Venus is the second planet from the Sun, named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is a terrestrial planet, very similar in size and bulk composition to Earth; it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" as a result of this similarity. Although all planets' orbits are elliptical, Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of all, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. Venus was known to ancient Babylonians around 1600 BC, and probably was known long before in prehistoric times given that it is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. Its symbol is a stylized representation of the goddess Venus' hand mirror: a circle with a small cross underneath.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_%28planet%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
193: Praetorian Guards assassinated Roman Emperor Pertinax and sold the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinax)
845: Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, captured Paris and held the city for a huge ransom. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok)
1939: Forces of the Spanish State led by Generalísimo Francisco Franco took Madrid, ending the Spanish Civil War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War)
1964: Radio Caroline began broadcasting as a pirate radio station from a boat anchored in international waters. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Caroline)
1979: A nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"A leader must have the courage to act against an expert's advice." -- James Callaghan (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Callaghan)