Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael
Jackson. The album was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records
as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful
1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of
Off the Wall, including funk, disco, soul, soft rock, R&B and pop.
However, Thriller's lyrics deal with generally darker themes, including
paranoia and the supernatural. With the release of the second single
"Billie Jean", the album topped the charts in many countries. In just
over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling
album of all time. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as
singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album
won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammys. The
album was one of the first to use music videos as successful
promotional tools—the videos for Thriller, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It"
all received regular rotation on MTV. Thriller ranked number 20 on
Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003,
and was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording
Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_%28album%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1585:
The Treaty of Nemours was first signed, forcing Henry III of France to
give in to the demands of the Catholic League and revoking all edicts
granting concessions to the Huguenots.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Nemours>
1798:
The Quasi-War, an undeclared war fought entirely at sea, began after
the United States rescinded their treaties with France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-War>
1807:
Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France signed the first
agreement of the Treaties of Tilsit, ending the War of the Fourth
Coalition.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaties_of_Tilsit>
1928:
The Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri, USA, first
produced sliced bread, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the
baking industry since bread was wrapped", which then led to the popular
phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sliced_bread>
1937:
The Imperial Japanese Army defeated the Republic of China's National
Revolutionary Army on Beijing's Marco Polo Bridge, marking the
beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_Bridge_Incident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
tectiform (adj):
Roof-shaped; sloping downwards on two sides from a raised center
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tectiform>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are
utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill
obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail
anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die.
Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
--Robert A. Heinlein
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein>