Hurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 mph (265 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day. Moderate to severe damage extended up the Atlantic coastline and as far inland as West Virginia. Roughly six million people were left without electric service in the eastern United States from the strong winds of Isabel. Rainfall from the storm extended from South Carolina to Maine, and westward to Michigan. Throughout the path of Isabel, damage totaled about $3.6 billion (2003 USD, $4.3 billion 2011 USD). 16 deaths in seven states were directly related to the hurricane, with 35 deaths in six states and one province indirectly related to the hurricane.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Isabel

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1738:

Serse, an opera by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serse

1912:

The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic

1947:

Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson

1955:

American restauranteur Ray Kroc opened the ninth McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, an occasion considered to be the founding of the present corporation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s

1995:

At a GATT ministerial meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities signed an agreement to establish the World Trade Organization. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gewgaw (n): A showy trifle, a toy http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gewgaw

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Any one who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory. Good culture is born of a good disposition; and since the cause is more to be praised than the effect, I will rather praise a good disposition without culture, than good culture without the disposition. --Leonardo da Vinci http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci