The 2003 Insight Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl
game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the California Bears on
December 26, 2003. The game was the final contest of the 2003 season
for both teams, in which Virginia Tech had come third in the Big East
Conference, while California had tied for third place in the Pacific-10
Conference. From the beginning of the game, it was a quick-paced, high-
scoring contest. In the first quarter, Virginia Tech jumped out to a
21–7 lead. In the second quarter, California scored two touchdowns but
Tech took a 28–21 lead into halftime. Bolstered by an improved
defensive effort, California scored 21 unanswered points to take a
42–28 lead into the fourth quarter. Tech evened the score at 49–49
after an 80-yard touchdown drive that took less than two minutes and a
punt return by DeAngelo Hall for a touchdown. The post-score Tech
kickoff went out of bounds, and with time running out, California began
to drive for a game-winning score. The Bears needed just seven plays to
advance 47 yards and set up a field goal attempt. As time expired,
kicker Tyler Fredrickson (pictured) kicked a 35-yard field goal to give
California a 52–49 victory.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Insight_Bowl>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
Imperial Russian Army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a
protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder
brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolt>
1871:
Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, made
its debut at the Gaiety Theatre, London, UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_(opera)>
1898:
At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie
Curie (both pictured) announced the discovery of a new element, naming
it radium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium>
1996:
Six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found
beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder,
Colorado, a murder that generated extensive coverage from the American
media.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rebarbative:
Irritating, repellent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rebarbative>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to
surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to
restore to us the belief in our own guidance. 
--Henry Miller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Miller>