The Golden Age of Arcade Games was a peak era of arcade game
popularity and innovation. Some opinions place this period's
beginning in late 1979 or 1980 when the first color arcade games
appeared and arcades began to become prevalent, and its ending in the
mid-1980s. More generous definitions place its start at the 1978
release of Space Invaders and its end in the mid-1990s with the
release of home gaming systems which were more powerful than typical
arcade hardware. Despite claims to the contrary, the video game crash
of 1983 had little impact on the arcade game industry. In fact, it
may have boosted it since people played more games in arcades since
little was available for the home market.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_arcade_games
Today's selected anniversaries:
1927 The first talking movie "The Jazz Singer", starring Al
Jolson, was released and became a box-office success.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer)
1967 The Yom Kippur War began as a simultaneous coordinated
attack by Egypt and Syria in the Sinai Peninsula and the
Golan Heights, respectively, to regain the territories lost
to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War)
1976 Premier Hua Guofeng ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four
and their associates, putting an end to the Cultural
Revolution in China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Four_%28China%29)
1981 Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al%2dSadat)
1998 Gay-bashing: University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard
was fatally attacked for being gay.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard)
Wikiquote of the day:
"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the
individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own
improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility
for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we
think we can be most useful." ~ Marie Curie
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie_Curie)
Genes are material entities that parents pass to offspring during
reproduction. These entities encode information essential for the
construction and regulation of polypeptides, proteins and other
molecules that determines the growth and functioning of the organism.
The word "gene" is shared by many disciplines, including classical
genetics, molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and population
genetics. Because each discipline models the biology of life
differently, the material entity that supports the gene in one
discipline is not the same as in the other. Following the discovery
that DNA is the genetic material, and with the growth of
biotechnology and the project to sequence the human genome, the
common usage of the word "gene" has increasingly reflected its
meaning in molecular biology. In the molecular-biological sense,
genes are the segments of DNA which cells transcribe into RNAs and
translate, at least in part, into proteins.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene
Today's selected anniversaries:
1864 Calcutta, India was almost completely destroyed by a
cyclone which had killed 60,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta)
1877 After battling U.S. armed forces for more than three
months, retreating over 1,000 miles across Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, and Montana, Chief Joseph and his Nez
Perce band finally surrendered following a five-day siege.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph)
1908 Prince Ferdinand became Tsar when the autonomous
principality of Bulgaria proclaimed independence from the
Ottoman Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_of_Bulgaria)
1969 The first episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' was
broadcast on BBC1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Flying_Circus)
1970 Terrorists of the 'Front de Lib�ration du Qu�bec'
kidnapped a British diplomat, sparking the October Crisis
in Montr�al, Canada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_de_Lib%E9ration_du_Qu%E9bec)
Wikiquote of the day:
"As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the
principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall
me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own
pupil, and ready to love my teacher." ~ Giacomo Casanova
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giacomo_Casanova)
Emacs is a text editor with a comprehensive set of features that is
particularly popular with programmers and other technical computer
users. The original Emacs was written in 1976 by Richard Stallman, as
a set of Editor MACroS for the TECO editor. It has evolved from its
dumb terminal origins into something resembling a full blown word
processor sporting a complete graphical user interface. A large
number of extensions are available which can turn Emacs into anything
from a web browser to a tool for writing and compiling computer
programs.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs
Today's selected anniversaries:
1830 Belgian Revolution: A provisional government in Brussels
declared the creation of the independent and neutral state
of Belgium, in revolt against the United Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Revolution)
1910 Manuel II, the last King of Portugal, fled to Great Britain
when a revolution erupted in Lisbon and his palace was
shelled. A republic was proclaimed the next day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_II_of_Portugal)
1957 Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite
to orbit the Earth, was launched at 19:12 UTC by a R-7
rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1)
1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis: Tanks bombarded the White
House in Moscow, a government building that housed the
Russian parliament, where demonstrators against President
Boris Yeltsin rallied outside.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_constitutional_crisis_of_1993)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Given the choice between two theories, take the one which is
funnier." ~ "Blore's Razor" (Author unknown)
The History of Greenland, the world's largest island, is the history
of life under extreme Arctic conditions; an ice-cap covers about 84
percent of the island, largely restricting human activity to the coasts.
Greenland was unknown to Europeans until the 10th century, when it
was discovered by Icelandic Vikings. Before this discovery, it had been
inhabited for a long time by Arctic peoples, although the direct ancestors
of the modern Inuit did not arrive until around 1200 CE. The Inuit were the
only people to inhabit the island for several hundred years, but in
remembrance of the Viking settlement, Denmark nonetheless claimed the
territory, and colonized it in the 18th century. During World War II,
Greenland
became effectively detached from Denmark, and more connected to the United
States and Canada. Eventually the colonial status was lifted, and although
Greenland is still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it has enjoyed home
rule
since 1979.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Greenland
Today's selected anniversaries:
2333 BC - Dangun, a mythical figure, established the Kingdom of Go-Joseon
(presentday Korea).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangun)
1283 - David ap Gruffydd the Prince of Wales, the last native ruler of Wales
to resist English domination, was captured by English forces and
subsequently
executed by drawing and quartering.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_ap_Gruffydd)
1935 - Italy invaded Ethiopia, igniting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Abyssinian_War)
1990 - German reunification: The five re-established German states
(Bundesländer)
of East Germany formally joined West Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification)
1993 - Battle of Mogadishu: Soldiers from Malaysian, Pakistani and U.S.
armed forces attempted to capture Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid,
as chronicled in a book and then a film entitled "Black Hawk Down".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried
before." ~ Mae West
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mae_West)
The Battle of Normandy in 1944, codenamed Operation Overlord, was the
invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe by the Allies. The Normandy
invasion began with overnight paratrooper and glider landings,
massive air and naval bombardments, and an early-morning amphibious
assault. It continued over more than two months, with campaigns to
establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads.
It concluded with the surrender of Paris and the fall of the Chambois
pocket. Normandy is, to this day, one of the best-known battles of
World War II. In common language, the expression "D-Day" is still
used to refer to June 6, the starting date of the invasion and the
opening day of the battle
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Normandy
Today's selected anniversaries:
331 BC Battle of Arbela: Despite being greatly outnumbered,
Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces defeated
Darius III of Persia. Alexander was then crowned "King of
Asia" in a magnificent ceremony in Arbela (modern-day
Arbil, Iraq).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gaugamela)
1891 In Stanford, California, Leland Stanford Junior University
officially opened. There were 559 students, and tuition was
free.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University)
1936 Generalissimo Francisco Franco became the head of the
Spanish State, ruling as a dictator till his death in 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco)
1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
began operations, replacing the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA)
1977 Brazilian football (soccer) star Edson Arantes do
Nascimento, better known as the "Black Pearl" or
Pel�, played his last game as a professional.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%E9)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not be
believed." ~ William Blake
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Blake)
The Ridge Route was the popular name given to an early 20th-century
road in the United States. The Ridge Route was California's first
highway, linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin Valley;
it was particularly used to travel from the city of Los Angeles to
Bakersfield. Its official name was the Castaic-Tejon Route. In 1895,
the State Bureau of Highways was created by Governor James H. Budd
who appointed three highway commissioners: R.C. Irvine of Sacramento,
Marsden Manson of San Francisco and L. Maude of Riverside. Though a
great deal of the route had been daylighted (widened) and paved in
asphalt by the mid-1920s, much of the 1919 concrete pavement remains
intact. In some areas, Model T tire tracks can still be seen, left
decades ago in the still-soft concrete.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_Route
Today's selected anniversaries:
1399 The Duke of Lancaster deposed Richard II to become Henry IV
of England, merging the Duchy of Lancaster with the crown.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_England)
1980 Ethernet specifications were published by Xerox, working
with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet)
1982 Cyanide-laced Tylenol killed six people in the Chicago,
Illinois area. Seven were killed in all. The incident is
known as the Tylenol scare.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol)
1991 Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in
a coup d'�tat and replaced by General Raoul C�dras. A
large-scale exodus of boat people ensued.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean%2dBertrand_Aristide)
1999 Japan's worst nuclear accident took place at a uranium
reprocessing facility near Tokyo, exposing workers and
local residents to very high levels of radiation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_accident)
Wikiquote of the day:
"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us
with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic
threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as
effects." ~ Herman Melville
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herman_Melville)
Adoption in Rome was a fairly common procedure, particularly in the
upper senatorial class. The need for a male heir and the expense of
raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but
not too many children. Adoption, the obvious solution, also served to
cement ties between the two families, thus fostering and reinforcing
alliances. In the Imperial period, the system also acted as a
mechanism for ensuring a smooth succession, the emperor taking his
chosen successor as his adopted son.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_in_Rome
Today's selected anniversaries:
61 BC In Rome, Pompey the Great celebrated triumphs over pirates
in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and in the war against
king Mithridates VI of Pontus in Asia Minor, with enormous
parades of spoils, prisoners, army and banners depicting
battle scenes. It was also his 45th birthday.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey)
1829 The first official police force in the world, the
Metropolitan Police of London, also known as the Met or
Scotland Yard, was founded by Sir Robert Peel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Service)
1941 In Kiev, Ukraine, the Babi Yar massacre began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar)
1972 Sino-Japanese relations: Japan established diplomatic
relations with the People's Republic of China, breaking
official ties with the Republic of China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Communique_of_the_Government_of_Japan_an…)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important
to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it.
But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise
it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the
world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and
respect." ~ Hermann Hesse
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse)
A split infinitive is a phenomenon of the English language when an
adverb or adverbial phrase is inserted between "to" and a verb in its
infinitive form. One famous example is from the science fiction
series Star Trek: "To boldly go where no man has gone before." Here,
the infinitive verb form of "go" is "to go", and the adverb "boldly"
has been inserted, creating a split infinitive. In the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, some grammatical authorities argued that split
infinitives should not be allowed in English, by an analogy with
Latin, where they are usually impossible. Most authorities from the
last 100 years, however, agree that this rule was mistaken, and
indeed that splitting an infinitive can sometimes reduce ambiguity.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_infinitive
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066 William the Conqueror and his invasion fleet of around 600
ships and an army of 7000 reached England and landed at
Pevensey, Sussex.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror)
1542 Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first
European to travel the California coast, landed on what is
now San Diego.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rodriguez_Cabrillo)
1820 The tomato was publicly proved safe when Robert Johnson ate
a bushel of tomatoes outside a courthouse in Salem,
Massachusetts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tomato)
1994 The M/S Estonia, a ferry commuting between Tallinn, Estonia
and Stockholm, Sweden, sank. 852 people drowned or were
frozen to death in the cold water in one of the worst
maritime accidents on the Baltic Sea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M/S_Estonia)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Those who think they know it all are very annoying to those of us
who do." ~ Anonymous
Yesterday is the name of a song written by Paul McCartney, originally
recorded by The Beatles for their album Help! in 1965. "Yesterday"
was the first official recording by the group which relied upon a
performance by a single member of the band, although the background
accompaniment of a string quartet was added a few days later during
the editing stage. It is a ballad about unrequited love, and differed
greatly from other works by the Beatles, leading the other three
members of the band to veto the song's release as a single in the
United Kingdom. Although solely written by McCartney, due to his
contract with the Beatles the song was credited to both him and John
Lennon as "Lennon/McCartney". According to the Guinness Book of
Records, "Yesterday" has the most cover versions (over three
thousand) of any song yet produced. BMI asserts that it was performed
over seven million times during the 20th century alone.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday_%28song%29
Today's selected anniversaries:
1540 Pope Paul III gave the final approval to the formation of
the Society of Jesus by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus)
1940 The Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by the major Axis
Powers — Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of
Japan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_Pact)
1983 Richard Stallman announced the GNU project to develop a
free Unix-like operating system.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU)
1996 The Taliban drove President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of the
Afghan capital of Kabul, executed former President Mohammad
Najibullah, and established the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban)
Wikiquote of the day:
"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to
make us love one another." ~ Jonathan Swift
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift)