Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist who is widely regarded as
the greatest scientist of the 20th century. He proposed the theory of
relativity and also made major contributions to the development of
quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and cosmology. He was
awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the
photoelectric effect and "for his services to Theoretical Physics."
After his general theory of relativity was formulated, Einstein became
world-famous, an unusual achievement for a scientist. In his later
years, his fame exceeded that of any other scientist in history, and
in popular culture, Einstein has become a byword for great
intelligence or even genius. His is also one of the world's most
recognizable faces.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1689:
The Convention Parliament was convened to determine if James II, the
last Catholic king in England, had vacated the throne when he fled to
France in 1688.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England)
1818:
Led by General Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile formally proclaimed its
independence from Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile)
1909:
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of
the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations, was
founded.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP)
1912:
Xuantong Emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last Emperor of
China, abdicated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuantong_Emperor)
2001:
NEAR Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, the
Eros.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEAR_Shoemaker)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we
begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see
more, not less." -- Arthur Miller
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller)
The Economy of the Republic of Ireland is modern, relatively small,
and trade-dependent with growth averaging a robust 10% in 1995–2000.
Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by
industry. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's
robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer
spending and recovery in both construction and business investment.
Rapidly rising inflation (between 4% and 5%) – particularly of house
prices and service charges (utilities, insurance, healthcare, legal
representation, etc.) – is the main economic concern at present.
Dublin, the nation's capital, was ranked 22nd in a worldwide cost of
living survey in 2004
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
King Amadeo I of Spain abdicated, proclaimed at the Cortes that
Spanish people were "ungovernable", and left the country.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeo_of_Spain)
1919:
Friedrich Ebert became the first Reich President of the Weimar
Republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ebert)
1929:
The first Lateran treaty was signed, establishing Vatican City as an
independent sovereign state within Italy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City)
1963:
The Beatles began recording for their first album, Please Please Me.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Please_Me)
1979:
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, and eventually
became the Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If one knows only what one is told, one does not know enough to be
able to arrive at a well-balanced decision." -- Leó Szilárd
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3_Szil%C3%A1rd)
The Coconut crab is the largest terrestrial arthropod, known for its
ability to crack coconuts with its strong pincers in order to eat the
contents. It is sometimes called the "Robber Crab" because some steal
shiny items such as pots and silverware from houses and tents. Another
name is the "terrestrial hermit crab," due to the use of shells by
young crabs. Its range includes the Indian and western Pacific ocean.
They differ slightly in color among different islands, ranging from
light violet to deep purple, to brown. Their diet consists primarily
of all kinds of fruits, including coconuts and figs. However, the crab
will eat nearly anything organic, including leaves, rotten fruit,
tortoise eggs, dead animals, and shells of other animals. They cannot
swim and will drown in water.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1258:
Hulagu Khan and the Mongols sacked Baghdad, ending the rule of the
Abbasid caliphate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad)
1763:
Britain and Spain partitioned New France by the Treaty of Paris, and
decimated the French colonial empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_France)
1840:
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom at the Chapel Royal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert_of_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)
1962:
"Rudolf Abel", a Soviet spy arrested by the FBI, was exchanged for
Gary Powers, the pilot of an American spy plane.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilyam_Genrikovich_Fisher)
1996:
Deep Blue the chess-playing computer defeated International
Grandmaster and World Chess Championship Garry Kasparov in a game of
chess for the first time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Be nice to people on your way up, because you're going to meet them
all on your way down." -- Jimmy Durante
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Durante)
Jonathan Wild is perhaps the most famous criminal of London, if not of
the United Kingdom, in the 18th century, both because of his own
actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists
made of them. He invented a scheme which allowed him to run one of the
most successful gangs of thieves of the era, all the while appearing
to be the nation's leading policeman. He manipulated the press and the
nation's fears to become the most loved public figure of the 1720s;
this love turned to hatred when his villany was exposed. After his
death, he became a symbol of naked corruption and hypocrisy.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wild
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
474:
As the seven-year old Leo II was deemed too young to rule, his father
Zeno was crowned as the co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_%28emperor%29)
1895:
Volleyball was invented at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volleyball)
1943:
World War II: Allied forces secured Guadalcanal of the Solomon Islands
from the Imperial Japanese Army, concluding the Battle of Guadalcanal,
a key victory in the Pacific War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalcanal)
1950:
Red scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the U.S. State Department
of being filled with Communists.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy)
1960:
Joanne Woodward was honored with the first star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, An everlasting
vision of the everchanging view, A wondrous woven magic in bits of
blue and gold, A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold. --
Carole King --
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carole_King)
The Battle of Inchon was a decisive 15-day invasion and battle during
the Korean War. The battle began on September 15, 1950, and ended
around September 28. During the amphibious operation, U.S. Marines
under the command of General Douglas MacArthur secured Inchon and
broke North Korean control of the Pusan region through a series of
landings in enemy territory. The Battle of Inchon ended a string of
victories by the invading North Korean People's Army (NKPA) and began
a counterattack by United Nations forces that led to the recapture of
Seoul. The northern advance ended when China's People's Liberation
Army entered the conflict in support of North Korea, and defeated UN
forces at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Inchon
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1587:
Queen Mary I of Scotland was executed at Fotheringhay Castle on
suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her
cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_Scotland)
1904:
The Russo-Japanese War began with a surprise torpedo attack by the
Japanese on Russian ships near present-day Lüshunkou, China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War)
1971:
Trading began in NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASDAQ)
1979:
Colonel Denis Sassou-Nguesso was chosen as the new President of the
People’s Republic of the Congo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Sassou-Nguesso)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is
unaware." -- Martin Buber
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Buber)
Bodyline was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team
for their 1932–33 tour of Australia, specifically to combat the
extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman. It involved
bowlers deliberately aiming the cricket ball at the bodies of batsmen.
This caused several injuries to Australian players and led to
ill-feeling between the countries that rose to diplomatic levels.
Following the 1932–33 series, several authors, including many of the
players involved in it, released books expressing various points of
view about Bodyline. Many argued that it was a scourge on cricket and
must be stamped out, while some claimed not to understand what all the
fuss was about.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1301:
Edward of Caernarvon, the future King Edward II, became the first
English heir apparent to hold the title as Prince of Wales.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II_of_England)
1940:
Pinocchio, the Academy Award-winning Disney animated film based on a
story by Carlo Collodi, was first released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_%281940_movie%29)
1984:
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II performed the first untethered
spacewalk using a Manned Maneuvering Unit.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-vehicular_activity)
1992:
The Maastricht treaty, which led to the formation of the European
Union, was signed in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_treaty)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age
of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was
the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter
of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other
way— in short, the period was so far like the present period, that
some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for
good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." --
Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens)
The poetry of the United States began as a literary art during the
colonial era. Unsurprisingly, most of the early poetry written in the
colonies and fledgling republic used contemporary British models of
poetic form, diction, and theme. However, in the 19th century a
distinctive American idiom began to emerge. By the later part of that
century, when Walt Whitman was winning an enthusiastic audience
abroad, American poets had begun to take their place at the forefront
of the English-language avant garde. By the 1960s, the young poets of
the British Poetry Revival looked to their American contemporaries and
predecessors as models for the kind of poetry they wanted to write.
Toward the end of the millennium, consideration of American poetry had
diversified, as scholars placed an increased emphasis on poetry by
women, Afro-Americans, Hispano-Americans and other subcultural
groupings.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_the_United_States
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1819:
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded Singapore, a new trading post for
the British East India Company.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Stamford_Raffles)
1820:
Sponsored by the American Colonization Society, the first African
American immigrants established a settlement in present-day Liberia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Liberia)
1922:
France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed
the Washington Naval Treaty to limit naval armaments.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Naval_Treaty)
1952:
The Duchess of Edinburgh ascended to the British throne while visiting
Kenya. She then came down from a treehouse as Queen Elizabeth II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom)
1959:
Jack Kilby filed the patent for the first integrated circuit.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/integrated_circuit)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"You and I are told increasingly that we have to choose between a left
or right, but I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as a
left or right. There is only an up or down— up to a man's age-old
dream; the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and
order— or down to the ant heap totalitarianism, and regardless of
their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our
freedom for security have embarked on this downward course." -- Ronald
Reagan
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan)
Isan is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat
Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, and by
Cambodia to the south; to the west it is separated from Northern and
Central Thailand by the Phetchabun mountain range. Agriculture is the
main economic activity, but due to the poor conditions output trails
that of other parts of the country, and this is Thailand's poorest
region. The main language of the region is Isan (which is similar to
Lao), but Thai is also widespread and Khmer is spoken in the south.
Most of the population is of Lao origin, but the region's
incorporation into the modern Thai state has been largely successful.
Prominent aspects of Isan culture include mor lam music, muay Thai
boxing and the food, in which sticky rice and chillies are prominent.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State as his
personal possession in Africa.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium)
1859:
Prince Alexander John Cuza of Wallachia and Moldavia merged his two
principalities to form Romania.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Romania)
1924:
Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory
were first broadcast by the BBC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal)
1988:
The first Red Nose Day raised £15 million in the United Kingdom for
charity.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Relief)
2004:
Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the
city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haiti_rebellion)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"I profoundly believe that there is on this horizon, as yet only dimly
perceived, a new dawn of conscience. In that purer light, people will
come to see themselves in each other, which is to say they will make
themselves known to one another by their similarities rather than by
their differences. Man's knowledge of things will begin to be matched
by man's knowledge of self. The significance of a smaller world will
be measured not in terms of military advantage, but in terms of
advantage for the human community. It will be the triumph of the
heartbeat over the drumbeat." -- Adlai Stevenson
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson)
The King James Version is an English translation of the Holy Bible,
commissioned for the benefit of the Church of England at the behest of
King James I of England. First published in 1611, it has had a
profound impact on not only most English translations that have
followed it, but also on English literature as a whole. The works of
famous authors such as John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman Melville, John
Dryden, and William Wordsworth are replete with inspiration apparently
derived from the King James Version. Bibles from the English Revised
Version to the New American Standard Bible, the Revised Standard
Version, and the New King James Version are revisions of its text; it
has deeply influenced Bibles such as the New International Version
that do not claim to be revisions of its text. It is no longer in
copyright in most parts of the world but is under perpetual Crown
copyright in the United Kingdom. It is considered to be an
instrumental founding block of modern English, and remains one of the
most widely-read literary works from its time, surpassed only by the
works of playwright William Shakespeare.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version_of_the_Bible
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
Constantin von Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th century
uncial manuscript of the New Testament, in a monastery at the foot of
Mount Sinai in Egypt.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus)
1862:
Bacardi, one of the world's largest rum producer, was founded as a
small distillery in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi)
1899:
The Philippine-American War began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War)
1945:
Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the
Yalta Conference.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference)
1957:
USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, logged her 60,000th
nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus
described in Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_%28SSN-571%29)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Our ideals, laws and customs should be based on the proposition that
each generation, in turn, becomes the custodian rather than the
absolute owner of our resources and each generation has the obligation
to pass this inheritance on to the future." -- Charles Lindbergh
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh)
Mark Latham is an Australian politician and was leader of the federal
parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition in
Australia from December 2003 to January 2005. He succeeded Simon Crean
as leader in December 2003, defeating former leader Kim Beazley in a
close vote. Latham captured national attention with his innovative
policies and approaches, but also attracted controversy regarding his
interesting past. In the October 2004 federal election, Latham and his
party were soundly defeated by the incumbent Prime Minister John
Howard. Ill-health and deteriorating relations with his own party
forced him to step down as Leader on 18 January 2005.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Latham
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1488:
Bartholomeu Diaz of Portugal sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at
the southern tip of Africa and landed in Mossel Bay.
1867:
Crown Prince Mutsuhito ascended to the Japanese throne, beginning the
Meiji Era.
1959:
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash on
"The Day The Music Died".
1966:
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 became the first probe to land on the
Moon and transmit pictures from the lunar surface to Earth.
1969:
Yasser Arafat became the leader of the Palestine Liberation
Organization.
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Anything different is good." -- Bill Murray as "Phil" in Groundhog
Day
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_%28movie%29)