The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on
October 12, 2008, at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan. It was the 16th
race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 67 laps,
was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team from fourth position on
the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second in a BMW Sauber, and
Kimi Räikkönen third in a Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, the eventual
Drivers' Champion, led the Championship going into the race, and
started from pole position alongside Räikkönen. Hamilton's McLaren
teammate Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso. At the
first corner Hamilton braked late, forcing Räikkönen wide. Hamilton was
later given a penalty, and was criticised by the British racing press
for overly aggressive driving. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamilton's
principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap
two in which he touched Hamilton's car and spun it around. The incident
dropped Hamilton to the back of the field, from where he was unable to
regain a pointscoring position. Massa later collided with Sébastien
Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Bourdais was penalised after the race, and
demoted from sixth to tenth position. The penalty prompted widespread
criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers. The victory was
Alonso's second consecutive win, after he started from 15th on the grid
to win the Singapore Grand Prix.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Japanese_Grand_Prix>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
3114 BC:
The epoch of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, a non-repeating,
vigesimal calendar used by the Maya civilization and several other
Mesoamerican cultures, occurred.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calendar>
1492:
The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic
Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave%2C_1492>
1828:
William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds, England, for murdering
Maria Marten at the Red Barn.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_Murder>
1942:
Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for
their "Secret Communications System", an early technique of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum that later became the basis for many
forms of today's wireless communication systems.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr>
1965:
Violent race rioting began in the Watts district of Los Angeles,
lasting for six days and leaving 34 people dead and 1,032 others
injured.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riots>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
jauntily (adv):
1. In an airy, showy, or affected manner.
2. In a dapper or stylish manner.
3. In an ostentatiously
self-confident manner
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jauntily>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If the world ever advances beyond what it is today, it must be led by
men who express their real opinions.
--Robert G. Ingersoll
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll>
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