[Daily article] April 30: Franklin half dollar Published On

The Franklin half dollar coin was struck by the United States Mint from
1948 to 1963. It pictures Founding Father Benjamin Franklin on the
obverse, with the Liberty Bell and a small eagle on the reverse.
Produced in 90 percent silver with a reeded edge, the coin was struck
at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints. Mint director
Nellie Tayloe Ross had long admired Franklin, and asked the Mint's chief
engraver, John Sinnock, to design the coin; his initials appear on the
obverse, but some mistook them for the initials of Soviet dictator
Joseph Stalin. When Ross submitted the designs to the Commission of Fine
Arts, they disliked the small eagle and felt that depicting the crack in
the Liberty Bell would expose the coinage to jokes and ridicule;
nevertheless, the Mint proceeded with Sinnock's designs. Beginning in
1964 the coin was replaced by the Kennedy half dollar, issued in honor
of the assassinated President, John F. Kennedy. Though the coin is still
legal tender, its face value is greatly exceeded by its value to
collectors or as silver.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1598:

King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting
freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes>

1943:

Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began
Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming invasion of
Sicily.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat>

1982:

Sixteen monks and a nun belonging to Ananda Marga in Calcutta,
India, were dragged out of taxis by persons unknown in three different
locations, beaten to death and then set on fire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijon_Setu_massacre>

2009:

A gunman went on a shooting spree at the Azerbaijan State Oil
Academy, a public university in Baku, killing 12 people before
committing suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_State_Oil_Academy_shooting>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

weatherbound:
Prevented by bad weather from doing something, such as travelling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weatherbound>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I have had my results for a long time: but I do not yet know how I
am to arrive at them.  
--Carl Friedrich Gauss
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss>

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[Daily article] April 29: Lightning (Final Fantasy) Published On

Lightning is a fictional character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy
series. She first appeared as a playable character and protagonist in
the role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII, and reappeared as a
supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and as the sole playable
character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. She was created by
Motomu Toriyama, the director and scenario writer of XIII, and designed
by Tetsuya Nomura, a regular character artist for the series. Their idea
was to create a strong female protagonist who was adept at combat and
less feminine than previous Final Fantasy heroines. Lightning has
received mixed commentary from critics—much of it relating to her cold
personality, which was compared to that of Final Fantasy VII's
protagonist Cloud Strife. Some critics saw her in Lightning Returns as
underdeveloped and unlikable, while others found her better developed
and more human than in previous games. In lists later compiled by video
game publications, Lightning was commended as one of the best characters
in the Final Fantasy series and in video games as a whole.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(Final_Fantasy)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1587:

Anglo-Spanish War: In the Bay of Cádiz, Francis Drake led the
first of several naval raids on the Spanish Armada that destroyed so
many ships that Philip II of Spain had to delay his plans to invade
England for over a year.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singeing_the_King_of_Spain%27s_Beard>

1770:

British explorer James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour
(replica pictured), the first European ship to land in eastern
Australia, reached the coast of Botany Bay near present-day Sydney.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour>

1903:

A 30 million cubic-metre landslide buried the town of Frank,
Northwest Territories, and killed at least 70 of the town's residents,
making it the deadliest landslide in Canadian history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide>

1946:

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convened
and indicted Hideki Tojo and 27 other Japanese leaders for war crimes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Military_Tribunal_for_the_Far_East>

1997:

The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention went into effect,
outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons in
those countries that ratified the arms control agreement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

scrape the bottom of the barrel:
(idiomatic) To use the least desirable parts of something.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrape_the_bottom_of_the_barrel>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally
convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.
 
--Henri Poincaré
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9>

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[Daily article] April 28: Mutiny on the Bounty Published On

On 28 April 1789, a mutiny on HMS Bounty in the south Pacific was led by
Fletcher Christian. Bounty had left England in 1787 on a mission to
collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti. During a five-month layover
there, many of the men were in relationships with native Polynesians.
Lieutenant William Bligh handed out increasingly harsh punishments and
abuse, especially to Christian, and morale plummeted. After three weeks
back at sea, Bligh and 18 of his crew were forced into the ship's small
uncovered launch, and had to row and sail more than 4,000 miles
(6,400 km) to reach safety. In 1791, 14 of the Bounty crew were
arrested in Tahiti; four of these died when their ship ran aground on
the Great Barrier Reef, four were acquitted at a court martial, three
were pardoned and three were hanged. On Pitcairn Island, just one
surviving mutineer, John Adams, was discovered in 1808; Christian and
most of the rest had been killed, by each other and by the mistreated
Tahitians they brought with them. Their descendants would continue to
inhabit Pitcairn into the 21st century. The view of Bligh as an
overbearing monster has in recent years been challenged by historians.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1253:

Nichiren, a Japanese monk, expounded Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō
for the first time and declared it to be the essence of Buddhism, in
effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren_Buddhism>

1887:

A week after being arrested by the Prussian Secret Police,
Alsatian police inspector Guillaume Schnaebelé was released on order of
German Emperor William I, defusing a possible war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Schnaebel%C3%A9>

1949:

Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, her
daughter, and ten others were assassinated by the military arm of the
Philippine Communist Party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Quezon>

1965:

Four days after the Dominican Civil War began, the United
States invaded the country, aiming to prevent the development of what
Lyndon Johnson saw as a possible second Cuban Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Civil_War>

2001:

Dennis Tito became the world's first fee-paying space tourist,
riding the Russian Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft to the International Space
Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Tito>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

Boreas:
1. (Greek mythology) The god of the North Wind.
2. (poetic) The north wind personified.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Boreas>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I have never disliked religion. I think it has some purpose in our
evolution. I don't have much truck with the "religion is the cause of
most of our wars" school of thought because that is manifestly done by
mad, manipulative and power-hungry men who cloak their ambition in God.
I number believers of all sorts among my friends. Some of them are
praying for me. I'm happy they wish to do this, I really am, but I think
science may be a better bet.  
--Terry Pratchett
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett>

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[Daily article] April 27: Menkauhor Kaiu Published On

Menkauhor Kaiu was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom
period, the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th or 24th
century BC. He ruled for possibly eight or nine years, following king
Nyuserre Ini, and was succeeded by Djedkare Isesi. Although Menkauhor is
well attested by historical sources, few artefacts from his reign have
survived; less is known about him than about most Fifth Dynasty
pharaohs, and no offspring of his have been identified. Khentkaus III
may have been Menkauhor's mother, as indicated by discoveries in her
tomb in 2015. Beyond the construction of monuments, the only known
activity dated to his reign is an expedition to the copper and turquoise
mines in Sinai. He ordered the construction of a sun temple, the last
ever to be built, called the Akhet-Ra ("The Horizon of Ra"). Known from
inscriptions found in the tombs of its priests, this temple is yet to be
located. Menkauhor was buried in Saqqara in a small pyramid named
Netjer-Isut Menkauhor ("The Divine Places of Menkauhor"). Known today as
the Headless Pyramid, the ruin had been lost under shifting sands until
its rediscovery in 2008.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1521:

Filipino natives led by chieftain Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan and more than forty Spanish soldiers at the
Battle of Mactan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan>

1667:

John Milton, blind and impoverished, sold the copyright of
Paradise Lost for £10.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton>

1810:

Ludwig van Beethoven composed his "Bagatelle No. 25 in A
minor", better known as "Für Elise" (audio featured), one of his most
popular compositions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCr_Elise>

1941:

Boris Kidrič and Edvard Kardelj founded the Liberation Front
of the Slovene Nation, the main anti-fascist Slovene civil resistance
and political organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Front_of_the_Slovene_Nation>

1993:

Members of the Zambia national football team were killed in a
plane crash en route to play a 1994 World Cup qualifying match against
Senegal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Zambia_national_football_team_air_disaster>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

proot:
A command to a donkey or mule to move faster.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proot>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Man needed one moral constitution to fit him for his original
state; he needs another to fit him for his present state; and he has
been, is, and will long continue to be, in process of adaptation. And
the belief in human perfectibility merely amounts to the belief that, in
virtue of this process, man will eventually become completely suited to
his mode of life. Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a
necessity. Instead of civilization being artificial, it is part of
nature; all of a piece with the development of the embryo or the
unfolding of a flower.  
--Herbert Spencer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Spencer>

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[Daily article] April 26: Big Star Published On

Big Star was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in
1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel. The
group broke up in 1974, but reorganized with a new line-up nearly 20
years later. In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the
vocal harmonies of The Beatles, as well as the swaggering rhythms of The
Rolling Stones and the jangling guitars of The Byrds. To the resulting
power pop, Big Star added dark, existential themes, and produced a style
that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Their
first two albums, #1 Record and Radio City, suffered from ineffective
marketing but garnered enthusiastic reviews; Rolling Stone called the
band a "quintessential American power pop band" that was "one of the
most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll". In 1993,
Chilton and Stephens re-formed Big Star with Jon Auer and Ken
Stringfellow. After tours in Europe and Japan, they released a new
studio album, In Space, in 2005. Big Star was inducted into the Memphis
Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1478:

In a conspiracy to replace the Medici family as rulers of the
Florentine Republic, the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and
killed his brother Giuliano during High Mass at the Florence Duomo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazzi_family>

1777:

American Revolutionary War: Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington
rode forty miles through the night to warn militiamen under the control
of her father that British troops were planning to invade Danbury,
Connecticut.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Ludington>

1946:

In Naperville, Illinois, US, two passenger trains collided,
leaving 45 people dead and some 125 injured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naperville_train_disaster>

1986:

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Chernobyl, Ukrainian
SSR, suffered a steam explosion, resulting in a fire, a nuclear
meltdown, and the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people
around Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster>

2002:

Expelled student Robert Steinhäuser murdered 16 people and
wounded seven others before committing suicide at the Gutenberg-
Gymnasium Erfurt in Erfurt, Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_massacre>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

culturicide:
The systematic destruction of a culture.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/culturicide>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  If God be God and man a creature made in image of the divine
intelligence, his noblest function is the search for truth.  
--Morris West
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Morris_West>

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[Daily article] April 25: Battle of Kaiapit Published On

The Battle of Kaiapit was fought in 1943 between Australian and Japanese
forces in New Guinea during the Finisterre Range campaign of World War
II. Following landings at Nadzab and at Lae, the Allies attempted to
exploit their success with an advance into the upper Markham Valley,
starting with Kaiapit (pictured). The Australian 2/6th Independent
Company flew in to the valley from Port Moresby in 13 USAAF C-47
Dakotas, making a difficult landing on a rough airstrip. Unaware that a
much larger Japanese force was also headed for Kaiapit and Nadzab, the
company attacked the village on 19 September to secure the area so that
it could be developed into an airfield. They then held it against a
strong counterattack. During two days of fighting the larger force, the
Australians suffered relatively few losses. Their victory at Kaiapit
enabled the Australian 7th Division to be flown in to the upper Markham
Valley, stopping the Japanese from threatening Lae or Nadzab, where a
major airbase was being developed. The victory also led to the capture
of the Ramu Valley, which provided new forward fighter airstrips for the
air war.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

775:

Forces of the Abbasid Caliphate crushed those of rebelling
Armenian princes in the Battle of Bagrevand
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bagrevand>

1644:

The Ming dynasty of China fell when the Chongzhen Emperor
committed suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty>

1846:

An open conflict between the military forces of the United
States and Mexico began over the disputed border of Texas north of the
Rio Grande and south of the Nueces River, later serving as a primary
justification for Mexican–American War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton_Affair>

1953:

"Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids" by molecular biologists
James Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific
journal Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure
of DNA.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Structure_of_Nucleic_Acids:_A_Structure_for_Deoxyribose_Nucleic_Acid>

1986:

Mswati III was crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father
Sobhuza II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mswati_III>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

total football:
(soccer) A football (soccer) tactic in which the outfield players assume
different roles during a game, while keeping an organised structure.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/total_football>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember
always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon
evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of
another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we
dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not
descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to
speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment,
unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods
to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and
our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There
is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities.
As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We
proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever
it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad
by deserting it at home.  
--Edward R. Murrow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_R._Murrow>

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[Daily article] April 24: Nelson's Pillar Published On

Nelson's Pillar was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio
Nelson, erected in the centre of O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland in
1809. It was severely damaged by explosives in March 1966 and demolished
a week later. The monument was erected after the euphoria following
Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It proved a popular
tourist attraction but provoked aesthetic and political controversy, and
there were frequent calls for it to be removed, or replaced with a
memorial to an Irish hero. Nevertheless it remained, even after Ireland
became a republic in 1948. Although influential literary figures
defended the Pillar on historical and cultural grounds, its destruction
just before the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising was, on the whole,
well received by the Irish public. The police could not identify those
responsible; when in 2010 a former republican activist admitted planting
the explosives, he was not charged. The Pillar was finally replaced in
2003 with the Spire of Dublin. Relics of the Pillar are found in various
Dublin locations, and its memory is preserved in numerous works of Irish
literature.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson%27s_Pillar>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1479 BC:

Thutmose III (statue pictured) became the sixth Pharaoh of
the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, although during the first 22 years of
the reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thutmose_III>

1704:

The first issue of The Boston News-Letter, the first
continuously published newspaper in British North America, was
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boston_News-Letter>

1916:

Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising
against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an
independent state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising>

1933:

Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by
shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_in_Nazi_Germany>

2013:

A building in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka, Bangladesh,
collapsed, resulting in over 1,100 deaths, making it the deadliest
accidental structural failure in modern human history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Savar_building_collapse>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

have legs:
1. (idiomatic) To have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a
long time.
2. (nautical) To have speed.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_legs>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  things explain each other, Not themselves.  
--George Oppen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Oppen>

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[Daily article] April 23: Stanley Price Weir Published On

Stanley Price Weir (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public
servant and Australian Army officer. He was awarded the Volunteer
Officers' Decoration in 1908, and appointed a justice of the peace in
1914. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the
Australian Imperial Force during the landing at Anzac Cove and the
Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Turks, and during the battles of
Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France. Weir returned to Australia at his
own request at the age of 50 in late 1916, when he was appointed as the
first South Australian Public Service Commissioner. In 1917 he was
awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in dispatches
for his performance at Pozières and Mouquet Farm. On his retirement
from the Australian Military Forces in 1921, he was given an honorary
promotion to brigadier general, only the second South Australia-born
officer to reach this rank. Before his retirement as Public Service
Commissioner in 1931, Weir was the chairman of both the Central Board of
Health and the Public Relief Board. He led an active retirement,
contributing to several religious, charitable and welfare organisations.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1016:

Edmund Ironside became King of England, reigning for only seven
months before the country was conquered by Cnut the Great.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Ironside>

1516:

The most well-known version of the Reinheitsgebot, the German
Beer Purity Law was adopted across the entirety of Bavaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot>

1918:

First World War: The British Royal Navy conducted a raid on the
Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeebrugge_Raid>

1951:

American journalist William N. Oatis was arrested for espionage
by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_N._Oatis>

2010:

Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer signed the controversial anti-
illegal immigration bill SB 1070 into law.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

all the world's a stage:
People have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/all_the_world%27s_a_stage>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle
rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd; It
blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the
mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His
sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and
majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is
above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is
an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest
God's, When mercy seasons justice.  
--The Merchant of Venice
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice>

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[Daily article] April 22: Gravity Bone Published On

Gravity Bone is a freeware first-person adventure video game developed
by Brendon Chung through his studio, Blendo Games, and released on
August 28, 2008. The game employs a modified version of id Software's id
Tech 2 engine—originally used for Quake 2—and incorporates music
originally performed by Xavier Cugat for films by director Wong Kar-wai.
Four incarnations of the game were produced during its one-year
development; the first featured more first-person shooter elements than
the released version. Subsequent versions included more spy-oriented
gameplay. Gravity Bone received critical acclaim from video game
journalists. It was called "a pleasure to experience" by Charles Onyett
from IGN, and was compared to games such as Team Fortress 2 and Portal.
The game was praised for its visual style, atmosphere, cohesive story,
and ability to quickly catch the player's interest. It received the
"Best Arthouse Game" award in Game Tunnel's Special Awards of 2008. A
sequel released in 2012, Thirty Flights of Loving, was also critically
acclaimed, mostly for its novel nonlinear storytelling.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1622:

An Anglo-Persian force combined to take over the Portuguese
garrison at Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Ormuz_(1622)>

1889:

Over 50,000 people rushed to claim a piece of the available two
million acres (8,000 km2) in the Unassigned Lands, the present-day US
state of Oklahoma, entirely founding the brand-new Oklahoma City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rush_of_1889>

1911:

Tsinghua University ("The Old Gate" pictured), one of the
leading universities in mainland China, was founded, funded by an
unexpected surplus in indemnities paid by the Qing Dynasty to the United
States as a result of the Boxer Rebellion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsinghua_University>

1948:

Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: The Jewish paramilitary group
Haganah captured Haifa from the Arab Liberation Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Haifa_(1948)>

2000:

In a predawn raid, US Immigration and Naturalization Service
agents seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in
Miami, Florida, and returned him to his Cuban father.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli%C3%A1n_Gonz%C3%A1lez_affair>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

sanctum:
A place set apart, as with a sanctum sanctorum; a sacred or private
place; a private retreat or workroom.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sanctum>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  How can U just leave me standing? Alone in a world that's so cold?
(So cold) Maybe I'm just 2 demanding Maybe I'm just like my father, 2
bold Maybe you're just like my mother She's never satisfied (She's never
satisfied) Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like
When doves cry.     I believe that through discipline,
though not through discipline alone, we can achieve serenity, and a
certain small but precious measure of the freedom from the accidents of
incarnation, and charity, and that detachment which preserves the world
which it renounces.  
--Robert Oppenheimer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer>

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[Daily article] April 21: Runaway Scrape Published On

The Runaway Scrape was the 1836 escape of Texas residents from the
encroaching Mexican Army of Operations under the command of Antonio
López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Civilian evacuations
began on the Gulf Coast in January after the vanguard of the Mexican
army crossed the Rio Grande to quell the insurrection of American
colonists and Tejanos (Mexicans born in Texas). Weeks later, news of the
Battle of the Alamo and the Goliad massacre created a state of panic.
Sam Houston was the Texas commander-in-chief of raw recruits who had
little or no combat experience. Fleeing civilians moved in tandem with
Houston's troops for protection, as he sought a safe training camp for
his soldiers. The pursuing Mexican army had orders to execute all rebel
combatants, and it cut a swath of destruction in its search for them.
After a mere three weeks training near the Brazos River, the Texas
troops finally parted ways with the civilians, who were given a military
escort to safety. Houston turned his army southeast and engaged the
Mexican army at the April 21 Battle of San Jacinto that resulted in
Santa Anna's surrender.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

900:

A debt was pardoned by the Datu of Tondo on the island of Luzon,
as inscribed on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the earliest known
written document found in the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription>

1509:

Henry VIII became King of England, following the death of his
father Henry VII, eventually becoming a significant figure in the
history of the English monarchy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England>

1863:

After the Ottoman Empire exiled him from Baghdad,
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, began his twelve-day
stay in the Garden of Ridván where he declared his mission as "He whom
God shall make manifest".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h>

1914:

Mexican Revolution: The United States detained a German steamer
carrying materiel for the Mexican federal government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypiranga_incident>

1970:

In response to a long-running dispute over wheat production
quotas, the Principality of Hutt River proclaimed its secession from
Western Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

macroeconomics:
The study of the entire economy in terms of the total amount of goods
and services produced, total income earned, the level of employment of
productive resources, and the general behavior of prices.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/macroeconomics>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The purpose and cause of the incarnation was that He might
illuminate the world by His wisdom and excite it to the love of Himself.
 
--Peter Abelard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Abelard>

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[Daily article] April 20: 1994 Atlantic hurricane season Published On

The 1994 Atlantic hurricane season produced only seven named tropical
cyclones and three hurricanes, and was the only Atlantic hurricane
season of the 1990s with no major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on
the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale). Tropical activity lasted from
Alberto's formation on June 30 to Gordon's weakening on November 21.
Tropical Storm Alberto produced significant rainfall and flooding in the
Southeastern United States, damaging or destroying over 18,000 homes. In
August, Tropical Storm Beryl produced its heaviest rainfall in Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Along with a tornado it
spawned, Beryl caused numerous injuries. Tropical Storm Debby killed
nine people in the Caribbean in September. Florence was the most intense
hurricane, at Category 2, but never made landfall. Extreme flooding and
mudslides from Hurricane Gordon caused around 1,122 fatalities in Haiti
and other deaths over the course of six landfalls from Costa Rica to
North Carolina. A nor'easter in December may have had tropical
characteristics, but was not classified as a tropical system.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Atlantic_hurricane_season>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1657:

Anglo-Spanish War: An English fleet under Admiral Robert Blake
attacked a Spanish treasure fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the
Spanish Canary Islands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife_(1657)>

1792:

After Foreign Minister Charles François Dumouriez presented
the French Legislative Assembly with a long list of grievances against
Austria, France declared war to begin the French Revolutionary Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolutionary_Wars>

1884:

Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical Humanum genus,
denouncing Freemasonry as well as a number of beliefs and practices
purportedly associated with it such as popular sovereignty and the
separation of church and state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanum_genus>

1968:

British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell made his
controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech in opposition to immigration and
anti-discrimination legislation, resulting in his removal from the
Shadow Cabinet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech>

1998:

The violent German revolutionary group known as the Red Army
Faction announced that it had dissolved.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

digestif:
An alcoholic beverage consumed after eating, so called because it is
presumed to aid digestion.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/digestif>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I have forgotten that men cannot see Unicorns. If men no longer
know what they're looking at, there may well be other unicorns in the
world yet — unknown — and glad of it.  
--The Last Unicorn
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn_(film)>

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[Daily article] April 19: Mantis Published On

The mantises are an order of insects containing over 2,400 species and
about 430 genera in 15 families. The largest family is the Mantidae.
Distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats, mantids have
triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks, and
elongated bodies with or without wings. All mantises have greatly
enlarged forelegs adapted for catching and gripping prey; their
stationary upright posture, with forearms folded, has led to the common
name "praying mantis". They are mostly ambush predators, but a few
ground-dwelling species actively seek prey. They live for about a year;
in cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, and die. Protected by
their hard capsule, the eggs hatch in the spring. Mantises are sometimes
confused with stick insects (Phasmatodea), other elongated insects such
as grasshoppers (Orthoptera), or other insects with raptorial forelegs
such as mantisflies (Mantispidae). Mantises were considered to have
supernatural powers by early civilizations, including Ancient Greece,
Ancient Egypt, and Assyria. They are among the insects most commonly
kept as pets.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

797:

Byzantine emperor Constantine VI was captured, blinded, and
imprisoned by the supporters of his mother Irene.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_VI>

1713:

With no living male heirs, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued
the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure one of his daughters would inherit the
Habsburg lands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI,_Holy_Roman_Emperor>

1861:

American Civil War: The first bloodshed of the war took place
when Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore, Maryland, attacked members
of the Massachusetts militia en route to Washington, D.C.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_riot_of_1861>

1943:

The Holocaust: Nazi troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto to round
up the remaining Jews, sparking the first mass uprising in Poland
against the German occupation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising>

1989:

A gun turret on board the United States Navy battleship Iowa
exploded, killing 47 sailors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_turret_explosion>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

sgraffito:
(art) A technique in ceramics, art and wall design, where the top layer
of pigment or slip is scratched through to reveal an underlying layer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sgraffito>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Of justice yet must God in fine restore, This noble crowne unto
the lawful heire For right will alwayes live, and rise at length, But
wrong can never take deepe roote to last.  
--Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Sackville,_1st_Earl_of_Dorset>

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[Daily article] April 18: William O'Connell Bradley Published On

William O'Connell Bradley (1847–1914) was the 32nd Governor of
Kentucky and a U.S. senator. The first Republican to serve as governor
of the state, he became known as the father of the Republican Party in
Kentucky. After a well-received speech seconding the presidential
nomination of Ulysses S. Grant at the 1880 Republican National
Convention, he was nominated for governor in 1887. He lost the general
election that year, but won in 1895, capitalizing on divisions in the
Democratic Party over the issue of free silver. His term was marked by
political struggles and violence. He advanced the status of black
citizens, but was unable to enact much of his reform agenda over a
hostile Democratic majority. He was elected by the state legislature to
the U.S. Senate in 1907, when voting was deadlocked and the Democratic
candidate, outgoing Governor J. C. W. Beckham, refused to withdraw in
favor of a compromise candidate. Bradley's opposition to Prohibition
made him palatable to some Democratic legislators, and after two months
of balloting, four of them crossed party lines to elect him. His career
in the Senate was largely undistinguished.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O%27Connell_Bradley>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1506:

Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica (interior
pictured) in Vatican City, to replace the old basilica built in the 4th
century, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica>

1689:

Provincial militia and citizens gathered in Boston, and
arrested officials of the Dominion of New England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1689_Boston_revolt>

1847:

Mexican–American War: Winfield Scott's United States troops
out-flanked and drove Santa Anna's larger Mexican army from a strong
defensive position in the Battle of Cerro Gordo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerro_Gordo>

1938:

Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, made his
debut in Action Comics #1, the first true superhero comic book.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Comics_1>

1996:

Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon, during Operation Grapes
of Wrath, killing more than 100 civilians and injuring more than 110
others at a UN compound.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_shelling_of_Qana>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

coffee klatch:
A social gathering for conversation while drinking coffee.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coffee_klatch>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Every book, remember, is dead until a reader activates it by
reading. Every time that you read you are walking among the dead, and,
if you are listening, you just might hear prophecies.  
--Kathy Acker
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kathy_Acker>

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[Daily article] April 17: Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri Published On

Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri (c. 1955 – 2008) was a Pintupi-Luritja-
speaking artist of the contemporary Indigenous Australian art movement
that originated in the Western Desert region. The sister of artist Molly
Jugadai Napaltjarri, she lived and painted at Haasts Bluff, Northern
Territory, playing a significant role in the establishment of the
Ikuntji Women's Centre, where many artists of the region have painted.
Influenced by the Hermannsburg School, Jugadai's paintings reflect her
Tjuukurrpa, the complex spiritual knowledge and relationships between
her and her landscape. Her paintings also reflect fine observation of
the complex structures of the vegetation and environment. Jugadai's
works were selected for exhibition at the National Aboriginal & Torres
Strait Islander Art Awards five times between 1993 and 2001, and she was
a section winner in 2000. Her paintings are held in major collections
including the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of
Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1080:

On the death of his brother Harald III, Canute IV, who later
became the first Dane to be canonized, became King of Denmark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_IV_of_Denmark>

1907:

Brazil became the third country in the world to start
construction on a dreadnought battleship, sparking a vastly expensive
South American naval arms race.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_dreadnought_race>

1951:

The Peak District (Mam Tor pictured) was designated the first
national park in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_District>

1973:

George Lucas began writing a 13-page film treatment entitled
The Star Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(film)>

1982:

A new patriated Constitution of Canada, including the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a bill of rights intended to protect
certain political and civil rights of people in Canada, was signed into
law by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act,_1982>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

slovenly:
1. Having an untidy appearance; unkempt.
2. Dirty, unwashed; disorderly.
3. Careless or negligent; sloppy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slovenly>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread
around encouraging young things to grow.  
--Thornton Wilder
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thornton_Wilder>

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[Daily article] April 16: John the bookmaker controversy Published On

John the bookmaker was an Indian bookmaker who gave money to Australian
cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne in 1994–95 for pitch and weather
information. One of the most publicised betting controversies in cricket
in the 1990s, the matter was initially covered up by the Australian
Cricket Board (ACB), which reported it to the International Cricket
Council and quietly fined the players. The players and the ACB were
later widely condemned by the media and public, but not generally by the
sports community. The ACB requested an independent inquiry and appointed
Rob O'Regan QC, who wrote that a suspension for a "significant time"
would have been a more appropriate penalty. He strongly condemned the
players' behaviour and recommended that cricketers be educated about the
dangers of gambling and unauthorised bookmakers. The controversy
prompted Pakistan to ask the two Australian players to appear in front
of their own judicial inquiry into corruption; the hearings were held in
Australia. Both Waugh and Warne denied the suggestion that they played
with any less determination than usual in the matches.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1520:

Citizens of Toledo, Castile, who were opposed to the rule of
the foreign-born Charles V, rose up in revolt when the royal government
attempted to unseat radical city councilors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Comuneros>

1818:

The United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty,
which laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary between the US and
British North America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush%E2%80%93Bagot_Treaty>

1917:

Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd from Switzerland, and
joined the Bolshevik movement in Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin>

1963:

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail
in response to an open letter written by white clergymen four days
earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail>

2014:

The South Korean ferry MV Sewol sank 1.5 km (0.93 mi)
offshore of Donggeochado, Jindo County, with 476 onboard, including 172
survivors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

catch-as-catch-can:
1. (idiomatic) Only when possible or when the opportunity presents itself;
intermittent.
2. (wrestling) Relating to catch wrestling, a form of amateur freestyle
wrestling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catch-as-catch-can>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The acquisition of any knowledge is always of use to the
intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the
good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.
 
--Anatole France
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France>

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[Daily article] April 15: Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories Published On

Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories were two pulp science
fiction magazines that published a total of seven issues in 1941 and
1942. Both were edited by Donald A. Wollheim and launched by Albing
Publications, appearing in alternate months. Wollheim had no budget at
all for fiction, so he solicited stories from his friends among the
Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans including James Blish
and C.M. Kornbluth. Isaac Asimov contributed a story, but later insisted
on payment after hearing that F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor of Comet—a
competing science fiction magazine—was irate at the idea of a magazine
that might "siphon readership from magazines that paid", and thought
that authors who contributed should be blacklisted. Kornbluth was the
most prolific contributor, under several pseudonyms; one of his stories,
"Thirteen O'Clock", was very successful, and helped to make his
reputation in the field. The magazines ceased publication in late 1941,
but Wollheim was able to find a publisher for one further issue of
Stirring Science Stories in March 1942 before war restrictions forced it
to close again.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

769:

The Lateran Council concluded proceedings intended to rectify
abuses in the papal electoral process that had led to the elevation of
the Antipopes Constantine II and Philip.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Council_(769)>

1638:

A rebellion by Catholic Japanese peasants in Shimabara over
increased taxes was put down by the Tokugawa shogunate, resulting in
greater enforcement of the policy of national seclusion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion>

1738:

Serse, an opera by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel
loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serse>

1922:

US Senator John B. Kendrick introduced a resolution calling for
an investigation of a secret land deal, which led to the discovery of
the Teapot Dome scandal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teapot_Dome_scandal>

2013:

Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off two pressure cooker
bombs (immediate aftermath pictured) during the running of the Boston
Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombing>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

goy:
A non-Jew, a gentile.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goy>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  To lie is so vile, that even if it were in speaking well of godly
things it would take off something from God's grace; and Truth is so
excellent, that if it praises but small things they become noble.
 
--Leonardo da Vinci
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci>

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[Daily article] April 14: Battle of Barnet Published On

The Battle of Barnet (14 April 1471) during the Wars of the Roses,
followed by the Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV
of England and launched fourteen years of Yorkist rule. Near Barnet,
then a small Hertfordshire town north of London, Edward led the House of
York against Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and the House of
Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. The battle began in a
thick fog at dawn. While the main forces struggled, John de Vere, 13th
Earl of Oxford, and his Lancastrian troops routed the Yorkists under
Lord William Hastings, chasing them up to Barnet. On their return to the
battlefield, Oxford's men were erroneously shot at by his allies
commanded by John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. The Lancastrians
lost the battle as cries of treason spread through their line and many
abandoned the fight. While retreating, Warwick was killed. Historians
regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of
the Roses, bringing about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two
houses.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

966:

After his marriage to the Christian Dobrawa of Bohemia, the
pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, an
event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland_during_the_Piast_dynasty>

1828:

Lexicographer Noah Webster copyrighted the first edition of his
dictionary of American English.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster>

1909:

Following a military revolt against the constitutional
government, a mob began a massacre of Armenians in Adana Vilayet,
Ottoman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_massacre>

1978:

Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in Tbilisi against an
attempt by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR to change the
constitutional status of the Georgian language.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Georgian_demonstrations>

2003:

The completion of the Human Genome Project was announced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

veridical:
1. True.
2. Pertaining to an experience, perception, or interpretation that
accurately represents reality; as opposed to imaginative,
unsubstantiated, illusory, or delusory.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/veridical>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I quite fixedly believe the Wardens of Earth sometimes unbar
strange windows, that face on other worlds than ours. And some of us, I
think, once in a while get a peep through these windows. But we are not
permitted to get a long peep, or an unobstructed peep, nor very
certainly, are we permitted to see all there is — out yonder. The
fatal fault, sir, of your theorizing is that it is too complete. It aims
to throw light upon the universe, and therefore is self-evidently
moonshine. The Wardens of Earth do not desire that we should understand
the universe, Mr. Kennaston; it is part of Their appointed task to
insure that we never do; and because of Their efficiency every notion
that any man, dead, living, or unborn, might form as to the universe
will necessarily prove wrong.  
--James Branch Cabell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell>

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[Daily article] April 13: William Sterndale Bennett Published On

Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English
composer, pianist, and conductor who became a leading force in musical
education. As a student at the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), he
was admired by Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to come to Germany. In
three long visits there between 1836 and 1842 he performed as a pianist
and composed, befriending Robert Schumann. In 1837 he began teaching at
the RAM, with which he was associated for most of his life. His pupils
included Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Tobias Matthay. He performed
throughout the 1840s and 1850s, returning to composition in 1858; by
this time his works were considered old-fashioned, though they were
still popular. He was Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge
from 1856 to 1866, then became Principal of the RAM, rescuing it from
closure. He was knighted in 1871. He died in London and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. In recent years, appreciation of Bennett's
compositions has been rekindled and many of his works have been
recorded. Several concerts of his music are planned for his bicentenary
year of 2016.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1598:

King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting
freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes>

1777:

American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces
conducted a surprise attack against a Continental Army outpost at Bound
Brook, New Jersey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bound_Brook>

1941:

The Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed a neutrality
pact, which lasted through most of World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_Neutrality_Pact>

1956:

The Vietnamese National Army captured Ba Cụt, military
commander of the Hoa Hao religious sect, which ran a de facto state in
southern Vietnam in opposition to Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_C%E1%BB%A5t>

2015:

Czech politician Vít Jedlička proclaimed the micronation
Liberland on a patch of land between Croatia and Serbia that had been
unclaimed by either side due to a territorial dispute.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberland>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

trumpery:
1. Worthless finery; bric-a-brac or junk.
2. Nonsense.
3. (obsolete) Deceit; fraud.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trumpery>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I've learned some things from having lived: If you're alive,
experience largely, merge with rivers, heavens, cosmos For what we call
living is a gift given to life And life is a gift bestowed upon us
 
--Ataol Behramoğlu
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ataol_Behramo%C4%9Flu>

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[Daily article] April 12: Aliso Creek (Orange County) Published On

Aliso Creek is a 19-mile (31 km) urban stream that runs through Orange
County in the U.S. state of California from the Santa Ana Mountains to
the Pacific Ocean, collecting seven main tributaries. It flows generally
south-southwest through a narrow coastal watershed at the southern
extreme of the arid Los Angeles Basin in a fairly straight course. Owing
to the submersion of Southern California in the Pacific Ocean until
10 million years ago, the creek flows over marine sedimentary rock that
dates from the late Eocene to the Pliocene. The watershed's broad
sediment-filled valleys and deeply eroded side canyons were shaped by
climate change during the last Ice Age. Historically, the creek served
as the boundary between the Juaneño (Acjachemem) and Gabrieleno
(Tongva) Indians. Although attempts to use the creek and its watershed
as a municipal water source date to the early 20th century, the water
it provided was erratic and of poor quality. The creek has become little
more than an open wastewater drain, but the watershed supports some
biodiversity, and remains a popular recreational area.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliso_Creek_(Orange_County)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

240:

Shapur I was crowned shahanshah ("king of kings") of the
Sasanian Empire, the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapur_I>

1204:

Alexios V Doukas fled Constantinople as forces under Boniface
the Marquess of Montferrat and Enrico Dandolo the Doge of Venice entered
and sacked the Byzantine capital, effectively ending the Fourth Crusade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204)>

1861:

Confederate forces began firing at Fort Sumter in the harbor of
Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter>

1980:

Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and began running his "Marathon
of Hope" towards the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia, to
raise funds across Canada for cancer research.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox>

2007:

The canteen of the Council of Representatives of Iraq building
was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing one Member of Parliament and
wounding 23 other people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iraqi_Parliament_bombing>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

darrein:
(law, historical) In the names of legal actions, pleas, writs, etc.:
final, last; dernier.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/darrein>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Life is about learning; when you stop learning, you die.  
--Tom Clancy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Clancy>

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[Daily article] April 11: Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories Published On

Hungary occupied and annexed territories during World War II that it had
lost to Yugoslavia in the Treaty of Trianon after World War I. On 11
April 1941, 80,000 Hungarian troops crossed the Yugoslav border to join
the German-led Axis invasion. Despite only sporadic resistance,
Hungarian troops killed many civilians during the invasion. The
Hungarian authorities deported tens of thousands of Serbs from the
territories, re-settling Hungarians from other parts of Hungary.
Resistance to the occupation began in the latter half of 1941, and in
January 1942 the Hungarian military conducted retaliatory raids that
killed over 3,300 people, mostly Serbs and Jews. In March 1944, when
Hungary began to negotiate with the Allies, Germany invaded and took
control of Hungary, including the annexed territories. The remaining
Jews were collected and transported to extermination camps, where 85 per
cent of those from the occupied territories died. The territories were
restored to Yugoslav control as the Germans were pushed out of the
region in late 1944 and 1945.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1544:

Italian War of 1542–46: French and Spanish forces fought a
massive pitched battle in the Piedmont region of Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ceresole>

1814:

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed, ending the War of the
Sixth Coalition, and forcing Napoleon to abdicate as ruler of France and
sending him into exile on Elba.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fontainebleau_(1814)>

1913:

The Nevill Ground's pavilion was destroyed in the only
suffragette arson attack on a cricket ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevill_Ground>

1951:

US President Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur of his commands for making public statements about the
Korean War that contradicted the administration's policies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Truman%27s_relief_of_General_Douglas_MacArthur>

1996:

While attempting to set a record as the youngest person to
pilot an airplane across the United States, the aircraft flown by seven-
year-old Jessica Dubroff crashed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing her and
two others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Dubroff>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

livid:
1. (informal) Very angry; furious.
2. Having a dark, bluish appearance.
3. Pallid.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/livid>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  We still proclaim the old ideals of liberty but we cannot voice
them without anxiety in our hearts. The question is no longer one of
establishing democratic institutions but of preserving them. … The
arch enemies of society are those who know better but by indirection,
misstatement, understatement, and slander, seek to accomplish their
concealed purposes or to gain profit of some sort by misleading the
public. The antidote for these poisons must be found in the sincere and
courageous efforts of those who would preserve their cherished freedom
by a wise and responsible use of it. Freedom of expression gives the
essential democratic opportunity, but self-restraint is the essential
civic discipline.  
--Charles Evans Hughes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Evans_Hughes>

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[Daily article] April 10: Masked shrike Published On

The masked shrike (Lanius nubicus) is a bird in the shrike family,
Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the
Mediterranean, with a separate population in eastern Iraq and western
Iran, and winters mainly in northeast Africa. It is the smallest member
of its genus, long-tailed and with a hooked bill. The male has mainly
black upperparts, with white on its crown, forehead and supercilium and
large white patches on the shoulders and wings. The throat, neck sides
and underparts are white, with orange flanks and breast. The female is a
duller version of the male, with brownish black upperparts and a grey or
buff tone to the shoulders and underparts. The species' calls are short
and grating, but the song has melodic warbler-like components. The
masked shrike eats mainly large insects and occasionally small
vertebrates; it sometimes impales its prey on thorns or barbed wire.
Decreasing in parts of the European range, but not rapidly enough to
raise serious conservation concerns, it is classified by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature as a species of least
concern.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1710:

The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating
copyright, entered into force in Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne>

1816:

President James Madison signed the charter establishing the
Second Bank of the United States as the nation's second national bank.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bank_of_the_United_States>

1925:

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby>

1970:

In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul
McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>

2010:

A Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft carrying President of Poland Lech
Kaczyński and other Polish officials crashed while attempting to land
in heavy fog at Smolensk-North air base near Smolensk, Russia, killing
all 96 on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

incorrigible:
1. Defective and impossible to materially correct or set aright.
2. Incurably depraved; not reformable.
3. Impervious to correction by punishment or pain.
4. Unmanageable.
5. Determined, unalterable, hence impossible to improve upon.
6. (archaic) Incurable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/incorrigible>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  We may fight against what is wrong, but if we allow ourselves to
hate, that is to insure our spiritual defeat and our likeness to what we
hate.  
--Æ
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Russell>

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[Daily article] April 9: Typhoon Sudal Published On

Typhoon Sudal was the strongest typhoon (the Northwestern Pacific Basin
equivalent of a hurricane) in half a century to strike the island of Yap
in the Federated States of Micronesia. The entire island, only 17 km
(11 mi) in length, experienced typhoon-force winds (at least 119 km/h
or 74 mph), and 90% of the structures were damaged or destroyed. The
storm formed on April 2, 2004, to the east of the country and attained
tropical storm status on April 5. On April 9, it passed just south of
Yap, and shortly thereafter its peak winds were estimated at 240 km/h
(150 mph). After moving northwest and then northeast, Sudal became an
extratropical cyclone on April 16 and dissipated two days later.
Overall damage was $14 million, most of which was on Yap. No fatalities
or serious injuries were reported, but more than 80 percent of the
islanders were without clean running water after the storm. The name
Sudal (Korean for "otter") had been contributed by South Korea for the
Pacific tropical cyclone list; due to the heavy damage, the name was
retired.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1860:

On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de
Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice,
when he recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville>

1865:

With their supply trains destroyed by Union troops one day
earlier, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses
S. Grant at the McLean House near the Appomattox Court House in
Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Appomattox_Court_House>

1918:

World War I: Aníbal Milhais's actions during the Battle of the
Lys made him the only person to be awarded Portugal's highest military
honour, the Order of the Tower and Sword, directly on the battlefield.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Lys_(1918)>

1948:

Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups
attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre>

2003:

Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the
statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firdos_Square_statue_destruction>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

brunt:
1. The full adverse effects of; the chief consequences or negative results
of a thing or event.
2. The major part of, the bulk.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brunt>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Speaking of love, one problem that recurs more and more frequently
these days, in books and plays and movies, is the inability of people to
communicate with the people they love: husbands and wives who can't
communicate, children who can't communicate with their parents, and so
on. And the characters in these books and plays and so on, and in real
life, I might add, spend hours bemoaning the fact that they can't
communicate. I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very least
he can do is to shut up.  
--Tom Lehrer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer>

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[Daily article] April 8: Calostoma cinnabarinum Published On

Calostoma cinnabarinum is a species of gasteroid fungus in the family
Sclerodermataceae. Commonly called the stalked puffball-in-aspic or
gelatinous stalked puffball, it is the species most commonly associated
with genus Calostoma. The fruit body has a layer of yellowish jelly
surrounding a spherical bright red head atop a spongy red or yellowish
brown stalk. The innermost layer of the head, called the gleba, contains
clear or slightly yellowish elliptical spores. The spore surface
features a pattern of small pits, producing a net-like appearance. In
eastern North America, Central America, northeastern South America, and
East Asia, it grows on the ground in deciduous forests, where it forms a
symbiotic relationship with oak roots. Despite its appearance and common
name, C. cinnabarinum is not related to some other stalked puffballs,
true puffballs, earthstars, or stinkhorns, though during its complex
taxonomic history it has at various times been confused with each of
those groups. It is typically considered inedible, but is eaten or used
in folk medicine in some areas.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1271:

The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers to
the army of the Mamluk sultan Baibars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers>

1341:

Italian scholar and poet Petrarch took the title poet laureate
at a ceremony in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch>

1864:

American Civil War: A decisive Confederate victory in the
Battle of Mansfield stopped the advance of the Union Army's Red River
Campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mansfield>

1911:

Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered
superconductivity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity>

2008:

The wind turbines at the Bahrain World Trade Center, the first
building to incorporate turbines into its design, became operational.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain_World_Trade_Center>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

mar:
To spoil, to damage.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mar>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  One of these days when the air clears up And the sun comes shining
through We'll all be drinking free bubble up And eating some rainbow
stew.  
--Merle Haggard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard>

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[Daily article] April 7: Aquaman (TV pilot) Published On

Aquaman is a television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough
and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics
character of the same name. Featuring Justin Hartley, Lou Diamond
Phillips, Denise Quiñones, Rick Peters, Amber McDonald and Ving Rhames,
the pilot was written by Gough and Millar and directed by Greg Beeman.
It was inspired by "Aqua", the highest-rated episode of the fifth season
of Smallville. Hartley plays Arthur "A.C." Curry, a young man living in
a beachside community in the Florida Keys who learns about his
superpowers and destiny as the Prince of Atlantis. Much of the filming
took place underwater, and Hartley did the scenes without a tank. The
pilot was expected to debut in the fall schedule of 2006, but following
the merger of The WB and UPN, the resulting CW Network opted not to buy
the series. The pilot received generally favorable reviews. It was made
available online in the United States through iTunes, where it became
the most frequently downloaded television show for over a week. It was
later released through other online markets, and aired on Canadian
television network YTV.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaman_(TV_pilot)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1141:

Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England,
adopting the title 'Lady of the English'.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda>

1724:

Johann Sebastian Bach debuted the St John Passion, a musical
representation of the Passion, at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Passion>

1896:

An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen
reached 86°13.6'N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest
North mark.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen>

1956:

Spain relinquished its protectorate in Morocco.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_protectorate_in_Morocco>

1994:

The Rwandan genocide began, a few hours after the assassination
of President Juvénal Habyarimana; an estimated 500,000–1,000,000
Rwandans were killed in the following 100 days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

cabbeling:
(oceanography) The process by which two masses of water with different
temperatures and salinities mix to form a new water mass with a density
higher than the density of either parent water mass; also, the sinking
of the new water mass as the effect of its increased density.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cabbeling>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  War is to be ranked among the most dreadful calamities which fall
on a guilty world; and, what deserves consideration, it tends to
multiply and perpetuate itself without end. It feeds and grows on the
blood which it sheds. The passions, from which it springs, gain strength
and fury from indulgence.  
--William Ellery Channing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ellery_Channing>

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[Daily article] April 6: Rosendale Trestle Published On

The Rosendale Trestle is a 940-foot (290 m) continuous truss bridge and
former railroad trestle in Rosendale in Ulster County, New York.
Originally constructed by the Wallkill Valley Railroad to continue its
rail line from New Paltz to Kingston, the bridge rises 150 feet (46 m)
above Rondout Creek, spanning both Route 213 and the former Delaware and
Hudson Canal. Construction began in 1870; when it opened to rail traffic
on April 6, 1872, it was the highest span bridge in the United States.
The trestle was rebuilt in 1895 by the King Bridge Company to address
public concerns regarding its stability and sturdiness, and it was
repeatedly reinforced until 1977, when Conrail closed the Wallkill
Valley rail line. The bridge was sold in 1986 for one dollar to a
private businessman who tried unsuccessfully to operate it as a bungee
jumping platform, and a similar attempt was made the following decade.
The trestle was seized by the county in 2009 for tax nonpayment, and
renovated for the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail as a pedestrian walkway
that opened on June 29, 2013.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1320:

The Declaration of Arbroath, a declaration of Scottish
independence, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath>

1866:

The Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization
composed of veterans of the Union Army who had served in the American
Civil War, was founded in Decatur, Illinois.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic>

1896:

The first modern Olympic Games (official report pictured)
opened in Athens, with 241 athletes from 14 nations participating in 43
events in nine disciplines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics>

1941:

World War II: The Axis Powers began both Operation Marita and
Directive no. 25, invading Greece and Yugoslavia, respectively.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Yugoslavia>

2009:

A 6.3 Mw earthquake struck the region of Abruzzo in central
Italy, killing 308 people and injuring more than 1,500 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L%27Aquila_earthquake>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

facetious:
1. Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour;
flippant.
2. Pleasantly humorous; jocular.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facetious>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Sleep and death of the senses; tears and the death of the heart.
Do you understand the progression? Sleep, though sad, is gentler than
tears which, though painful, are gentler than death. Ecstasy is more
delightful than song, which is gentler than work. Prayer is superior to
dreaming which is more elevated than manual work.  
--Gustave Moreau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Moreau>

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