The qibla is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, including ritual prayer. Muslims believe the Kaaba to be a sacred site built by the prophets Abraham and Ishmael, and that its use was ordained by God in several verses of the Quran revealed in the second Hijri year. Prior to this revelation, Muhammad and his followers in Medina faced Jerusalem for prayers. Most mosques contain a mihrab or a wall niche that indicates the direction of the qibla. Before the development of astronomy in the Islamic world, Muslims used traditional methods to determine the qibla. These methods included facing the direction that the companions of Muhammad had used when in the same place or using the setting and rising points of celestial objects. In the late 9th and 10th centuries, Muslim astronomers developed methods to find the exact direction of the qibla, and today it can be calculated using a trigonometric formula..
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometry
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire, was first performed in Munich. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._8_%28Mahler%29
1948:
The People's Liberation Army launched the Liaoshen campaign, the first of the three major military campaigns during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaoshen_campaign
1977:
South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died after being beaten in police custody in Port Elizabeth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko
1992:
Aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, American Mae Jemison became the first black woman to travel to space. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
connive: 1. (intransitive) Often followed by with: to secretly cooperate with another person or persons in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire. 2. (intransitive, botany, rare) Of parts of a plant: to be converging or in close contact; to be connivent. 3. (intransitive, obsolete) Often followed by at: to pretend to be ignorant of something in order to escape blame; to ignore or overlook a fault deliberately. 4. (intransitive, obsolete) To open and close the eyes rapidly; to wink. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/connive
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
He who must be what he is, may curse his fate, but cannot change it; on the other hand, he who can transform himself has no one in the world but himself to blame for his failings, no one but himself to hold responsible for his dissatisfaction. --Stanisław Lem https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem