Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian
Jewish novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the
major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements
of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists
facing what are now called "Kafkaesque" circumstances: bizarre or
surrealistic predicaments complicated by incomprehensible bureaucracy.
He explores themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and
absurdity. His best-known works include The Metamorphosis, The Trial,
and The Castle. Few of Kafka's works were published during his lifetime,
and those that were received little public attention. In his will, he
instructed his friend Max Brod to destroy his unfinished works,
including three of his novels, but Brod ignored these instructions.
Kafka's work has influenced a vast range of writers, critics, artists,
and philosophers during the 20th and 21st centuries.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1778:
American Revolutionary War: Loyalists and Iroquois killed over
300 Patriots at the Battle of Wyoming in Pennsylvania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wyoming>
1940:
Second World War: The Royal Navy attacked the French fleet,
fearing that the ships would fall into German hands after the armistice
between those two nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on
Belfast, Northern Ireland, which resulted in greater Irish republican
resistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
1979:
U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a presidential finding,
authorizing the CIA to secretly aid the mujahideen of Afghanistan
against the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone>
2005:
Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Spain>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ambivert:
(psychology) A person who is neither clearly extroverted nor
introverted, but has characteristics of each.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ambivert>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
One tells as few lies as possible only by telling as few lies as
possible, and not by having the least possible opportunity to do so.
--Franz Kafka
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka>
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