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>