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.

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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)

_____________________ 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)