Electra Heart is the second studio album by Welsh singer Marina
Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds (pictured).
Released in April 2012, it is a concept album inspired by electropop
music, a distinct departure from the new wave musical styles seen
throughout her debut studio album The Family Jewels (2010). Diamandis
created the titular character "Electra Heart" to represent female
archetypes of stereotypical American culture, and the album's lyrical
content is united by the topics of love and identity. Critical opinion
was divided and there was ambivalence towards Diamandis' shift in
musical style and its overall production. The record debuted at number
one on the UK Albums Chart, her first chart-topping record there, and
performed moderately on international record charts, including a peak
position at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200. "Primadonna" was
released as the lead single, and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles
Chart. The record was additionally promoted by two further singles and
by Diamandis' headlining The Lonely Hearts Club Tour, which visited
Europe and North America from May 2012 through May 2013.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Heart>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory
Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraniborg>
1786:
Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat completed the first
recorded ascent of Mont Blanc in the Alps, an act considered to be the
birth of modern mountaineering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc>
1929:
German airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin embarked on a flight to
circumnavigate the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin>
1967:
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand
founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations>
2009:
Nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private
airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in
Hoboken, New Jersey, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hudson_River_mid-air_collision>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
shuttlecock:
(badminton) A lightweight object that is conical in shape with a cork or
rubber-covered nose, used in badminton as a ball is used in other
racquet games; a birdie.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shuttlecock>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Most people understand the need for neutrality. The real
struggle is not between the right and the left — that's where most
people assume — but it's between the party of the thoughtful and the
party of the jerks. And no side of the political spectrum has a monopoly
on either of those qualities.
--Jimmy Wales
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales>