The British African-Caribbean community are residents of the United
Kingdom who are of West Indian background, and whose ancestors were
indigenous to Africa. As immigration to the UK from Africa increased
in the 1990s, the term has been used to include UK residents solely of
African origin, or as a term to define all Black British residents,
though this is usually denoted by "African and Caribbean". The largest
proportion of the African-Caribbean population in the UK are of
Jamaican origin; others trace origins to smaller nations including
Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Saint Lucia,
Grenada, Montserrat, Dominica, Antigua and Guyana, which though
located on the South American mainland, has close cultural ties to the
Caribbean, and was historically considered to be part of the British
West Indies. African-Caribbean communities exist throughout the United
Kingdom, though by far the largest concentrations are in London,
Birmingham and the broader West Midlands conurbation.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to
the Sea ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman's_March_to_the_Sea)
1885:
Itō Hirobumi, a samurai from Chōshū, became the first Prime Minister
of Japan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itō_Hirobumi)
1989:
Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate re-opened after nearly 30 years,
symbolizing the unity of East and West Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate)
2001:
Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in
Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai)
2001:
CC the cat, the first cloned pet, was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CC_(cat))
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
It takes great labor to uncover the convincing simple speech of the
heart. Poetic candor comes with hard labor, so even does impetuosity
and impudence. -- Kenneth Rexroth
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth)
Selena was a Mexican-American singer who has been called the "queen"
of Tejano music. She took the award for Female Vocalist of the Year in
1987 at the Tejano Music Awards and landed a recording contract with
EMI a few years later. Her fame continued to grow throughout the early
nineties, especially in Spanish-speaking countries. Her album Selena
Live! won a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American album at the 36th
Grammy Awards and her 1994 album Amor Prohibido was nominated for
another Grammy and produced four number one Spanish hits. Selena
attained further notability in the United States and Mexico after
Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club, murdered her at the
age of 23. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life starring
Jennifer Lopez in 1997. As of June 2006, Selena was commemorated with
a museum and a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus
Christi, Texas).
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
69:
Vespasian became the fourth Roman Emperor in the Year of the Four
Emperors.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_Four_Emperors)
1913:
Arthur Wynne published the first crossword puzzle in the New York
World.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword)
1937:
The animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on
the fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, premiered to a widely
receptive audience.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film))
1962:
Rondane National Park, Norway's first national park, was established.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondane_National_Park)
1988:
Pan Am Flight 103: A terrorist bomb exploded and destroyed a Boeing
747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270, including 11 on the ground.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
This is the stillness behind motion, when time itself stops; the
center is also the circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We
turn the Wheel to bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of
night. Blessed Be! -- Starhawk
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Starhawk)
The Kengir uprising was a prisoner uprising that took place in the
Soviet prison labor camp Kengir in the spring of 1954. It was distinct
from other Gulag uprisings in the same period in its duration and
intensity. After the murder of some of their fellow prisoners by
guards, Kengir inmates launched a rebellion and proceeded to seize the
entire camp compound, holding it for weeks and creating a period of
freedom for themselves unique in the history of the Gulag. This
situation lasted for an unprecedented length of time and gave rise to
a panoply of colourful and novel activity, including the democratic
formation of a provisional government by the prisoners, prisoner
marriages, the creation of indigenous religious ceremonies, a brief
flowering of art and culture, and the waging of a large, relatively
complex propaganda campaign against the erstwhile authorities. After
40 days of freedom within the camp walls, intermittent negotiation,
and mutual preparation for violent conflict, the uprising was brutally
suppressed by Soviet armed forces. The story of the uprising was first
committed to history in The Gulag Archipelago, a nonfiction work by
former-prisoner and Nobel Prize-winning Russian author Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kengir_uprising
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1803:
As part of the Louisiana Purchase, New Orleans was transferred from
France to the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase)
1860:
South Carolina seceded from the United States, leading to the American
Civil War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War)
1917:
The Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, was founded. Felix
Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was appointed as its leader.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheka)
1995
The NATO-led IFOR began peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFOR)
1999:
Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau to the People's Republic of
China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and
ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and
impotently happy. -- Edwin Abbott Abbott
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edwin_Abbott_Abbott)
Muhammad Iqbal was an Indian Muslim poet, philosopher and politician,
whose poetry in Persian and Urdu is regarded as among the greatest in
modern times. Also famous for his work on religious and political
philosophy in Islam, he is credited with first proposing the idea of
an independent state for Indian Muslims, which would inspire the
creation of Pakistan. He is best known for his poetic works, which
include the Tarana-e-Hind, Asrar-e-Khudi, Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, and the
Bang-i-Dara. He is officially recognised as the "national poet" in
Pakistan. The anniversary of his birth on November 9 is a holiday in
Pakistan. Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual
revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in
India; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were
published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of
the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal would
encourage the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Indian
Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
World War I: The Battle of Verdun on the Western Front ended as the
French drove the Germans back to their starting positions.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun)
1972:
Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt aboard Apollo 17
returned to Earth. No human has visited the Moon since.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_17)
1974:
An early personal computer, the Altair 8800, went on sale.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800)
1984:
The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom signed the
Sino-British Joint Declaration, agreeing the transfer of sovereignty
of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration)
1998:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment
against President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the
act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect
to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt.
That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life. -- Phil
Ochs
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs)
The Manila Metro Rail Transit System is part of the main metropolitan
rail system serving the Metro Manila area in the Philippines. Only one
line exists within this network, and that is MRT-3, called the Blue
Line. Although the network has characteristics of light rail, such as
the type of rolling stock used, the system is more akin to a rapid
transit system. The MRT forms part of Metro Manila's rail transport
infrastructure, the Strong Republic Transit System. Although one of
the original purposes of the system was to decongest Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue, one of Metro Manila's main thoroughfares and home to
the MRT, many commuters who ride the MRT also take various forms of
road-based public transport to reach the intended destination from an
MRT station. While this forms a comprehensive transportation system
serving many parts of Metro Manila, the system has only been partially
successful in decongesting the very busy thoroughfare. The expansion
of the system to cover the entire stretch of EDSA is expected to
contribute to current attempts to decongest the thoroughfare and to
cut travel times on one of the Philippines' busiest roadways. The
system is operated by the Metro Rail Transit Corporation, a private
company operating in partnership with the Department of Transportation
and Communications under a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Metro_Rail_Transit_System
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
218 BC:
Second Punic War: Hannibal Barca had his first great victory over the
Roman Republic at the Battle of the Trebia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Trebia)
1865:
Slavery in the United States was abolished when the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution was adopted.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Cons…)
1961:
Indonesia invaded Dutch New Guinea to annex West Papua on New Guinea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_New_Guinea)
1966:
Epimetheus, one of Saturn's natural satellites, was discovered, but
was mistaken as Janus. It took 12 years to determine that they are two
distinct objects sharing the same orbit.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimetheus_(moon))
1987:
The first version of the programming language Perl was released by
Larry Wall.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Formerly we used to represent things visible on earth, things we
either liked to look at or would have liked to see. Today we reveal
the reality that is behind visible things, thus expressing the belief
that the visible world is merely an isolated case in relation to the
universe and that there are many more other, latent realities. Things
appear to assume a broader and more diversified meaning, often
seemingly contradicting the rational experience of yesterday. There is
a striving to emphasize the essential character of the accidental. --
Paul Klee
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Klee)
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed
to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound
films took place in Paris in 1900, but it would be decades before
reliable synchronization was achieved in a commercially practical way.
The first commercial screening of movies with fully synchronized sound
took place in the United States in April 1923. In the early years
after the introduction of sound, films incorporating synchronized
dialogue were known as "talkies." The first feature-length movie
originally presented as a talkie was The Jazz Singer, released in
October 1927. By the early 1930s, the talkies were a global
phenomenon. In the United States, they helped secure Hollywood's
position as one of the world's most powerful cultural/commercial
systems.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_film
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No.
11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Order_No._11_(1862))
1903:
Orville and Wilbur Wright aboard the Wright Flyer conducted the first
successful flight of a powered fixed-wing aircraft.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers)
1944:
Malmedy massacre: Waffen-SS troops under Joachim Peiper shot at about
150 unarmed prisoners of war with machine guns near Malmedy, Belgium.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre)
1989:
The Simpsons made their debut as an animated series on the Fox
television network.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
To even mention all the things the bird must constantly keep in mind
in order to fly securely through the air would take a considerable
part of the evening... The bird has learned this art of equilibrium,
and learned it so thoroughly that its skill is not apparent to our
sight. We only learn to appreciate it when we try to imitate it. --
Wilbur Wright
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilbur_Wright)
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Zarqawi took
responsibility, on several audiotapes, for numerous acts of terrorism
in Iraq and Jordan. These acts include suicide bombings, and the
killing of soldiers, police officers, and civilians. As an Islamist
that identified with the Salafi movement, Zarqawi opposed the presence
of United States and Western military forces in the Islamic world and
opposed the West's support for and the existence of Israel. In
September 2005, he reportedly declared "all-out war" on Shia Muslims
in Iraq and is believed responsible for dispatching numerous Al-Qaeda
suicide bombers throughout Iraq, especially to areas with large
concentrations of Shia civilians. As the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq he
is suspected of responsibility for thousands of deaths. Zarqawi was
killed in a US airstrike in June, 2006.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Musab_al-Zarqawi
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1598:
Admiral Yi Sun Sin's Korean navy defeated the Japanese fleet in the
Battle of Noryang Point, the final naval battle of the Imjin War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Noryang_Point)
1653:
The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of the
Commonwealth of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell)
1689:
The Parliament of England adopted the Bill of Rights, declaring that
Englishmen possessed certain positive civil and political rights.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689)
1773:
Boston Tea Party: To protest the British Tea Act, members of the Sons
of Liberty dumped crates of tea break from three British East India
Company ships into Boston Harbor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party)
1971:
The Indo-Pakistani War ended when Pakistani forces in East Pakistan
surrendered. This also effectively ended the Bangladesh Liberation War
and led to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
What renders man an imaginative and moral being is that in society he
gives new aims to his life which could not have existed in solitude:
the aims of friendship, religion, science, and art. -- George
Santayana
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Santayana)
Enzyme inhibitors are molecules that bind to enzymes and decrease
their activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a
pathogen or correct a metabolic imbalance, many drugs are enzyme
inhibitors. Inhibitor binding is either reversible or irreversible.
Irreversible inhibitors usually react with the enzyme and change it
chemically. These inhibitors modify key amino acid residues needed for
enzymatic activity. In contrast, reversible inhibitors bind
non-covalently and different types of inhibition are produced
depending on whether these inhibitors bind the enzyme, the
enzyme-substrate complex, or both. Their discovery and improvement is
an active area of research in biochemistry and pharmacology. A
medicinal enzyme inhibitor is often judged by its specificity (its
lack of binding to other proteins) and its potency (its dissociation
constant, which indicates the concentration needed to inhibit the
enzyme). A high specificity and potency ensure that a drug will have
few side effects and thus low toxicity. Enzyme inhibitors also occur
naturally and are involved in the regulation of metabolism.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_inhibitor
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1791:
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution,
collectively known as the United States Bill of Rights, were ratified.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights)
1891:
James Naismith introduced the first version of basketball, with
thirteen rules and nine players on each team.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith)
1961:
Former Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death after being
found guilty on fifteen criminal charges, including war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann)
1994:
The web browser Netscape Navigator 1.0 was first released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_Navigator)
1995:
The European Court of Justice passes the Bosman ruling, allowing
footballers in the European Union to freely transfer from one UEFA
Federation to another at the end of their contracts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
To talk about the end of science is just as foolish as to talk about
the end of religion. Science and religion are both still close to
their beginnings, with no ends in sight. -- Freeman Dyson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson)
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah
who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart
movement began in 1856 and lasted until 1860. Motivated to join their
fellow Church members but lacking funds for full ox or horse teams,
nearly 3,000 Mormon pioneers from England, Wales, and Scandinavia made
the journey to Utah in 10 handcart companies. Although fewer than ten
percent of the 1847–68 Latter-day Saint emigrants made the journey
west using handcarts, the handcart pioneers have become an important
symbol in LDS culture, representing the faithfulness and sacrifice of
the pioneer generation. The handcart pioneers continue to be
recognized and honored in events such as Pioneer Day, Church pageants,
and similar commemorations. The handcart treks were a familiar theme
in 19th century Mormon folk music and have been a theme in LDS
fiction, such as Gerald Lund's historical novel, Fire of the Covenant,
and Orson Scott Card's science-fiction short story, "West."
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_handcart_pioneers
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1545:
Counter-Reformation: The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council
convoked by Pope Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism,
opened in Trento, Italy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent)
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside were
decisively defeated in the Battle of Fredericksburg.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg)
1981:
Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland,
suspended Solidarity and imprisoned many union leaders.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski)
2003:
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a spider
hole during Operation Red Dawn and captured.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Dawn)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
My deepest impulses are optimistic; an attitude that seems to me as
spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect. --
Ellen Willis
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellen_Willis)
The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of
India are sections of the Constitution of India that prescribe the
fundamental obligations of the State to the citizens, and the duties
of the citizens with respect to the State. These sections comprise a
constitutional bill of rights, guidelines for government
policy-making, and the behaviour and conduct of citizens. These
sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was
developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.
The Fundamental Rights are defined as the basic human rights of all
citizens. The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines for
the framing of laws by the government. The Fundamental Duties are
defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help to promote a
spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. Like the
Directive Principles, they are not legally enforceable.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Rights%2C_Directive_Principles_and…
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1531:
The Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
saw the Blessed Virgin Mary outside of modern-day Mexico City.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe)
1897:
Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, was inaugurated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belo_Horizonte)
1901:
Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal, from
Poldhu Wireless Station in Cornwall, England to Cabot Tower in St.
John's, Newfoundland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi)
1915:
President Yuan Shikai of the Republic of China reinstated the monarchy
and declared himself Emperor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai)
1964:
Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of
success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you
feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future
accomplishments. -- Gustave Flaubert
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Flaubert)