Hurricane Ismael was a weak Pacific hurricane that killed over one
hundred people in northern Mexico in September of the 1995 Pacific
hurricane season. It developed from a persistent area of deep
convection on September 12, and steadily strengthened as it moved to
the north-northwest. Ismael attained hurricane status on September 14
while located 210 miles (340 km) off the coast of Mexico. It continued
to the north, and after passing a short distance east of Baja
California it made landfall on Topolobampo in the state of Sinaloa with
winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Ismael rapidly weakened over land, and
dissipated on September 16 over northwestern Mexico. The remnants
entered the United States and extended eastward into the Mid-Atlantic
States. Offshore, Ismael produced waves of up to 30 feet (9 m) in
height. Hundreds of fishermen were unprepared by the hurricane, which
was expected to move more slowly, and as a result 52 ships were
wrecked, killing 57 fishermen. The hurricane destroyed thousands of
houses, leaving 30,000 people homeless. On land, Ismael caused 59
casualties in mainland Mexico and resulted in $26 million in damage
(1995 USD, $34.4 million 2006 USD). Moisture from the storm extended
into the United States, causing heavy rainfall and localized moderate
damage in southeastern New Mexico.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ismael>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1719:
Robinson Crusoe, a novel by English author Daniel Defoe about a
castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near
Venezuela, was first published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe>
1898:
Spanish–American War: The United States retroactively declared war on
Spain, stating that a state of war between the two countries had
already existed for the past couple of days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War>
1915:
World War I: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove
while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the
Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign>
1953:
Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose
Nucleic Acid by molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick was
first published in the scientific journal Nature, describing the
discovery of the double helix structure of DNA .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Structure_of_Nucleic_Acids%3A_A_Structure_for_Deoxyribose_Nucleic_Acid>
1974:
The song Grândola Vila Morena by Zeca Afonso was broadcast on radio,
signalling the start of the Carnation Revolution, a bloodless coup
against the Estado Novo regime in Portugal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wonky (adj):
1. (mostly British and Australian) Lopsided, misaligned or off-centre.
2. (computing) Suffering from intermittent bugs; broken.
3. Generally
incorrect
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wonky>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem
in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator
will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say
it.
--Edward R. Murrow
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_R._Murrow>