The new wave of British heavy metal began in the late 1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Encompassing diverse mainstream and underground styles, the music often infused 1970s heavy metal music with the intensity of punk rock to produce fast and aggressive songs. The do-it-yourself ethic of the new metal bands led to the spread of raw-sounding, self-produced recordings and a proliferation of independent record labels. Song lyrics were usually about escapist themes from mythology, fantasy, horror or the rock lifestyle. The movement involved mostly young, white, male musicians and fans of the heavy metal subculture, whose behavioural and visual codes were quickly adopted by metal fans worldwide after the spread of the music to Europe, North America and Japan. The movement spawned perhaps a thousand bands, but only a few survived the rise of MTV and glam metal. Among them, Motörhead and Saxon had considerable success, and Iron Maiden and Def Leppard became international stars.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1142:

Despite having saved the Southern Song dynasty from attempts by the northern Jin dynasty to conquer it, Chinese general Yue Fei was executed by the Song government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei

1945:

The Soviet Red Army liberated more than 7,500 prisoners left behind by Nazi personnel in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp

1967:

The Apollo 1 fire killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger Chaffee at Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 34, and destroyed the spacecraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

1996:

Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of Niger, was deposed by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara in a military coup d'état. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamane_Ousmane

2011:

Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution began as more than 16,000 protesters demonstrated in Sana'a to demand governmental changes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Revolution

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sharawadgi: (historical or obsolete) A style of landscape gardening or architecture in which rigid lines and symmetry are avoided in favour of an organic appearance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sharawadgi

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

For the last two years, the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock stayed set at three minutes before the hour, the closest it had been to midnight since the early 1980s. In its two most recent annual announcements on the Clock, the Science and Security Board warned: "The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon." In 2017, we find the danger to be even greater, the need for action more urgent. It is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms. Wise public officials should act immediately, guiding humanity away from the brink. If they do not, wise citizens must step forward and lead the way.   --Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bulletin_of_the_Atomic_Scientists