Bernard Hinault (born 14 November 1954) is a former professional cyclist from France. With 147 professional victories, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany before turning professional in 1975. His successes in the Grand Tours include five victories at the Tour de France, three at the Giro d'Italia and two at the Vuelta a España. He was also successful in one-day races, winning, among others, the 1980 Liège–Bastogne–Liège (run on snow-covered roads), the 1981 Paris–Roubaix and the World Road Race title in 1980. His principal rivals included Joop Zoetemelk, as well as former teammates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond, with whom he battled during the Tours in 1985 and 1986, before retiring at the end of that year. He remains the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. Throughout his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau, or "badger", for his aggressive racing.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Hinault

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1910:

Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performed the first takeoff from a ship, flying from a makeshift deck on USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Burton_Ely

1952:

Al Martino's song "Here in My Heart" became the first number one on the UK Singles Chart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart

2003:

Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz discovered the trans-Neptunian object Sedna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

pandect: 1. (Ancient Rome, law, historical) Usually in the plural form Pandects: a compendium or digest of writings on Roman law divided in 50 books, compiled in the 6th century C.E. by order of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I (c. 482–565). 2. (by extension, rare) Also in the plural form pandects: a comprehensive collection of laws; specifically, the whole body of law of a country; a legal code. 3. (by extension, also figuratively) A treatise or similar work that is comprehensive as to a particular topic; specifically (Christianity) a manuscript of the entire Bible. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pandect

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license.   --P. J. O'Rourke https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._J._O%27Rourke