Polish culture during World War II was brutally suppressed by the
occupying powers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, both of whom
were hostile to Poland's people and culture. Policies aimed at cultural
genocide resulted in the deaths of thousands of scholars and artists,
and the theft or destruction of innumerable cultural artifacts. British
historian Niall Ferguson writes that "the maltreatment of the Poles was
one of many ways in which the Nazi and Soviet regimes had grown to
resemble one another". The occupiers looted or destroyed much of
Poland's cultural heritage, while persecuting and killing members of
the Polish cultural elite. Most Polish schools were closed, and those
that remained open saw their curricula altered significantly.
Nevertheless, underground organizations and individuals—in particular
the Polish Underground State—saved much of Poland's most valuable
cultural heritage, and worked to salvage as many cultural institutions
and artifacts as possible. The Catholic Church and wealthy individuals
contributed to the survival of some artists and their works. Despite
severe retribution by the Nazis and Soviets, Polish underground
cultural activities, including publications, concerts, live theater,
education, and academic research, continued throughout the war.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_culture_during_World_War_II>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1763:
Age of Enlightenment: Catherine II of Russia endorsed educator Ivan
Betskoy's plans for the Moscow Orphanage , an ambitious, state-run,
experimental Russian Enlightenment project to educate orphans into
ideal citizens.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Orphanage>
1804:
German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding discovered Juno, one of the
largest main belt asteroids, naming it after the Roman goddess.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Juno>
1939:
Nazi Germany invaded Poland at Wieluń and Westerplatte, starting World
War II in Europe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland_%281939%29>
1951:
Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed a mutual defence
pact known as the ANZUS Treaty in San Francisco, agreeing to cooperate
on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUS>
1969:
A bloodless coup d'état led by Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrew Idris I of
Libya.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi>
1983:
Soviet jet interceptors shot down the civilian airliner Korean Air
Lines Flight 007 near Sakhalin Island in the North Pacific, killing all
246 passengers and 23 crew on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
co-mother-in-law (n):
The mother of one's son- or daughter-in-law; that is, the mother-in-law
of one's son or daughter
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/co-mother-in-law>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Deep in the minds of the apes was rooted the conviction that Tarzan was
a mighty fighter and a strange creature. Strange because he had had it
in his power to kill his enemy, but had allowed him to live — unharmed.
--Edgar Rice Burroughs
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs>
Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of
breathing molecular oxygen at elevated partial pressures. Severe cases
can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in
the central nervous system, lungs and eyes. Oxygen toxicity is a
concern for scuba divers, those on high concentrations of supplemental
oxygen (particularly premature babies), and those undergoing hyperbaric
oxygen therapy. The result of breathing elevated concentrations of
oxygen is hyperoxia, an excess of oxygen in body tissues. Central
nervous system toxicity is caused by short exposure to high
concentrations of oxygen at greater than atmospheric pressure.
Pulmonary and ocular toxicity result from longer exposure to elevated
oxygen levels at normal pressure. Symptoms may include disorientation,
breathing problems, and vision changes such as myopia. Prolonged or
very high oxygen concentrations can cause oxidative damage to cell
membranes, the collapse of the alveoli in the lungs, retinal
detachment, and seizures. Oxygen toxicity is managed by reducing the
exposure to elevated oxygen levels. Studies show that, in the long
term, a good recovery from most types of oxygen toxicity is possible.
Prevention of oxygen toxicity is an important precaution whenever
oxygen is breathed at partial pressures greater than normal. It has led
to use of protocols for avoidance of hyperoxia in such fields as scuba
diving, hyperbaric medicine, neonatal care and human spaceflight.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1422:
As the only heir to the throne, Henry VI became King of England at the
age of eight months following the death of his father Henry V.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI_of_England>
1888:
Mary Ann Nichols' body was found on the ground in front of a gated
stable entrance in Buck's Row, London, allegedly the first victim of
the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper>
1907:
The Great Game: Russia and Great Britain signed the Anglo-Russian
Entente, defining their respective spheres of interest in Persia,
Afghanistan, and Tibet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Russian_Entente>
1939:
Nazi forces mounted a staged attack on a German radio station in
Gleiwitz, then part of Germany, to create the appearance of Polish
aggression on their country, giving them an excuse to invade Poland the
following day and begin World War II in Europe.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident>
1986:
After a collision with a freighter, the Soviet ocean liner Admiral
Nakhimov sank in the Tsemes Bay area of the Black Sea within seven
minutes, killing over 400 on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Admiral_Nakhimov>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
articulation (n):
1. A joint or the collection of joints at which something is
articulated, or hinged, for bending.
2. The quality, clarity, or sharpness of speech.
3. (music) The manner
in which something is tongued, slurred or bowed.
4. (accounting) A state in which the elements of financial statements
are fundamentally interrelated
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/articulation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The writer is a spiritual anarchist, as in the depth of his soul every
man is. He is discontented with everything and everybody. The writer is
everybody's best friend and only true enemy — the good and great enemy.
He neither walks with the multitude nor cheers with them. The writer
who is a writer is a rebel who never stops.
--William Saroyan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan>
Harriet Bosse (1878–1961) was a Norwegian-Swedish actress. A celebrity
in her own day, Bosse is today most commonly remembered as the third
wife of August Strindberg, one of the originators of modern drama.
Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
("Dramaten"), the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse
caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and
exotic "oriental" appearance. Strindberg wrote a number of major roles
for Bosse during their short and stormy relationship, especially in
1900–1901, a period of great creativity and productivity for him. Like
his previous two marriages, the relationship failed through
Strindberg's jealousy, which some biographers have considered paranoid.
The arc of Strindberg's feelings about Bosse, from worship to rage, is
reflected in the roles he wrote for her to play, or as portraits of
her. Despite her real-life role as muse to Strindberg, she remained an
independent artist. Bosse married Swedish actor Gunnar Wingård in 1908,
and Swedish screen actor, director, and matinee idol Edvin Adolphson in
1927. All three of her marriages ended in divorce after a few years,
leaving her as a hard-working single mother with a daughter by
Strindberg and a son by Wingård. On retiring after a high-profile
acting career based in Stockholm, she returned to her roots in Oslo.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Bosse>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
Napoleonic Wars: Forces of the Sixth Coalition under Michael Andreas
Barclay de Tolly captured French General Dominique Vandamme and
thousands of his soldiers at the Battle of Kulm.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kulm>
1835:
European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River in
Southern Australia founded the city of Melbourne.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne>
1862:
American Civil War: James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson led their
Confederate troops to a decisive victory against John Pope's Union Army
at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run>
1918:
Fanny Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, helping
to spark the Red Terror in the Soviet Union, a repression against
Socialist-Revolutionary Party members and other political opponents.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror>
1999:
The people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a
United Nations-supervised referendum.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
burgundy (adj):
Of a deep red color, like that of Burgundy wine
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/burgundy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a
long time ago.
--Warren Buffett
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett>
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894) was an American physician,
professor, lecturer and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the
best poets of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the
Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table"
series, which began with The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858).
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Holmes was educated at Phillips
Academy and Harvard College. He began writing poetry at an early age;
one of his most famous works, "Old Ironsides", was published in 1830.
Following training at the prestigious medical schools of Paris, Holmes
was granted his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1836. He taught at
Dartmouth Medical School before returning to teach at Harvard and, for
a time, served as dean there. During his long professorship, he became
an advocate for various medical reforms and notably posited the
then-controversial idea that doctors were responsible for carrying
puerperal fever from patient to patient. Holmes retired from Harvard in
1882 and continued writing poetry, novels and essays until his death in
1894. Surrounded by Boston's literary elite—which included friends such
as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell
Lowell—Holmes made an indelible imprint on the 19th century literary
world. Holmes's writing often commemorated his native Boston area, and
much of it was meant to be humorous or conversational. Holmes also
coined several terms that are now popular, including "anesthesia" and
"Boston Brahmin".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes%2C_Sr.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1526:
Ottoman forces led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeated and killed
Louis II, the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia, at the
Battle of Mohács.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs>
1756:
As neighboring countries began conspiring against him, Frederick II of
Prussia launched a preemptive invasion of Saxony, starting the Seven
Years' War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II_of_Prussia>
1842:
The Treaty of Nanking, an Unequal Treaty ending the First Opium War,
was signed, forcing the Chinese Qing Dynasty to give foreign trading
privileges, war reparations, control of Hong Kong, and other
concessions to the British.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Nanking>
2003:
Two car bombs exploded outside of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, killing
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the spiritual leader of the Supreme
Islamic Iraqi Council, and over eighty others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam_Ali_Mosque_bombing>
2005:
Storm surges of Hurricane Katrina caused multiple breaches in levees
around New Orleans, flooding about 80 percent of the city and many
neighboring areas for weeks.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
requiem (n):
1. A mass or other ceremony to honor and remember a dead person.
2. A musical composition for such a mass.
3. A piece of music composed
to honor a dead person
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/requiem>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Mankind has advanced. Human progress is ceaseless. We can ... conclude
that building just societies is a fool's errand. We are always, despite
our advances, only one sin away from slipping into the abyss of terror
and ignorance. But that is not so. Generations upon generations have
driven the human race farther and farther from darkness.
--John McCain
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_McCain>
The Samlesbury witches were three women from the Lancashire village of
Samlesbury—Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley, and Ellen Bierley—accused
by a 14-year-old girl, Grace Sowerbutts, of practising witchcraft.
Their trial at Lancaster Assizes in England on 19 August 1612 was one
in a series of witch trials held over two days, among the most famous
in English history. They were unusual for England at that time in two
respects: Thomas Potts, the clerk to the court, published the
proceedings in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie
of Lancaster; the number of the accused found guilty and hanged was
unusually high, ten at Lancaster and another at York. However, all
three Samlesbury witches were acquitted. The charges against the women
included child murder and cannibalism. In contrast, the others tried at
the same assizes, who included the Pendle witches, were accused of
maleficium—causing harm by witchcraft. The case against the three women
collapsed "spectacularly" when Grace Sowerbutts was exposed by the
trial judge to be "the perjuring tool of a Catholic priest". Many
historians, notably Hugh Trevor-Roper, have suggested that the witch
trials of the 16th and 17th century were a consequence of the religious
struggles of the period, with both Catholic and Protestant Churches
determined to stamp out what they regarded as heresy.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samlesbury_witches>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
German composer Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin, containing
the Bridal Chorus, was first performed under the direction of Hungarian
composer Franz Liszt in Weimar, present-day Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohengrin_%28opera%29>
1914:
In the first naval battle of World War I, British ships defeated the
German fleet in the Heligoland Bight area of the North Sea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight>
1924:
The August Uprising, an unsuccessful insurrection against the Soviet
rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Uprising>
1955:
African-American teenager Emmett Till was murdered near Money,
Mississippi, for flirting with a white woman, energizing the nascent
American Civil Rights Movement.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till>
1963:
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., describing his
desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously
as equals.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unfurl (v):
1. To unroll or release, especially a sail or a flag.
2. (figuratively) To roll out or debut anything
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unfurl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
To which of the warring serpents should I turn with the problem that
now faces me?
It is easy, and tempting, to choose the god of Science. Now I would
not for a moment have you suppose that I am one of those idiots who
scorns Science, merely because it is always twisting and turning, and
sometimes shedding its skin, like the serpent that is its symbol. It is
a powerful god indeed but it is what the students of ancient gods
called a shape-shifter, and sometimes a trickster.
--Robertson Davies
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robertson_Davies>
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington
in 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley. Although
widely associated with grunge music, the band's sound incorporates
heavy metal and acoustic elements. Since its formation, Alice in Chains
has released three studio albums, three EPs, two live albums, four
compilations, and two DVDs. The band is known for its distinct vocal
style which often included the harmonized vocals of Staley and
Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the
grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with bands such as Nirvana,
Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. The band was one of the most successful
music acts of the 1990s, selling over 17 million albums worldwide,
including 14 million in the United States alone. The band achieved two
number-one Billboard 200 albums (Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains), 11
top ten singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, and six Grammy
Award nominations. Although never officially disbanding, Alice in
Chains was plagued by extended inactivity due to Layne Staley's
problems with substance abuse, culminating in his death in 2002. Alice
in Chains reunited in 2005 and as of 2009 have finished recording their
first studio album in 14 years with new lead vocalist William DuVall.
The album, Black Gives Way to Blue, is due for release on September 29,
2009, via Virgin/EMI.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Chains>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
British forces led by William Howe defeated the American Continental
Army under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island in Brooklyn,
New York, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island>
1883:
Four enormous explosions from the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa
generated tsunamis that destroyed many settlements on Java and Sumatra
in Indonesia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa>
1896:
The Anglo-Zanzibar War set the record for the shortest war in recorded
history when Zanzibar surrendered less than an hour after the conflict
broke out, with British forces destroying the Sultan's Palace and Harem
.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War>
1957:
The Constitution of Malaysia came into force, three days before the
Federation of Malaya achieved formal independence from the United
Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Malaysia>
2003:
The planet Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000
years: 55,758,006 kilometres (34,646,419 mi).
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
comprehensive (adj):
Broadly or completely covering; including a large proportion of
something
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comprehensive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In every science, after having analysed the ideas, expressing the more
complicated by means of the more simple, one finds a certain number
that cannot be reduced among them, and that one can define no further.
These are the primitive ideas of the science; it is necessary to
acquire them through experience, or through induction; it is impossible
to explain them by deduction.
--Giuseppe Peano
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Peano>
Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) was an American author and poet,
who lived as an expatriate in Paris. Barney's salon was held at her
home on Paris's Left Bank for more than 60 years and brought together
writers and artists from around the world, including many leading
figures in French literature along with American and British Modernists
of the Lost Generation. She worked to promote writing by women and
formed a "Women's Academy" in response to the all-male French Academy
while also giving support and inspiration to male writers from Remy de
Gourmont to Truman Capote. She was openly lesbian and began publishing
love poems to women under her own name as early as 1900, considering
scandal as "the best way of getting rid of nuisances". In her writings
she supported feminism, paganism and pacifism. She opposed monogamy and
had many overlapping, long and short-term relationships, including an
on-and-off romance with poet Renée Vivien, dancer Armen Ohanian and a
50-year relationship with painter Romaine Brooks. Her life and love
affairs served as inspiration for many novels, ranging from the
salacious French bestseller Sapphic Idyll to The Well of Loneliness,
arguably the most famous lesbian novel of the 20th century.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Clifford_Barney>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1071:
Byzantine-Seljuk wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan captured
Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert>
1346:
Hundred Years' War: English forces established the military supremacy
of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and
armoured knights at the Battle of Crécy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy>
1789:
French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the
people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly at
Versailles.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Ci…>
1928:
At a cafe in Paisley, Scotland, May Donoghue found the remains of a
snail in her bottle of ginger beer, causing her to launch one of the
landmark civil action cases in British Common Law, Donoghue v
Stevenson.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donoghue_v_Stevenson>
1968:
The U.S. Democratic Party's National Convention began at the
International Amphitheatre in Chicago, sparking four days of clashes
between anti–Vietnam War protesters and police.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
proprioception (n):
The sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other
neighbouring parts of the body
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proprioception>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I doubt if one ever accepts a belief until one urgently needs it.
--Christopher Isherwood
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Isherwood>
The atmosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary atmosphere in the
Solar System. It is primarily made of molecular hydrogen and helium in
roughly solar proportions; other chemical compounds are present only in
small amounts, and include methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and
water. The latter one has not been directly observed but is thought to
reside deep in the atmosphere. The oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and noble
gas abundances in Jupiter's atmosphere exceed solar values by a factor
of about three. The atmosphere of Jupiter lacks a clear lower boundary
and gradually transitions into the fluid interior of the planet. From
lowest to highest, the atmospheric layers are the troposphere,
stratosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. Each layer has characteristic
temperature gradients. The lowest layer, the troposphere, has a
complicated system of clouds and hazes, comprising layers of ammonia,
ammonium hydrosulfide and water. The upper ammonia clouds visible at
Jupiter's surface are organized in a dozen zonal bands parallel to the
equator and are bounded by powerful zonal atmospheric flows (winds)
known as jets. The bands alternate in color: the dark bands are called
belts, while light ones are called zones. Zones, which are colder than
belts, correspond to upwellings, while belts mark descending air. The
zones' lighter color is believed to result from ammonia ice; what gives
the belts their darker colors is not known with certainty. The Jovian
atmosphere shows a wide range of active phenomena, including band
instabilities, vortices (cyclones and anticyclones), storms and
lightning.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Jupiter>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1537:
The Honourable Artillery Company, currently the oldest surviving
regiment in the British Army, was formed by Royal Charter from King
Henry VIII.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honourable_Artillery_Company>
1609:
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope, a
device that became known as a terrestrial or spyglass refracting
telescope, to Venetian lawmakers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei>
1835:
The New York Sun perpetrated the Great Moon Hoax, publishing articles
about the supposed discovery of life on the Moon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moon_Hoax>
1920:
Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski successfully forced the Russians to
withdraw from Warsaw at the Battle of Warsaw, the decisive battle of
the Polish–Soviet War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_%281920%29>
1945:
About ten days after World War II ended with Japan announcing its
surrender, armed supporters of the Communist Party of China killed
Baptist missionary John Birch.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_%28missionary%29>
1989:
Eight years after it made its closest approach to Saturn, the Voyager 2
spacecraft reached Neptune, the last planet visited before leaving the
solar system.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
moot (adj):
1. (Commonwealth) Subject to discussion; unsolved or impossible to
solve.
2. (North America) Having no impact or relevance
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Against boredom even gods struggle in vain.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche>
Edward Wright (1561–1615) was an English mathematician and cartographer
noted for his book Certaine Errors in Navigation, which for the first
time explained the mathematical basis of the Mercator projection, and
set out a reference table giving the linear scale multiplication factor
as a function of latitude, calculated for each minute of arc up to a
latitude of 75°. This was the essential step needed to make practical
both the making and the navigational use of Mercator charts. In 1589
Elizabeth I requested that he carry out navigational studies with a
raiding expedition organised by the Earl of Cumberland to the Azores to
capture Spanish galleons. The expedition's route was the subject of the
first map to be prepared according to Wright's projection, which was
published in Certaine Errors in 1599. The same year, Wright created and
published the first world map produced in England and the first to use
the Mercator projection since Gerardus Mercator's original 1569 map.
Apart from a number of other books and pamphlets, Wright translated
John Napier's pioneering 1614 work which introduced the idea of
logarithms from Latin into English. This was published after Wright's
death as A Description of the Admirable Table of Logarithmes. Wright's
work influenced, among other persons, Dutch astronomer and
mathematician Willebrord Snellius; Adriaan Metius, the geometer and
astronomer from Holland; and the English mathematician Richard Norwood.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Wright_%28mathematician%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
79:
The volcano Mount Vesuvius (artist's depiction) erupted, burying the
towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae in Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius>
1814:
War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to
the White House and other U.S. government buildings.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington>
1821:
The Treaty of Córdoba was signed in Córdoba, Veracruz, ratifying the
Plan of Iguala and concluding Mexico's War of Independence from Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_War_of_Independence>
1942:
World War II: The United States aircraft carrier Saratoga sank the
Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons
near Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands, helping to lead to an Allied powers
victory.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eastern_Solomons>
2006:
The International Astronomical Union redefined the term "planet",
reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_definition_of_planet>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scrutinize (v):
1. To examine something with great care.
2. To audit accounts in order to verify them
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrutinize>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that
whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been
given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely.
All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes,
our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so
that we may shape our art.
--Jorge Luis Borges
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges>
Candide is a 1759 French satire by the Enlightenment philosopher
Voltaire. The novella begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a
sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with
Leibnizian optimism by his tutor, Pangloss. The work describes the
abrupt cessation of this existence, followed by Candide's slow, painful
disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the
world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not outright rejecting
optimism, advocating an enigmatic precept, "we must cultivate our
garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the
best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is known for its
sarcastic tone and its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. With
a story similar to that of a more serious bildungsroman or picaresque
novel, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of
which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact.
Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings,
such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As
philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so
too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and
humorously. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was
widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political
sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of
naïveté. Today, Candide is recognised as Voltaire's magnum opus.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1784:
Western North Carolina declared itself an independent state under the
name of Franklin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Franklin>
1914:
In their first major action of World War I, the British Expeditionary
Force defeated German troops in Mons, Belgium.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons>
1929:
Arabs began attacking Jews in Hebron in the British Mandate of
Palestine, killing over sixty people in two days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre>
1939:
World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a 10-year, mutual non-aggression treaty that
was eventually broken when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union two
years later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact>
1958:
The People's Liberation Army began an intense artillery bombardment of
Quemoy, sparking the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis>
1989:
Singing Revolution: Approximately two million people joined their hands
to form an over 600 km (373 mi) long human chain across the Estonian,
Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Way>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
typhoon (n):
A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely
equivalent to a hurricane or cyclone, which results in wind speeds of
118km/h or above
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/typhoon>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A few Cobras in your home will soon clear it of Rats and Mice. Of
course, you will still have the Cobras.
--Will Cuppy
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Cuppy>