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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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