The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 was a blizzard with hurricane-force
winds that devastated the Great Lakes basin in the United States
Midwest and the Canadian province of Ontario from November 7 to
November 10, 1913. The deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the
lakes, it killed over 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19
others. The financial loss in vessels alone was nearly USD$5 million,
or about USD$100 million in present-day adjusted dollars. The large
loss of cargo, including coal, iron ore, and grain, meant short-term
rising prices for consumer products throughout North America. The
storm originated as the convergence of two major storm fronts that was
fuelled by the lakes' relatively warm waters, a seasonal process
historically called a "November gale." It produced 90 mile per hour
(145 km/hour) winds, waves over 35 feet (11 m) high, and whiteout snow
squalls.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
The King of Navarre was crowned King Henry IV of France at the
Cathedral of Chartres near Paris, beginning the Bourbon dynasty.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France)
1617:
Sweden signed the Treaty of Stolbovo to end the Ingrian War with
Russia, making large territorial gains.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Stolbovo)
1933:
The Reichstag building was set on fire, a pivotal event in the
establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire)
1976:
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed in Western Sahara.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara)
2002:
Ethnic conflict in India: The death of 58 Hindu pilgrims in a train
fire triggered a violent riot in Gujarat, killing at least 1,000
people, mostly Muslims, in the following days.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven
capacity for greatness of heart and spirit— for gallantry in
defeat— for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against
weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of
emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in
the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in
literature." -- John Steinbeck
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck)
In cosmology, the Big Bang is the scientific theory that concerns the
early development and shape of the universe. The central idea is that
the theory of general relativity can be combined with the observations
on the largest scales of galaxies receding from each other to
extrapolate the conditions of the universe back or forward in time. A
natural consequence of the Big Bang is that in the past the universe
had a higher temperature and a higher density. The term "Big Bang" is
used both in a narrow sense to refer to a point in time when the
observed expansion of the universe (Hubble's law) began, and in a more
general sense to refer to the prevailing cosmological paradigm
explaining the origin and evolution of the universe. The term "Big
Bang" was coined in 1949 by Fred Hoyle during a BBC radio program, The
Nature of Things. Hoyle did not subscribe to the theory and intended
to mock the concept. In current physical models, the universe 13.7
billion years ago would have had the form of a gravitational
singularity, at which all time and distance measurements become
meaningless and temperatures and pressures become infinite.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1455:
Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz began printing the Gutenberg Bible.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg)
1893:
Rudolf Diesel received a patent for the diesel engine.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/diesel_engine)
1903:
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was perpetually leased to the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay)
1945:
Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the
Flag on Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced as the U.S.
Marine Corps War Memorial.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima)
1947:
The International Organization for Standardization was founded. It is
responsible for worldwide industrial and commercial ISO standards.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else
you're going to be locked up." -- Hunter S. Thompson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson)
Roe v. Wade was the landmark 1973 United States Supreme Court decision
that recognized abortion as a constitutional right, overturning
several state laws against abortion. It remains one of the most
controversial decisions in Supreme Court history. The decision in Roe
v. Wade has sparked a decades-long national debate over when abortion
should be legal; the role of the Supreme Court in constitutional
adjudication; and the role of religious views in the political sphere.
Roe v. Wade became one of the most politically significant Supreme
Court decisions in history, reshaping national politics, dividing the
nation into "pro-choice" and "pro-life" camps, and inspiring
grassroots activism. Roe sparked widespread opposition, from those who
viewed the Court's decision as illegitimate for straying too far from
the text and history of the Constitution, as well as from those
motivated by religious and moral beliefs about the inviolability of
fetal life. It also attracted widespread support, from those who view
the decision as necessary to achieve women's equality and personal
freedom.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1632:
Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is
published.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue_Concerning_the_Two_Chief_World_Systems)
1956:
"Heartbreak Hotel" propelled Elvis Presley onto the music charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley)
1979:
Independence Day in Saint Lucia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucia)
1997:
Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced that a sheep
named Dolly had been cloned by somatic cell nuclear transfer.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_the_sheep)
The Brolga is a bird in the crane family. When first described in
1810, the Brolga was misclassified as Ardea, the genus that includes
the herons and egrets. It is in fact a member of the Gruiformes; the
order that includes the crakes, rails, and cranes, and as a member of
the genus Grus. The bird was then given the name Australian crane in
1865 by John Gould. In 1926 the Royal Australasian Ornithologists
Union managed to make Brolga, a popular name derived from native
tongue, the official name of the bird. It is a common wetland
congregating bird species in tropical and eastern Australia, well
known for its intricate mating dance.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brolga
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1472:
James III of Scotland annexed the Orkney and Shetland Islands from
Denmark-Norway.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney_Islands)
1810:
Andreas Hofer, a Tyrolean patriot and the leader of a rebellion
against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Hofer)
1913:
King O'Malley drove in the first survey peg to mark the commencement
of work on the construction of Canberra, Australia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Canberra)
1959:
The Avro Arrow supersonic jet fighters programme in Canada was
cancelled by the Diefenbaker government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Arrow)
1965:
The Ranger 8 spacecraft successfully transmitted 7,137 photographs of
the moon in the final 23 minutes of its mission before crashing in
Mare Tranquillitatis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_8)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"All in all is all we are." -- Kurt Cobain
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)
In Scientology doctrine, Xenu is a galactic ruler who, 75 million
years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around
volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then
clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. These events
are known as "Incident II" or "The Wall of Fire", and the traumatic
memories associated with them as the R6 implant. Scientology founder
L. Ron Hubbard detailed the story in Operating Thetan level III in
1967, famously warning that R6 was "calculated to kill (by pneumonia
etc) anyone who attempts to solve it." Much controversy between the
Church of Scientology and its critics has focused on Xenu. The Church
avoids making mention of Xenu in public statements and has gone to
considerable effort to maintain the story's confidentiality, including
legal action on both copyright and trade secrecy grounds. Critics
claim that revealing the story is in the public interest, given the
high prices charged for OT III. The Xenu story prompted the use of the
volcano as a Scientology symbol.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1594:
King Sigismund III of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was crowned
King of Sweden.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_of_Poland)
1674:
The Third Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of
Westminster.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Dutch_War)
1942:
Air raids on Darwin: The capital of Northern Territory, Australia was
devastated by 242 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Darwin%2C_February_19%2C_1942)
1942:
U.S. Executive Order 9066 was signed, authorising the relocation and
confinement of over 112,000 Japanese Americans.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Executive_Order_9066)
1986:
The Soviet Union launched the space station Mir, the first long-term
research station in space.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others
may think of them. I am aware that a philosopher's ideas are not
subject to the judgement of ordinary persons, because it is his
endeavor to seek the truth in all things, to the extent permitted to
human reason by God. Yet I hold that completely erroneous views should
be shunned." -- Nicolaus Copernicus
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus)
Graffiti is a type of deliberate human markings on property. Graffiti
can take the form of art, drawings, or words, and is illegal vandalism
when done without the property owner's consent. Its origin can be
traced back to ancient civilizations such as the Roman Empire and
Ancient Greece. Graffiti originally was the term used for
inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient
sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii. It has
evolved to include any decorations inscribed on any surface that are
considered to be vandalism or pictures or writing placed on surfaces,
usually outside walls and sidewalks, without the permission of the
owner. Thus, inscriptions made by the authors of a monument are not
considered graffiti.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1861:
With the Italian unification almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II
of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumed the title as King of Italy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_of_Italy)
1861:
Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first (and only) President of
the Confederate States of America.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis)
1885:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published.
It was subsequently banned.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn)
1932:
The Empire of Japan established Manchukuo, a puppet state in
northeastern China during the Sino-Japanese War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo)
1943:
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister, delivered the
Sportpalast speech to motivate the German people when the tide of
World War II was turning against Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Teachers are those who use themselves as bridges, over which they
invite their students to cross; then having facilitated their
crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of
their own." -- Nikos Kazantzakis
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis)
Mor lam is an ancient Lao song form of Laos and Isan (Northeastern
Thailand). Mor lam means expert song, or expert singer, referring to
the music or artist respectively. Traditionally mor lam was
extemporaneous singing accompanied by the khene, a free reed mouth
organ, but the modern form is most often composed and uses electrified
instruments. Musically it is characterised by quick tempi and rapid
delivery. As well as the usual theme of unrequited love, mor lam
reflects the difficulties of life in rural Isan and Laos, leavened
with wry humour. In its heartland performances are an essential part
of festivals and ceremonies, while the music has gained a profile
outside its native regions thanks to the spread of migrant workers,
for whom it remains an important cultural link with home.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_lam
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as
President and Aaron Burr as Vice President of the United States,
resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 presidential election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election%2C_1800)
1854:
Britain recognized the independence of the Orange Free State in the
present-day Free State Province, South Africa.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Free_State)
1895:
The famous ballet, Swan Lake, was first performed at full length with
music by Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Lake)
1959:
Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, was launched to measure
cloud-cover distribution.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_2)
1979:
About 120,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army of China crossed
into northern Vietnam, starting the Sino-Vietnamese War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"There is one simple Divinity found in all things, everything has
Divinity latent within itself. For she enfolds and imparts herself
even unto the smallest beings. Without her presence nothing would have
being, because she is the essence of the existence of the first unto
the last being." -- Giordano Bruno
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno)