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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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