The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by
John Carpenter (pictured) and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the
1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of
American researchers in Antarctica who encounter a parasitic
extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates and imitates other
organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn
that they can no longer trust each other. The film stars Kurt Russell
and also features A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, and
Keith David. Of the film's $15 million budget, $1.5 million was spent
on Rob Bottin's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products,
rubber, and mechanical parts used to represent an alien capable of
taking on any form. The Thing was released on June 25, 1982, to very
negative reviews and earned $19.6 million during its theatrical run,
but has been favorably reappraised. It found an audience when released
on home video and television.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_%281982_film%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1910:
The United States Congress passed the Mann Act, which
prohibited the interstate transport of females for "immoral purposes".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mann_Act>
1950:
The Korean War began with North Korean forces launching a pre-
dawn raid over the 38th parallel into South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War>
1967:
More than an estimated 400 million people viewed Our World, the
first live international satellite television production.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_World_%281967_TV_program%29>
2009:
Singer Michael Jackson died as a result of the combination of
drugs in his body.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Michael_Jackson>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
fathom:
1. (chiefly nautical, historical) Originally, the distance between an
adult man's arms stretched out away from the sides of his torso so that
they make a straight line perpendicular to his body, measured from the
tips of the longest fingers of each hand, generally reckoned to be six
feet (about 1.8 metres); subsequently used as a unit for water depth but
now generally replaced by the metre.
2. (figuratively)
3. (chiefly in the plural) An unspecified depth.
4. (archaic or obsolete) Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
5. (obsolete)
6. The act of stretching out one's arms away from the sides of the torso
so that they make a straight line perpendicular to the body.
7. Someone or something that is embraced.
8. (figuratively) Control, grasp.
9. (transitive)
10. (also figuratively) To measure the depth of (water); to take a
sounding of; to sound.
11. (archaic or obsolete) To encircle (someone or something) with
outstretched arms; specifically, to measure the circumference or (rare)
length of something.
12. (figuratively) Often followed by out: to deeply understand (someone
or something); to get to the bottom of.
13. (obsolete) To embrace (someone or something).
14. (intransitive)
15. To measure a depth; to sound.
16. (figuratively) To conduct an examination or inquiry; to investigate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fathom>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away
a constitutional right from the American people that it had already
recognized. They didn’t limit it. They simply took it away.
That’s never been done to a right so important to so many Americans.
But they did it. And it’s a sad day for the Court and for the
country.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>