Laika was one of the Russian space dogs, and the first living being to
enter orbit as a passenger on the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Some
classify her as the first animal to enter space, although others point
to previous missions that placed animals into sub-orbital flights. She
was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow, a female part-
Samoyed terrier weighing approximately 6 kg (13 lb). Laika died a few
hours after launch from stress and overheating. Her true cause of death
was not made public until years after the flight, with officials always
stating that she was either euthanized by poisoned food or died when
the oxygen supply ran out. Russian officials have since expressed
regret for allowing Laika to die; to this date, Laika is the only
living passenger ever to have been launched into space with no hope of
retrieval.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika
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Today's selected anniversaries:
* 31 BC - Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of
Octavian defeated troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Actium)
* 1666 - Great Fire of London: A large fire started in London in the
house of Charles II's baker on Pudding Lane near London
Bridge and burned for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings
including St. Paul's Cathedral, but only 16 people are known
to have died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London)
* 1752 - The United Kingdom adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly
two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_Calendar)
* 1898 - Battle of Omdurman - Troops led by Sir Horatio Kitchener
defeated Sudanese tribesmen, establishing British dominance
in northeastern Africa.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Omdurman)
* 1945 - The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on the deck
of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, formally ending World War II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Instrument_of_Surrender)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"There is no sudden entrance into Heaven. Slow is the ascent by the
path of Love." -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ella_Wheeler_Wilcox)
Under English common law, a common scold was a species of public
nuisance--a troublesome and angry woman who broke the public peace by
habitually arguing and quarrelling with her neighbours. The Latin name
for the offender, communis rixatrix, appears in the feminine gender,
and makes it clear that only women could commit this crime. The
prescribed penalty for this offence involved dunking the convicted
offender in water in an instrument called the cucking stool, which by
folk etymology became ducking stool. The stool consisted of a chair
attached to a lever, suspended over a body of water; the prisoner was
strapped into the chair and dunked into the water for her punishment.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_scold
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Today's selected anniversaries:
* 1715 - Louis XIV of France the "Sun King" died after a reign of 72
years, longer than any other French or other major European
monarch. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France)
* 1923 - Great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo and Yokohama,
killing about 100,000 people.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kanto_earthquake)
* 1939 - After staging the Attack on Sender Gleiwitz the day before,
Nazi Germany attacked Poland and started World War II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II)
* 1951 - Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed a mutual
defense pact known as the ANZUS Treaty.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUS_Treaty)
* 1983 - The civilian airliner Korean Air Flight 7, carrying 246
passengers and 23 crew, was shot down by Soviet fighters.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_7)
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea explorer who sailed for Spain.
He was the first to sail from Europe westwards to Asia, the first
European to sail the Pacific Ocean, and the first to lead an expedition
for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. Though Magellan himself
died in the East Indies before returning to Europe, some of the crew
and fleet he organized and guided for half the journey did return there
in 1522, having circumnavigated the globe.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan
The traditional counties of England are historic subdivisions of the
country into around 40 regions. They were used for administrative
purposes for hundreds of years, and over time became established as a
geographic reference frame. The usually-accepted set of counties was
established in the 12th century, although it did not become finalised
until the 16th century. After local government reform since the late
19th century, they are no longer in general use for geographic purposes
(in favour of ceremonial counties or administrative counties), but the
system in use is partially based on the traditional counties, and the
postal counties often still follow them.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_counties_of_England
The Russian language is the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages.
It belongs to the group of Indo-European languages, and is therefore
related to Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, as well as the modern Germanic,
Romance, and Celtic languages, including English, French, and Gaelic.
Written examples are extant from the tenth century C.E. onwards. While
it preserves much of its ancient synthetic-inflexional structure and a
Common Slavonic word base, modern Russian shares a large stock of the
international vocabulary for politics, science, and technology. A
language of political importance in the twentieth century, Russian is
one of the official languages of the United Nations.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language
Coca-Cola is the name of a popular carbonated drink sold in stores,
restaurants and vending machines in many nations of the world. It is
one of the world's most recognizable and widely sold commercial
brands, available in over 200 countries, and is the best-selling soft
drink in all but three of those countries. The Coca-Cola Company's
international headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Coke's major rival
is Pepsi, which began as its imitator in the early 20th century.
There are many controversies surrounding the company, its products and
its trade practices. Coca-Cola has recently been denounced in the UK
for weaning young children onto junk food. In India, the corporation
has provoked a number of boycotts and protests as a result of its
perceived low standards of hygiene and adverse impact on the environment.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola