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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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