4 is the fourth studio album by American singer Beyoncé (pictured), released on June 24, 2011, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. In collaborations with songwriters and producers The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and Shea Taylor, Beyoncé aimed for a mellower rhythm and blues tone with influences from funk, hip hop, and soul. She severed professional ties with Mathew Knowles, her father and manager, to help her develop an intimate, personal album. The lyrics emphasize monogamy, female empowerment and self-reflection. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and some put it on their year-end lists. It was her fourth consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, and it also reached number one in Brazil, France, Ireland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It spawned the international singles "Run the World (Girls)", "Best Thing I Never Had", "Party", "Love On Top" and "Countdown". "Love On Top" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B; Performance at the 55th annual ceremony. The album has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the United States.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_(Beyonc%C3%A9_album)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1571:
Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi established a council to govern the city of Manila (Manila Cathedral pictured), now the capital of the Philippines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila
1717:
The first Masonic Grand Lodge, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Grand_Lodge_of_England
1880:
"O Canada", today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada
1937:
The United States' first two "fast battleships", the North Carolina class, were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina-class_battleship
2010:
John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in the longest match in tennis history (11 hours and 5 minutes, spread over three days). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isner%E2%80%93Mahut_match_at_the_2010_Wimbledon_Championships
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
drayage: 1. Transportation by dray. 2. (by extension) The transport of goods over a short distance, particularly from a terminal such as an ocean port to another destination, usually as part of a longer transportation of the goods. 3. A fee paid for the provision of such transportation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/drayage
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes — openly bad and secretly bad. --Henry Ward Beecher https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher