[Daily article] August 31: Indian Head eagle Published On

The Indian Head eagle was an American ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle,
produced from 1907 until 1916, and then irregularly until 1933.
Beginning in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the
introduction of more artistic designs on US coins, prompting the Mint to
hire the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create them. Roosevelt chose
a design for the obverse of the eagle (pictured) that the sculptor had
meant to use for the cent, and for its reverse he selected a design
featuring a standing bald eagle, which had been developed for the
twenty-dollar piece designed by Saint-Gaudens. Following the sculptor's
death on August 3, 1907, Roosevelt insisted that the new eagle be
finished and struck that month, and new pieces were given to the
President on August 31. The omission of the motto "In God We Trust" on
the new coins caused public outrage, and prompted Congress to pass a
bill mandating its inclusion. The Indian Head eagle was struck regularly
until 1916, and then intermittently until President Franklin Roosevelt
directed the Mint to stop producing gold coins in 1933; many were later
melted down. Its termination ended the series of eagles struck for
circulation begun in 1795.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_eagle>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1813:

Peninsular War: At the Battle of San Marcial, the Spanish Army
of Galicia under Manuel Alberto Freire turned back Nicolas Soult's last
major offensive against Arthur Wellesley's allied army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Marcial>

1897:

Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetoscope
(pictured), a precursor to the movie projector.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope>

1935:

In an effort to stay out of the growing European conflict, the
United States passed the first of its Neutrality Acts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_Acts_of_1930s>

1959:

A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and
chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, failed
to kill Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C3%B4_%C4%90%C3%ACnh_Nhu>

1986:

Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided with a privately owned Piper
PA-28 Cherokee aircraft over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air
and 15 on the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Cerritos_mid-air_collision>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

kore:
An Ancient Greek statue of a woman, portrayed standing, usually clothed,
painted in bright colours and having an elaborate hairstyle.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kore>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   I can't hate for long. It isn't worth it.  
--William Saroyan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Saroyan>

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[Daily article] August 30: Clackline Bridge Published On

Clackline Bridge is a road bridge in Clackline, Western Australia, 77
kilometres (48 mi) east of Perth, that carried Great Eastern Highway
until 2008. It is the only bridge in Western Australia to have spanned
both a waterway and railway, the Clackline Brook and the former Eastern
Railway alignment. The mainly timber bridge has a unique curved and
sloped design, due to the difficult topography and the route of the
former railway. The bridge was designed in 1934 to replace two dangerous
rail crossings and a rudimentary water crossing. Construction began in
January 1935, and the opening ceremony was held on 30 August 1935. The
bridge was still a safety hazard, with increasing severity and numbers
of accidents in the 1970s and 1980s. Planning for a highway bypass of
Clackline and the Clackline Bridge began in the 1990s, and was
constructed between January 2007 and February 2008. The local community
had been concerned that the historic bridge would be lost, but it
remains part of the local road network, and has been listed on both the
Northam Municipal Heritage Inventory and the Heritage Council of Western
Australia's Register of Heritage Places.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clackline_Bridge>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1799:

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: A squadron of the navy of
the Batavian Republic surrendered to the Royal Navy without a fight near
Wieringen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlieter_Incident>

1835:

European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River
in Southeastern Australia founded the city of Melbourne (Parliament
House pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne>

1862:

American Civil War: In separate actions, Confederate forces
were victorious in both the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky and the
Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run>

1918:

Fanni Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin,
helping to spark the Red Terror in the future Soviet Union, a repression
against Socialist-Revolutionary Party members and other political
opponents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror>

1984:

Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

leech:
1. (transitive) To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from
the patient.
2. (transitive) To drain (resources) without giving back.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leech>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my
ability to use that talent is completely dependent on the society I was
born into. If I'd been born into a tribe of hunters, this talent of
mine would be pretty worthless. I can't run very fast. I'm not
particularly strong. I'd probably end up as some wild animal's
dinner. But I was lucky enough to be born in a time and place where
society values my talent, and gave me a good education to develop that
talent, and set up the laws and the financial system to let me do what I
love doing — and make a lot of money doing it. The least I can do is
help pay for all that.  
--Warren Buffett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett>

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[Daily article] August 29: 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game Published On

The 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game was a regular
season college football game between the Appalachian State Mountaineers
and Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines were ranked No. 5 in the upper-
tier Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while the Mountaineers were ranked
No. 1 in the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), of
which they were the defending champions. Games between FBS and FCS teams
typically result in lopsided victories for the FBS team, and the game
was not expected to be an exception. However, in an upset hailed as one
of the greatest in college football history, the Mountaineers won
34–32 (scoreboard pictured), blocking a potentially game-winning field
goal attempt by Michigan in the waning seconds to secure their win. The
Mountaineers became the first FCS team to defeat a ranked FBS team,
while the Wolverines became the first top-five team to drop out of the
polls as the result of a single game. The game received a large amount
of coverage in American sports media, and both teams went on to have
successful seasons, with Appalachian State winning the FCS championship
and Michigan winning a bowl game.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appalachian_State_vs._Michigan_football_game>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1526:

Ottoman–Hungarian Wars: Louis II, the last Jagiellonian king
of Hungary and Bohemia, died after his army was defeated by Ottoman
forces led by Suleiman the Magnificent at the Battle of Mohács.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs>

1831:

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, leading
to the formation of Faraday's law of induction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction>

1885:

Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first internal combustion
motorcycle, the Reitwagen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_Reitwagen>

1930:

The last 36 residents of St Kilda, Scotland, now a UNESCO World
Heritage Site for its natural and cultural qualities, voluntarily
evacuated to Morvern.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland>

1984:

Followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh deliberately contaminated
salad bars in The Dalles, Oregon with salmonella, the first and single
largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rajneeshee_bioterror_attack>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

skyclad:
(Wicca) Naked outdoors.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skyclad>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  There is reason to think, that, if men were better instructed
themselves, they would be less imposing on others.  
--John Locke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Locke>

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[Daily article] August 28: Creek Turnpike Published On

The Creek Turnpike is a 33.22-mile-long (53.46 km) freeway-standard
toll road that lies entirely in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The turnpike
forms a partial beltway around the south and east sides of Tulsa,
Oklahoma's second largest city. The western terminus is at the Turner
Turnpike in Sapulpa, while the northeastern terminus is at the Will
Rogers Turnpike in Fair Oaks; both ends of the Creek Turnpike connect
with Interstate 44 (I-44). Along the way, the highway passes through the
cities of Sapulpa, Jenks, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow, and the counties of
Creek, Tulsa, Wagoner and Rogers. The first section of the Creek
Turnpike, from US-75 in Jenks to US-64/US-169 in Tulsa, was first
authorized in 1987. Its construction was controversial. Homeowners along
the route of the highway formed a group called Tulsans Against Turnpikes
to fight the highway in both the courtroom and the media, and the
highway was also challenged on environmental grounds. Nevertheless, the
highway opened to traffic in the first half of 1992. Further extensions
to both the east and the west followed in later years after several
years of false starts under the administrations of two different
governors.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creek_Turnpike>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1830:

Tom Thumb (replica pictured), the first American-built steam
locomotive, engaged in an impromptu race against a horse-drawn car in
Maryland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thumb_(locomotive)>

1914:

In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships
defeated the German fleet in the Heligoland Bight area of the North Sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight_(1914)>

1924:

An unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, known as the August Uprising, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Uprising>

1937:

Toyota Motors, now the world's largest automobile manufacturer,
was spun off from Toyota Industries as an independent company.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota>

1963:

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the world's longest
floating bridge, opened across Lake Washington in Washington, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_Albert_D._Rosellini_Bridge%E2%80%94Evergreen_Point>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

battle of the sexes:
(game theory) A situation in which two people want to do different
things, but do them together.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/battle_of_the_sexes>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-
evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on
the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of
brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi,
a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat
of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live
in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character. I have a dream today.   
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>

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[Daily article] August 27: ARA Rivadavia Published On

ARA Rivadavia was an Argentine battleship, the lead ship of its class,
constructed during the South American dreadnought race. When the
Brazilian government placed an order for two powerful new
"dreadnought"-type warships in 1907, the Argentines moved quickly to
acquire their own. After an extended bidding process, contracts to build
Rivadavia and Moreno (its only sister ship) were given to the Fore River
Shipbuilding Company. Given the tense international climate that soon
broke out into the First World War, the Argentine government received
several offers for the ships. This dovetailed with a legislative
movement that aimed to sell the ships and devote the proceeds to
improving the country's educational system. These efforts were defeated,
and Rivadavia was commissioned into the Argentine Navy on 27 August
1914, one hundred years ago. Both Argentine dreadnoughts underwent
extensive refits in the United States in 1924–25, and saw no active
duty during the Second World War. Rivadavia's last cruise was in 1946.
The ship was sold for scrapping in 1957 and broken up two years later.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARA_Rivadavia>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

British forces led by William Howe defeated the American
Continental Army under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island,
the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island>

1810:

Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy,
preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de la
Passe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Port>

1927:

Five Canadian women filed a petition to ask the Supreme Court
of Canada, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North
America Act, 1867, include female persons," to which the court
eventually replied that it does not.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)>

1964:

South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh entered into a
triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện
Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to
unseat Khánh.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_V%C4%83n_Minh>

2003:

The planet Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly
60,000 years: 55,758,006 kilometres (34,646,419 mi).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

anglicism:
A word or other feature originating in the English language that has
been borrowed by another language.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anglicism>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Instead of insight, maybe all a man gets is strength to
wander for a while. Maybe the only gift is a chance to inquire, to know
nothing for certain. An inheritance of wonder and nothing more.  
--William Least Heat-Moon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Least_Heat-Moon>

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[Daily article] August 26: Misterioso (Thelonious Monk album) Published On

Misterioso is a live album by American jazz ensemble the Thelonious Monk
Quartet, released in 1958 by Riverside Records. Pianist and composer
Thelonious Monk (pictured) had overcome an extended period of career
difficulties by the time of his 1957 residency at the Five Spot Café in
New York City. He returned to the venue the following year for a second
residency and recorded Misterioso with drummer Roy Haynes, bassist Ahmed
Abdul-Malik, and tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Misterioso and its
title track refer to Monk's reputation as an enigmatic, challenging
musician. The album features four of his earlier compositions, which
Monk reworked live. It was one of the first successful live recordings
of his music and was produced by Orrin Keepnews, who said that Monk
played more distinctly than on his studio albums in response to the
audience's enthusiasm. Music critics at the time complimented Monk's
performance, but were critical of Griffin, whose playing they felt was
out of place with the quartet. Later critics have viewed Griffin's
playing as a highlight. The album was remastered and reissued in 1989
and 2012 by Original Jazz Classics.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misterioso_(Thelonious_Monk_album)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1071:

Byzantine–Seljuq Wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan
captured Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert>

1346:

Hundred Years' War: English forces established the military
supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow
and armoured knights at the Battle of Crécy (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy>

1768:

HMS Endeavour departed Plymouth, England, marking the start of
the first voyage of explorer James Cook.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_voyage_of_James_Cook>

1810:

Juan José Castelli ordered the execution of Santiago de
Liniers, during the Argentine War of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Liniers,_1st_Count_of_Buenos_Aires>

1966:

The South African Defence Force launched an attack against
SWAPO guerrilla fighters at Omugulugwombashe, starting the Namibian War
of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAPO>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

paradigm shift:
A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new
one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies in
the current paradigm.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paradigm_shift>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  If you judge people, you have no time to love them.  
--Mother Teresa
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa>

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[Daily article] August 25: Francis Marrash Published On

Francis Marrash (1836–1873) was a Syrian writer and poet of the Nahda
movement—the Arabic renaissance—and a physician. Most of his works
revolve around science, history and religion, analysed under an
epistemological light. He travelled through the Middle East and France
in his youth, and after some medical training and a year of practice in
his native Aleppo, during which he wrote several works, he enrolled in a
medical school in Paris. Declining health and growing blindness forced
his return to Aleppo, where he produced more literary works until his
early death. Middle Eastern historian Matti Moosa considered Marrash to
be the first truly cosmopolitan Arab intellectual and writer of modern
times. Marrash adhered to the principles of the French Revolution and
defended them in his own works, implicitly criticising Ottoman rule in
the Middle East. He was also influential in introducing French
romanticism in the Arab world, especially through his use of poetic
prose and prose poetry, of which his writings were the first examples in
modern Arabic literature. He has had a lasting influence on contemporary
Arab thought and on the Mahjari poets.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Marrash>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1580:

War of the Portuguese Succession: The army of the pretender to
the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato, was routed in the
Battle of Alcântara, ending his short-lived reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alc%C3%A2ntara_(1580)>

1825:

The Thirty-Three Orientals, a revolutionary group led by Juan
Antonio Lavalleja, declared Uruguayan independence from the Empire of
Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay>

1920:

Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski successfully forced the
Russians to withdraw from Warsaw at the Battle of Warsaw, the decisive
battle of the Polish–Soviet War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)>

1942:

Second World War: Japanese forces attacked the Australian base
at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay>

1989:

The Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune
and provided definitive proof of the existence of the planet's rings
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Neptune>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

draculin:
(organic chemistry) A glycoprotein with anticoagulant properties, found
in the saliva of vampire bats.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/draculin>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Is there any good reason why we cannot extend our multi-
cultural generosity to include another dimension? That of time. The
past, too, is another country. Its ghosts may look strange and
frightening and slightly misshapen in body and mind, but all the more
reason then, to welcome them to our shores.  
--Martin Amis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis>

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[Daily article] August 24: The FP Published On

The FP is a 2011 American independent comedy film written and directed
by brothers Brandon (pictured right) and Jason Trost (pictured left).
The film focuses on two gangs—the 248 and the 245—that are fighting
for control of Frazier Park (The FP). The gangs settle their disputes by
playing Beat-Beat Revelation, a video game similar to Dance Dance
Revolution. Gang member JTRO (Jason Trost) undergoes training to defeat
L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy), the leader of a rival gang. Jason Trost
conceived The FP when he was 16 years old, and developed it into a short
film. He was then encouraged to make a feature-length version. Ron
Trost—Brandon and Jason Trost's father—served as special effects
supervisor and executive producer of the film, and his property was the
primary filming location. The full-length version of The FP premiered at
South by Southwest on March 13, 2011, and received positive reviews.
After its screening at the Fantasia Festival on July 30 that year,
Drafthouse Films acquired the film for distribution. It had a limited
release and received mixed reviews, failing to recoup its production
budget.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_FP>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

79:

According to estimates based on the Codex Laurentianus Mediceus,
Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and
Stabiae in Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79>

1814:

War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting
fire to various U.S. government buildings, including what is now the
White House (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington>

1889:

The predominantly Māori New Zealand Native football team
played the last match of their 107-game tour, the longest in rugby union
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888%E2%80%9389_New_Zealand_Native_football_team>

1963:

Buddhist crisis: The U.S. State Department ordered Ambassador
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. to encourage South Vietnamese Army officers to
oust Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not willingly remove Ngo Dinh Nhu from his
unofficial position of power.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_243>

2004:

About 90 total people died after suicide bombers attacked two
airliners flying out of Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Russian_aircraft_bombings>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

provident:
With care and consideration for the future; foresightly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/provident>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   The term "just war" contains an internal contradiction.
War is inherently unjust, and the great challenge of our time is how to
deal with evil, tyranny, and oppression without killing huge numbers of
people.  
--Howard Zinn
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn>

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[Daily article] August 23: John Sherman Cooper Published On

John Sherman Cooper (1901–1991) was an American politician, jurist,
and diplomat. He began his political career in the Kentucky House of
Representatives (1927–29) before being elected as a county judge in
1930. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II and reorganizing
the Bavarian judicial system after Germany's defeat, he was a Kentucky
circuit judge before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1946. He was
defeated in the 1948 election, but re-elected to partial terms in 1952
and 1956, serving as Ambassador to India in between. He was re-elected
to the Senate in 1960 and 1966 by record margins for Kentucky. President
John F. Kennedy chose Cooper to conduct a secret fact-finding mission to
Moscow and New Delhi. Following Kennedy's assassination in November
1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Cooper to the Warren
Commission to investigate the assassination. Cooper soon became an
outspoken opponent of Johnson's decision to escalate U.S. military
involvement in the Vietnam War. Aging and increasingly deaf, Cooper did
not seek re-election in 1972. His last acts of public service were as
Ambassador to East Germany from 1974 to 1976 and as an alternate
delegate to the United Nations in 1981.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sherman_Cooper>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1514:

Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of
Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chaldiran>

1873:

The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London>

1914:

In their first major action of the First World War, the British
Expeditionary Force defeated German troops in Mons, Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons>

1944:

King Michael dismissed the pro-Axis government of General Ion
Antonescu, putting Romania on the side of the Allies for the remainder
of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Antonescu>

1989:

Singing Revolution: Approximately two million people joined
hands to form an over 600 km (370 mi) long human chain across the
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics to demonstrate their
respective desires for independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Way>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

malleate:
To beat into shape with a hammer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malleate>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   We are the Choice of the Will: God, when He gave
the word That called us into line, set in our hand a sword; Set us a
sword to wield none else could lift and draw, And bade us forth to the
sound of the trumpet of the Law.  
--William Ernest Henley
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley>

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[Daily article] August 22: Liber Eliensis Published On

The Liber Eliensis ("Book of Ely") is a 12th-century English chronicle
and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written
at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern
Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of a newly formed
bishopric in 1109. The Liber covers the period from the founding of the
abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century, building on a number
of earlier historical works. It incorporates documents and stories of
saints' lives and is a typical example of a kind of local history
produced during the latter part of the 12th century. The longest of the
contemporary local histories, it describes the devastation caused by the
disorders during the reign of King Stephen, as well as the career of
Nigel (Bishop of Ely 1133–69) and his disputes with the king. The two
surviving complete manuscripts of the work are complemented by a number
of partial manuscripts. A printed version of the Latin text appeared in
1963 and an English translation was published in 2005. The Liber
Eliensis is an important source of historical information for the region
and period it covers, and particularly for the abbey and bishopric of
Ely.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liber_Eliensis>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1642:

King Charles I of England raised the royal standard at
Nottingham, marking the beginning of the First English Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_English_Civil_War>

1864:

The Red Cross movement led by Henry Dunant officially began
when twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention,
establishing the International Committee of the Red Cross.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Geneva_Convention>

1922:

Irish Civil War: Irish National Army commander-in-chief Michael
Collins was assassinated in an ambush while en route through County Cork
at the village of Béal na mBláth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(Irish_leader)>

1944:

World War II: Wehrmacht infantry carried out an assault
operation against the civilian residents of nine villages located in the
Amari Valley on the Greek island of Crete.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_of_Kedros>

2012:

A series of ethnic clashes between the Orma and Pokomo tribes
of Kenya's Tana River District resulted in the deaths of at least 52
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_Tana_River_District_clashes>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

sheeple:
(derogatory slang) People who unquestioningly accept as true whatever
their political leaders say or who adopt popular opinion as their own
without scrutiny.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sheeple>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   At the center of religion is love. I love you and I forgive
you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the
world. I love creating. Everything in our life should be based on love.
 
--Ray Bradbury
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury>

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[Daily article] August 21: Horse Protection Act of 1970 Published On

The Horse Protection Act of 1970 is a United States federal law, under
which the practice of soring is a crime punishable by both civil and
criminal penalties. Soring is the practice of applying irritants
(including objects such as nails, example pictured) or blistering agents
to the front feet or forelegs of a horse, making it pick its feet up
higher in an exaggerated manner that creates the "action" desired in the
show ring, giving practitioners an unfair advantage over other
competitors. The Act makes it illegal to show a horse or enter it at a
horse show, to auction, sell, offer for sale, or transport a horse for
any of these purposes if it has been sored. It is enforced by the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Violations are detected by observation, palpation and gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify chemicals on horses' legs.
Certain training techniques and topical anesthetics can be used to avoid
detection by the first two methods. In 2013, an amendment to the Act was
proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives to toughen penalties and
outlaw "stacks", or layers of pads attached to the front hooves.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Protection_Act_of_1970>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1139:

Song Dynasty general Yue Fei defeated an army led by Jin
dynasty general Wanyan Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the
Jin–Song wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yancheng>

1689:

Jacobite risings: Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king
James VII of Scotland clashed with a government regiment of Covenanters
supporting William of Orange, in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral,
Dunkeld, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkeld>

1911:

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a
museum employee and was not recovered until two years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa>

1944:

Delegations from Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, met at Dumbarton Oaks in
Washington, D.C. to discuss the formation of the United Nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbarton_Oaks_Conference>

2007:

Hurricane Dean made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a
Category 5 storm, causing 45 deaths and US$1.5 billion in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Dean>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

accismus:
(rhetoric) Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accismus>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   I like to play any character that allows me the freedom to
explore it and teach the audience something they didn't know, and show
them a journey they identify with... or be inspired, or moved. Anything
that touches someone's heart is important for me.  
--Alicia Witt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alicia_Witt>

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[Daily article] August 20: Thirty Flights of Loving Published On

Thirty Flights of Loving is a first-person adventure video game
developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio, Blendo Games. It was
released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows and in November 2012 for
OS X. The game employs a modified version of id Software's id Tech 2
engine—originally used for Quake II—and incorporates music composed
by Idle Thumbs member Chris Remo. An indirect sequel to Gravity Bone
(2008), it features the same main character, an unnamed spy controlled
by the player. The game follows the spy and two other people as they
prepare for an alcohol heist and then deal with the aftermath of the
failed operation. Unlike Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving employs
non-linear storytelling, forcing the player to piece together the
narrative. Thirty Flights of Loving was developed as part of the
Kickstarter campaign for the revival of the Idle Thumbs podcast and
includes a free copy of Gravity Bone. Thirty Flights of Loving received
generally favorable reviews from video game journalists, scoring 88 out
of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic. A follow-up, Quadrilateral
Cowboy, is scheduled for release in 2014.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Flights_of_Loving>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1710:

War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish-Bourbon army
commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational
army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragossa>

1882:

The 1812 Overture (audio featured) by Russian composer Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky was first performed at the Cathedral of Christ the
Saviour in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture>

1944:

World War II: The Gestapo transported 168 Allied airmen, who
had been classified as spies and criminals so as not to warrant prisoner
of war treatment, to Buchenwald concentration camp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLB_Club>

1962:

NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship,
underwent her maiden voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah>

1989:

After a collision with a dredger on the River Thames in London,
the pleasure boat Marchioness sank in just thirty seconds, killing 51
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchioness_disaster>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

transhumance:
The moving of cattle or other grazing animals to new pastures, often
quite distant, according to the change in season.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transhumance>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Isn't life the strangest thing you've ever seen?
 
--Patricia Rozema
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patricia_Rozema>

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[Daily article] August 19: Cyclura nubila Published On

Cyclura nubila, also known as the Cuban iguana, is a species of lizard
of the iguana family. It is the largest of the West Indian rock iguanas,
one of the most endangered groups of lizards. This herbivorous species
with red eyes, a thick tail, and spiked jowls is one of the largest
lizards in the Caribbean. The Cuban iguana is distributed throughout the
rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islets
with a feral population thriving on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. It is
also found on the Cayman Islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where
a separate subspecies occurs. Females guard their nest sites and often
nest in sites excavated by Cuban crocodiles. As a defense measure, the
Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti.
Although the wild population is in decline because of predation by feral
animals and habitat loss caused by human agricultural development, its
numbers have been bolstered as a result of captive-breeding and other
conservation programs. Cyclura nubila has been used to study evolution
and animal communication, and its captive-breeding program has been a
model for other endangered lizards in the Caribbean.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclura_nubila>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1745:

Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard at
Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands to begin the Second Jacobite
Rising.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_rising_of_1745>

1895:

American outlaw and folk hero John Wesley Hardin was shot dead
by an off-duty lawman in El Paso, Texas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Hardin>

1953:

The intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United
States orchestrated a coup d'état of Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad
Mosaddegh and restored the absolute monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>

1960:

Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka began to orbit the Earth
aboard the Korabl-Sputnik-2 spacecraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_space_dogs>

2005:

Thunderstorms in southern Ontario, Canada, spawned at least
three tornadoes that caused over C$500 million in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ontario_Tornado_Outbreak_of_2005>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

clemency:
1. The gentle or kind exercise of power; leniency, mercy; compassion in
judging or punishing.
2. (now rare) Mildness of weather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clemency>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Peace is never long preserved by weight of metal or by an
armament race. Peace can be made tranquil and secure only by
understanding and agreement fortified by sanctions. We must embrace
international cooperation or international disintegration. Science has
taught us how to put the atom to work. But to make it work for good
instead of for evil lies in the domain dealing with the principles of
human dignity. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of
physics.  
--Bernard Baruch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Baruch>

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[Daily article] August 18: Episode 2 (Twin Peaks) Published On

"Episode 2" is the third episode of the first season of the American
mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series
creators David Lynch (pictured) and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch.
Twin Peaks centers on the investigation into the murder of schoolgirl
Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), in the small rural town in Washington state
after which the series is named. In this episode, FBI agent Dale Cooper
(played by Kyle MacLachlan) tells Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) and
his deputies about a unique method of narrowing down the suspects in
Palmer's death. Meanwhile, Cooper's cynical colleague Albert Rosenfield
(Miguel Ferrer) arrives in town, and Cooper has a strange dream that
elevates the murder investigation to a new level. "Episode 2" was first
broadcast on April 19, 1990, and was watched by an audience of
19.2 million US households. It is regarded by critics as a ground-
breaking television episode and has influenced, and been parodied by,
several television series. Academic readings of the episode have
highlighted its depiction of heuristic, a priori knowledge, and the
sexual undertones of several characters' actions.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episode_2_(Twin_Peaks)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1612:

The trials of the Pendle witches, among the most famous of
England's witch trials, began at the assizes in Lancaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches>

1864:

American Civil War: At the Battle of Globe Tavern, Union forces
attempted to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Globe_Tavern>

1891:

A hurricane struck Martinique, killing about 700 people,
injuring at least 1,000 others, and obliterating houses, trees, and
crops across the entire island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1891_Martinique_hurricane>

1966:

Vietnam War: Members from D Company of the 6th Battalion of the
Royal Australian Regiment were surrounded and attacked on all sides by a
much larger Viet Cong unit at the Battle of Long Tan (RAAF helicopter
pictured), but held them off for several hours until reinforcements
arrived.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan>

1989:

Leading Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán was
assassinated during a public demonstration in the town of Soacha,
Cundinamarca.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Carlos_Gal%C3%A1n>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

social contract:
(philosophy, politics) An implicit agreement or contract among members
of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to
rule of law and acceptable conduct.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_contract>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a
problem.  
--Brian Aldiss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_Aldiss>

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[Daily article] August 17: Leslie Groves Published On

Leslie Groves (1896–1970) was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer
who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan
Project that developed the atomic bomb. After joining the Corps of
Engineers and assisting with projects in Nicaragua, he was posted to the
War Department General Staff. In 1940, he became special assistant for
construction to the Quartermaster General. He was given responsibility
in 1941 for the gigantic office complex to house the War Department's
40,000 staff which would ultimately become the Pentagon. In September
1942, Groves took charge of the Manhattan Project and was involved in
most aspects of the atomic bomb's development, including the acquisition
of raw materials and selection of target cities in Japan. He remained in
charge of the project until the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission assumed
responsibility for nuclear weapons production in 1947. He then headed
the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, created to control the
military aspects of nuclear weapons. He was promoted to lieutenant
general just before his retirement in 1948 in recognition of his
leadership of the bomb program, and later became a vice-president at
Sperry Rand.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Groves>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1807:

Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first
commercially successful paddle steamer, went into service on the Hudson
River in New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_River_Steamboat>

1943:

Second World War: The Royal Air Force began a strategic bombing
campaign against Nazi Germany's V-weapon programme by attacking the
Peenemünde Army Research Center.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hydra_(1943)>

1947:

A commission led by Cyril Radcliffe established the Radcliffe
Line, the border between India and Pakistan after the Partition of
India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Line>

1977:

The Soviet icebreaker NS Arktika became the first surface ship
to reach the North Pole.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arktika_(icebreaker)>

2009:

A turbine at Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia,
broke apart violently, flooding the power station, causing widespread
power failures, and killing 75 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sayano%E2%80%93Shushenskaya_power_station_accident>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

remuneration:
1. Something given in exchange for goods or services rendered.
2. A payment for work done; wages, salary, emolument.
3. A recompense for a loss; compensation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/remuneration>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   The idea of global unity is not new, but the absolute
necessity of it has only just arrived, like a sudden radical alteration
of the sun, and we shall have to adapt or disappear. If the nations are
ever to make a working synthesis of their ferocious contradictions, the
plan will be created in spirit before it can be formulated or accepted
in political fact. And it is in poetry that we can refresh our hope that
such a unity is occupying people's imaginations everywhere, since poetry
is the voice of spirit and imagination and all that is potential, as
well as of the healing benevolence that used to be the privilege of the
gods.  
--Ted Hughes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Hughes>

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[Daily article] August 16: Aston Villa F.C. Published On

Aston Villa Football Club are an English professional association
football club based in Witton, Birmingham. Founded in 1874, the club
have played at their current home ground, Villa Park (pictured), since
1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888.
They were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992, and have
remained there ever since. Aston Villa are one of the oldest and most
successful football clubs in the history of English football. Villa won
the 1981–82 European Cup, and are thus one of five English clubs to
win what is now the UEFA Champions League. They have the fourth highest
total of major honours won by an English club, having won the First
Division Championship seven times (most recently in the 1980–81
season), the FA Cup seven times (last won in 1957), the Football League
Cup five times (last won in 1996) and the UEFA Super Cup in 1982. The
club's traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves,
white shorts and sky blue socks. Their traditional badge is of a rampant
gold lion on a light blue background with the club's motto "Prepared"
underneath; a modified version of this was adopted in 2007.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C.>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1513:

War of the League of Cambrai: King Henry VIII of England and
his Imperial allies defeated French cavalry, who were then forced to
retreat.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guinegate_(1513)>

1777:

American Revolutionary War: The Americans, led by General John
Stark, routed British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the
Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bennington>

1906:

An estimated 8.2 MW earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, killing
3,886 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_Valpara%C3%ADso_earthquake>

1946:

A day of widespread riot and manslaughter between Hindus and
Muslims took place in the city of Calcutta as a result of the Muslim
League's call for an independent Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Action_Day>

1962:

The Beatles fired drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo
Starr (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

nowise:
(In) no way, (in) no manner, definitely not.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nowise>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on
account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands
of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it
could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at
their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.
 
--Jean de La Bruyère
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Bruy%C3%A8re>

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[Daily article] August 15: Marshall Applewhite Published On

Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) was an American religious leader who
founded the Heaven's Gate religious group and organized their mass
suicide in 1997. It was the largest mass suicide in America. Applewhite
and his friend Bonnie Nettles discussed mysticism at length and
concluded that they were divine messengers. They traveled around
America, gaining a group of committed followers, who were told that
extraterrestrials would provide them with new bodies. Applewhite
initially stated that they would physically ascend to a spaceship, where
their bodies would be transformed, but later believed that their souls
would be placed into new bodies. In 1985, Nettles died, leaving
Applewhite distraught and challenging his views on physical ascension.
In 1996, they learned of the approach of Comet Hale–Bopp and rumors of
an accompanying spaceship. Believing that their souls would ascend to
the spaceship and be given new bodies, all the group members killed
themselves in their mansion. Some commentators attributed his followers'
willingness to commit suicide to his skill as a manipulator, while
others argued that their willingness was due to their faith in the
narrative that he constructed.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1461:

The Empire of Trebizond, the longest surviving Byzantine
successor state, was conquered by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II following a
month-long siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond>

1812:

War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors destroyed the United States
Army's Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois, and captured the
survivors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Dearborn>

1914:

The Panama Canal (construction pictured) opened to traffic,
providing a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the
Isthmus of Panama.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal>

1944:

World War II: Allied forces began their invasion of southern
France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon>

1998:

A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army
killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

avail:
1. (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
2. (transitive) To be of service to.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avail>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   The Flag links up the past and the present. It is the legacy
bequeathed to us by the architects of our liberty. … The world is full
of misunderstandings, suspicions and distrusts. In these difficult days
it depends on us under what banner we fight. Here we are Putting in the
very centre the white, the white of the Sun's rays. The white means the
path of light … the ideal light, the light of truth … The Asoka's
wheel represents to us the wheel of the Law, the wheel Dharma. Truth can
be gained only by the pursuit of the path of Dharma, by the practice of
virtue. ...the orange, the Bhagwa colour, represents the spirit of
renunciation. All forms of renunciation are to be embodied in Raja
Dharma. … Our leaders must be disinterested. They must be dedicated
spirits … The green is there, our relation to the soil, our relation
to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. We must build
our Paradise, here on this green earth... This flag tells us "Be ever
alert, be ever on the move, go forward, work for a free, flexible,
compassionate, decent, democratic society in which Christians, Sikhs,
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists will all find a safe shelter." Let us all
unite under this banner and rededicate ourselves to the ideas our flag
symbolizes.  
--Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan>

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[Daily article] August 14: Xeromphalina setulipes Published On

Xeromphalina setulipes is a species of Mycenaceae fungus. First
collected in 2005, it was described and named in 2010 by Fernando
Esteve-Raventós and Gabriel Moreno, and is known only from oak forests
in Ciudad Real Province, Spain. The species produces mushrooms with dark
reddish-brown caps up to 15 millimetres (0.59 in) across, dark
purplish-brown stems up to 45 millimetres (1.8 in) in height and
distinctive, arched, brown gills. The mushrooms were found growing
directly from the acidic soil of the forest floor, surrounded by plant
waste, during November. Morphologically, the dark colour of the gills
and stem, lack of a strong taste, and characters of the cystidia (large
cells found on the mushrooms) are the most distinguishing
characteristics of X. setulipes. These features allow the species to be
readily distinguished from other, similar species. Its ecology and
habitat are also distinct, but it is unclear whether they can serve as
certain identifying characteristics. According to Esteve-Raventós and
colleagues, further analysis is required to accurately judge the
relationships between the species of Xeromphalina.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeromphalina_setulipes>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1842:

American Indian Wars: American general William J. Worth
declared the Second Seminole War to be over.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Seminole_War>

1888:

A recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost
Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during
a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord>

1980:

Lech Wałęsa and colleagues at Gdańsk Shipyard began strike
actions, which subsequently led to the founding of the Solidarity
movement in Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa>

1994:

International fugitive Carlos the Jackal, wanted for a number
of terrorist attacks in Europe, was handed over to French agents by
Sudanese officials.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_the_Jackal>

2007:

Four coordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Iraqi
towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, killing an estimated 796 people and
wounding 1,562 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Yazidi_communities_bombings>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

teenybopper:
A person, especially a female, in her early teens who follows popular
clothing fashions, music trends, and the like.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teenybopper>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   It isn't enough to love people because they're good to you,
or because in some way or other you're going to get something by it. We
have to love because we love loving.  
--John Galsworthy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy>

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[Daily article] August 13: Tunnel Railway Published On

The Tunnel Railway was a narrow gauge underground railway in Ramsgate,
Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate
in 1926 a section of main line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour
including a tunnel was abandoned. In 1936 a narrow gauge railway was
opened in the disused tunnel to connect tourist attractions and shops
near Ramsgate Harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.
Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line
ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months,
and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent
railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before
being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After
the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of
British railways but remained in private hands. Passenger numbers fell
during the 1960s, and the line became economically nonviable. Following
a train crash in 1965, the owners decided to close at the end of
September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace of the
stations remains.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_Railway>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1624:

Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister to King
Louis XIII, and under his supervision, France's feudal political
structure transformed into one with a powerful central government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu>

1779:

American Revolutionary War: Off the coast of Maine, the United
States suffered its worst naval defeat until the attack on Pearl Harbor
during World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penobscot_Expedition>

1868:

A major earthquake near Arica, Peru, caused an estimated 25,000
casualties, and the subsequent tsunami caused considerable damage as far
away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake>

1954:

The complete version of "Qaumi Taranah", the national anthem of
Pakistan, was broadcast for the first time on Radio Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaumi_Taranah>

2004:

Hurricane Charley struck the U.S. state of Florida, just 22
hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie inflicted its own damage to the state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

erratic:
(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a
glacier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erratic>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Spiritual evolution is the progressive advance of mankind
toward a state of things in which the light of ethical perfection shall
be reflected from the face of human society; that is, in which all men
shall live and move and have their being in mutually promoting the
highest life of each and all. It means that the object of social
reformation shall not be a mere change in the conditions under which men
live, but a change in human nature itself. It means that we shall look
forward consciously to the breaking forth of new powers in ourselves, to
the release, through our own efforts, of capacities dimly latent in us.
 
--Felix Adler
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler>

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[Daily article] August 12: Quagga Published On

The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that lived in
South Africa. Its name is derived from its call, which sounded like
"kwa-ha-ha". The quagga is believed to have been around 257 cm (8 ft
5 in) long and 125–135 cm (4 ft 1 in–4 ft 5 in) tall at the
shoulder. It could be distinguished from other zebras by its limited
patterning of primarily brown and white stripes, mainly on the front
part of the body. Little is known about its behaviour but it may have
gathered in herds of 30–50 individuals. They were once found in great
numbers in the Karoo of Cape Province and the southern part of the
Orange Free State in South Africa. After Dutch settlement of South
Africa began, the quagga was heavily hunted, and it competed with
domesticated animals for forage. Some specimens were taken to European
zoos (one pictured in London Zoo, 1870), but breeding programmes were
not successful. It was extinct in the wild by 1878, and the last quagga
died in Amsterdam on 12 August 1883. The quagga was the first extinct
animal to have its DNA analysed, and the Quagga Project is trying to
recreate its pelage characteristics by selectively breeding Burchell's
zebras.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1323:

Sweden and the Novgorod Republic signed the Treaty of Nöteborg
to temporarily end the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_N%C3%B6teborg>

1624:

Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister to King
Louis XIII, and under his supervision, France's feudal political
structure transformed into one with a powerful central government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu>

1877:

American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Deimos, the smaller
of the two moons of Mars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_(moon)>

1944:

After a week of indiscriminate killing of civilians in Wola,
Warsaw, Poland, SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski ordered that any
remaining Poles be sent to labour or concentration camps.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wola_massacre>

1981:

The IBM Personal Computer (pictured), the original version and
progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform, was introduced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

repechage:
(sports) A heat (as in rowing or fencing) in which the best competitors
who have lost in a previous round compete for a place or places yet left
in the next round.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repechage>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma.
     Although I think that life may be the result of an
accident, I do not think that of consciousness. Consciousness cannot be
accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely
fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.
 
--Erwin Schrödinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger>

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[Daily article] August 11: Hurricane John (1994) Published On

Hurricane John formed during the 1994 Pacific season and became both the
longest-lasting and the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone ever
observed. John formed during the strong El Niño episode of 1991 to 1994
and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane
wind scale, the highest categorization. It was recognized as Tropical
Depression Ten-E on August 11, 300 nautical miles (560 km) south-
southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and named Tropical Storm John later the
same day. In total, it followed a 7,165 mi (11,530 km) path from the
eastern Pacific to the western Pacific and back to the central Pacific,
lasting 31 days. Because it existed in both the eastern and western
Pacific, John was one of a small number of tropical cyclones to be
designated as both a hurricane and a typhoon. It was only the fifth
tropical cyclone to enter the central Pacific from the western Pacific.
John barely affected land, bringing only minimal effects to the Hawaiian
Islands (some minor flooding but no reported injuries or significant
damage) and a U.S. military base on Johnston Atoll, where damage to
structures was estimated at about $15 million. The storm's remnants
later affected Alaska.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_John_(1994)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

2492 BC:

According to legend, Armenian culture hero Hayk slew the
giant king Bel with a shot from a longbow near Lake Van (in modern
Turkey).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayk>

1492:

The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected
Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave,_1492>

1786:

Captain Francis Light founded the British colony of Penang,
beginning more than a century of British involvement in Malaya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang>

1942:

Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a
patent for their "Secret Communications System", an early technique of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum that later became the basis for many
forms of today's wireless communication systems.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Antheil>

2012:

At least 306 people were killed and 3,000 others injured in a
pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_East_Azerbaijan_earthquakes>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

bevy:
1. A group of animals, in particular quail.
2. A large group or collection.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bevy>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   I have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be
merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. That he will not
torture the forgiving. Upon that rock I stand. That every man should be
true to himself, and that there is no world, no star, in which honesty
is a crime. Upon that rock I stand. The honest man, the good woman, the
happy child, have nothing to fear, either in this world or the world to
come. Upon that rock I stand.  
--Robert G. Ingersoll
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll>

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[Daily article] August 10: Uruguayan War Published On

The Uruguayan War (10 August 1864 – 20 February 1865) was fought
between Uruguay's governing Blanco Party and an alliance consisting of
the Empire of Brazil and the Uruguayan Colorado Party. In 1863, with
covert support from Argentina, the Colorado leader Venancio Flores
launched a rebellion aimed at toppling president Bernardo Berro. The
Blanco government received support from dissident Argentines and made
overtures to Paraguayan dictator, Francisco Solano López, who was
suspicious of Argentina's motives and keen to form an alliance. Fearing
for its interests in the region, the Empire of Brazil intervened, first
trying diplomacy and then, when talks stalled, issuing an ultimatum; the
Blanco government rejected the Brazilians' conditions, and Brazil's
military were ordered to begin exacting reprisals, marking the beginning
of the war. In a combined offensive against Blanco strongholds, the
Brazilian–Colorado troops advanced through Uruguayan territory, taking
one town after another (storming of Paysandú pictured). Eventually, the
Blancos were left isolated in Montevideo, the national capital. Faced
with certain defeat, the Blanco government capitulated.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_War>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

955:

Forces under Otto I were victorious at the Battle of Lechfeld
near present-day Augsburg, Germany, holding off the incursions of the
Magyars into Central Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lechfeld_(955)>

1628:

The Swedish warship Vasa (salvaged wreck pictured) sank after
sailing less than a nautical mile into her maiden voyage from Stockholm
on her way to fight in the Thirty Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)>

1755:

The first wave of the Expulsion of the Acadians from the
present-day Canadian Maritime provinces by the British began with the
Bay of Fundy Campaign at Chignecto.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fundy_Campaign_(1755)>

1901:

The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers
organized an ultimately unsuccessful strike to reverse its declining
fortunes and organize large numbers of new members.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Steel_Recognition_Strike_of_1901>

1990:

NASA's Magellan space probe reached Venus on a mission to map
its surface, fifteen months after its launch.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(spacecraft)>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

leeward:
Away from the direction from which the wind is blowing. Downwind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leeward>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.  
--Herbert Hoover
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover>

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[Daily article] August 9: Profumo affair Published On

The Profumo affair was a 1963 British political scandal that originated
with a sexual liaison between John Profumo, the Secretary of State for
War in Harold Macmillan's government, and Christine Keeler, a 19-year-
old would-be model. Profumo originally denied any impropriety, but in
June 1963 admitted the truth and resigned from parliament in disgrace.
Concern was heightened by Keeler's alleged simultaneous involvement with
Yevgeny Ivanov, a suspected Soviet spy. Keeler knew both Profumo and
Ivanov through her mentor, Stephen Ward, an osteopath and socialite.
After the scandal broke, Ward's private life was investigated, and he
was convicted of immorality offences. He took a fatal overdose during
the final stages of his trial, which has since been perceived as an act
of Establishment revenge, rather than as serving justice. In January
2014 the case was under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Profumo redeemed himself by a long period as a volunteer worker in
London's East End; he died, honoured and respected, in 2006. The
repercussions of the affair contributed to Macmillan's resignation in
October 1963, and to the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1964 general
election.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profumo_affair>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1173:

The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become
the Leaning Tower of Pisa, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa>

1854:

Henry David Thoreau published Walden, his account of having
spent two years living mostly in isolation on the shores of Walden Pond
near Concord, Massachusetts, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden>

1914:

World War I: France launched its first attack of the war in an
ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from
Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mulhouse>

1965:

Malaysia expelled the state of Singapore from its federation
due to heated ideological conflict between their respective ruling
parties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore>

1974:

In the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from
office due to the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the only
President of the United States to resign from office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

pankration:
An Ancient Greek martial art combining aspects of boxing and wrestling,
introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pankration>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   We are all made of the same stuff, remember, we of the
Jungle, you of the City. The same substance composes us — the tree
overhead, the stone beneath us, the bird, the beast, the star — we are
all one, all moving to the same end. Remember that when you no longer
remember me, my child.  
--P. L. Travers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers>

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[Daily article] August 8: Electra Heart Published On

Electra Heart is the second studio album by Welsh singer Marina
Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds (pictured).
Released in April 2012, it is a concept album inspired by electropop
music, a distinct departure from the new wave musical styles seen
throughout her debut studio album The Family Jewels (2010). Diamandis
created the titular character "Electra Heart" to represent female
archetypes of stereotypical American culture, and the album's lyrical
content is united by the topics of love and identity. Critical opinion
was divided and there was ambivalence towards Diamandis' shift in
musical style and its overall production. The record debuted at number
one on the UK Albums Chart, her first chart-topping record there, and
performed moderately on international record charts, including a peak
position at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200. "Primadonna" was
released as the lead single, and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles
Chart. The record was additionally promoted by two further singles and
by Diamandis' headlining The Lonely Hearts Club Tour, which visited
Europe and North America from May 2012 through May 2013.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Heart>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1576:

The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory
Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraniborg>

1786:

Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat completed the first
recorded ascent of Mont Blanc in the Alps, an act considered to be the
birth of modern mountaineering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc>

1929:

German airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin embarked on a flight to
circumnavigate the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin>

1967:

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand
founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations>

2009:

Nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private
airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in
Hoboken, New Jersey, US.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hudson_River_mid-air_collision>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

shuttlecock:
(badminton) A lightweight object that is conical in shape with a cork or
rubber-covered nose, used in badminton as a ball is used in other
racquet games; a birdie.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shuttlecock>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   Most people understand the need for neutrality. The real
struggle is not between the right and the left — that's where most
people assume — but it's between the party of the thoughtful and the
party of the jerks. And no side of the political spectrum has a monopoly
on either of those qualities.  
--Jimmy Wales
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales>

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[Daily article] August 7: American white ibis Published On

The American white ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family, found
from the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the United States south through
most of the New World tropics. It is a medium-sized bird with an overall
white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and
black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are
larger and have longer bills than females. Crayfish are its preferred
food in most regions. During the breeding season, the American white
ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly
monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to
engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their
reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from
unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season. Human
pollution has affected the behavior of the American white ibis via an
increase in the concentrations of methylmercury, which is released into
the environment from untreated waste. Exposure to methylmercury alters
the hormone levels of American white ibis, affecting their mating and
nesting behavior and leading to lower reproduction rates.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_white_ibis>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1461:

Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the
Tianshun Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>

1782:

The Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great
that serves as one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, Russia, was
unveiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Horseman>

1944:

IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to
Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Mark_I>

1970:

Jonathan Jackson kidnapped California Superior Court judge
Harold Haley in an attempt to free Jackson's brother George from prison.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County_courthouse_incident>

2008:

Georgia launched a large-scale military offensive against the
separatist region of South Ossetia, opening the six-day Russo-Georgian
War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

dressage:
An equestrian sport in which the horse and rider perform a test of
specific movements in an arena, and are judged on the horse's obedience,
acceptance of the bridle and of the rider's aids, gaits, impulsion, and
the harmony between horse and rider.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dressage>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

   If the government can round up someone and never be required
to explain why, then it's no longer the United States of America as you
and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their
wildest dreams. They have made us become like them.  
--Garrison Keillor
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor>

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