[Wikipedia] February 15: Hurricane Isis (1998)

[Faraaz Damji]

  Hurricane Isis was the deadliest tropical cyclone and only hurricane
  to make landfall during the 1998 Pacific hurricane season.  The ninth
  tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the season, Isis developed on
  September 1 from the interaction between a tropical wave and a large
  surface circulation to the southwest of Mexico.  It moved northward,
  striking the extreme southeastern portion of the Baja California
  Peninsula before attaining hurricane status in the Gulf of California.
  Isis made landfall at Topolobampo in the state of Sinaloa on September
  3, and quickly lost its low-level circulation.  The remnants persisted
  for several days before dissipating in the U.S. state of Idaho.  In
  Mexico, Isis destroyed over 700 houses and killed 14 people, primarily
  due to its heavy rainfall which peaked at over 20 inches (500 mm) in
  southern Baja California Sur.  The rainfall caused widespread damage to
  roads and railways, stranding thousands of people.  Moisture from the
  remnants of Isis extended into the southwestern United States,
  resulting in light rainfall, dozens of traffic accidents, and power
  outages to thousands of residents in San Diego County.

Read the rest of this article:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Isis_%281998%29


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Today's selected anniversaries:

1898:
  The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in
  Havana, Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the
  Spanish-American War.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_%28ACR-1%29)

1942:
  World War II: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita
  captured Singapore, the largest surrender of British-led military
  personnel in British history.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore)

1971:
  The British pound sterling and the Irish pound were decimalised on
  what is called Decimal Day.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_Day)

1989:
  The Soviet Union officially announced that all of its troops had
  withdrawn from Afghanistan after a nine-year conflict.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan)

2003:
  In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around
  the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against
  the impending invasion of Iraq.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15%2C_2003_anti-war_protest)


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Wiktionary's Word of the day:

  erinaceous: Of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog.
  (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erinaceous)


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Wikiquote of the day:

  Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in
  wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people
  was the object.  This our convention understood to be the most
  oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame
  the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing
  this oppression upon us.  -- Abraham Lincoln
  (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln)