95px|Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle (1910), the first Tom Swift book
Tom Swift is the name of the central character in five series of
books, first appearing in 1910, totaling over 100 volumes, of American
juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science,
invention and technology. The character was created by Edward
Stratemeyer. His adventures have been written by a number of different
ghostwriters over the years. Most of the books are published under the
collective pseudonym Victor Appleton. The 33 volumes of the second
series use the pseudonym Victor Appleton II. The character first
appeared in 1910. New titles have been published as recently as 2007.
Most of the various series focus on Tom’s inventions, a number of which
anticipated actual inventions. The character has been presented in
different ways over the years. In general, the books portray science
and technology as wholly beneficial in their effects, and the role of
the inventor in society is treated as admirable and heroic. Translated
into a number of languages, the books have sold over 30 million copies
worldwide. Tom Swift has also been the subject of a board game and a
television show. Development of a feature film based on the series was
announced in 2008. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
Charles IV of Spain abdicated in favour of his son, Ferdinand VII.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_Spain>
1863:
American Civil War: On her maiden voyage from Scotland, where she was
built, the Confederate States Navy steamer Georgiana, reputed to be one
of the most powerful in the fleet, was damaged and sunk in the
Charleston, South Carolina, harbor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Georgiana>
1921:
Irish War of Independence: About 1,300 British troops attempted to
encircle about 100 IRA volunteers at Crossbarry in County Cork.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbarry_Ambush>
1941:
The Tuskegee Airmen , the first all-African American unit of the United
States Army Air Corps, was activated.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen>
1990:
Ethnic clashes between Romanians and Hungarians took place in Târgu
Mureş, Romania, leaving several dead and hundreds injured.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_clashes_of_T%C3%A2rgu_Mure%C8%99>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
vaguery (n):
1. (uncountable) Vagueness, the condition of being vague.
2. (countable) A vagueness, a thing which is vague, an example of
vagueness.
3. (countable, in the plural) An eggcorn for vagaries
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vaguery>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
55px
Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.
--Richard Francis Burton
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton>
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