Typhoon Gay was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused more than 800 fatalities in and around the Gulf of Thailand in November 1989. The worst typhoon to affect the Malay Peninsula in 35 years, Gay rapidly intensified from a monsoon trough, and on 3 November became the first typhoon since 1891 to make landfall in Thailand. It re-emerged into the Bay of Bengal and reorganized as it approached southeastern India. The typhoon moved ashore near Kavali, Andhra Pradesh, and dissipated over Maharashtra early on 10 November. The typhoon's rapid development took seafarers by surprise, leading to 275 offshore fatalities. Across the Malay Peninsula, 588 people died from various storm-related incidents and several towns were destroyed. Losses throughout Thailand totaled ฿11 billion (US$497 million). In India, Gay damaged or destroyed about 20,000 homes in Andhra Pradesh. It left 100,000 people homeless, caused 69 deaths, and was responsible for ₹410 million (US$25.3 million) in damage.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Gay_%281989%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1503:

Giuliano della Rovere was elected pope, taking the name Julius II in emulation of Julius Caesar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1503_papal_conclave

1914:

World War I: The first contingent of the First Australian Imperial Force (soldiers pictured) departed Albany, Western Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Australian_Imperial_Force

1950:

Two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate U.S. president Harry S. Truman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Harry_S._Truman

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cherub: 1. (biblical) A winged creature attending on God, described by Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 5th–6th century) as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim; similar to a lamassu in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts. 2. An artistic depiction of such a being, typically in the form of a winged child or a child's head with wings but no body. 3. (figurative) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cherub

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I got my break — big break — when I was five years old. And it's taken me more than seventy years to realize it. You see, at five, I learned to read. It's that simple, and it's that profound. I left school at thirteen, I didn’t have a formal education, and I believe I would not be standing here tonight, without the books, the plays — the scripts. It's been a long journey from Fountainbridge to this evening, with you all. Though my feet are tired, my heart is not.   --Sean Connery https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sean_Connery