On July 9, 1937, fire gutted a film storage facility (pictured) in
Little Ferry, New Jersey, rented by the American studio 20th Century-
Fox. Flammable nitrate film had previously contributed to several high-
profile fires in film industry laboratories, studios, and vaults,
although the precise causes were often unknown. In Little Ferry, gases
produced by decaying film, subjected to high temperatures and inadequate
ventilation, spontaneously combusted. The fire caused one death and two
injuries, and destroyed all of the archived film in the vaults,
resulting in the complete loss of most of the silent films produced by
the Fox Film Corporation before 1932. Also destroyed were negatives from
Educational Pictures and films of several other studios. The fire
brought attention to the potential for decaying nitrate film to
spontaneously ignite, and to the need for fire safety in film
preservation. Production and use of nitrate film were gradually phased
out in favor of safer alternatives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Fox_vault_fire>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1745:
War of the Austrian Succession: The French victory at the
Battle of Melle enabled their subsequent capture of Ghent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Melle>
1877:
The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, the world's oldest tennis
tournament, began in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_Wimbledon_Championship>
1955:
Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell and nine other preeminent
intellectuals and scientists issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto,
calling for a conference to assess the dangers posed by weapons of mass
destruction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%E2%80%93Einstein_Manifesto>
1995:
Sri Lankan Civil War: After having advised civilians to take
shelter in places of worship, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in
Navaly, killing at least 147 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaly_church_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
hyperparasite:
1. (biology) Any parasite whose host is a parasite.
2. (entomology, specifically) An insect that parasitizes another
parasitic insect.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hyperparasite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poetry for the People rests upon a belief that the art of telling
the truth is a necessary and a healthy way to create powerful, and
positive, connections among people who, otherwise, remain (unknown and
unaware) strangers. The goal is not to kill connections but, rather, to
create and to deepen them among truly different men and women.
--June Jordan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/June_Jordan>