Star Trek: First Contact is an American science fiction film, released on November 22, 1996. It is the eighth in the Star Trek film franchise and the first without any characters from the original series. On mid- 21st century Earth, characters from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation struggle to save their future from the cybernetic Borg. After the seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), Paramount tasked writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore with developing a sequel. Cast member Jonathan Frakes made his directorial debut. Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves created a sleeker starship than its predecessor, and Industrial Light & Magic's traditional optical effects techniques were supplemented with computer-generated imagery. First Contact made $146 million worldwide. Critical reception was mostly positive, especially for the Borg and the special effects. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and won three Saturn Awards. Scholarly analysis of the film has focused on the nature of the Borg and on Captain Jean-Luc Picard's parallels to Herman Melville's Ahab.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_First_Contact
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1635:
Dutch colonial forces on Taiwan launched a three-month pacification campaign against Taiwanese aborigines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_pacification_campaign_on_Formosa
1830:
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, one of the primary architects of the Reform Act 1832 and namesake of Earl Grey tea, began his term as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grey,_2nd_Earl_Grey
1910:
The crews of the Brazilian warships Minas Geraes, São Paulo, Bahia—all commissioned only months before—and several smaller vessels mutinied against what they called the "slavery" being practiced by the Brazilian Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Lash
1928:
Boléro (audio featured), Maurice Ravel's most famous musical composition, made its debut at the Paris Opéra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol%C3%A9ro
1986:
Mike Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick to claim the heavyweight boxing championship of the World Boxing Council, and became the youngest boxing champion ever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
glass harp: A musical instrument consisting of wine glasses tuned by putting different amounts of liquid into them. Sound is produced by rubbing one's fingers around the edges of the glasses, causing them to vibrate. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glass_harp
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
With what reason canst thou expect that thy children should follow thy good instructions, when thou thyself givest them an ill example? Thou dost but as it were beckon to them with thy head, and shew them the way to heaven by thy good counsel, but thou takest them by the hand and leadest them in the way to hell by thy contrary example. --John Tillotson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Tillotson