The Seattle Center Monorail is an elevated straddle-beam monorail line
in Seattle, Washington, United States. The mile-long (1.4 km) monorail
runs mostly along 5th Avenue between Seattle Center and Westlake Center
in Downtown Seattle, making no intermediate stops. The monorail is a
major tourist attraction but also operates as a regular public transit
service with trains every ten minutes running for up to 16 hours per
day. It was constructed in eight months for the 1962 world's fair,
hosted at Seattle Center, and opened on March 24, 1962. The system
retains its original fleet of two Alweg trains, each capable of carrying
450 people. The monorail's southern terminus was moved into Westlake
Center in 1988 and the rest of the system was designated a historic
landmark in 2003. The system remains under the ownership of the city
government and is operated by a private company. Plans to expand the
monorail's service area have been rejected or shelved several times
since the 1960s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Center_Monorail>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1898:
The Winton Motor Carriage Company (ad pictured), one of the
first American car companies, sold its first unit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winton_Motor_Carriage_Company>
1922:
Irish War of Independence: In Belfast, two men wearing police
uniforms broke into a house and murdered a Catholic family in what was
believed to be a reprisal for the deaths of two policemen the day
before.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMahon_killings>
1934:
The Tydings–McDuffie Act came into effect, which provided for
self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence from
the United States after a period of ten years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tydings%E2%80%93McDuffie_Act>
1980:
One day after making a plea to Salvadoran soldiers to stop
carrying out the government's repression, Archbishop Óscar Romero was
assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
get cold feet:
(intransitive, originally US, informal) To become nervous or anxious and
reconsider a decision about an upcoming event.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_cold_feet>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
In early 2000, I became the first senior U.S. official to meet
with Vladimir Putin in his new capacity as acting president of Russia.
... I have been reminded in recent months of that nearly three-hour
session with Mr. Putin as he has massed troops on the border with
neighboring Ukraine. After calling Ukrainian statehood a fiction in a
bizarre televised address, he issued a decree recognizing the
independence of two separatist-held regions in Ukraine and sending
troops there. Mr. Putin’s revisionist and absurd assertion that
Ukraine was “entirely created by Russia” and effectively robbed from
the Russian empire is fully in keeping with his warped worldview. Most
disturbing to me: It was his attempt to establish the pretext for a
full-scale invasion. Should he invade, it will be a historic error. ...
Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would
ensure Mr. Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically
isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face
of a stronger, more united Western alliance. ... Ukraine is entitled to
its sovereignty, no matter who its neighbors happen to be. In the modern
era, great countries accept that, and so must Mr. Putin.
--Madeleine Albright
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright>