Cyclone Althea was a severe tropical cyclone that devastated parts of North Queensland just before Christmas during the 1971–72 Australian region cyclone season. The fourth system and second severe tropical cyclone of the season, Althea was one of the strongest storms ever to affect the Townsville area. After forming near the Solomon Islands on 19 December and heading southwest across the Coral Sea, the storm reached Category 4 on the Australian cyclone scale, peaking with 10-minute average maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph). At 09:00 AEST on Christmas Eve, Althea struck the coast of Queensland near Rollingstone, about 50 km (30 mi) north of Townsville. While moving ashore, Althea generated wind gusts as high as 215 km/h (134 mph) that damaged thousands of homes and destroyed many. On nearby Magnetic Island almost all of the buildings were affected. Three people were killed, and damage totalled A$120 million.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Althea

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1843:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a novella about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by three Christmas ghosts, was first published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol

1964:

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the ruling junta of South Vietnam led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving and arresting members of the High National Council, a civilian advisory body. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1964_South_Vietnamese_coup

1985:

Aeroflot Flight 101/435 was hijacked by the co-pilot and landed in a rice field in China, where he was apprehended. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_101/435

2016:

Andrei Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated at an art gallery in Ankara. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Andrei_Karlov

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

turntable: 1. A circular rotating platform. 2. (music) The circular rotating platform of a record player or a disk jockey's console on which the record rests during play; (by extension), a record player. 3. (rail transport, road transport) A rotating platform placed in a circular pit, used for turning locomotives, cars, or trucks. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turntable

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

"… I am here — the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will!" His hands were busy with his garments all this time; turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance. "I don’t know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoön of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world. …"   --A Christmas Carol https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol