The Astronomica is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena,
written in hexameters and divided into five books. It was written c. AD
10–20 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius. The
earliest work on astrology that is extensive, comprehensible, and mostly
intact, the poem focuses heavily on the zodiac. It espouses a Stoic,
deterministic understanding of a universe overseen by a god and governed
by reason. It was rediscovered in the 15th century by the Italian
humanist and scholar Poggio Bracciolini, who had a copy made from which
the modern text derives. The Astronomica was read, commented upon, and
edited by scholars, but then was neglected for centuries. This started
to change during the early 20th century when the classicist A. E.
Housman published a critically acclaimed edition of the poem. Housman's
work was followed by the Latinist G. P. Goold's lauded English
translation in 1977.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomica_%28Manilius%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and
lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo, in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo>
1982:
The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's
Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging
from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi>
2009:
NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, its first
mission to the moon in over ten years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_Orbiter>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
meet one's Waterloo:
To be decisively defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a
problem that is too difficult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meet_one%27s_Waterloo>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We observe that nothing creates fascists like the threat of
freedom. Pleasantville is the kind of parable that encourages us to re-
evaluate the good old days and take a fresh look at the new world we so
easily dismiss as decadent. Yes, we have more problems. But also more
solutions, more opportunities and more freedom. I grew up in the '50s.
It was a lot more like the world of Pleasantville than you might
imagine. Yes, my house had a picket fence, and dinner was always on the
table at a quarter to six, but things were wrong that I didn't even know
the words for.
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>