The 2006 Pacific hurricane season was the most active since 2000, which also produced 19 tropical storms or hurricanes, of which six attained major hurricane status. The strongest storm of the season was Hurricane Ioke, which reached Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale in the central Pacific Ocean; Ioke passed near Johnston Atoll and later Wake Island, where it caused heavy damage but no deaths. The deadliest storm of the season was Hurricane John, which killed six people after striking the Baja California Peninsula, and the costliest storm was Hurricane Lane, which caused $203 million in damage in southwestern Mexico. Seasonal activity began on May 27 when Tropical Storm Aletta formed off the southwest coast of Mexico. No storms formed in June, though the season became active in July when five named storms developed, including Hurricane Daniel which was the second strongest storm of the season. During August, Hurricanes Ioke and John formed, as well as four other storms. September was a relatively quiet month with two storms, of which one was Hurricane Lane. Three storms developed in October and two formed in November; this marked the first time on record when more than one tropical storm developed in the basin during the month of November.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Pacific_hurricane_season
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1009:
The first known record of the name of Lithuania appeared in an entry in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg (in modern Germany). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/name_of_Lithuania
1842:
The first documented discovery of gold in California occurred at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_San_Francisco
1862:
American Civil War: In the world's first major battle between two powered ironclad warships , the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, fought to a draw near the mouth of Hampton Roads in Virginia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads
1944:
World War II: As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviet Air Forces inflicted heaving bombing on Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tallinn_in_World_War_II
1946:
Thirty-three people were killed in a stampede at Burnden Park, a football stadium in Bolton, England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnden_Park_disaster
1956:
Soviet military troops suppressed mass demonstrations in Tbilisi, Georgia, against Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Georgian_demonstrations
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
filigree (n): 1. A delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire. 2. A design resembling such intricate ornamentation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/filigree
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it! --Yuri Gagarin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin