The Shorwell helmet (replica pictured) is a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon
helmet found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It
was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was
found with other objects such as a pattern-welded sword and hanging
bowl. One of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, alongside those from
Benty Grange, Sutton Hoo, Coppergate, Wollaston, and Staffordshire, it
is the sole example to derive from the continental Frankish style rather
than the contemporaneous Northern crested style used in England and
Scandinavia. Exhibiting hardly any decoration other than a speculative
exterior leather covering, this was a utilitarian fighting helmet. It
was simply and sturdily designed out of eight pieces of riveted iron,
and its only decorative elements were paired with functional uses. The
helmet's plainness belies its significance; helmets were rare in Anglo-
Saxon England, and appear to have been limited to the higher classes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorwell_helmet>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1861:
American Civil War: The United States Congress passed the
Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, asserting that the war was solely to
prevent the dissolution of the nation, although this was repealed five
months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crittenden%E2%80%93Johnson_Resolution>
1893:
The Corinth Canal, which bisects the narrow Isthmus of Corinth,
was formally opened, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean
Sea's Saronic Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal>
1978:
Two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists were killed in a
police ambush at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Maravilla_murders>
2000:
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde en route from Paris to New
York City, crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all one hundred
passengers and nine crew members, as well as four people on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mink:
1. (plural mink or minks) Any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous
mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily, similar to weasels, with dark fur,
native to Europe and America, of which two species in different genera
are extant: the American mink (Neovison vison) and the European mink
(Mustela lutreola).
2. (plural mink) The fur or pelt of a mink, used to make apparel.
3. (plural minks) An article of clothing made of mink.
4. (slang, pejorative, Scotland) (plural minks) An individual with poor
personal hygiene; a smelly person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mink>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
People unfit for freedom — who cannot do much with it — are
hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have"
type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and
realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of
a "have-not" type of self. If Hitler had had the talents and the
temperament of a genuine artist, if Stalin had had the capacity to
become a first-rate theoretician, if Napoleon had had the makings of a
great poet or philosopher they would hardly have developed the all-
consuming lust for absolute power. Freedom gives us a chance to realize
our human and individual uniqueness. Absolute power can also bestow
uniqueness: to have absolute power is to have the power to reduce all
the people around us to puppets, robots, toys, or animals, and be the
only man in sight. Absolute power achieves uniqueness by dehumanizing
others.
--Eric Hoffer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer>
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