The drift of the Antarctic exploration vessel SY Aurora was a 312-day
ordeal during the Ross Sea section of Ernest Shackleton's expedition
between 1914 and 1917. It began when the ship broke loose from its
anchorage in McMurdo Sound during a gale. Caught in heavy pack ice,
Aurora was carried into open waters with eighteen men aboard, leaving
ten men stranded ashore with meagre provisions. With first officer
Joseph Stenhouse in command, the ship suffered severe damage, including
the loss of its rudder and anchors. It was finally freed from the ice in
March 1916 after it had drifted north of the Antarctic Circle. It was
able to reach New Zealand for repairs and resupply before returning to
Antarctica to rescue the surviving members of the shore party. Stenhouse
was removed from command by the organisers of the Ross Sea party relief
expedition, but was later appointed an Officer of the Order of the
British Empire for his service aboard the ship.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SY_Aurora%27s_drift>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
835:
In the Sweet Dew incident, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty
conspired to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot
was foiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Dew_incident>
1918:
British women were able to vote for the first time during the
1918 United Kingdom general election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_United_Kingdom_general_election>
1948:
American physicists Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann
were awarded a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the
first interactive electronic game.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode-ray_tube_amusement_device>
2008:
During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist
Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush,
yelling that "this is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in
Iraq".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_shoeing_incident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
defervesce:
1. (intransitive, medicine) To experience an abatement or resolution of
fever.
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To become less agitated; to cool down.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defervesce>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether
it is an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or
a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner
in Chicago, these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children
are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take
meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the
politics. This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every
parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter,
and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other
how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut
who cannot do that tonight, and they need all of us right now. In the
hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as
Americans, and I will do everything in my power as president to help,
because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one,
all of us can extend a hand to those in need, to remind them that we are
there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt
for those they lost endures not just in their memories, but also in
ours.May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of
Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
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