Mary Celeste was an American merchant brigantine. On December 4, 1872, en route to Genoa from New York, the ship was discovered abandoned and deserted off the Azores Islands in a disheveled but seaworthy condition, with no obvious signs of sudden catastrophe. The final entry in the log, dated ten days previously, was a routine statement of the ship's position. There were ample provisions on board, and the cargo was intact. None of those who had been on board were seen or heard from again. At the subsequent salvage hearings in Gibraltar the court's officers found no evidence of conspiracy or foul play. Over time the story has been distorted by false detail and fanciful explanations, including attacks by giant squid and paranormal intervention. The mystery has been recounted and dramatized in documentaries, novels, plays and films, and the name of the ship has become synonymous with unexplained desertion. After the Gibraltar hearings, Mary Celeste continued in service under new owners until, in 1885, the ship was wrecked off the coast of Haiti in an attempted insurance fraud.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1639:
English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus
1829:
Sati, the Hindu funeral custom of widows immolating themselves, was prohibited in part of British India after years of campaigning by Ram Mohan Roy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)
1909:
The first Grey Cup game, the championship game of the Canadian Football League, was held. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Cup
1979:
Bruce George Peter Lee set fire to a family home in Hull, England; after his arrest he revealed that he had started nine other fatal fires in the area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_George_Peter_Lee
1992:
US President George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order during the ongoing Somali Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Task_Force
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
phalanx: 1. (historical, plural phalanxes) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears. 2. (historical sociology) A Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery. 3. (plural phalanxes) A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose. 4. (anatomy, plural phalanges) One of the bones of the finger or toe. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phalanx
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the manner of gods and prophets to begin: "Thou shalt have none other God or Prophet but me." If I were to start as a God or a prophet I think I should take the line: "Thou shalt not believe in me. Thou shalt not have me for a God. Thou shalt worship any d_____d thing thou likest except me." This should be my first and great commandment, and my second should be like unto it. --Samuel Butler https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler