Cyclone Rewa affected six countries and killed 22 people on its 28-day journey across the South Pacific Ocean in December 1993 and January 1994. It developed from a tropical disturbance on 28 December while situated south of Nauru. Crossing from the South Pacific basin into the Australian region, the system strengthened steadily as it paralleled the eastern Australian coast. Rewa initially peaked in intensity as a Category 4 tropical cyclone on 2 January, then weakened and returned to the South Pacific basin. Rewa re-entered the Australian basin on 10 January and reintensified to Category 5 severe tropical cyclone status by 17 January. Rewa transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on 20 January, with its remnants bringing heavy rain to New Zealand. Nine people in a banana dinghy en route to Rossel Island were presumed drowned after wreckage from their boat was found. In Queensland, three people were killed in traffic accidents caused by the storm, and another fatality occurred when a boy became trapped in a storm pipe. One death took place in New Caledonia, while flooding caused eight drownings in Papua New Guinea. Following the storm, the name Rewa was retired.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Rewa

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1558:

Francis, Duke of Guise, retook Calais, England's last continental possession, for France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais

1610:

Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei made his first observation of the four Galilean moons through his telescope: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he was not able to distinguish the latter two until the following day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)

1797:

The first official Italian tricolour was adopted by the government of the Cispadane Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Italy

1979:

The Vietnam People's Army captured the Cambodian capital city Phnom Penh, deposing Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, which marked the end of large-scale fighting in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_War

1989:

Akihito (pictured), the current Emperor of Japan, took the throne upon the death of his father Hirohito, who became known by the posthumous name Emperor Shōwa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihito

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

burgess: 1. An inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen. 2. (historical) A town magistrate. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/burgess

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

 Until we consider animal life to be worthy of the consideration and reverence we bestow upon old books and pictures and historic monuments, there will always be the animal refugee living a precarious life on the edge of extermination, dependent for existence on the charity of a few human beings.   --Gerald Durrell https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerald_Durrell