Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels and three short story collections; further works were published after his death. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Vonnegut enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943. Deployed to Europe to fight in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and interned in Dresden, where he survived the Allied bombing of the city in a slaughterhouse. Vonnegut published his first novel, Player Piano, in 1952. Two of his novels, The Sirens of Titan (1959) and Cat's Cradle (1963), were nominated for the Hugo Award. Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), a best-seller that resonated with its readers for its anti-war sentiment amidst the ongoing Vietnam War, thrust Vonnegut into fame as an important contemporary writer and a dark humor commentator on American society. Numerous scholarly works have examined Vonnegut's writing and humor.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
Napoleonic Wars: A hastily assembled Royal Navy fleet launched an assault against the main strength of the French Atlantic Fleet; an incomplete victory led to political turmoil in Britain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Basque_Roads
1951:
U.S. president Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands for making public statements about the Korean War that contradicted the administration's policies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_of_Douglas_MacArthur
1973:
On the Art of the Cinema, a treatise on film propaganda in support of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea written by the future North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Art_of_the_Cinema
2001:
In a FIFA World Cup qualifying match, Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0, the largest margin of victory recorded in international football. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_31%E2%80%930_American_Samoa
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Promethean: 1. Of or pertaining to Prometheus, a demigod in Greek mythology who created mortals from clay and stole fire from Zeus to give to them, for which Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle feed on his liver which grew back each night; he was later rescued by Heracles. 2. Boldly creative, inventive, or original; skilful, talented; also, recklessly daring; audacious. 3. Of a Romantic literary hero: defying traditional moral categories; rebelling against a larger order; persecuted but dauntless. 4. (rare) Of or pertaining to the promethea silkmoth (Callosamia promethea). 5. One with the qualities of Prometheus, or who acts in a Promethean manner (audaciously, creatively, etc.). 6. (also attributive, historical) A kind of lucifer match consisting of a glass tube containing sulfuric acid coated on the outside with a flammable mixture of potassium chlorate and sugar and wrapped in paper rolls; the match was lit by crushing the tube with pliers, causing the acid to react with and ignite the flammable components. This type of match was superseded by the friction match which was lit by rubbing against a rough surface. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Promethean
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is a sort of mythology that grows up about what happened, which is different from what really did happen. --Peter Higgs https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs