Hurricane Ismael was a weak Pacific hurricane that killed over one hundred people in northern Mexico in September of the 1995 Pacific hurricane season. It developed from a persistent area of deep convection on September 12, and steadily strengthened as it moved to the north-northwest. Ismael attained hurricane status on September 14 while located 210 miles (340 km) off the coast of Mexico. It continued to the north, and after passing a short distance east of Baja California it made landfall on Topolobampo in the state of Sinaloa with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Ismael rapidly weakened over land, and dissipated on September 16 over northwestern Mexico. The remnants entered the United States and extended eastward into the Mid-Atlantic States. Offshore, Ismael produced waves of up to 30 feet (9 m) in height. Hundreds of fishermen were unprepared by the hurricane, which was expected to move more slowly, and as a result 52 ships were wrecked, killing 57 fishermen. The hurricane destroyed thousands of houses, leaving 30,000 people homeless. On land, Ismael caused 59 casualties in mainland Mexico and resulted in $26 million in damage (1995 USD, $34.4 million 2006 USD). Moisture from the storm extended into the United States, causing heavy rainfall and localized moderate damage in southeastern New Mexico.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1719:

Robinson Crusoe, a novel by English author Daniel Defoe about a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela, was first published. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe

1898:

Spanish–American War: The United States retroactively declared war on Spain, stating that a state of war between the two countries had already existed for the past couple of days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

1915:

World War I: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign

1953:

Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid by molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific journal Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Structure_of_Nucleic_Acids%3A_A_Structure_for_Deoxyribose_Nucleic_Acid

1974:

The song Grândola Vila Morena by Zeca Afonso was broadcast on radio, signalling the start of the Carnation Revolution, a bloodless coup against the Estado Novo regime in Portugal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

wonky (adj): 1. (mostly British and Australian) Lopsided, misaligned or off-centre.

2. (computing) Suffering from intermittent bugs; broken. 3. Generally incorrect http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wonky

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it. --Edward R. Murrow http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_R._Murrow