Christopher Wallace (1972–1997), best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper/hip hop artist. Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City and began rapping when he was a teenager. The release of Wallace's debut album Ready to Die in 1994 made him a central figure in the East Coast hip hop scene and increased New York's visibility in the genre at a time when West Coast artists were more common in the mainstream. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the East Coast/West Coast hip hop feud dominating the scene at the time. On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released 16 days later, hit No. 1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000 (one of the few hip hop albums to receive this certification). Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Two more albums have been released since his death. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. He has certified sales of 17 million units in the United States.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notorious_B.I.G.

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

484:

Alaric II succeeded his father Euric as king of the Visigoths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaric_II

1612:

Galileo became the first person to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune

1879:

The Tay Rail Bridge, spanning the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the Wormit, collapsed during a violent storm while a train was passing over it, killing all on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Bridge_disaster

1912:

The San Francisco Municipal Railway, operator of the city's famed cable car system (cable car pictured), opened its first line. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Municipal_Railway

1935:

Politician Pavel Postyshev revived the New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union when Pravda published his letter asking for them to be installed in schools, children's homes, Young Pioneer Palaces, children's clubs, children's theaters, and cinema theaters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Postyshev

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

brawn: Physical strength; muscularity. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brawn

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is difficult for the matter-of-fact physicist to accept the view that the substratum of everything is of mental character. But no one can deny that mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience, and all else is remote inference — inference either intuitive or deliberate. --Arthur Stanley Eddington https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Stanley_Eddington