Earth is the fifth-largest planet of the eight in the Solar System. It
is also the largest, most massive, and densest of the Solar System's
four terrestrial planets. Home to millions of species, including
humans, Earth is the only place in the Universe where life is known to
exist. The planet formed 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on
its surface within a billion years. The world is expected to continue
supporting life for another 1.5 billion years. Earth's outer surface is
divided into several rigid segments that gradually migrate across the
surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of the
surface is covered with salt-water oceans, the remainder consisting of
continents and islands. Earth's interior remains active, with a thick
layer of relatively solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a
magnetic field, and a solid iron inner core. Earth interacts with other
objects in outer space, including the Sun and the Moon. The mineral
resources of Earth, as well as the products of the biosphere,
contribute resources that are used to support a global human
population. The human inhabitants are grouped into about 200
independent sovereign states and have developed many views of the
planet.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
Over 50,000 people rushed to claim a piece of the available two million
acres (8,000 km2) in the Unassigned Lands, the present-day U.S. state
of Oklahoma. Within hours, both Oklahoma City and Guthrie had
established cities of around 10,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Run_of_1889>
1915:
The Germans released chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in the Second
Battle of Ypres, killing over 5,000 soldiers within ten minutes by
asphyxiation in the first large-scale successful use of poison gas in
World War I.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I>
1945:
About 600 prisoners of the Jasenovac concentration camp in the
Independent State of Croatia revolted, but only 80 managed to escape
while the other 520 were killed by the Croatian Ustaše regime.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasenovac_concentration_camp>
1993:
The first version of Mosaic , created by computer programmers Marc
Andreessen and Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was
released, becoming the first popular World Wide Web browser and Gopher
client.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_%28web_browser%29>
2000:
In a predawn raid, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents
seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami,
Florida, and returned him to his Cuban father.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elian_Gonzalez_affair>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cortical (adj):
1. (anatomy) Pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body
structure, such as the kidney or the brain.
2. (botany) Pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root—the tissue that
lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cortical>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The death of dogma is the birth of morality.
--Immanuel Kant
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant>
Antonin Scalia (born 1936) is an American jurist who serves as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Upon the
retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, Scalia will become the Senior
Associate Justice. In 1982, he was appointed as a judge of the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by
President Ronald Reagan. In 1986, Judge Scalia was appointed by Reagan
to the Supreme Court to fill the seat as associate justice vacated when
Justice William Rehnquist was elevated to Chief Justice. While
Rehnquist's confirmation was contentious, Scalia was asked few
difficult questions by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and faced no
opposition. Scalia was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and took
the bench on September 26, 1986. In his near quarter-century on the
Court, Justice Scalia has staked out a conservative ideology in his
opinions, advocating textualism in statutory interpretation and
originalism in constitutional interpretation. He is a strong defender
of the powers of the executive branch, believing presidential power
should be paramount in many areas. He opposes affirmative action and
other policies that treat minorities as groups. He files separate
opinions in large numbers of cases, and, in his minority opinions,
often castigates the Court's majority in scathing language.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
900:
A debt is pardoned by the Datu of Tondo on the island of Luzon, as
inscribed on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the earliest known
written document found in the Philippines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription>
1509:
Henry VIII became King of England, following the death of his father
Henry VII, eventually becoming a significant figure in the history of
the English monarchy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England>
1918:
The German fighter pilot known as "The Red Baron", the most successful
flying ace of World War I with 80 confirmed air combat victories, was
shot down and killed near Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen>
1960:
Brasília, a planned city primarily designed by architect and urban
planner Lúcio Costa, was officially inaugurated, replacing Rio de
Janeiro as the capital of Brazil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras%C3%ADlia>
1970:
In response to a long-running dispute over wheat production quotas, the
Principality of Hutt River proclaimed their secession from Western
Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
penalize (v):
1. To subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule
or regulation.
2. To impose a handicap on.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penalize>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We live in a world ruled by fictions of every kind — mass
merchandising, advertising, politics conducted as a branch of
advertising, the instant translation of science and technology into
popular imagery, the increasing blurring and intermingling of
identities within the realm of consumer goods, the preempting of any
free or original imaginative response to experience by the television
screen. We live inside an enormous novel. For the writer in particular
it is less and less necessary for him to invent the fictional content
of his novel. The fiction is already there. The writer's task is to
invent the reality.
--J. G. Ballard
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard>
The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of
the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai,
in the Dutch East Indies. Eight senior pilots, including Australia's
leading flying ace, Group Captain Clive Caldwell, tendered their
resignations to protest what they perceived as the relegation of Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadrons to strategically
unimportant ground attack missions. A government investigation
vindicated the "mutineers", and three high-ranking officers at First
Tactical Air Force Headquarters including the commander, Air Commodore
Harry Cobby, were relieved of their posts. George Odgers summed up the
cause of the incident in the official history of the RAAF in World
War II as "the conviction of a group of young leaders that they were
engaging in operations that were not militarily justifiable—a
conviction widely shared also by many Australian soldiers and political
leaders." Odgers concluded that the ensuing inquiry "made it clear that
almost everyone concerned acted from the highest motives, and was
convinced that, in the crisis, he acted wisely".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morotai_Mutiny>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1653:
Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament of the Commonwealth of
England by force, eventually replacing it with the Barebone's
Parliament.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rump_Parliament>
1884:
Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical Humanum Genus, denouncing
Freemasonry as well as a number of beliefs and practices purportedly
associated with it such as popular sovereignty and the separation of
church and state.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanum_Genus>
1968:
British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell made his controversial
"Rivers of Blood" speech in opposition to immigration and
anti-discrimination legislation, resulting in his removal from the
Shadow Cabinet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech>
1999:
Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on a massacre, killing
13 people and wounding over 20 others before committing suicide at
Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, US.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre>
2008:
Fernando Lugo became the first non-Colorado Party candidate to be
elected President of Paraguay in 61 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguayan_general_election%2C_2008>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jerkwater (adj):
(US, colloquial, pejorative) Of an inhabited place, small,
insignificant, backward
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jerkwater>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let every one of us cultivate, in every word that issues from our
mouth, absolute truth. I say cultivate, because to very few people — as
may be noticed of most young children — does truth, this rigid, literal
veracity, come by nature. To many, even who love it and prize it dearly
in others, it comes only after the self-control, watchfulness, and
bitter experience of years.
--Dinah Craik
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dinah_Craik>
The Oklahoma City bombing occurred on April 19, 1995, when American
militia movement sympathizer Timothy McVeigh, with the assistance of
Terry Nichols, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
downtown Oklahoma City. It was the most significant act of terrorism on
American soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001, claiming the
lives of 168 victims and injuring more than 680. The blast destroyed or
damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius. The bomb was
estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage. The
official investigation was the largest criminal investigation case in
American history; FBI agents conducted 28,000 interviews, collecting
nearly one billion pieces of information. McVeigh was executed by
lethal injection on June 11, 2001, and Nichols was sentenced to life in
prison. As a result of the bombing, the U.S. government passed
legislation designed to prevent future terrorist attacks by increasing
the protection around federal buildings. On April 19, 2000, the
Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah
Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1012:
After refusing to allow himself to be ransomed for his freedom by his
Viking captors, Alphege was beaten to death by a mob in present-day
London, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86lfheah_of_Canterbury>
1775:
The American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and
Concord in the British colony of Massachusetts.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord>
1943:
Nazi German troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining
Jews , sparking the first mass uprising in Poland against the Nazi
occupation during the Holocaust.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising>
1956:
Actress Grace Kelly became Princess consort of Monaco upon marrying
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Kelly>
1989:
A gun turret onboard the United States Navy battleship Iowa exploded,
killing 47 sailors.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_turret_explosion>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
roriferous (adj):
Producing or generating dew
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roriferous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.
--Jesus
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesus>
General relativity is a theory of gravitation that was developed by
Albert Einstein. According to general relativity, the observed
gravitational attraction between masses results from the warping of
space and time by those masses. Before the advent of general
relativity, Newton's law of universal gravitation had been accepted.
Experiments show that Einstein's description accounts for several
effects that are unexplained by Newton's law. Some general relativity
predictions have been confirmed by experiment, while others are the
subject of ongoing research. General relativity has developed into an
essential tool in modern astrophysics. It provides the foundation for
the current understanding of black holes and of the standard Big Bang
model of cosmology. Although general relativity is not the only
relativistic theory of gravity, it is the simplest such theory that is
consistent with the experimental data. Nevertheless, a number of open
questions remain: the most fundamental is how general relativity can be
reconciled with the laws of quantum physics to produce a complete and
self-consistent theory of quantum gravity.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_general_relativity>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1025:
Bolesław I Chrobry became the first King of Poland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boles%C5%82aw_I_Chrobry>
1506:
Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, to
replace the old St. Peter's Basilica built in the 4th century, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica>
1906:
A major earthquake and resulting fires devastated San Francisco,
killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than half of the city's
population homeless.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake>
1942:
World War II: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft carrier
USS Hornet carried out the Doolittle Raid, the first Allied attack on
the Japanese home islands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid>
1983:
A suicide bomber destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut with a
car bomb, killing over 60 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_United_States_Embassy_bombing>
1996:
Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon, during Operation Grapes of Wrath,
killing over 100 civilians and injuring over 110 others at a UN
compound.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_shelling_of_Qana>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cicatrise (v):
1. To heal a wound through scarring (by causing a scar or cicatrix to
form).
2. To form a scar
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cicatrise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that music can be an inspirational force in all our lives —
that its eloquence and the depth of its meaning are all-important, and
that all personal considerations concerning musicians and the public
are relatively unimportant — that music come from the heart and returns
to the heart — that music is spontaneous, impulsive expression — that
its range is without limit — that music is forever growing — that music
can be one element to help us build a new conception of life in which
the madness and cruelty of wars will be replaced by a simple
understanding of the brotherhood of man.
--Leopold Stokowski
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski>
General relativity is a theory of gravitation that was developed by
Albert Einstein. According to general relativity, the observed
gravitational attraction between masses results from the warping of
space and time by those masses. Before the advent of general
relativity, Newton's law of universal gravitation had been accepted.
Experiments show that Einstein's description accounts for several
effects that are unexplained by Newton's law. Some general relativity
predictions have been confirmed by experiment, while others are the
subject of ongoing research. General relativity has developed into an
essential tool in modern astrophysics. It provides the foundation for
the current understanding of black holes and of the standard Big Bang
model of cosmology. Although general relativity is not the only
relativistic theory of gravity, it is the simplest such theory that is
consistent with the experimental data. Nevertheless, a number of open
questions remain: the most fundamental is how general relativity can be
reconciled with the laws of quantum physics to produce a complete and
self-consistent theory of quantum gravity.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_general_relativity>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1025:
Bolesław I Chrobry became the first King of Poland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boles%C5%82aw_I_Chrobry>
1506:
Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, to
replace the old St. Peter's Basilica built in the 4th century, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica>
1906:
A major earthquake and resulting fires devastated San Francisco,
killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than half of the city's
population homeless.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake>
1942:
World War II: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft carrier
USS Hornet carried out the Doolittle Raid, the first Allied attack on
the Japanese home islands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid>
1983:
A suicide bomber destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut with a
car bomb, killing over 60 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_United_States_Embassy_bombing>
1996:
Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon, during Operation Grapes of Wrath,
killing over 100 civilians and injuring over 110 others at a UN
compound.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_shelling_of_Qana>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cicatrise (v):
1. To heal a wound through scarring (by causing a scar or cicatrix to
form).
2. To form a scar
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cicatrise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that music can be an inspirational force in all our lives —
that its eloquence and the depth of its meaning are all-important, and
that all personal considerations concerning musicians and the public
are relatively unimportant — that music come from the heart and returns
to the heart — that music is spontaneous, impulsive expression — that
its range is without limit — that music is forever growing — that music
can be one element to help us build a new conception of life in which
the madness and cruelty of wars will be replaced by a simple
understanding of the brotherhood of man.
--Leopold Stokowski
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski>
The Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula is a mathematical formula used
by truck drivers and United States Department of Transportation (DOT)
officials to determine the appropriate maximum gross weight for a
commercial motor vehicle based on axle spacing. The formula is part of
federal weight and size regulations regarding interstate commercial
traffic (intrastate traffic is subject to state limits). The formula is
necessary to prevent heavy vehicles from damaging roads and bridges.
Commercial motor vehicles are most often tractor-trailers or buses, but
the formula is of most interest to truck drivers due to the heavy loads
their vehicles often carry. Early 20th century weight limits were
enacted to protect dirt and gravel roads from damage caused by the
solid wheels of heavy trucks. As time progressed, truck weight limits
focused primarily on gross weight limits (which had no prescribed
limits on length). By 1974, bridges received special protection from
increasing truck weight limits. The bridge formula law was enacted by
the U.S. Congress to limit the weight-to-length ratio of heavy trucks,
and to protect roads and bridges from the damage caused by the
concentrated weight of shorter trucks. The formula effectively lowers
the legal weight limit for shorter trucks, preventing them from causing
premature deterioration of bridges and highway infrastructure.
Compliance with the law is checked when vehicles pass through a weigh
station, often located at the borders between states.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bridge_Gross_Weight_Formula>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1746:
Forces of the House of Hanover defeated the Jacobites at the Battle of
Culloden, the final confrontation of the Jacobite Rising.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Culloden>
1853:
The first passenger line of what would become Indian Railways, the
state-owned railway company of India, opened between Bombay and Thane.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways>
1912:
American Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the
English Channel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Quimby>
1943:
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of the
semisynthetic drug LSD.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann>
1947:
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first
described the post-World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and
the United States as a "cold war".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cold_war>
2007:
In one of the deadliest shooting incidents in United States history, a
gunman killed 32 people and wounded over 20 more before committing
suicide at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in
Blacksburg, Virginia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
metonymic (adj):
Of, or relating to, a word or phrase that names an object from a single
characteristic of it or of a closely related object
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metonymic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What one man can do himself directly is but little. If however he can
stir up ten others to take up the task he has accomplished much.
--Wilbur Wright
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilbur_Wright>
The "Ode on Indolence" is one of five odes composed by English poet
John Keats in the spring of 1819. The others were "Ode on a Grecian
Urn", "Ode on Melancholy", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode to Psyche".
The poem describes the state of indolence, otherwise known as laziness,
and was written during a time when he felt that he should devote his
efforts to earning an income instead of composing poetry. After
finishing the spring poems, Keats wrote in June 1819 that its
composition brought him more pleasure than anything else he had written
that year. Unlike the other odes he wrote that year, "Ode on Indolence"
was not published until 1848 (see 1848 in poetry), 27 years after his
death. The poem is an example of Keats's break from the structure of
the classical form. It follows the poet's contemplation of a morning
spent in idleness. Three figures are presented—Ambition, Love and
Poesy—dressed in "placid sandals" and "white robes". The narrator
examines each using a series of questions and statements on life and
art. The poem concludes with the narrator giving up on having all three
of the figures as part of his life. Some critics regard "Ode on
Indolence" as inferior to the other four 1819 odes. Others suggest that
the poem exemplifies a continuity of themes and imagery characteristic
of his more widely read works, and provides valuable biographical
insight into his poetic career.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_on_Indolence>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1715:
The Yamasee War between colonial South Carolina and various Native
American Indian tribes began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamasee_War>
1755:
A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson was first
published, becoming one of the most influential dictionaries in the
history of the English language.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language>
1912:
The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty minutes
after colliding with an iceberg , killing over 1,500 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic>
1952:
The B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic
bomber operated by the United States Air Force for most of the
aircraft's history, made its first flight.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-52_Stratofortress>
1989:
Ninety-six people died in a deadly human crush during a FA Cup
semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at
Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, the deadliest
stadium-related disaster in British history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_Stadium>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
debunk (v):
To discredit, or expose to ridicule the falsehood or the exaggerated
claims of something
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/debunk>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
<math>e^{i \pi} + 1 = 0. \,\!</math>
Gentlemen, that is surely true, it is absolutely paradoxical; we
cannot understand it, and we don't know what it means. But we have
proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth.
--Benjamin Peirce
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Peirce>
The marsh rice rat is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family
Cricetidae. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United
States, from New Jersey and Kansas south to Florida and
northeasternmost Tamaulipas, Mexico; its range previously extended
further west and north, where it may have been a commensal in
corn-cultivating communities. It usually occurs in wet habitats such as
swamps and saltmarshes. Weighing about 40 to 80 g (1.4 to 2.8 oz), the
marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that resembles the common black
and brown rat. The upperparts are generally gray-brown, but reddish in
many Florida populations. The hindfeet show several specializations for
life in the water. The skull is large and flattened and is short at the
front. John Bachman discovered the marsh rice rat in 1816 and it was
formally described in 1837. Several subspecies have been described
since the 1890s, mainly from Florida, but there is disagreement over
their validity. The marsh rice rat is active during the night and
builds nests of sedge and grass and occasionally runways. It has a
diverse diet that includes plants, fungi, and a variety of animals.
Litters of generally three to five young are born after a pregnancy of
about 25 days, mainly during the summer. Several animals prey on the
marsh rice rat, including the barn owl, and it usually lives for less
than a year in the wild. It is infected by many different parasites and
harbors a hantavirus that also infects humans.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_rice_rat>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1471:
Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the
Lancastrians near the town of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of
Warwick.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barnet>
1865:
Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln>
1978:
Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in Tbilisi against an attempt by
the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR to change the constitutional
status of the Georgian language.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Georgian_demonstrations>
1994:
In an American friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort
in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot
down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Black_Hawk_shootdown_incident>
1999:
A storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones in Sydney and
along the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in
damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance
history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Sydney_hailstorm>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
asterism (n):
1. A small group of stars that forms a visible pattern but is not an
official constellation.
2. A rarely used typographical symbol (⁂, three asterisks arranged in
a triangle), used to call attention to a passage or to separate
sub-chapters in a book.
3. (mineralogy) A star-shaped figure exhibited in some crystals by
reflected light or by transmitted light
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/asterism>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Sad hours and glad hours, and all hours, pass over;
One thing unshaken stays:
Life, that hath Death for spouse, hath
Chance for lover;
Whereby decays
Each thing save one thing: — mid this strife diurnal
Of hourly change begot,
Love that is God-born, bides as God
eternal,
And changes not.
--James Branch Cabell
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell>
A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the eleventh studio album by English
progressive rock group Pink Floyd, released in September 1987. In 1985
guitarist David Gilmour (pictured) began to assemble a group of
musicians to work on his third solo album. At the end of 1986 however,
he changed his mind, and decided that the new material would be
included in a new Pink Floyd album instead. Subsequently Pink Floyd
drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright (who had left the
group in 1979) were brought on board the project. Although for legal
reasons Wright could not be re-admitted to the band, he and Mason
helped Gilmour craft what would become the first Pink Floyd album since
the departure of lyricist and bass guitarist Roger Waters in December
1985. The album was recorded primarily on Gilmour's converted
houseboat, Astoria. Its production was marked by an ongoing legal
dispute between Waters and the band as to who owned the rights to Pink
Floyd's name, which was not resolved until several months after the
album was released. Unlike most of Pink Floyd's other studio albums, A
Momentary Lapse of Reason has no central theme, and is instead a
collection of rock songs written mostly by Gilmour and musician Anthony
Moore. Although the album received mixed reviews and was derided by
Waters, with the help of an enormously successful world tour it easily
out-sold their previous album The Final Cut. A Momentary Lapse of
Reason is certified multi-platinum in the US.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Momentary_Lapse_of_Reason>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1598:
King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of
religion to the Huguenots.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes>
1873:
In the wake of a contested election for local political offices in
Colfax, Louisiana, US, armed white supremacists overpowered freedmen
and the African American state militia trying to control the parish
courthouse, killing over 100 of them.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colfax_massacre>
1919:
British Indian Army troops massacred hundreds of unarmed men, women and
children who were attending a peaceful gathering at the Jallianwala
Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, India.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre>
1956:
The Vietnamese National Army captured Ba Cut , military commander of
the Hoa Hao religious sect, which ran a de facto state in southern
Vietnam in opposition to Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Cut>
1984:
Indian forces launched Operation Meghdoot, a preemptive attack on the
disputed Siachen Glacier region of Kashmir, triggering a military
conflict with Pakistan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen_conflict>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
titivate (v):
To smarten up, to dress, to decorate
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/titivate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form
of tyranny over the mind of man.
--Thomas Jefferson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson>