Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a 2003 side scrolling and platforming
video game developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance.
In the game, it is the year 2035 and Dracula has been sealed in his
castle since being defeated in 1999. Soma Cruz, a teenager with occult
power, has been told that Dracula's reincarnation will acquire his
powers, and Cruz battles dark figures in the castle who also wish to
inherit these powers. The game incorporates the combination of elements
from platform games and role-playing video games that were initially
utilized in an earlier Castlevania game Symphony of the Night. Aria of
Sorrow introduces several new features to the series, such as the
"Tactical Soul" system and a futuristic storyline, a contrast to the
medieval setting of many other Castlevania games. The game sold poorly
in Japan but was commercially successful in the United States. It was
praised by several video game publications, with many considering it one
of the best games in the series since Symphony of the Night. A sequel
was released in Japan in 2005.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Aria_of_Sorrow>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
The army of Inca Emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui began a 10-month
siege of Cuzco against a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian
auxiliaries led by Hernando Pizarro.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Cuzco>
1882:
Irish Under-Secretary Thomas Henry Burke and Irish Chief
Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish were stabbed to death by members of
the radical group Irish National Invincibles as they walked through
Phoenix Park in Dublin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Park_Murders>
1954:
At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English athlete Roger Bannister
became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile>
1991:
Time magazine published "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power",
an article highly critical of the Scientology organization, leading to
years of legal conflict that ended when the Church of Scientology's
petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United
States in the case was denied in 2001.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thriving_Cult_of_Greed_and_Power>
2002:
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was assassinated by animal rights
and environmental activist Volkert van der Graaf in Hilversum, marking
the first political murder on Dutch soil since 1672.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Pim_Fortuyn>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
softly softly:
(UK, idiomatic) In a very tactful, careful, or nondisruptive manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/softly_softly>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Faith is more basic than language or theology. Faith is the
response to something which is calling us from the timeless part of our
reality. Faith may be encouraged by what has happened in the past, or
what is thought to have happened in the past, but the only proof of it
is in the future. Scriptures and creeds may come to seem incredible, but
faith will still go dancing on. Even though (because it rejects a
doctrine) it is now described as "doubt". This, I believe, is the kind
of faith that Christ commended.
--Sydney Carter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Carter>