Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the
Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock. Oldham
is surrounded by several smaller towns which together form the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, of which Oldham is the administrative
centre. Historically a part of Lancashire, and with little early history
to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence during the 19th century as an
international centre of textile manufacture. It was a boomtown of the
Industrial Revolution, and among the first ever industrialised towns,
rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and
textile industries in England". At its zenith, it was the most
productive cotton spinning mill town in the world, spinning more cotton
than France and Germany combined. Oldham's textile industry began to
fall into decline during the mid-20th century, and its last mill closed
in 1998. The demise of textile processing in Oldham depressed the local
economy. Today Oldham is a predominantly residential town, and a centre
for further education and the performing arts. It is, however, still
distinguished architecturally by the surviving cotton mills and other
buildings associated with that industry.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldham>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
509 BC:
The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the
most important temple in Ancient Rome, was dedicated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_Optimus_Maximus>
1229:
Ögedei Khan (pictured), the third son of Genghis Khan, was
proclaimed Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96gedei_Khan>
1759:
Seven Years' War: British forces defeated the French at the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City, New France, though
General James Wolfe was mortally wounded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham>
1848:
An explosion drove a large iron rod completely through the head
of Phineas P. Gage, making him an important early case of brain damage
affecting personality and behavior.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage>
1964:
South Vietnamese Generals Lam Van Phat and Duong Van Duc staged
a coup attempt after junta leader Nguyen Khanh demoted them.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_1964_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
1987:
A radioactive item was scavenged from an abandoned hospital in
Goiânia, Brazil, resulting in four deaths and serious contamination in
249 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
gooseberry:
1. A fruit closely related to the currant.
2. Any of several other unrelated fruits, such as the Chinese gooseberry
(kiwifruit) or the Indian gooseberry (amla).
3. (British, informal) An unwanted additional person: Robert and Susan were
so in love that nobody could go near them without feeling like a
gooseberry.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gooseberry>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The good, the new, comes from exactly that quarter whence it is not
looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
Everything new is received with contempt, for it begins in obscurity. It
becomes a power unobserved.
--Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ludwig_Andreas_Feuerbach>