Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) was an American religious leader who
founded the Heaven's Gate religious group and organized their mass
suicide in 1997. It was the largest mass suicide in America. Applewhite
and his friend Bonnie Nettles discussed mysticism at length and
concluded that they were divine messengers. They traveled around
America, gaining a group of committed followers, who were told that
extraterrestrials would provide them with new bodies. Applewhite
initially stated that they would physically ascend to a spaceship, where
their bodies would be transformed, but later believed that their souls
would be placed into new bodies. In 1985, Nettles died, leaving
Applewhite distraught and challenging his views on physical ascension.
In 1996, they learned of the approach of Comet Hale–Bopp and rumors of
an accompanying spaceship. Believing that their souls would ascend to
the spaceship and be given new bodies, all the group members killed
themselves in their mansion. Some commentators attributed his followers'
willingness to commit suicide to his skill as a manipulator, while
others argued that their willingness was due to their faith in the
narrative that he constructed.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
The Empire of Trebizond, the longest surviving Byzantine
successor state, was conquered by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II following a
month-long siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond>
1812:
War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors destroyed the United States
Army's Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois, and captured the
survivors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Dearborn>
1914:
The Panama Canal (construction pictured) opened to traffic,
providing a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the
Isthmus of Panama.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal>
1944:
World War II: Allied forces began their invasion of southern
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon>
1998:
A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army
killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
avail:
1. (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
2. (transitive) To be of service to.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The Flag links up the past and the present. It is the legacy
bequeathed to us by the architects of our liberty. … The world is full
of misunderstandings, suspicions and distrusts. In these difficult days
it depends on us under what banner we fight. Here we are Putting in the
very centre the white, the white of the Sun's rays. The white means the
path of light … the ideal light, the light of truth … The Asoka's
wheel represents to us the wheel of the Law, the wheel Dharma. Truth can
be gained only by the pursuit of the path of Dharma, by the practice of
virtue. ...the orange, the Bhagwa colour, represents the spirit of
renunciation. All forms of renunciation are to be embodied in Raja
Dharma. … Our leaders must be disinterested. They must be dedicated
spirits … The green is there, our relation to the soil, our relation
to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. We must build
our Paradise, here on this green earth... This flag tells us "Be ever
alert, be ever on the move, go forward, work for a free, flexible,
compassionate, decent, democratic society in which Christians, Sikhs,
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists will all find a safe shelter." Let us all
unite under this banner and rededicate ourselves to the ideas our flag
symbolizes.
--Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan>