"Mothers of the Disappeared" is a song by the rock band U2, the closing
track on their album The Joshua Tree, released on 9 March 1987. The song
was inspired by lead singer Bono's experiences in Nicaragua and El
Salvador in July 1986, following U2's involvement on Amnesty
International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour. He learned of the Madres de
Plaza de Mayo, a group of women whose children had been abducted with
the consent of Argentine and Chilean dictatorships. Thematically the
song has been interpreted as an examination of failures and
contradictions in US foreign policy and as a criticism of the Reagan
Administration, which backed two South American regimes that seized
power during coups and which provided financial support for the military
regime in El Salvador. The song was favourably received by critics, and
has been performed live on several tours, starting with the 1987 Joshua
Tree Tour. It was played at four concerts on the 1998 PopMart Tour in
South America; during two of these, the Madres joined the band onstage
(pictured).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_the_Disappeared>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1009:
The first known record of the name of Lithuania appeared in an
entry in the annals of the Quedlinburg Abbey in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Lithuania>
1862:
American Civil War: In the world's first major battle between
two powered ironclad warships (painting pictured), the USS Monitor and
the CSS Virginia, fought to a draw near the mouth of Hampton Roads in
Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads>
1932:
Éamon de Valera, one of the dominant political figures in
twentieth-century Ireland, became President of the Executive Council of
the Irish Free State.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera>
1945:
World War II: Imperial Japanese Army officers ousted the
government of French Indochina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_in_French_Indochina>
1977:
Twelve gunmen seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., and
took 149 hostages in a 39-hour standoff that ended in two deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
blip:
1. (electronics) A small dot registered on electronic equipment, such as a
radar or oscilloscope screen.
2. A short sound of a single pitch, usually electronically generated.
3. (by extension) A brief and usually minor aberration or deviation from
what is expected or normal.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blip>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There isn't a coliseum any more, but the city is a bigger bowl,
and it seats more people. The razor-sharp claws aren't those of wild
animals but man's can be just as sharp and twice as vicious. You have to
be quick, and you have to be able, or you become one of the devoured,
and if you can kill first, no matter how and no matter who, you can live
and return to the comfortable chair and the comfortable fire. But you
have to be quick. And able. Or you'll be dead.
--Mickey Spillane
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mickey_Spillane>
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