Halo Wars (released 2009) is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. The game is set in the science fiction universe of the Halo series in the year 2531, 21 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. The player leads human soldiers aboard the warship Spirit of Fire in an effort to stop an ancient fleet of ships from falling into the hands of the genocidal alien Covenant. Halo Wars was unveiled at the 2006 X06 Xbox show. Ensemble was closed by Microsoft before the game's release, but Robot Entertainment was founded soon after by many of Ensemble's former employees; this new company continued to support Halo Wars with updates and downloadable content. The game received generally positive reviews. Reviewers lauded the game's pre- rendered cinematics, attention to detail in replicating the Halo universe, and intuitive control scheme. Complaints against the game included the lack of an option to play as the Covenant faction in campaign mode as well as the lack of strategic options during play. The game sold one million units worldwide through March 2009.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

747 BC:

According to Ptolemy, the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonassar began and with it, a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabonassar

1233:

Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols captured Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_siege_of_Kaifeng

1936:

Over 1400 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army staged a coup d'etat in Japan, occupying Tokyo, and killing Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo and several other leading politicians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26_Incident

1991:

British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee introduced WorldWideWeb, the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG HTML editor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldWideWeb

2008:

In the first significant cultural visit from the United States to North Korea since the Korean War, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_New_York_Philharmonic_visit_to_North_Korea

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

piquant: 1. Engaging; charming. 2. Favorably stimulating to the palate; pleasantly spicy; stimulating. 3. (archaic) Causing hurt feelings; scathing. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piquant

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Would you realize what Revolution is, call it Progress; and would you realize what Progress is, call it Tomorrow.   --Les Misérables https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables