Brownhills is a town and former administrative centre in the
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England. Before 1974, it was in the
county of Staffordshire. The town lies on the route of the ancient
Watling Street. Although there is no record of its existence before the
17th century, Ogley Hay – a district of the town today – is
recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book. Brownhills quickly grew
around the coal-mining industry, especially in the mid-19th century
after the town was linked to the railway and canal networks. By the end
of the century, Brownhills had grown from a hamlet of only 300
inhabitants to a town of more than 13,000, of whom the vast majority
were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal
industry until the 1950s; the subsequent closure of the pits led to a
severe economic decline that has continued until the present. The local
authority instituted a regeneration programme in 2007, but there has
been little subsequent development.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownhills>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1875:
French composer Georges Bizet's opera Carmen (poster pictured),
based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, premiered
at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen>
1945:
Second World War: The Royal Air Force mistakenly bombed the
neighbourhood of Bezuidenhout in The Hague, killing 511 evacuees.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Bezuidenhout>
1972:
The British rock band Jethro Tull released Thick as a Brick, a
parody concept album allegedly adapted from an eight-year-old boy's epic
poem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_as_a_Brick>
2012:
Two passenger trains collided near Szczekociny, Poland,
resulting in 16 deaths and 58 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczekociny_rail_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
triangulation:
1. (uncountable, surveying) A technique in which distances and
directions are estimated from an accurately measured baseline and the
principles of trigonometry; (countable) an instance of the use of this
technique.
2. (countable, surveying) The network of triangles so obtained, that are
the basis of a chart or map.
3. (countable, chess) A delaying move in which the king moves in a
triangular path to force the advance of a pawn.
4. (countable, geometry) A subdivision of a planar object into
triangles, and by extension the subdivision of a higher-dimension
geometric object into simplices.
5. (uncountable, navigation, seismology) A process by which an unknown
location is found using three known distances from known locations.
6. (uncountable, politics) The practice of repositioning one's group or
oneself on the political spectrum in an attempt to capture the centre.
7. (uncountable, qualitative research) The use of three (or more)
researchers to interview the same people or to evaluate the same
evidence to reduce the impact of individual bias.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triangulation>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the
foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his
menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll
into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of
strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people. From
President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their
courage, their determination, inspires the world.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
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