"Halo" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her third
studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). Inspired by Ray LaMontagne's
2004 song "Shelter", "Halo" was written by Ryan Tedder, E. Kidd
Bogart,
Eric Nealante Phillips, and Beyoncé herself. The song is a pop power
ballad, with lyrics describing a sublime love. The single won Best Song
at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Female Pop Vocal
Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards, and was nominated for Record of
the Year. "Halo" topped the singles charts of Brazil, Norway and
Slovakia, and reached the top five in Australia, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the US. Philip
Andelman directed Beyoncé and actor Michael Ealy in the accompanying
music video. The song was performed on the television show Glee and has
been covered by many artists, including Florence and the Machine, Harper
Blynn, and Westlife.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_%28Beyonc%C3%A9_song%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1768:
Taksin the Great was crowned king of the newly established
Thonburi Kingdom in the new capital at Thonburi, present-day Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin>
1918:
Irishwoman Constance Markievicz became the first female Member
of Parliament elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,
although she never served.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Markievicz>
1943:
World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house
fighting, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured Ortona, Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona>
2006:
Somali Civil War: Troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal
Government and their Ethiopian allies captured Mogadishu unopposed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Mogadishu>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
count coup:
(intransitive, US, historical) To win prestige in battle by performing
an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and
escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/count_coup>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Work as if you live in the early days of a better world.
--Alasdair Gray
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray>