Typhoon Sudal was the strongest typhoon (the Northwestern Pacific Basin
equivalent of a hurricane) in half a century to strike the island of Yap
in the Federated States of Micronesia. The entire island, only 17 km
(11 mi) in length, experienced typhoon-force winds (at least 119 km/h
or 74 mph), and 90% of the structures were damaged or destroyed. The
storm formed on April 2, 2004, to the east of the country and attained
tropical storm status on April 5. On April 9, it passed just south of
Yap, and shortly thereafter its peak winds were estimated at 240 km/h
(150 mph). After moving northwest and then northeast, Sudal became an
extratropical cyclone on April 16 and dissipated two days later.
Overall damage was $14 million, most of which was on Yap. No fatalities
or serious injuries were reported, but more than 80 percent of the
islanders were without clean running water after the storm. The name
Sudal (Korean for "otter") had been contributed by South Korea for the
Pacific tropical cyclone list; due to the heavy damage, the name was
retired.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Sudal>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de
Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice,
when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>
1865:
With their supply trains destroyed by Union troops one day
earlier, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses
S. Grant at the McLean House near the Appomattox Court House in
Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Appomattox_Court_House>
1918:
World War I: Aníbal Milhais's actions during the Battle of the
Lys made him the only person to be awarded Portugal's highest military
honour, the Order of the Tower and Sword, directly on the battlefield.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Lys_(1918)>
1948:
Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups
attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the
statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firdos_Square_statue_destruction>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
brunt:
1. The full adverse effects of; the chief consequences or negative results
of a thing or event.
2. The major part of, the bulk.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brunt>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Speaking of love, one problem that recurs more and more frequently
these days, in books and plays and movies, is the inability of people to
communicate with the people they love: husbands and wives who can't
communicate, children who can't communicate with their parents, and so
on. And the characters in these books and plays and so on, and in real
life, I might add, spend hours bemoaning the fact that they can't
communicate. I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very least
he can do is to shut up.
--Tom Lehrer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer>