The 21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry
regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was
organized in Worcester, Massachusetts, and mustered into service on
August 23, 1861. After fighting in the Battle of Roanoke Island and the
Battle of New Bern, the 21st Massachusetts was attached to the Army of
the Potomac and participated in several of the largest battles of the
Civil War, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of
Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg. The most devastating
engagement of the war for the 21st was the Battle of Chantilly, fought
on September 1, 1862, during which the unit suffered 35 percent
casualties. From March 1863 to January 1864, the 21st served with
Burnside in the Department of the Ohio, seeing action in Kentucky and
eastern Tennessee. In May 1864, the regiment rejoined the Army of the
Potomac, participating in Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign
and the Siege of Petersburg. The regiment was a favorite of Clara
Barton, the famed battlefield nurse, who was also from Worcester
County, Massachusetts. By the end of its three years of service, the
21st Massachusetts had been reduced from 1,000 men to fewer than 100.
Those of the 21st who chose to re-enlist at the end of their initial
three-year commitment were eventually consolidated with the 36th
Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on October 21, 1864.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Regiment_Massachusetts_Volunteer_Infantry>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
356 BC:
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World, was destroyed in an act of arson by a man named
Herostratus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis>
1831:
In Brussels, Leopold I was inaugurated as the first King of the
Belgians.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium>
1861:
In the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle in the
American Civil War, the Confederate Army under Joseph E. Johnston and
P. G. T. Beauregard routed Union Army troops under Irvin McDowell.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bull_Run>
1925:
Creation–evolution controversy: High school biology teacher John T.
Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee's Butler Act by teaching
evolution in class.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial>
1964:
Race riots began in Padang, Singapore, then part of Malaysia, during a
Malay procession marking Muhammad's birthday, leaving 23 people killed,
450 people injured, significant damage to property and vehicles, and a
government imposed 11-day curfew.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_race_riots_in_Singapore>
1995:
The Chinese People's Liberation Army began firing missiles into the
waters north of Taiwan, starting the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cacuminous (adj):
(rare) Having a pyramidal top
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cacuminous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Now I've been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun.
Oh, I've been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And
I believe it could be
Someday it's going to come.
--Cat Stevens
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens>
Clements Markham (1830–1916) was a British geographer, explorer and
writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS)
between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president for
a further 12Â years. In the latter capacity he was mainly responsible
for organising the National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–04, and for
launching the polar career of Robert Falcon Scott. The main achievement
of Markham's RGS presidency was the revival at the end of the 19th
century of British interest in Antarctic exploration, after a 50-year
interval. All his life Markham was a constant traveller and a prolific
writer, his works including histories, travel accounts and biographies.
He authored many papers and reports for the RGS, and did much editing
and translation work for the Hakluyt Society, of which he also became
president. He received public and academic honours, and was recognised
as a major influence on the discipline of geography, although it was
acknowledged that much of his work was based on enthusiasm rather than
scholarship. Among the geographical features bearing his name is
Antarctica's Mount Markham, named for him by Scott in 1902.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clements_Markham>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1656:
Led by King Charles X Gustav, the armies of Sweden and Brandenburg
defeated the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth near Warsaw.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_%281656%29>
1927:
Five-year-old Michael became King of Romania upon the death of his
grandfather Ferdinand.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_of_Romania>
1944:
Adolf Hitler survived an assassination attempt by German Resistance
member Claus von Stauffenberg, who hid a bomb inside a briefcase during
a conference at the Wolfsschanze military headquarters in East Prussia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_plot>
1951:
Abdullah I of Jordan was assassinated while visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in
Jerusalem.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan>
1969:
The Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, where
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the
moon six-and-a-half hours later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11>
2005:
The Civil Marriage Act received its Royal Assent, legalizing same-sex
marriage in Canada.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Marriage_Act>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vitiate (v):
1. To spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or
effectiveness of something.
2. To debase or morally corrupt.
3. (archaic) To violate, to rape
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vitiate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
--Neil Armstrong
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong>
The Mary Rose was a warship of the English Tudor navy of King
Henry VIII in the first half of the 16th century. During four decades
of service in wars against France, Scotland and Brittany, she was one
of the largest ships in the English navy and one of the earliest ships
specially built for warfare. The Mary Rose is well-known today due to
the fact that she sank intact on 19 July 1545 in the battle of the
Solent north of the Isle of Wight, while leading an attack on French
galleys. The wreck of the Mary Rose was rediscovered in 1971 and
salvaged in October 1982 by the Mary Rose Trust in one of the most
complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.
Though much of the ship has deteriorated, the surviving section of the
hull, with thousands of artefacts, is immeasurable value as a time
capsule of the Tudor period. The excavation and salvage of the Mary
Rose has since become a milestone in the field of maritime archaeology,
comparable only to the raising of the Swedish 17th-century warship Vasa
in 1961. The finds include weapons, sailing equipment, naval supplies
and a wide array of objects used by the crew, providing detailed
knowledge of the era in which the ship was built, in peacetime as in
war. Many of the artefacts are unique to the Mary Rose and have
provided insights into topics ranging from naval warfare to the history
of musical instruments. While undergoing conservation, the remains of
the hull and many of its related artefacts have been on display since
the mid-1980s in the Mary Rose Museum in the Portsmouth Historic
Dockyard.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rose>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going ship that had both an iron hull
and a screw propeller, launched from Bristol, UK.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain>
1848:
The two-day Women's Rights Convention, the first women's rights and
feminist convention held in the United States, opened in Seneca Falls,
New York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Falls_Convention>
1870:
A dispute over who would become the next Spanish monarch following the
deposition of Isabella II during the 1868 Glorious Revolution led
France to declare war on Prussia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War>
1916:
World War I: Australian forces engaged the Germans at the Battle of
Fromelles in France, described as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's
entire history" since 5,533 Australian soldiers were eventually killed,
wounded or taken prisoner in the failed operation.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fromelles>
1947:
Burmese nationalist Aung San and six members of his newly formed
cabinet were assassinated during a cabinet meeting.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
oftentimes (adv):
1. Frequently.
2. Repeatedly
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oftentimes>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away; they just keep coming back for
more. And that's the way it is...
--Walter Cronkite
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite>
The Noronha skink is a species of skink from the island of Fernando de
Noronha off northeastern Brazil. Perhaps seen by Amerigo Vespucci in
1503, it was first formally described in 1839. Its subsequent taxonomic
history has been complex, riddled with confusion with Trachylepis
maculata and other species, homonyms, and other problems. The species
is classified in the otherwise mostly African genus Trachylepis and is
thought to have reached its island from Africa by rafting. The
enigmatic Trachylepis tschudii, supposedly from Peru, may be the same
species as the Noronha skink. The Noronha skink is covered with dark
and light spots on the upperparts and is usually about 7 to 10Â cm (3 to
4Â in) in length. The tail is long and muscular, but breaks off easily.
Very common throughout Fernando de Noronha, it is an opportunistic
feeder, eating both insects and plant material, including nectar from
the Erythrina velutina tree, as well as other material ranging from
cookie crumbs to eggs of its own species. Introduced predators such as
cats prey on it and several parasitic worms infect it.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noronha_skink>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
64:
The Great Fire of Rome started among the shops around the Circus
Maximus, eventually destroying three of fourteen Roman districts and
severely damaging seven others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Rome>
1863:
American Civil War: Led by Union Army Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first formal African
American military unit, spearheaded an assault on Fort Wagner near
Charleston, South Carolina .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Volunteer_Infantry>
1982:
Guatemalan military forces and their paramilitary allies slaughtered
over 250 Mayans in the village of Plan de Sánchez, Baja Verapaz.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_de_S%C3%A1nchez_massacre>
1996:
Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded at about 00:31 UTC (20:31, July 17
EDT) off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800>
2005:
In a joint statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then
U.S. President George W. Bush announced the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear
agreement, a bilateral accord on civil nuclear cooperation between
their two respective countries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-U.S._civilian_nuclear_agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
insipid (adj):
1. Unappetizingly flavorless.
2. Flat; lacking character or definition.
3. Cloyingly sweet or
sentimental
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insipid>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better
than not to be able to love at all.
--William Makepeace Thackeray
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray>
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television
series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda
Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Like its predecessors, Degrassi: The
Next Generation follows a group of students at Degrassi Community
School who face challenges common to teen life, such as self image,
peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence,
self-injury, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse. The series was created
by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore, and is produced by Epitome Pictures in
association with the CTV Television Network. The series is filmed at
Epitome's studios in Toronto, Ontario, rather than on the real De
Grassi Street from which the franchise takes its name. A critical
success, Degrassi: The Next Generation has often received favourable
reviews from Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and
AfterElton.com. In its initial years, it was frequently the most
watched domestic drama series in Canada, and one of the highest-rated
shows on The N in the United States. The series premiered on CTV on 14
October 2001, and the ninth season will finish on 16 July 2010 with the
made-for-TV film "Degrassi Takes Manhattan" on Canada's MuchMusic.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrassi%3A_The_Next_Generation>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1769:
Spanish friar JunÃpero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá
(pictured today), the first Franciscan mission in the Alta California
region of New Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Diego_de_Alcal%C3%A1>
1790:
The United States Congress passed the Residence Act, selecting a new
permanent site along the Potomac River for the capital of the United
States, which latter became Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%2C_D.C.>
1945:
Manhattan Project: "Trinity", the first nuclear test explosion, was
detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_%28nuclear_test%29>
1983:
A British Airways Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed in the Celtic Sea
when en route from Penzance in England to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly in
thick fog, killing 20 of the 26 on board, and sparking a review of
helicopter safety in the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_British_Airways_Sikorsky_S-61_crash>
1994:
Fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet began hitting the planet
Jupiter, with the first one causing a fireball which reached a peak
temperature of about 24,000Â K.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker-Levy_9>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
amygdala (n):
The region of the brain believed to play a key role in the emotions,
such as fear and pleasure
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amygdala>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have always lived in a world in which I'm just a spot in history. My
life is not the important point. I'm just part of the continuum, and
that continuum, to me, is a marvelous thing. The history of life, and
the history of the planet, should go on and on and on and on. I cannot
conceive of anything in the universe that has more meaning than that.
--Sheri S. Tepper
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper>
Ann Bannon (born 1932) is an American author who wrote six lesbian pulp
fiction novels from 1957 to 1962 known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles.
The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has
earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction". Bannon was a
young housewife trying to address her own issues of sexuality when she
was inspired to write her first novel. Her subsequent books featured
four characters who reappeared throughout the series, including her
eponymous heroine, Beebo Brinker, who came to embody the archetype of a
butch lesbian. The majority of her characters mirrored people she knew,
but their stories reflected a life she did not feel she was able to
live. Despite her traditional upbringing and role in married life, her
novels defied conventions for romance stories and depictions of
lesbians, by addressing complex homosexual relationships positively
during the morally repressive era of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her
books shaped lesbian identity for lesbians and heterosexuals alike,
Bannon was mostly unaware of their impact. She stopped writing in 1962
and later earned a doctorate in linguistics and became an academic. She
endured a difficult marriage for 27Â years and as she separated from her
husband in the 1980s, her books were republished and she was stunned to
learn of their influence on society. They were released again in 2001,
and have been adapted as an award-winning Off-Broadway production. They
are taught in Women's and LGBT studies courses, and Bannon has been
given numerous awards for pioneering lesbian and gay literature.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Bannon>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1240:
Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky
defeated the Swedes on the Neva River near Ust-Izhora, present-day
Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Neva>
1410:
The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald, the
decisive engagement of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald>
1823:
A fire, accidentally started by a workman who was repairing the lead of
the roof, destroyed the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the
Walls in Rome. The church was restored by 1840.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint_Paul_Outside_the_Walls>
1870:
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories were established following the
transfer of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from the
Hudson's Bay Company to Canada.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba>
1888:
The volcano Mount Bandai erupted, killing at least 470 people in the
Fukushima Prefecture of Japan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888_eruption_of_Mount_Bandai>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tractable (adj):
1. (obsolete) Capable of being handled or touched; palpable.
2. Capable of being easily led, taught, or managed; docile, manageable
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tractable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Choose only one master — Nature.
--Rembrandt
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rembrandt>
William Hanna (1910–2001) was an American animator, director, producer,
and cartoonist, whose movie and television cartoon characters
entertained millions worldwide for much of the twentieth century. Hanna
joined the Harman and Ising animation studio in 1930 and steadily
gained skill and prominence while working on cartoons such as Captain
and the Kids. In 1937, while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),
Hanna met Joseph Barbera. The two men began a collaboration that was at
first best known for producing Tom and Jerry and live action films. In
1957, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful
television animation studio in the business, producing programs such as
The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo,
The Smurfs, and Yogi Bear. In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft
Broadcasting for $12Â million, but Hanna and Barbera remained head of
the company until 1991. At that time the studio was sold to Turner
Broadcasting System, which in turn was merged with Time Warner, owners
of Warner Bros., in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors.
Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. Their
cartoons have become cultural icons, and Hanna-Barbera's shows have a
global audience of over 300Â million people.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hanna>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
French Revolution: Parisians stormed the Bastille , freeing its inmates
and taking the prison's large quantities of arms and ammunition.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille>
1791:
The Priestley Riots began, in which Joseph Priestley and other
religious Dissenters were driven out of Birmingham, England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestley_Riots>
1950:
In an early battle of the Korean War, North Korean troops began
attacking the headquarters of the American 24th Infantry Division in
Taejon, South Korea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taejon>
1965:
The NASA spacecraft Mariner 4 flew past Mars, collecting the first
close-up pictures of another planet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_4>
1969:
Political conflicts between El Salvador and Honduras erupted into the
four-day Football War, so-named because it coincided with the inflamed
rioting during the second CONCACAF qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA
World Cup.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
libretto (n):
1. The text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera.
2. A book containing such a text
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/libretto>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
This land is your land, this land is my land
>From California to the New York Island,
>From the Redwood Forest, to
the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
--Woody Guthrie
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie>
"What'd I Say" is a song by American rhythm and blues (R&B) musician
Ray Charles, released in 1959 as a single divided into two parts. It
was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charles, his orchestra,
and backup singers had played their entire set list at a show and still
had time left; the response from many audiences was so enthusiastic
that Charles announced to his producer that he was going to record it.
After his run of R&B hits, this song finally broke Charles into
mainstream pop music and itself sparked a new sub-genre of R&B titled
soul, finally putting together all the elements that Charles had been
creating since he recorded "I Got a Woman" in 1954. The gospel
influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not
only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black
audiences. It earned Ray Charles his first gold record and has been one
of the most influential songs in R&B and rock and roll history. For the
rest of his career, Charles closed every concert with the song. It was
added to the National Recording Registry in 2002 and ranked at number
10 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27d_I_Say>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1772:
Under the command of explorer James Cook, HMS Resolution set sail from
Plymouth, England, along with HMS Adventure.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolution_%281771%29>
1787:
The Northwest Ordinance was passed by the Congress of the
Confederation, creating the Northwest Territory as the first organized
territory of the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory>
1793:
Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the
French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday>
1830:
The Scottish Church College, the oldest continuously running Christian
liberal arts and sciences college in India, was founded as the General
Assembly's Institution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Church_College%2C_Calcutta>
1863:
Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws
passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the
ongoing American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Draft_Riots>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
divest (v):
1. (archaic) To remove all of one's clothing; to strip.
2. To strip, deprive, or dispossess oneself of something (such as a
right, passion, privilege, or prejudice)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/divest>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
O how I feel, just as I pluck the flower
And stick it to my breast — words can't reveal;
But there are souls
that in this lovely hour
Know all I mean, and feel whate'er I feel.
--John Clare
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Clare>