Vesna Vulović (1950–2016) was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 metres (33,330 ft). She was the sole survivor after a briefcase bomb tore through the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367 on 26 January 1972, causing it to crash over Czechoslovakia. She spent days in a coma with a fractured skull and many broken bones, and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Vulović eventually relearned how to walk, but continued to limp for the rest of her life. She was widely regarded as a national hero in Yugoslavia. Guinness recognized her world record in 1985. She was fired from JAT in the early 1990s for taking part in anti-government protests, but continued her work as a pro-democracy activist for decades. The final years of her life were spent in seclusion and poverty, and she struggled with survivor's guilt until her death..

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1619:

Ferdinand II, the King of Bohemia and Hungary, was unanimously elected as Holy Roman Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

1859:

A massive solar storm began, causing a coronal mass ejection to strike the Earth's magnetosphere that generated aurorae that were visible in the middle latitudes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

1963:

American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, envisioning a future in which blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream

1973:

Swedish police used gas bombs to end a seven-day hostage situation in Stockholm; during the incident the hostages had bonded with their captors, leading to the term "Stockholm syndrome". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrmalmstorg_robbery

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Faustian bargain: 1. (idiomatic) An agreement in which a person abandons his or her spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain knowledge, wealth or other benefits. 2. (idiomatic) A deal in which one focuses on present gain without considering the long-term consequences. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Faustian_bargain

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

What dazzles, for the Moment spends its spirit: What's genuine, shall Posterity inherit.   --Faust https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Goethe%27s_Faust