"A Death in the Family" is a 1988 storyline in Batman, an American comic
book published by DC Comics. Written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Jim
Aparo, it is considered one of the most important Batman stories as it
features the death of his sidekick Robin at the hands of his archenemy,
the Joker. Jason Todd, the second character to assume the Robin persona,
was introduced in 1983 to replace Dick Grayson, but became unpopular
among fans. Editor Dennis O'Neil recalled a 1982 Saturday Night Live
sketch in which viewers phoned in, voting to boil or spare Larry the
Lobster. Similarly, DC set up a 900Â number to allow fans to decide
Todd's fate, and fans voted to kill him off. Todd's demise had a lasting
effect on Batman stories, pushing the comic-book mythos in a darker
direction. It remains a popular story among readers and has been
reprinted in trade paperback. An animated interactive-film adaptation,
Batman: Death in the Family, was released in 2020.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Death_in_the_Family_%28comics%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1804:
Irish convicts formerly involved at the Battle of Vinegar Hill
during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 began an uprising against British
colonial authorities in New South Wales, Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Hill_convict_rebellion>
1837:
Chicago, Illinois, was incorporated as a city after its
population increased in seven years from 200 to more than 4,000.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago>
1943:
The Holocaust: Almost all Jews in Bulgarian-occupied northern
Greece were deported to Treblinka extermination camp to be killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Bulgarian-occupied_Greece>
2012:
A series of blasts occurred at an arms dump in Brazzaville,
Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people and injuring 2,300
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazzaville_arms_dump_blasts>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
engineer:
1. (military, also figuratively)
2. A soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for
attack or defence, or other engineering works.
3. (obsolete) A soldier in charge of operating a weapon; an
artilleryman, a gunner.
4. (by extension)
5. A person professionally engaged in the technical design and
construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges,
buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.
6. Originally, a person engaged in designing, constructing, or
maintaining engines or machinery; now (more generally), a person
qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or
studying to do so.
7. A person trained to operate an engine; an engineman.
8. (chiefly historical) A person who operates a steam engine;
specifically (nautical), a person employed to operate the steam engine
in the engine room of a ship.
9. (US, firefighting) A person who drives or operates a fire engine.
10. (chiefly US, rail transport) A person who drives or operates a
locomotive; a train driver.
11. Preceded by a qualifying word: a person who uses abilities or
knowledge to manipulate events or people.
12. (often derogatory) A person who formulates plots or schemes; a
plotter, a schemer.
13. (transitive)
14. To employ one's abilities and knowledge as an engineer to design,
construct, and/or maintain (something, such as a machine or a
structure), usually for industrial or public use.
15. (specifically) To use genetic engineering to alter or construct (a
DNA sequence), or to alter (an organism).
16. To plan or achieve (a goal) by contrivance or guile; to finagle, to
wangle.
17. (intransitive)
18. To formulate plots or schemes; to plot, to scheme.
19. (rare) To work as an engineer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engineer>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Now, at more than any other point in recent history, the United
Nations is being challenged. If the United Nations has any purpose, it
is to prevent war, it is to condemn war, to stop war. That is our job
here today. It is the job you were sent here to do – not just by your
capitals, but by all of humanity. Â
--Linda Thomas-Greenfield
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Linda_Thomas-Greenfield>
Hector Waller (4 April 1900 – 1 March 1942) was a senior officer in
the Royal Australian Navy. Born in Benalla, Victoria, Waller entered the
Royal Australian Naval College in 1913 and served in the First World
War. He gained his first command in 1937, as captain of the destroyer
HMSÂ Brazen. In September 1939, he took command of HMASÂ Stuart and four
other obsolete destroyers that together became known as the "Scrap Iron
Flotilla". Waller was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar,
and twice mentioned in despatches, for his achievements in the
Mediterranean. He then transferred to the South West Pacific as captain
of the light cruiser HMASÂ Perth, and went down with his ship against
heavy odds during the Battle of Sunda Strait in early 1942. He received
a third mention in despatches posthumously, and in 2011 came under
formal consideration for the award of the Victoria Cross for his
performance as Perth's captain. The submarine HMASÂ Waller is named in
his honour.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Waller>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1872:
Yellowstone National Park (bison pictured), located mostly in
the present-day U.S. state of Wyoming, was established as the world's
first national park.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park>
1944:
World War II: American and Australian troops won the Battle of
Sio in New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sio>
2008:
The Armenian military and national police attacked a crowd of
people protesting the results of the recent election in Yerevan, leading
to 10 deaths and over 100 arrests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Armenian_presidential_election_protests>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pendragon:
Also capitalized as Pendragon: a title assumed by the ancient British
chiefs when called to lead other chiefs: chief war leader, dictator, or
king.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pendragon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 As the war in Ukraine rages on, and Ukrainians fight bravely for
their country, the European Union steps up once more its support for
Ukraine and the sanctions against the aggressor — Putin's Russia. For
the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and
delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under
attack. This is a watershed moment. Â
--Ursula von der Leyen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen>
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of
the River Thames in Ham, London. The original house was completed by
1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan courtier. Built of red brick, it
had a traditional Elizabethan era H-plan. The house was later home to
Elizabeth Maitland and her husband John, Duke of Lauderdale, when they
held important roles at the court of Charles II. They had the house
doubled in size and equipped with princely private apartments and
accommodation suites for visitors. It was furnished to the highest
standards and lavishly decorated. The gardens and grounds were carefully
designed. After Elizabeth's death, the property passed down within her
family until it was donated to the National Trust in 1948. The house and
gardens were later opened to the public. Ham retains many original
Jacobean and Caroline features and furnishings, in unusually fine
condition. The house is a Grade I listed building and its park and
gardens are Grade II* listed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_House>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1897:
Ranavalona III, the last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of
Madagascar, was deposed by French military forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranavalona_III>
1928:
Indian physicist C. V. Raman and his colleagues discovered
what is now known as Raman scattering, for which he later became the
first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._V._Raman>
1947:
Nationalist soldiers fired into a crowd of protesters in Taipei
(crowd pictured), killing three people and triggering uprisings
throughout Taiwan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_28_incident>
1975:
A London Underground train at Moorgate station failed to stop
at a terminal platform, crashing and causing the deaths of 43 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorgate_tube_crash>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
carbonado:
1. (dated) Meat or fish that has been scored and broiled. […]
2. A dark, non-transparent, impure form of polycrystalline diamond (also
containing graphite and amorphous carbon) used in drilling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carbonado>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride. Â
--Volodymyr Zelenskyy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy>
Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1834 – January 10, 1910) was an
American Catholic priest and Jesuit. While Healy was one-sixteenth black
and considered himself to be white, he was posthumously recognized as
the first black American to become a Jesuit, to earn a PhD, and to
become the president of a predominantly white university. Born in
Georgia, Healy was legally considered a slave by birth and was sent
north by his father to be educated alongside his brothers. After
studying in Massachusetts, Healy entered the Society of Jesus and
eventually earned his doctorate in Belgium. Healy was named the chair of
philosophy at Georgetown University in 1866 and became its president in
1873. He aimed to transform the institution into a modern university by
expanding courses in the sciences, raising standards at the medical
school, and growing the law school. He also had constructed the
university's flagship building, Healy Hall. For this, he became known as
Georgetown's "second founder".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Francis_Healy>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1560:
The Treaty of Berwick was signed, setting the terms under which
an English fleet and army could enter Scotland to expel French troops
defending the Regency of Mary of Guise (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berwick_%281560%29>
1962:
Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the
Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate
President Ngo Dinh Diem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_South_Vietnamese_Independence_Palace_bom…>
1982:
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, known for its performances of
Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas, gave its final performance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Oyly_Carte_Opera_Company>
2002:
Violent riots, perceived to have been instigated by a train
fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims, broke out in the Indian state of
Gujarat, killing at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, over three days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godhra_train_burning>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pronoia:
1. (philosophy, theology) Divine providence, foreknowledge, foresight.
2. (historical, Byzantine Empire) An imperial grant to an individual of
temporary fiscal rights in the form of land, incomes or taxes from land,
fishing rights, etc., sometimes carrying with it an obligation of
military service. […]
3. (psychology) A belief (sometimes regarded as irrational) that people
conspire to do one good.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pronoia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We aren’t going to lay down weapons. We will protect the
country ... Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it's our
land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that. Â
--Volodymyr Zelenskyy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy>
The naval Battle of Drepana took place in 249Â BC during the First Punic
War near the city of Drepana (modern Trapani) in western Sicily, between
a Carthaginian fleet under Adherbal and a Roman fleet commanded by
Publius Claudius Pulcher. Pulcher was blockading the Carthaginian
stronghold of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) when he decided to attack their
fleet, which was nearby in the harbour of Drepana. The Roman fleet
sailed by night to carry out a surprise attack but became scattered in
the dark. Adherbal was able to lead his fleet out to sea before it could
be trapped in harbour; having gained sea room in which to manoeuvre he
then counter-attacked. The Romans were pinned against the shore, and
after a day of fighting were heavily defeated by the more manoeuvrable
Carthaginian ships with their better-trained crews. After this,
Carthage's greatest naval victory of the war, they took the offensive
and all but swept the Romans from the sea. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Drepana>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Napoleon escaped from the Italian island of Elba (depicted), to
which he had been exiled after the signing of the Treaty of
Fontainebleau.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon>
1917:
The Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded "Livery Stable
Blues", the first jazz single ever released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_Stable_Blues>
1935:
With the aid of a radio station in Daventry, England, and two
receiving antennae, Scottish engineer and inventor Robert Watson-Watt
first demonstrated the use of radar.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Watson-Watt>
2012:
African-American teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by
neighborhood-watch coordinator George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida,
prompting a nationwide controversy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Trayvon_Martin>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
haul:
1. (transitive) To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or
oxen, or a motor vehicle.
2. (transitive) To draw or pull something heavy.
3. (transitive) To carry or transport something, with a connotation that
the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To drag, to pull, to tug.
5. (transitive, figuratively) Followed by up: to summon to be
disciplined or held answerable for something.
6. (intransitive) To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked.
7. (transitive, intransitive, nautical) To steer (a vessel) closer to
the wind.
8. (intransitive, nautical) Of the wind: to shift fore (more towards the
bow).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haul>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We are seeing Russian military operations inside the sovereign
territory of Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen in decades.
Day after day, I have been clear that such unilateral measures conflict
directly with the United Nations Charter. … I repeat my appeal from
last night to President Putin: Stop the military operation. Bring the
troops back to Russia. We know the toll of war. With deaths rising, we
are seeing images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of
Ukraine. People – everyday innocent people – always pay the highest
price. Â
--António Guterres
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Guterres>
J. R. R. Tolkien drew on Beowulf when creating the fictional world he
called Middle-earth for The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien (pictured), a
fantasy author, linguist, and philologist, took many elements from the
Old English poem Beowulf, including names, monsters, and heroic-age
customs and beliefs. He emulated its style, creating an impression of
depth and adopting an elegiac tone. Tolkien admired the way that the
poem, written by a Christian looking back at a pagan past, used
symbolism without becoming allegorical. The names of races, including
ents, orcs, and elves, and placenames such as Orthanc and Meduseld,
derive from Beowulf. The Riders of Rohan are distinctively Old English.
The werebear Beorn in The Hobbit has been likened to the hero Beowulf
himself; both names mean "bear" and both characters have enormous
strength. Scholars have compared some of Tolkien's monsters, including
Gollum, the trolls, and the dragon Smaug, to those in the poem.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_and_Middle-earth>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1866:
Miners in Calaveras County, California, discovered a human
skull that a prominent geologist claimed was proof (later disproved)
that humans had existed during the Pliocene.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaveras_Skull>
1948:
Fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention in recent unrest,
President Edvard Beneš ceded control of the government to the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Czechoslovak_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1956:
In a speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the personality cult and dictatorship
of his predecessor Joseph Stalin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Cult_of_Personality_and_Its_Consequenc…>
1992:
First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian armed forces killed at
least 161 ethnic Azerbaijani civilians in the Nagorno-Karabakh village
of Khojaly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khojaly_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stance:
1. The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.
2. One's opinion or point of view.
3. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
4. (specifically, climbing) A foothold or ledge on which to set up a
belay.
5. (Scotland) A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus
stop, a taxi rank.
6. (Scotland) A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a
street trader can carry on business.
7. (obsolete, rare) A stanza.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I want to address today the people of Russia. I am addressing you
not as a president, I am addressing you as a citizen of Ukraine. More
than 2,000 km of the common border is dividing us. Along this border
your troops are stationed, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of
military vehicles. Your leaders approved them to make a step forward, to
the territory of another country. And this step can be the beginning of
a big war on European continent. We know for sure that we don't need
the war. Not a Cold War, not a hot war. Not a hybrid one. But if we'll
be attacked by the troops, if they try to take our country away from us,
our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend
ourselves. Not attack, but defend ourselves. And when you will be
attacking us, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces. The
war is a big disaster, and this disaster has a high price. With every
meaning of this word. People lose money, reputation, quality of life,
they lose freedom. But the main thing is that people lose their loved
ones, they lose themselves. They told you that Ukraine is posing a
threat to Russia. It was not the case in the past, not in the present,
it's not going to be in the future. You are demanding security
guarantees from NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization), but we
also demand security guarantees. Security for Ukraine from you, from
Russia and other guarantees of the Budapest memorandum. But our main
goal is peace in Ukraine and the safety of our people, Ukrainians. For
that we are ready to have talks with anybody, including you, in any
format, on any platform. The war will deprive guarantees from everybody
— nobody will have guarantees of security anymore. Who will suffer the
most from it? The people. Who doesn't want it the most? The people! Who
can stop it? The people. Â
--Volodymyr Zelenskyy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy>
The Boat Race 2021 comprised two side-by-side rowing races that took
place on 4Â April. The Boat Race is contested annually between crews
from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Traditionally held on the
Championship Course in London, the 2021 race instead took place on the
River Great Ouse near Ely (course map pictured). This was the 75th
women's race and the 166th men's race; the 2020 race was cancelled as a
result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the 2021 races, Cambridge led
84–80 in the men's race and 44–30 in the women's. For the first
time, both races were officiated by female umpires, Judith Packer and
Sarah Winckless. Cambridge's women were strong favourites; Oxford took
an early lead but Cambridge responded to win. Oxford were slight
favourites in the men's race, but Cambridge won by just under one
length. Cambridge completed a clean sweep in the reserve races on
25Â April 2021 when their Goldie won the men's event and their Blondie
won the women's race.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race_2021>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1720:
War of the Quadruple Alliance: Spanish forces began a failed
assault on the British settlement of Nassau in the Bahamas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Nassau_%281720%29>
1809:
After standing only 15 years, London's Drury Lane theatre, the
third building of that name, burned down.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Royal,_Drury_Lane>
1968:
Vietnam War: South Vietnamese forces led by Ngô Quang
Trưởng recaptured the citadel of Huế.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hu%E1%BA%BF>
1978:
Five men disappeared after attending a college basketball game
in Chico, California; the bodies of four of them were discovered four
months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuba_County_Five>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
histrionic:
1. Of or relating to actors or acting.
2. (by extension) Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the
intention to draw attention.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/histrionic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight. Â
--Chester W. Nimitz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chester_W._Nimitz>
Duriavenator is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now
England about 168Â million years ago. Fossil jaw bones of a dinosaur
(illustration pictured) collected near Sherborne, Dorset, in 1882 were
considered by Richard Owen to belong to Megalosaurus bucklandii. It was
recognised as a different species by 1964, moved to M. hesperis in
1974, and moved again to its own genus, Duriavenator 'Dorset hunter', in
2008. It was about 5 to 7Â m (16 to 23Â ft) long and weighed about 1
tonne (2,000Â lb). The upper jaw's main bone is distinctive; its upper
surface has a deep groove with numerous air-filled openings, and its
lower has smaller foramina that connected with the upper jaw's front
bone. It had about 4 teeth in the premaxilla, 14 to 16 in the rest of
the upper jaw, and 14 to 15 in the lower jaw. The long lower front
teeth may have been used for plucking and grasping food. Phylogenetic
analyses have shown it to be among the oldest tetanuran theropods, and
to belong in the family Megalosauridae.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duriavenator>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1847:
Mexican–American War: The United States Army used artillery
to repulse the much larger Mexican army at the Battle of Buena Vista
near Saltillo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buena_Vista>
1941:
Plutonium was first chemically identified by chemist Glenn T.
Seaborg and his team at the University of California, Berkeley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium>
1945:
American photographer Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer
Prize–winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the
Battle of Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced on the Marine
Corps War Memorial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima>
2017:
Syrian civil war: Allied troops led by the Turkish Armed Forces
captured the city of al-Bab from the Islamic State.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_al-Bab>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
navel-gazing:
1. Contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.
2. (derogatory) Excessive focus on oneself; self-indulgent
introspection.
3. (sometimes derogatory) (Disproportionate) concentration on a single
issue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/navel-gazing>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation
rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately,
this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the
evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where
extraordinary moral strength is called for. Â
--W. E. B. Du Bois
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois>