The Holden VE Commodore is the fourteenth and current model of the Holden Commodore, a full-size car produced by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Full-scale production commenced on July 13 2006, with the official unveiling being held at a media launch in Melbourne on July 16 2006. The VE is the first Commodore model designed entirely in Australia, with previous generations based on Opel-sourced platforms that had been adapted both mechanically and in size for the local market. To date the annualised sales of the VE have failed to match those of the record-breaking VT Commodore. Prior to the release of the VE model, Holden confirmed that they would manufacture two parallel generations of Commodores, until the launch of station wagon and utility body styles. This announcement came not long before Holden announced that engines and transmissions would largely be carried over from the previous VZ model.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

622: The epoch of the Islamic calendar occurred, marking the year that Muhammad began his Hijra from Mecca to Medina. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar)

1769: Spanish friar Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first Franciscan mission in the Alta California region of New Spain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Diego_de_Alcal%C3%A1)

1945: Manhattan Project: "Trinity", the first nuclear test explosion, was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_test)

1979: Saddam Hussein replaced the resigning Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as President of Iraq, after having gradually usurped power from his cousin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein)

1994: The planet Jupiter was hit by fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, causing a fireball which reached a peak temperature of about 24,000 K (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker-Levy_9)

2005: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, was released to record sales of 287,564 books per hour in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest selling book in history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Half-Blood_Prince)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

escritoire: A writing desk with a hinged door that provides the writing surface. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/escritoire)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

You'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them — if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry. -- J. D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye

(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger)