Cyclone Orson was the fourth most intense cyclone in the Australian region on record. Forming out of a tropical low on April 17, 1989, Orson gradually intensified as it tracked towards the west. After attaining Category 5 intensity on April 20, the storm began to track southward and accelerated. The following day, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of 250 km/h (155 mph, 10-minute sustained) and a barometric pressure of 904 hPa (mbar). Orson maintained this intensity for nearly two days before making landfall near Dampier. The cyclone rapidly weakened after landfall as it accelerated to the southeast. After moving into the Great Australian Bight on April 24, the storm dissipated. Despite Orson's extreme intensity, damage was relatively minimal as it impacted a sparsely populated region of Western Australia. Five people were killed offshore and damages amounted to A$20 million (US$16.8 million). The most severe impacts took place in Pannawonica, where 70 homes were damaged. Due to the severity of the storm, the name Orson was retired in 1990 and later replaced by Olga.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Orson

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1792:

The epoch of the French Republican Calendar occurred, marking the first full day of the newly proclaimed French First Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar

1827:

According to his own record of his early life, Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. obtained the golden plates, a set of engraved plates that he said was his source material for the Book of Mormon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/golden_plates

1862:

Slavery in the United States: President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the freedom of all slaves in Confederate territory by January 1, 1863. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

1869:

Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Der Ring des Nibelungen by German composer Richard Wagner, was first performed in Munich. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold

1979:

The Vela Incident: An American Vela satellite detected an unidentified flash of light, thought to be a nuclear weapons test. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_Incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

abrogate (v): 1. To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or his successor; to repeal. 2. To put an end to; to do away with http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abrogate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it, merely to show that you have one. --Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope%2C_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield