The 2002 Pacific typhoon season, covering the Pacific north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, was very active, with many tropical cyclones affecting the Philippines, Japan, and China, especially from July to October. Overall, there were 37 tropical depressions declared officially or unofficially, of which 26 became named storms, including 15 typhoons (hurricanes). The season began early: Tapah developed on January 10 east of the Philippines. Two months later, Typhoon Mitag became the first recorded super typhoon in March. In June, Typhoon Chataan dropped heavy rainfall in the Federated States of Micronesia, killing 48 people and becoming the deadliest natural disaster in the state of Chuuk. Chataan later left heavy damage in Guam before striking Japan. In August, Typhoon Rusa became the deadliest typhoon in South Korea in 43 years, causing 238 deaths and $4.2 billion in damage. Typhoon Higos (pictured) in October was the third-strongest typhoon to strike Tokyo since World War II. Typhoon Pongsona, the last of the season, became one of the costliest storms ($700 million) on record in Guam; it dissipated on December 11.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Pacific_typhoon_season

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1757:

English poet Christopher Smart was admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Smart%27s_asylum_confinement

1882:

U.S. President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law, implementing a ban on Chinese immigration to the United States that remained until the Magnuson Act was enacted in 1943. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act

1937:

The German zeppelin Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during an attempt to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, killing 36 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg

1991:

Time magazine published "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power", an article highly critical of the Scientology organization, leading to years of legal conflict that ended when the Church of Scientology's petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case was denied in 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thriving_Cult_of_Greed_and_Power

2013:

Amanda Berry escaped from the Cleveland, Ohio, US, home of her captor Ariel Castro after having been held there with two other women for ten years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Castro_kidnappings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

softly softly: (UK, idiomatic) In a very tactful, careful, or nondisruptive manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/softly_softly

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets, there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus.   --Sydney Carter https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Carter