Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that
flourished in Asia between 70 and 65 million years ago, at the end of
the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been recovered in Mongolia
with more fragmentary remains found further afield in parts of China.
Some experts contend that this species is actually an Asian
representative of the North American genus Tyrannosaurus; if true, this
would invalidate the genus Tarbosaurus altogether. Like most known
tyrannosaurids, Tarbosaurus was a large bipedal predator, weighing more
than a ton and equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. It had a
unique locking mechanism in its lower jaw and the smallest forelimbs
relative to body size of all tyrannosaurids, renowned for their
disproportionately tiny, two-fingered forelimbs. Tarbosaurus lived in a
humid floodplain criss-crossed by river channels. In this environment,
it was an apex predator at the top of the food chain, probably preying
on other large dinosaurs like the hadrosaur Saurolophus or the sauropod
Nemegtosaurus. Tarbosaurus is very well-represented in the fossil
record, known from dozens of specimens, including several complete
skulls and skeletons. These remains have allowed scientific studies
focusing on its phylogeny, skull mechanics, and brain structure.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbosaurus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me Liberty, or give
me Death!" speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses, urging the
legislature to take military action against the British Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_Liberty%2C_or_give_me_Death%21>
1940:
Pakistan Movement: During its three-day general session, the Muslim
League drafted the Lahore Resolution, calling for greater autonomy in
British India.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahore_Resolution>
1983:
The initial proposal to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative, a
ground-based and space-based system to protect the United States from
attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles, was released.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative>
1996:
Lee Teng-hui was elected President of the Republic of China in the
first direct presidential election in Taiwan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Teng-hui>
2007:
Iranian military personnel seized 15 British Royal Navy personnel from
HMS Cornwall, claiming that the British ship sailed into Iran's
territorial waters.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iranian_seizure_of_Royal_Navy_personnel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
furlough (n):
(US) A leave of absence or vacation, especially one granted to a member
of the armed forces, or to a prisoner
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/furlough>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe that none can "save" his fellow man by making a choice for
him. To help him, he can indicate the possible alternatives, with
sincerity and love, without being sentimental and without illusion. The
knowledge and awareness of the freeing alternatives can reawaken in an
individual all his hidden energies and put him on the path to choosing
respect for "life" instead of for "death."
--Erich Fromm
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm>
Hurricane Lane was the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall in
Mexico since Hurricane Kenna of 2002. The thirteenth named storm, ninth
hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the 2006 Pacific hurricane
season, Lane developed from a tropical wave on September 13 to the
south of Mexico. It moved northwestward parallel to the coast of
Mexico, and steadily intensified in an area conducive to further
strengthening. After turning to the northeast, Lane attained peak winds
of 125Â mph (205Â km/h), and made landfall in the Mexican state of
Sinaloa at peak strength. It rapidly weakened and dissipated on
September 17, and later brought precipitation to southern Texas.
Throughout its path, Lane resulted in four deaths and moderate damage.
Damage was heaviest in Sinaloa where the hurricane made landfall,
including reports of severe crop damage. Across Mexico, an estimated
4,320Â homes were affected by the hurricane, with about 248,000Â people
affected. Moderate flooding was reported in Acapulco, resulting in
mudslides in some areas. Damage across the country totaled $2.2Â billion
(2006Â MXN), or $203Â million (2006Â USD).
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lane_%282006%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1622:
The Powhatan Confederacy under Chief Opchanacanough killed almost 350
English settlers around Jamestown, a third of the Colony of Virginia's
population.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_massacre_of_1622>
1765:
The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Stamp Act, requiring that
many printed materials in the Thirteen Colonies in British North
America carry a tax stamp, adding fuel to the growing separatist
movement in the area.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Act_1765>
1913:
Phan Xich Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, was arrested
for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina,
which was later carried out by his supporters the following day.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Xich_Long>
1943:
World War II: The entire population of the village of Khatyn in Belarus
was burnt alive by Nazi German forces, with participation from their
Ukrainian and Belarusian collaborators.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatyn_massacre>
1945:
Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan, and Yemen
founded the Arab League , a regional organization that facilitates
political, economic, cultural, scientific and social programs designed
to promote the interests of the Arab world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jiggery-pokery (n):
Trickery or misrepresentation; hanky panky or skulduggery
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jiggery-pokery>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I buoyed me on the wings of dream,
Above the world of sense;
I set my thought to sound the scheme,
And fathom the Immense;
I tuned my spirit as a lute
To catch wind-music wandering mute.
Yet came there never voice nor sign;
But through my being stole
Sense of a Universe divine,
And
knowledge of a soul
Perfected in the joy of things,
The star, the flower, the bird that
sings.
Nor I am more, nor less, than these;
All are one brotherhood;
I
and all creatures, plants, and trees,
The living limbs of God;
And in an hour, as this, divine,
I feel
the vast pulse throb in mine.
--Francis William Bourdillon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_William_Bourdillon>
New York State Route 174 is a state highway in the county of Onondaga,
located in Central New York, United States. The highway is 16.70Â miles
(26.88 km) long and passes through mostly rural regions. Route 174
begins at an intersection with NYÂ 41 in Borodino, a hamlet of Spafford.
It heads northward for most of its length, except for short distances
in the villages of Marcellus and Camillus. The route ends at a junction
with NY 5 west of Camillus, at the west end of the Route 5 Camillus
bypass. Route 174 is located along a large mapped sedimentary bedrock
unit, known as the Marcellus Formation. The formation is named for an
outcrop found near the town of Marcellus, New York, during a geological
survey in 1839. The road was first laid out in the early 19th century
following the path of Nine Mile Creek, which connected several early
settlements in Central New York. The northern half of the route,
between the villages of Marcellus and Camillus, was later improved as a
plank road in 1855 by a private corporation that collected tolls from
travelers on the road. The state took over the maintenance of the road
by the beginning of the 20th century. The former plank road and an
extension south to Otisco Lake and southwest to Skaneateles Lake was
first designated as Route 174 in the 1930 state highway renumbering.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_174>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
After escaping from his exile in Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte entered
Paris, officially beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days>
1852:
American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was first
published, profoundly affecting attitudes toward African Americans and
slavery in the United States, and further intensifying the sectional
conflict leading to the American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin>
1987:
The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first antiviral
medication approved for use against HIV and AIDS.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zidovudine>
1995:
The Aum Shinrikyo sect carried out a poison gas attack on the Tokyo
Subway, killing 12 people and injuring thousands of others with sarin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway>
2006:
Cyclone Larry made landfall in Far North Queensland, eventually causing
nearly AU$1Â billion in total damage and destroying over 80 percent of
Australia's banana crop.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Larry>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
question the question (v):
To ask that a proposed question’s presuppositions be explicitly
justified, especially as a preliminary to answering it
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/question_the_question>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
What is all that men have done and thought over thousands of years,
compared with one moment of love. But in all Nature, too, it is what is
nearest to perfection, what is most divinely beautiful! There all
stairs lead from the threshold of life. From there we come, to there we
go.
--Friedrich Hölderlin
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_H%C3%B6lderlin>
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) was a Russian composer, and a
member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of
orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio
Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite
Scheherazade—are considered staples of the classical music repertoire,
along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade
is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects.
Rimsky-Korsakov left a considerable body of original Russian
nationalist compositions. He prepared works by The Five for
performance, which brought them into the active classical repertoire
(although there is controversy over his editing of the works of Modest
Mussorgsky). He also shaped a generation of younger composers and
musicians during his decades as an educator. Rimsky-Korsakov is
therefore considered "the main architect" of what the classical music
public considers the Russian style of composition.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1229:
Sixth Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II crowned himself King of
Jerusalem, although his wife Queen Yolande of Jerusalem had died,
leaving their infant son Conrad as the rightful heir.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1892:
Canadian Governor General Frederick Stanley of Preston pledged to
donate what would become the Stanley Cup , today the oldest
professional sports trophy in North America, as an award for Canada's
top-ranking amateur ice hockey club.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup>
1915:
World War I: In one of the largest naval battles in the Gallipoli
Campaign, a joint British and French operation to capture
Constantinople, the defences of the Ottoman Empire sank three Allied
battleships and severely damaged three others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_operations_in_the_Dardanelles_Campaign>
1965:
Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov donned a space suit and ventured outside the
Voskhod 2 spacecraft, becoming the first person to walk in space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2>
1985:
The first episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours was first
broadcast on the Seven Network, eventually becoming the longest running
drama in Australian television history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
friable (adj):
Easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/friable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Candor is always a double-edged sword; it may heal or it may separate.
--Wilhelm Stekel
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Stekel>
The ruffed lemur is a Strepsirhine primate and the largest extant lemur
within the family Lemuridae. Like all lemurs, they are found only on
the island of Madagascar. Formerly considered to be a monotypic genus,
two species are now recognized: the Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur, with
its three subspecies, and the Red Ruffed Lemur. Ruffed lemurs are
diurnal and arboreal quadrupeds, often observed leaping through the
upper canopy of the seasonal tropical rainforests in eastern
Madagascar. They are also the most frugivorous of the Malagasy lemurs,
and they are very sensitive to habitat disturbance. Ruffed lemurs live
in multi-male/multi-female groups and have a complex and flexible
social structure, described as fission-fusion. They are highly vocal,
and have loud, raucous calls. Ruffed lemurs are seasonal breeders and
highly unusual in their reproductive strategy. They are considered an
"evolutionary enigma" in that they are the largest of the extant
species in Lemuridae, yet exhibit reproductive traits more common in
small, nocturnal lemurs, such as short gestation periods and large
average litter sizes. Ruffed lemurs also build nests for their newborns
(the only primates that do so), carry them by mouth, and exhibit an
absentee parental system by stashing them while they forage. Threatened
by habitat loss and hunting, ruffed lemurs are facing extinction in the
wild.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_lemur>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
The Long Parliament, originally called by King Charles I of England in
1640 following the Bishops' Wars, dissolved itself.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Parliament>
1872:
In the first-ever final of the FA Cup , today the oldest association
football competition in the world, Wanderers F.C. defeated Royal
Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_FA_Cup_Final>
1900:
British archaeologist Arthur Evans purchased the ruins of Knossos, a
major centre of the Minoan civilization and the largest Bronze Age
archaeological site on Crete, for excavations.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos>
1926:
At the then-Asa Ward Farm in Auburn, Massachusetts, American scientist
Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, a
10-foot (3Â m) cylinder that reached an altitude of about 41Â feet (12Â m)
and flew for two-and-a-half seconds before falling to the ground.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard>
1988:
Iran–Iraq War: Iraqi forces began attacking the Kurdish town of Halabja
with chemical weapons, killing up to 5,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cynosure (n):
1. That which serves to guide or direct.
2. Something that is the center of attention; an object that serves as
a focal point of attraction and admiration
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cynosure>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must
always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it
overflows upon the outward world.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne>
Albert Kesselring (1885–1960) was a Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall
during World War II. In a military career that spanned both World Wars,
Kesselring became one of Nazi Germany's most skillful commanders, being
one of 27Â soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with
Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Kesselring joined the German Army as
an officer cadet in 1904, and served in the artillery branch. During
World War I, he served on both the Western and Eastern fronts and was
posted to the General Staff, despite not having attended the War
Academy. During World War II he commanded air forces in the invasions
of Poland and France, the Battle of Britain, and Operation Barbarossa.
As Commander-in-Chief South, he was overall German commander in the
Mediterranean theatre, which included the operations in North Africa.
Kesselring conducted a stubborn defensive campaign against the Allied
forces in Italy until he was injured in an accident in October 1944. He
won the respect of his Allied opponents for his military
accomplishments, but his record was marred by massacres committed by
troops under his command in Italy. After the war, Kesselring was tried
for war crimes and sentenced to death. The sentence was subsequently
commuted to life imprisonment.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kesselring>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
American inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin , the first ever
machine that quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from their
seedpods.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cotton_gin>
1915:
World War I: British forces cornered and sank the SMS Dresden, the last
remnant of the German East Asia Squadron, near the Chilean island of
Más a Tierra.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_M%C3%A1s_a_Tierra>
1945:
The British Royal Air Force first used the Grand Slam, a 22,000 lb
(9.98 t) earth quake bomb, on a strategic railroad viaduct in
Bielefeld, Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_bomb>
1991:
The "Birmingham Six", wrongly convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub
bombings in Birmingham, England, were released after sixteen years in
prison.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Six>
1994:
Version 1.0.0 of the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel, was
released, becoming one of the most prominent examples of open source
software.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (proverb):
It is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than a mere
potential of a greater one
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_bird_in_the_hand_is_worth_two_in_the_bush>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for
society — nay, even set up new moral standards to which the life of the
community conforms. Without creative, independently thinking and
judging personalities the upward development of society is as
unthinkable as the development of the individual personality without
the nourishing soil of the community.
The health of society thus depends quite as much on the independence
of the individuals composing it as on their close political cohesion.
--Albert Einstein
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>
1
0
March 13: Icos
by English Wikipedia Article of the Day
13 Mar '10
13 Mar '10
Icos was the largest biotechnology company in the U.S. state of
Washington before it was sold to Eli Lilly and Company in 2007.
Co-founded in 1989 by George Rathmann, a pioneer in the industry and
co-founder of Amgen, Icos focused on the development of drugs to treat
inflammatory disorders. During its 17-year history, the company
conducted clinical trials of 12 drugs, three of which reached the last
phase of clinical trials. Icos is famous for tadalafil (Cialis), a drug
used to treat erectile dysfunction. This drug was discovered by
GlaxoSmithKline, developed by Icos, and manufactured and marketed in
partnership with Eli Lilly. Boosted by a unique advertising campaign
led by the Grey Worldwide Agency, sales from Cialis allowed Icos to
become profitable in 2006. Cialis was the only drug developed by the
company to be approved. LeukArrest, a drug to treat shock, and Pafase,
developed for sepsis, were both tested in phase III clinical trials,
but testing was discontinued after unpromising results during the
trials. Eli Lilly acquired Icos in January 2007, and most of Icos's
workers were laid off soon after. CMC Biopharmaceuticals, a Danish
contract manufacturer, bought the remnants of Icos and retained the
remaining employees.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icos>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
German-born British astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered
the planet Uranus while in the garden of his house in Bath, Somerset,
England, thinking it was a comet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus>
1845:
German composer Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, one of the most
popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time, was
first played in Leipzig, with violinist Ferdinand David as soloist.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_%28Mendelssohn%29>
1943:
The Holocaust: Nazi troops under SS Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth began
liquidating the Jewish Ghetto in Kraków, Poland, sending about 8,000
Jews deemed able to work to the Plaszow labor camp. Those deemed unfit
for work were either killed or sent to die at the Auschwitz
concentration camp.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_Ghetto>
1954:
Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap unleashed a massive artillery
barrage on the French military to begin the Battle of Dien Bien Phu,
the climactic battle in the First Indochina War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu>
1996:
In the deadliest attack on children in the history of the United
Kingdom, a spree killer killed sixteen children and a teacher at a
primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, before committing suicide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
dissociate (v):
1. To make unrelated; to sever a connection; to separate.
2. To part; to stop associating.
3. (chemistry) To separate compounds
into simpler component parts, usually by applying heat or through
electrolysis
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dissociate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The joy of life discovered by the Greeks is not a profane type of
enjoyment: it reveals the bliss of existing, of sharing — even
fugitively — in the spontaneity of life and the majesty of the world.
Like so many others before and after them, the Greeks learned that the
surest way to escape from time is to exploit the wealth, at first sight
impossible to suspect, of the lived instant.
--Mircea Eliade
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade>