Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. First published in 1959, it centres on Bond's investigation into the gold-smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is suspected of being connected to Soviet counter-intelligence. Bond uncovers Goldfinger's plot involving the gold reserves at Fort Knox (pictured). In Goldfinger, Fleming presents the character of James Bond as a more complex individual than in the previous novels. A theme of Bond as a St George figure is echoed by the fact that Bond is a British Secret Service agent sorting out an American problem. Fleming probably based the gold- obsessed character of Goldfinger on the American gold tycoon Charles W. Engelhard Jr. On its release, the novel went to the top of the best- seller lists. It was adapted as the third James Bond feature film of the Eon Productions series, released in 1964 and starring Sean Connery as Bond. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories.).
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
The French government passed a law setting the musical note A4 to a frequency of 435 hertz, in the first attempt to standardize concert pitch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch
1923:
English Egyptologist and archaeologist Howard Carter unsealed Tutankhamun's tomb, KV62, in the Valley of the Kings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Tutankhamun
1959:
Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba, beginning his decades-long rule over the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
2013:
At least 91 people were killed and 190 others injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town, Pakistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_Quetta_bombing
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
window of opportunity: (originally US) A (usually limited) period of time in which suitable action can achieve success. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/window_of_opportunity
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
A lot of times I would play a lot of roles a man would play…In One Million Years B.C.—yes, the costume was revealing. But I was outdoors all the time, I was fighting to survive, there was a girlfight. I was participating, it was physical, and I was independent. I wasn’t that pushover kind of a girl. And I think that left an impression. --Raquel Welch https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raquel_Welch