Hurricane Patricia set records for the highest maximum sustained winds ever recorded in a tropical cyclone and the second-lowest barometric pressure (after Typhoon Tip of 1979). Originating near the Gulf of Tehuantepec off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico, the system was classified as a tropical depression on October 20, 2015. The next day it became a tropical storm, the twenty-fourth named storm of the 2015 Pacific hurricane season. The following day it grew from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours. The National Hurricane Center ultimately estimated that Patricia attained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 872 mbar (hPa; 25.75 inHg). The storm made landfall on October 23 near Cuixmala, Jalisco, in a significantly weakened state, but it was still the strongest recorded hurricane to strike Mexico's Pacific coast, with winds estimated at 150 mph (240 km/h).

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1939:

Pope Pius XII published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, critiquing ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summi_Pontificatus

1951:

African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault that eventually provoked changes in NCAA football rules and mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Bright_incident

2011:

Libyan Civil War: Deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured by rebel forces during the Battle of Sirte and killed less than an hour later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Muammar_Gaddafi

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

knacker's yard: 1. The area of a slaughterhouse where carcasses unfit for human consumption or other purposes are rendered down to produce useful materials such as glue. 2. (colloquial, figuratively) A (notional) place to send a person or object that is spent beyond all reasonable use. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knacker%27s_yard

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and the purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God.   --The Báb https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b