Hurricane Edith was the strongest hurricane to form during the 1971
Atlantic hurricane season. It developed from a tropical wave on
September 5, and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the
Caribbean Sea. Edith rapidly intensified on September 9, and made
landfall on Cape Gracias a Dios as a Category 5 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It quickly lost intensity over Central
America, and after briefly entering the Gulf of Honduras, it crossed
the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. After moving across the Gulf of
Mexico, a trough turned the storm to the northeast, and Edith, after
having restrengthened while accelerating towards the coast, made
landfall on Louisiana with winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) on September
16. Edith steadily weakened over land and dissipated over Georgia on
September 18. The hurricane killed two people when it passed near
Aruba. Striking northeastern Central America as a Category 5
hurricane, Edith destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least
35 people. In Texas, high tides caused coastal flooding, but little
damage. Edith caused moderate to heavy damage in portions of Louisiana
due to flooding and a tornado outbreak from the storm.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Edith_%281971%29
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
The U.S. Library of Congress was founded as a research library for the
U.S. Congress.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress)
1916:
Patrick Pearse and various members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
instigated the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in
Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising)
1967:
The Soyuz 1 spacecraft crashed in Siberia, killing cosmonaut Vladimir
Komarov.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_1)
1980:
Eight U.S. servicemen died in Operation Eagle Claw, a failed attempt
to rescue the hostages in the Iran hostage crisis.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw)
1990:
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery
in mission STS-31.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope)
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Wikiquote of the day:
I judge a man by his actions with men, much more than by his
declarations Godwards. When I find him to be envious, carping,
spiteful, hating the successes of others, and complaining that the
world has never done enough for him, I am apt to doubt whether his
humility before God will atone for his want of manliness. -- Anthony
Trollope
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope)