E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction fantasy
film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Melissa
Mathison, it stars Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew
Barrymore, Peter Coyote and Pat Welsh. It tells the story of Elliott
(Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a stranded extraterrestrial.
Elliott and his siblings help E.T. return home while attempting to hide
him from their mother and the government. Filmed on a budget of $10.5
million, it was shot in rough chronological order, to facilitate
convincing emotional performances from the young cast. E.T. was an
immediate blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the highest-
grossing film of all time—a record it held for eleven years until
Jurassic Park, another Spielberg-directed film, surpassed it in 1993.
Considered one of the greatest films ever made, it was widely acclaimed
by critics as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the
greatest science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes survey. It
was re-released in 1985, and then again in 2002 to celebrate its 20th
anniversary, with altered shots and additional scenes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1892:
William Heffelfinger was paid $525 by the Allegheny Athletic
Association, becoming the first professional American football player on
record.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Heffelfinger>
1912:
The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were
discovered, roughly eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated
British Antarctic Expedition 1910.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott>
1942:
World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the decisive
engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied and Japanese
forces during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign in the Solomon
Islands, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal>
1970:
A cyclone made landfall on the coast of East Pakistan
(Bangladesh), becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history, with
up to 500,000 people killed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Bhola_cyclone>
2014:
The European Space Agency's Philae lander (artist's impression
shown) became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it touched
down on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyumov%E2%80%93Gerasimenko>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
foolhardy:
Marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger; boldly
rash; hotheaded.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foolhardy>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
In the construction of a country, it is not the practical workers
but the idealists and planners that are difficult to find.
--Sun Yat-sen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>