bell is one of the iconic symbols of American independence.
Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it most likely was rung to mark
the public reading of the American Declaration of Independence on July
8, 1776. The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and
Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was inscribed
with part of a verse from the Book of Leviticus (25:10): "Proclaim
LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." It
originally cracked when first rung after arrival in Philadelphia, and
was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last
names appear on the bell. The bell hung for years in the steeple of the
Pennsylvania State House (today known as Independence Hall), and was
used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens
to public meetings and proclamations. Bells were rung to mark the
reading of the Declaration on July 8, 1776, and while there is no
contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians
believe it was one of the bells rung. It acquired its distinctive large
crack sometime in the early 19th century—a widespread story claims it
cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in
1835. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia, which owns the bell,
allowed it to go to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. It
was moved from its longstanding home in Independence Hall to a nearby
glass pavilion on Independence Mall in 1976, and then to the larger
Liberty Bell Center adjacent to the pavilion in 2003.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
622:
Muhammad and his followers completed their Hijra from Mecca to Medina
to escape religious persecution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_%28Islam%29>
1180:
The Byzantine Empire was weakened by the death of Emperor Manuel I
Komnenos.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos>
1789:
The First United States Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789,
establishing the U.S. federal judiciary and setting the number of
Supreme Court Justices.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_Act_of_1789>
1841:
The Sultan of Brunei granted Sarawak to British adventurer James
Brooke.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sarawak>
1877:
The Imperial Japanese Army commanded by Kawamura Sumiyoshi defeated
Saigō Takamori and the Satsuma clan samurai at the Battle of Shiroyama
in Kagoshima, the decisive engagement of the Satsuma Rebellion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiroyama>
1903:
Alfred Deakin became the second Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding
Edmund Barton who left office to become a founding justice of the High
Court of Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Deakin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cartographic (adj):
Of or pertaining to the making of maps
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cartographic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Extremism. It is an almost infallible sign — a kind of death-rattle —
when a human institution is forced by its members into stressing those
and only those factors which are identificatory, at the expense of
others which it necessarily shares with competing institutions because
human beings belong to all of them.
--John Brunner
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner>
The Battle of Svolder was a naval battle fought in September 999 or
1000 somewhere in the western Baltic between King Olaf Tryggvason of
Norway and an alliance of his enemies. King Olaf was sailing home after
an expedition to Wendland (Pomerania), when he was ambushed by an
alliance of Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olaf Eiríksson, King of
Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson, Jarl of Lade. Olaf had only 11 warships
in the battle against a fleet of at least 70. His ships were cleared
one by one, last of all the Long Serpent, which Jarl Eirik captured as
Olaf threw himself into the sea. After the battle, Norway was ruled by
the Jarls of Lade as a fief of Denmark and Sweden. The most detailed
sources on the battle, the kings' sagas, were written approximately two
centuries after it took place. Historically unreliable, they offer an
extended literary account describing the battle and the events leading
up to it in vivid detail.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Svolder>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1459:
Yorkist forces led by Richard Neville defeated Lancastrian troops at
the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, England, the first major
battle of the Wars of the Roses.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blore_Heath>
1803:
Maratha troops were beaten by British forces at the Battle of Assaye,
one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1846:
Using mathematical predictions by French mathematician Urbain Le
Verrier, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle became the first
person to observe Neptune and recognise it as a hitherto unknown planet
.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_Neptune>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt against
Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal directly to
the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon
delivered the "Checkers speech", denying he received illegal campaign
contributions.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
koan (n):
1. (Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, written
as a riddle or as a fable, which has become an object of Zen study and
meditation.
2. A riddle with no solution, used to provoke reflection on the
inadequacy of logical reasoning, and to lead to enlightenment
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/koan>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In an ideal University, as I conceive it, a man should be able to
obtain instruction in all forms of knowledge, and discipline in the use
of all the methods by which knowledge is obtained. In such a
University, the force of living example should fire the student with a
noble ambition to emulate the learning of learned men, and to follow in
the footsteps of the explorers of new fields of knowledge. And the very
air he breathes should be charged with that enthusiasm for truth, that
fanaticism of veracity, which is a greater possession than much
learning; a nobler gift than the power of increasing knowledge; by so
much greater and nobler than these, as the moral nature of man is
greater than the intellectual; for veracity is the heart of morality.
--Thomas Henry Huxley
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley>
The SR Leader class was a class of experimental 0-6-6-0 articulated
steam locomotive, produced to the design of the innovative engineer
Oliver Bulleid. Intended as a replacement for the ageing fleet of M7
class, the Leader was an attempt to extend the life of steam traction
on the Southern Railway by eliminating many of the operational
drawbacks associated with existing steam locomotives. Design work began
in 1946, and development continued after the nationalisation of the
railways in 1948, under the auspices of British Railways. The Leader
project was part of Bulleid's desire to modernise the steam locomotive
based on experience gained with the Southern Railway's fleet of
electric stock. The design incorporated many novel features, such as
the use of thermic siphons, bogies, and cabs at either end of the
locomotive, resulting in its unique appearance. Several of its
innovations proved to be unsuccessful however, partly accounting for
the project's cancellation in the early 1950s. Five Leader locomotives
were begun, although only one was completed. Problems with the design,
indifferent reports on performance, and political pressure surrounding
spiraling development costs, led to all locomotives of the class being
scrapped by 1951.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_Leader_class>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
The epoch of the French Republican Calendar occurred, marking the first
full day of the newly proclaimed French First Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar>
1827:
According to his own record of his early life, Latter Day Saint
movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. obtained the golden plates, a set of
engraved plates that he said was his source material for the Book of
Mormon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/golden_plates>
1862:
Slavery in the United States: President Abraham Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the freedom of all slaves in
Confederate territory by January 1, 1863.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation>
1869:
Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des Nibelungen by
German composer Richard Wagner, was first performed in Munich.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold>
1914:
In World War I, German naval forces bombard Papeete in French
Polynesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Papeete>
1979:
The Vela Incident: An American Vela satellite detected an unidentified
flash of light, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_Incident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bereave (v):
To take away someone or something important or close
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bereave>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to
load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with
apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the ground,
and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later
flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has
o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
--John Keats
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Keats>
Sherlock Holmes Baffled is a very short silent film created between
1900 and 1903, with cinematography by Arthur Marvin. It is the
earliest-known film to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes, albeit
in a form unlike later screen incarnations of Conan Doyle's detective.
The inclusion of the character also makes it the first recorded
detective film. In the film, a thief who can appear and disappear at
random steals a sack of items from Sherlock Holmes. At each point,
Holmes' attempts to thwart the intruder end in failure. Originally
intended to be shown on the Mutoscope, an early motion picture device
which provided viewing to only one person at a time, Sherlock Holmes
Baffled has a running time of 30 seconds. Although probably produced in
April 1900, it was only registered in 1903, and a copyright notice
stating this is seen on some prints. The identities of the first screen
Holmes and his assailant are not recorded. Assumed to be lost for
several years, the film was rediscovered in 1968 as a paper print in
the Library of Congress. It is estimated that Sherlock Holmes has
become the most prolific screen character in the history of cinema.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_Baffled>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
French Revolution: The National Convention voted to abolish the
monarchy, and proclaimed the First Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Convention>
1898:
The Hundred Days' Reform in China was abruptly terminated when Empress
Dowager Cixi forced the reform-minded Guangxu Emperor into seclusion
and took over the government as regent.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days%27_Reform>
1937:
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, a predecessor to The Lord of the Rings,
was first published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit>
1939:
Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated in Bucharest
by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_C%C4%83linescu>
1999:
A 7.6 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Nantou County, Taiwan, killing 2,416
people, injuring over 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion in
damage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/921_earthquake>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
uraeus (n):
A representation of the sacred asp, symbolising supreme power in
ancient Egypt
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/uraeus>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ah, you loved me as a loser,
But now you're worried that I just might win.
You know the way to
stop me,
But you don't have the discipline.
How many nights I prayed for
this,
To let my work begin.
First we take Manhattan,
Then we take
Berlin.
--Leonard Cohen
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen>