[Daily article] December 31: Eisenhower dollar Published On

The Eisenhower dollar is a one-dollar coin issued from 1971 to 1978 by
the United States Mint. Authorized by law on December 31, 1970, it was
the first US dollar coin minted since 1935, the last year of the Peace
dollar. Designed by Frank Gasparro, the coin's obverse depicts President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in March 1969. Proposals in Congress to
honor him on a coin led to a dispute over whether the new coin was to
contain silver. In 1970, a compromise was reached to strike it in base
metal for circulation, and in 40% silver as a collectible. Although the
collector's pieces sold well, the new dollars failed to circulate,
except in and around Nevada casinos, where they took the place of
privately issued tokens. Coins from 1975 and 1976 bear a double date,
1776–1976, and a special reverse by Dennis R. Williams in honor of the
Bicentennial. To replace the Eisenhower dollar with a smaller-sized
piece, Congress authorized the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck beginning
in 1979, but that coin also failed to circulate.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

405 or 406:

The Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine River
to begin an invasion of Gaul.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_of_the_Rhine>

1857:

Queen Victoria selected Ottawa, then a small logging town, to
be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa>

1907:

Times Square in New York City held its first New Year's Eve
celebrations with the ball drop (2008 version pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball>

1972:

Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane
crash en route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente>

1998:

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the values of the
legacy currencies in the Eurozone and established the value of the euro
currency.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

fireworks:
1. […] (plural only) An event or a display where fireworks are set off.
2. (plural only, figuratively) A boisterous or violent event or situation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fireworks>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Life is a slow-motion avalanche, and none of us are steering.
 
--Donald E. Westlake
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake>

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[Daily article] December 30: No Me Queda Más Published On

"No Me Queda Más" ("There's Nothing Left for Me") is a song by American
recording artist Selena for her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido
(1994). Written by Ricky Vela and produced by Selena's brother A.B.
Quintanilla, it was released as the third single from the album in
October 1994 by EMI Latin. It is a downtempo mariachi and pop ballad
that portrays a woman who wishes the best for her former lover despite
her own agony. Praised by music critics for its raw emotion, "No Me
Queda Más" was one of the most successful singles of Selena's career,
topping the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for seven non-consecutive
weeks. It was the Song of the Year at the 1995 Broadcast Music Awards
and became the most successful US Latin single of 1995. Billboard
magazine ranked it ninth on a list of Tejano recordings. A music video,
shot in San Antonio's Amtrak station, received the Music Video of the
Year award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Many musicians have
recorded cover versions, including Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar, American
salsa singer Tito Nieves, and Mexican pop group Palomo.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Me_Queda_M%C3%A1s>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1702:

Carolina colonial governor James Moore abandoned the siege
against the Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine, Spanish Florida,
and retreated to Charles Town in disgrace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_St._Augustine_(1702)>

1853:

The United States purchased approximately 29,600 sq mi
(77,000 km2) of land south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande
from Mexico for $10 million.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase>

1903:

In the deadliest single-building fire in United States history,
the Iroquois Theatre fire claimed over 600 lives in Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire>

1906:

The All-India Muslim League, a political party in British India
that developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as
a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent, was founded in Dhaka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-India_Muslim_League>

2006:

MV Senopati Nusantara, an Indonesian ferry, sank in the Java
Sea during a storm, killing at least 400 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Senopati_Nusantara>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

underfire:
1. (transitive, intransitive) To heat from below.
2. (transitive) To intentionally operate a boiler, furnace, oven, etc., at
a low level.
3. (intransitive) Not burning fuel at the desired level, and thus not
providing heat efficiently.
4. (transitive, ceramics) To fire at a low (or excessively low)
temperature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/underfire>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I was a simple kid who was thrown into the wonderful world of show
business. I've loved every moment.  
--Debbie Reynolds
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Debbie_Reynolds>

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[Daily article] December 29: Montreal Laboratory Published On

The Montreal Laboratory in Montreal, Canada, was established by the
National Research Council of Canada during World War II to undertake
nuclear research in collaboration with the United Kingdom. After the
Fall of France, some French scientists escaped to Britain with their
stock of heavy water, and joined the British Tube Alloys project to
build an atomic bomb. In 1942, it was decided to relocate the work to
Canada. The Montreal Laboratory was established in a house belonging to
McGill University, but moved to the Université de Montréal in March
1943. The first laboratory staff arrived at the end of 1942. John
Cockcroft became director in May 1944. In August 1943, Mackenzie King,
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (pictured) negotiated the
Quebec Agreement, which merged Tube Alloys with the Manhattan Project.
Work moved to the Chalk River Laboratories, which opened in 1944, and
the Montreal Laboratory was closed in July 1946. Two reactors were built
at Chalk River: the small ZEEP, which went critical in September 1945,
and the larger NRX, which followed in July 1947, and was for a time the
most powerful research reactor in the world.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1170:

Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was slain in his own
cathedral by four knights of Henry II of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket>

1779:

American Revolutionary War: British soldiers under the command
of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Savannah>

1891:

Physical education teacher James Naismith introduced a game in
Springfield, Massachusetts, with thirteen rules and nine players on each
team that he called "Basket Ball".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_basketball>

1911:

Sun Yat-sen was elected in Nanjing as the Provisional President
of the Republic of China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>

1959:

Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's
Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is considered the birth of
nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>

1993:

The Tian Tan Buddha, at the time the world's tallest outdoor
bronze statue of the seated Buddha, was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

writing on the wall:
An ominous warning; a prediction of bad luck.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/writing_on_the_wall>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Men learn little from others' experience. But in the life of one
man, never The same time returns. Sever The cord, shed the scale. Only
The fool, fixed in his folly, may think He can turn the wheel on which
he turns.  
--T. S. Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot>

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[Daily article] December 28: Pain fitzJohn Published On

Pain fitzJohn (died 1137) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and
administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", the ones who
owed their positions and wealth to the king. Pain's family originated in
Normandy, but there is little to suggest that he had many ties there,
and he appears to have spent most of his career in England and the Welsh
Marches. A son of a minor nobleman, he rose to become an important royal
official during Henry's reign. In 1115 he was rewarded with marriage to
an heiress, thereby gaining control of the town of Ludlow and its
castle, which he augmented with further acquisitions. He became the
sheriff in two counties near the border between England and Wales, and
heard legal cases as a royal justice in much of western England. He was
generous in his gifts of land to monastic houses. After Henry's death in
1135 Pain supported Henry's nephew, King Stephen. In July 1137 Pain was
ambushed by the Welsh and killed as he was leading a relief expedition
to the garrison at Carmarthen.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

893:

An earthquake destroyed the city of Dvin, Armenia, causing about
30,000 casualties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/893_Dvin_earthquake>

1768:

Taksin the Great was crowned king of the newly established
Thonburi Kingdom in the new capital at Thonburi, present-day Thailand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin>

1907:

The last confirmed sighting of the extinct huia took place in
the Tararua Ranges, North Island, New Zealand.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huia>

1973:

U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act
into law, a wide-ranging environmental law designed to protect
critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of
economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and
conservation."
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act_of_1973>

2009:

A suicide bomber attacked a Shi'ite commemoration in Karachi,
Pakistan, during a procession on the Day of Ashura, the holiest of days
for followers of Shia Islam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Karachi_bombing>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

tortfeasance:
(chiefly law) The condition, or an act, of doing wrong; the act of
committing a tort.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tortfeasance>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I don't want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.  
--Carrie Fisher
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carrie_Fisher>

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[Daily article] December 27: Ficus rubiginosa Published On

Ficus rubiginosa, the Port Jackson fig, is a species of flowering plant
native to eastern Australia. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other
plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), it matures into a tree
30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed
trunk. The leaves are oval and glossy green and measure from 4 to
19.3 cm (1 1⁄2–7 1⁄2 in) long and 1.25 to 13.2 cm
(1⁄2–5 1⁄4 in) wide. The fruits are small, round and yellow, and
can ripen and turn red at any time of year, peaking in spring and
summer. The fruit is known as a syconium, an inverted inflorescence with
the flowers lining an internal cavity. F. rubiginosa is exclusively
pollinated by the fig wasp species Pleistodontes imperialis. Many
species of bird, including pigeons and parrots, eat the fruit. Ranging
along the Australian east coast from Queensland to Bega in southern New
South Wales, F. rubiginosa grows in rainforest margins and rocky
outcrops. It is used as a shade tree in parks and public spaces, and
when potted is well-suited for use as an indoor plant or in bonsai.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1657:

Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance
to Director-General Peter Stuyvesant, requesting an exemption to his ban
on Quaker worship.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushing_Remonstrance>

1831:

Aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin left Plymouth, England, on
what became a historic expedition to South America that made his name as
a naturalist.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle>

1916:

German Togoland, occupied by the Allies in World War I, was
partitioned between Britain and France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togoland>

1966:

The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the
world, in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, was first descended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Swallows>

2007:

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was
assassinated while she was leaving a political rally of Pakistan Peoples
Party supporters at Liaquat National Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

spuriosity:
1. (rare) Spuriousness.
2. (rare) That which is spurious; something false or illegitimate.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spuriosity>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  If we have faith in each other Then we can be Strong, baby I will
be your father figure Put your tiny hand in mine I will be your preacher
teacher Anything you have in mind I will be your father figure I have
had enough of crime I will be the one who loves you … 'Til the end of
time.  
--George Michael
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Michael>

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[Daily article] December 26: Tropical Storm Vamei Published On

Tropical Storm Vamei was a Pacific tropical cyclone, the last storm of
the 2001 Pacific typhoon season. On December 26 the storm developed into
a tropical depression about 230 km (145 mi) east of Singapore in the
South China Sea at 1.4° N, 156 km (97 mi) north of the equator. This
was the first recorded occurrence of a tropical cyclone developing near
the equator, which had previously been considered impossible because of
a lack of Coriolis effect there. It strengthened quickly and made
landfall the next day approximately 60 km (35 mi) northeast of
Singapore, along extreme southeastern Peninsular Malaysia. The storm
rapidly dissipated over Sumatra a day later, and the remnants eventually
re-organized in the North Indian Ocean. Though officially designated as
a tropical storm, the intensity of Vamei is disputed; some agencies
classify it as a typhoon, based on sustained winds of 140 km/h
(85 mph) and the appearance of an eye. The storm brought flooding and
landslides to eastern Peninsular Malaysia, causing US$3.6 million in
damage and five deaths.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

American Revolutionary War: In the predawn hours, George
Washington and his army crossed the Delaware River to launch a surprise
attack against the Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trenton>

1871:

Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, made
its debut at the Gaiety Theatre, London, UK.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis_(opera)>

1900:

A relief crew arrived at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of
Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared without a
trace.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles>

1996:

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called upon its 1.2
million members to walk off the job, beginning the largest organized
strike in South Korea's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397_strikes_in_South_Korea>

2006:

The Hengchun earthquake struck off the southwest coast of
Taiwan, on the anniversaries of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that
devastated coastal communities across Southeast and South Asia, and of
the 2003 Bam earthquake that destroyed areas of southeastern Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Bam_earthquake>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

Boxing Day:
The day after Christmas; the 26th of December.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Boxing_Day>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  There is survival and survival, the historian learns to his grief.
The very worst impulses of humankind can survive generations, centuries,
even millennia. And the best of our individual efforts can die with us
at the end of a single lifetime.  
--Elizabeth Kostova
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Kostova>

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[Daily article] December 25: Hebron Church (Intermont, West Virginia) Published On

Hebron Church is a mid-19th century Lutheran church in Intermont,
Hampshire County, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was founded in
1786 as Great Capon Church by German settlers in the Cacapon River
Valley, making it the first Lutheran church west of the Shenandoah
Valley. The congregation worshiped in a log church, which initially
served both Lutheran and Reformed denominations. In 1821, records and
sermons transitioned from German to English. The church's congregation
built the present Greek Revival-style church building in 1849, when it
was renamed Hebron on the Cacapon. The original log church was moved
across the road and used as a sexton's house, Sunday school classroom,
and public schoolhouse. To celebrate the congregation's 175th
anniversary in 1961, Hebron Church constructed a building for community
functions and religious education, designed to be architecturally
compatible with the 1849 brick church. Hebron Church was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2014, cited as a Potomac
Highlands church with vernacular Greek Revival architecture.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebron_Church_(Intermont,_West_Virginia)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1066:

Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror was crowned King of
England at Westminster Abbey, although he still faced rebellions over
the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror>

1809:

American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first
removal of an ovarian tumor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_McDowell>

1926:

Emperor Taishō died of a heart attack, and was succeeded by
his son, Hirohito, who ruled until his death in 1989, becoming the
longest-reigning Emperor of Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito>

1941:

Second World War: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began
after Mark Aitchison Young, the Governor of Hong Kong, surrendered the
territory to Japan after 18 days of fierce fighting.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Hong_Kong>

1991:

In a nationally televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as
President of the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

Christingle:
1. (Christianity) A small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus
Christ as the "light" of the world. A typical modern Christingle is
made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into
the top, and a red ribbon wrapped round it.
2. (Christianity) A church service for children incorporating Christingles,
usually held during Advent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Christingle>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Except the Christ be born again tonight In dreams of all men,
saints and sons of shame, The world will never see his kingdom bright.
Stars of all hearts, lead onward thro' the night Past death-black
deserts, doubts without a name, Past hills of pain and mountains of new
sin To that far sky where mystic births begin, Where dreaming ears the
angel-song shall win.  
--Vachel Lindsay
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vachel_Lindsay>

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[Daily article] December 24: Themes in Maya Angelou's autobiographies Published On

Themes in Maya Angelou's autobiographies include racism, identity,
family, and travel. Angelou (1928–2014), an African-American writer,
achieved critical acclaim for her first of seven autobiographies, I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). That book and the second in the series,
Gather Together in My Name (1974), are about the lives of Black women in
America. Her autobiographies all have the same structure, a narrative of
how she coped within the larger white society she inhabited. In her
third autobiography, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like
Christmas (1976), she showed the integrity of the African-American
character as she experienced more positive interactions with whites. The
series continues with The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God's Children
Need Traveling Shoes (1986), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom &
Me & Mom (2013). Angelou's autobiographies take place from Arkansas to
Africa and back to the US, and span almost forty years, from the start
of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Full article...).

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Maya_Angelou%27s_autobiographies>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

759:

Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu departed for Chengdu, staying with his
fellow poet Pei Di, where he composed poems about life in his thatched
cottage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Fu>

1871:

Aida, one of Giuseppe Verdi's most popular operas, made its
debut in Cairo, Egypt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida>

1953:

On New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge
was damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train, killing
151 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangiwai_disaster>

1968:

Astronaut William Anders of the NASA Apollo 8 mission, the
first manned voyage to orbit the Moon, took the famous photograph known
as "Earthrise", showing the Earth rising above the lunar surface.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise>

1974:

Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, Australia, eventually destroying
more than 70% of the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Tracy>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

sommelier:
The member of staff at a restaurant who keeps the wine cellar and
advises guests on a choice of wines; a wine steward, a wine waiter.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sommelier>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I think it will be found that the grand style arises in poetry,
when a noble nature, poetically gifted, treats with simplicity or with
severity a serious subject.  
--Matthew Arnold
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold>

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[Daily article] December 23: Richard Dannatt Published On

Richard Dannatt (born 23 December 1950) is a retired senior British Army
officer who served as the Constable of the Tower of London from August
2009 to July 2016. He was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1971,
and his first tour of duty was in Belfast as a platoon commander. During
his second tour of duty, Dannatt was awarded the Military Cross. He
commanded 4th Armoured Brigade in 1994 during its peace operations in
Bosnia. In 1999 he simultaneously commanded 3rd Mechanised Division and
the British forces in Kosovo. After a brief tour in Bosnia, he was
appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff. Following the attacks of
11 September 2001, Dannatt became involved in planning for subsequent
operations in the Middle East. As Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction
Corps from 2003, he led the planning for their deployments to Iraq and
Afghanistan. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 2006,
succeeding Sir Mike Jackson. Calling for improved pay and conditions for
soldiers, less military focus on Iraq, and more on Afghanistan, Dannatt
faced controversy over his outspokenness.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

583:

Yohl Ik'nal acceded to the throne of the Maya city-state of
Palenque.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yohl_Ik%27nal>

1793:

French Revolution: The Royalist counterrevolutionary army was
decisively defeated in the Battle of Savenay, although fighting
continued in the War in the Vendée for years afterward.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e>

1916:

First World War: Allied forces gained a strategic victory in
the Battle of Magdhaba, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magdhaba>

1938:

A South African fisher discovered the first living specimen of
a coelacanth, long believed to be extinct.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth>

1986:

Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, the Rutan Voyager
became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or
refueling, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a nine-
day trip.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

aweless:
1. Without fear; fearless, unafraid.
2. Wanting reverence; void of respectful fear; irreverent.
3. (obsolete) Inspiring no awe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aweless>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Unless we are willing to escape into sentimentality or fantasy,
often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out
exactly what happened and restore some of the missing parts —
hopefully, even the arch to the sky.  
--Norman Maclean
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Maclean>

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[Daily article] December 22: Andrew Sledd Published On

Andrew Sledd (1870–1939) was an American theologian, university
professor and university president. A native of Virginia, he was
ordained as a Methodist minister after earning his master's degree; he
later earned a doctorate at Yale. After teaching for several years,
Sledd became the last president of the University of Florida at Lake
City from 1904 to 1905, and the first president of what is now the
University of Florida from 1905 to 1909. He was president of Southern
University from 1910 to 1914, and became a professor and an influential
biblical scholar at Emory University's Candler School of Theology from
1914 to 1939. Bibliographies highlight his 1902 magazine article
advocating better legal and social treatment of African-Americans, his
role in founding the modern University of Florida, his scholarly
analysis of biblical texts as literature, his call for an end to racial
violence, and his influence on a generation of Methodist seminary
students, scholars and ministers.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1216:

Pope Honorius III issued the papal bull Religiosam vitam to
establish the Dominican Order.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Order>

1769:

Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing dynasty agreed
to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Burmese_War_(1765%E2%80%9369)>

1937:

The Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New
Jersey, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tunnel>

1988:

Brazilian unionist and environmental activist Chico Mendes was
murdered at his Xapuri home.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes>

2001:

Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power
in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

endosteum:
(biology) A membranous vascular layer of cells which line the medullary
cavity of a bone; an internal periosteum.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endosteum>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  It's the questions we ask, the journey we take to get to where we
are going that is more important than the actual answer. It's good to
have mysteries. It reminds us that there's more to the world than just
making do and having a bit of fun.  
--Charles de Lint
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lint>

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[Daily article] December 21: Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev) Published On

Lieutenant Kijé is music by Sergei Prokofiev originally written to
accompany the film of the same name, produced by the Belgoskino film
studios in Leningrad and released in 1934 (poster pictured). It was his
first attempt at film music, and his first commission from within the
Soviet Union; he had lived abroad since the 1917 October Revolution. In
the early days of sound cinema, among the distinguished composers ready
to write film music, Prokofiev was not an obvious choice for the
commission. Based in Paris for almost a decade, he had a reputation, at
odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union, for experimentation
and dissonance. Nevertheless, he was anxious to return to his homeland,
and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more
accessible style. After the film's successful release, he adapted the
music into what became a popular orchestral suite, his Op. 60. First
performed on 21 December 1934, it became part of the international
concert repertoire, and one of the composer's best-known and most
frequently recorded works. Elements of its score were used in several
later films, and in two popular songs of the Cold War era.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Kij%C3%A9_(Prokofiev)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1124:

Lamberto Scannabecchi was elected Pope and took the name
Honorius II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Honorius_II>

1844:

The Rochdale Pioneers, usually considered the first successful
co-operative enterprise, opened their store in Rochdale, England, and
formed the basis for the modern co-operative movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_cooperative_movement>

1919:

After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to
resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from
the United States to Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman>

1923:

Nepal and the United Kingdom signed a treaty, the first to
define the international status of Nepal as an independent and a
sovereign nation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal%E2%80%93Britain_Treaty_of_1923>

1937:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cel-
animated feature in film history, premiered at the Carthay Circle
Theatre in Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)>

1995:

In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew
from the city of Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of its
control to the Palestinian National Authority.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

glitten:
A cross between a glove and a mitten, often in the form of a fingerless
glove with an attached mitten-like flap that can be used to cover the
fingers.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glitten>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  It is infinitely better that the profane and loose be unmasked
than to be muffled up under the veil and hood of traditional hypocrisy,
which turns and dulls the very edge of all conscience either toward God
or man.  
--Roger Williams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams>

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[Daily article] December 20: Strepsirrhini Published On

Strepsirrhini is a suborder of primates that includes lemurs from
Madagascar, bushbabies and pottos from Africa, and lorises from India
and southeast Asia. Also included are the extinct adapiform primates, a
diverse and widespread group that thrived during the Eocene in Europe,
North America, and Asia, but disappeared from most of the Northern
Hemisphere as the climate cooled. Characterized by their wet nose or
rhinarium, strepsirrhines have diversified to fill many ecological
niches. They have a smaller brain than comparably sized simians, large
olfactory lobes for smell, and a vomeronasal organ to detect pheromones.
Their eyes contain a reflective layer to improve their night vision.
Lemurs have a toothcomb, a specialized set of teeth in the lower front
part of the mouth, mostly used for combing fur during grooming.
Strepsirrhines are primarily tree-dwelling, feeding on fruit, leaves,
and insects. Many are endangered by habitat destruction, poaching for
bushmeat, and live capture for the exotic pet trade.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1860:

South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to
secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the
Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America>

1951:

Experimental Breeder Reactor I near Arco, Idaho, US, became the
world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant when it
produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I>

1971:

Two groups of French doctors involved in humanitarian aid
merged to form Doctors Without Borders.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9decins_Sans_Fronti%C3%A8res>

1988:

The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances governing international
cooperation against the illegal drug trade was signed in Vienna.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Illicit_Traffic_in_Narcotic_Drugs_and_Psychotropic_Substances>

1999:

Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau, which it had
administered since the mid-16th century, to China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

tettix:
A cicada, especially one in Greece.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tettix>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all
sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't
care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you
there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard
as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you
can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep
moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're
worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing
to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you
wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that
ain't you. You're better than that!  
--Rocky Balboa
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rocky_Balboa_(film)>

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[Daily article] December 19: Mulholland Drive (film) Published On

Mulholland Drive is a 2001 American neo-noir mystery film written and
directed by David Lynch (pictured) and starring Justin Theroux, Naomi
Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, and Robert Forster. It tells the story
of an aspiring actress named Betty, newly arrived in Los Angeles, who
befriends an amnesiac woman hiding in an apartment that belongs to
Betty's aunt. The film includes seemingly unrelated vignettes that
eventually interlock, along with darkly comic scenes and images,
presented in Lynch's signature surreal style. Much of the filming took
place in 1999 as a television pilot. After it was rejected by television
executives, Lynch gave the pilot an ending and completed the project as
a feature film. The cryptic ending, which he declined to explain, has
left the general meaning of the film's events open to interpretation.
Mulholland Drive was acclaimed by critics and earned award nominations
for Lynch at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and 74th Academy Awards. The
film is now widely regarded as one of his finest works.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulholland_Drive_(film)>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1828:

Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John
C. Calhoun wrote the South Carolina Exposition and Protest to protest
the Tariff of 1828.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Exposition_and_Protest>

1843:

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

1941:

Second World War: Three Italian Royal Navy divers on manned
torpedoes detonated limpet mines on British Royal Navy ships, sinking
two battleships.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)>

1956:

Irish-born British physician John Bodkin Adams was arrested in
connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 of his patients,
although he was only convicted on minor charges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bodkin_Adams>

1986:

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev released dissident Andrei
Sakharov after six years of internal exile in Gorky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

humbug:
(slang) Balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/humbug>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may
be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to
live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the
Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry
brothers in the dust.  
--A Christmas Carol
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol>

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[Daily article] December 18: John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan Published On

John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (b. 18 December 1934), known as Lord
Lucan, disappeared without trace in 1974. Born in Marylebone, he
attended Eton College and served with the Coldstream Guards, later
becoming a professional gambler. Lucan had expensive tastes; he raced
power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica
Duncan, with whom he had three children, but the marriage collapsed in
1972 and he moved out of the family home in Belgravia. He lost a bitter
custody battle, began to spy on his wife and children, and incurred
gambling losses. In November 1974 the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett,
was murdered in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was
also attacked and she identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police
investigated, Lucan drove to a friend's house in East Sussex; hours
later, he left and was never seen again. The car was found with a blood-
stained interior and a lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene
in its boot. A warrant for his arrest was issued, but despite hundreds
of reported sightings, he has not been found and as of 2016 is legally
presumed dead.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bingham,_7th_Earl_of_Lucan>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1867:

In Angola, New York, U.S., the last coach of a Lake Shore
Railway train derailed, plunged 40 ft (12 m) down a gully, and caught
fire, resulting in 49 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_Horror>

1916:

The French defeated German forces around the city of Verdun-
sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest and one of the
bloodiest battles in the First World War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun>

1939:

Second World War: The Luftwaffe victory over the Royal Air
Force in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight greatly influenced both
sides' future air strategy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Heligoland_Bight_(1939)>

1966:

Epimetheus, one of the moons of Saturn, was discovered, but was
mistaken for Janus. It took twelve years to determine that they are two
distinct objects sharing the same orbit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimetheus_(moon)>

1996:

The school board of Oakland, California, passed a controversial
resolution officially declaring African American Vernacular English as a
separate language or dialect.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Ebonics_resolution>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

patroon:
(US) One of the landowning Dutch grandees of the Dutch colony of New
Amsterdam, especially after it became a British possession renamed as
New York.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/patroon>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The animal which the Egyptians worshipped as divine, which the
Romans venerated as a symbol of liberty, which Europeans in the ignorant
Middle Ages anathematised as an agent of demonology, has displayed to
all ages two closely blended characteristics — courage and self-
respect. No matter how unfavourable the circumstances, both qualities
are always to the fore. Confront a child, a puppy, and a kitten with a
sudden danger; the child will turn instinctively for assistance, the
puppy will grovel in abject submission to the impending visitation, the
kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance. … The cat of
the slums and alleys, starved, outcast, harried, still keeps amid the
prowlings of its adversity the bold, free, panther-tread with which it
paced of yore the temple courts of Thebes, still displays the self-
reliant watchfulness which man has never taught it to lay aside.  
--Saki
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saki>

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[Daily article] December 17: Final Fantasy XIII Published On

Final Fantasy XIII is a science fiction role-playing video game,
initially released by Square Enix for PlayStation 3 on December 17,
2009, and later for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, and mobile devices.
This edition in the series includes a new character-development system,
as well as the return of summoned monsters, the chocobo race, and
airships. The former soldier Lightning begins her fight along with a
band of allies to save her sister from both the government and a deadly
fate as an unwilling servant to a god-like being. Final Fantasy XIII is
the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine and is the
flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of games. It
received mostly positive reviews from video game publications for its
graphics, presentation, and battle system. The game's story received a
mixed response, and its linearity was criticized. Selling 1.7 million
copies in Japan in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest-selling
title in the history of the series. It sold over 7 million copies
overall and led to two sequel games.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1583:

Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeated the troops
under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Godesberg>

1862:

American Civil War: Union General Ulysses S. Grant issued
General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and
Kentucky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Order_No._11_(1862)>

1907:

Ugyen Wangchuck was crowned the first King of Bhutan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugyen_Wangchuck>

1926:

A coup d'état by the Lithuanian military replaced the
democratically elected President Kazys Grinius with Antanas Smetona.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_Lithuanian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>

2010:

Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in
protest to police harassment, triggering the Tunisian Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Bouazizi>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

keelhaul:
1. (transitive, nautical) To punish by dragging under the keel of a ship.
2. (transitive) To rebuke harshly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/keelhaul>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  God's ways seem dark, but, soon or late, They touch the shining
hills of day; The evil cannot brook delay, The good can well afford to
wait.  
--John Greenleaf Whittier
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Greenleaf_Whittier>

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[Daily article] December 16: Vincent van Gogh Published On

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter.
His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers,
contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguishes his later work.
In 1886 he moved to Paris where he met members of the avant-garde,
including Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the
Impressionist sensibility. As Van Gogh's work developed he created a new
approach to still lifes and local landscapes. In the south of France in
1888, he turned to painting olive trees, cypresses, wheat fields and
sunflowers, using brighter colours. Selling only one painting during his
lifetime, he was considered a madman and a failure, and committed
suicide at 37. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as
Fauvists and German Expressionists took up elements of his painting
style. He has attained widespread critical and popular acclaim, and is
remembered as an important but tragic painter. His works are among the
world's most expensive paintings.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1761:

Seven Years' War: Russian forces captured Kolberg, Prussia's
last port on the Baltic coast, after a four-month siege.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kolberg_(Seven_Years%27_War)>

1811:

The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes struck the
Midwestern United States and made the Mississippi River appear to run
backward.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%9312_New_Madrid_earthquakes>

1893:

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony (audio
featured) premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)>

1938:

Adolf Hitler instituted the Cross of Honour of the German
Mother as an order of merit for Imperial German women.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Honour_of_the_German_Mother>

1986:

Dinmukhamed Konayev was dismissed from the post of First
Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, sparking riots
throughout the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeltoqsan>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

middelmannetjie:
A ridge between ruts made by wheels in a dirt or gravel road.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/middelmannetjie>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The Information Age offers much to mankind, and I would like to
think that we will rise to the challenges it presents. But it is vital
to remember that information — in the sense of raw data — is not
knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not
foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these.
 
--Arthur C. Clarke
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke>

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[Daily article] December 15: Yugoslav torpedo boat T1 Published On

The Yugoslav torpedo boat T1 was a sea-going vessel operated by the
Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Launched on 15 December 1913
as a 250t-class torpedo boat for the Austro-Hungarian Navy under the
name 76 T, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm
(17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. The
vessel performed anti-submarine operations and convoy, escort and
minesweeping tasks during World War I. She was escorting the dreadnought
SMS Szent István when that ship was sunk by Italian torpedo boats in
June 1918. Following Austria-Hungary's defeat, the torpedo boat was
allocated to what became the Royal Yugoslav Navy. During the German-led
Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the vessel was captured by
the Italians. She served with the Royal Italian Navy, but was returned
to the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile following the Italian capitulation
in September 1943. She was commissioned by the Yugoslav Navy after World
War II and, after a refit, served as Golešnica until 1959.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_torpedo_boat_T1>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1161:

Emperor Hailing (bust pictured) of the Jin dynasty was
assassinated in a military camp near the Yangtze River front following
Jin losses in the Battle of Caishi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanyan_Liang>

1791:

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution,
collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights>

1906:

The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, a
14.17-kilometre (8.80 mi) long deep-level underground tube railway
connecting Hammersmith and Finsbury Park, London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern,_Piccadilly_and_Brompton_Railway>

1946:

US-backed Iranian troops brought an end to the Iran crisis when
they marched upon the breakaway Republic of Mahabad and recaptured the
territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_crisis_of_1946>

1961:

Former Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death after
being found guilty on fifteen criminal charges, including war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

stroopwafel:
A Dutch waffle made from two thin wafers with syrup in between.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stroopwafel>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  In this moment when we face horizons and conflicts wider than ever
before, we want our resources, the ways of strength. We look again to
the human wish, its faiths, the means by which the imagination leads us
to surpass ourselves. If there is a feeling that something has been
lost, it may be because much has not yet been used, much is still to be
found and begun. Everywhere we are told that our human resources are all
to be used, that our civilization itself means the uses of everything it
has — the inventions, the histories, every scrap of fact. But there is
one kind of knowledge — infinitely precious, time-resistant more than
monuments, here to be passed between the generations in any way it may
be: never to be used. And that is poetry.  
--Muriel Rukeyser
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muriel_Rukeyser>

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[Daily article] December 14: Under the Bridge Published On

"Under the Bridge" is a song by the American rock band Red Hot Chili
Peppers, released in 1992 as the second single from the group's fifth
studio album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis wrote the
lyrics to express feelings of loneliness and despondency, and to reflect
on the impact of narcotics on his life. He was reluctant to show his
band mates the lyrics, which were more emotional than the Chili Peppers'
usual style, but producer Rick Rubin insisted. The band was receptive,
and wrote the music. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot
100 and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of
America. The accompanying video was frequently played on music
television channels, and won the Viewer's Choice and Breakthrough Video
awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. The band's growing popularity
overwhelmed guitarist John Frusciante, who temporarily left them the
same year. The song is now considered a standard of the alternative rock
movement of the early and mid-1990s, and has been cited as an
inspiration by many artists.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

835:

In the Sweet Dew Incident, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty
conspired to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot
was foiled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Dew_Incident>

1836:

The Toledo War, the mostly bloodless boundary dispute between
Ohio and the adjoining Territory of Michigan, unofficially ended with a
resolution passed by the controversial "Frostbitten Convention".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War>

1911:

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first
people to reach the South Pole (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition>

1960:

Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of
the first Test between Australia and the West Indies, causing the first
tied Test in the history of cricket.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Meckiff>

2008:

During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist
Muntadhar al-Zaidi infamously threw his shoes at U.S. President George
W. Bush, yelling that "this is for the widows and orphans and all those
killed in Iraq".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntadhar_al-Zaidi>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

handlanger:
(South Africa) An unskilled assistant to an artisan.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/handlanger>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  In its original literal sense, "moral relativism" is simply moral
complexity. That is, anyone who agrees that stealing a loaf of bread to
feed one's children is not the moral equivalent of, say, shoplifting a
dress for the fun of it, is a relativist of sorts. But in recent years,
conservatives bent on reinstating an essentially religious vocabulary of
absolute good and evil as the only legitimate framework for discussing
social values have redefined "relative" as "arbitrary." That conflation
has been reinforced by social theorists and advocates of identity
politics who argue that there is no universal morality, only the value
systems of particular cultures and power structures.  
--Ellen Willis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellen_Willis>

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[Daily article] December 13: Ike Altgens Published On

Ike Altgens (April 28, 1919 – December 12, 1995) was an American
photojournalist, photo editor and field reporter for the Associated
Press (AP) who took two photographs that circulated worldwide after the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). Altgens was 19 when he
began his AP career, which was interrupted by military service during
World War II. When his service time ended, he returned to Dallas, Texas,
got married, and went back to work for the local AP bureau, eventually
earning a position as a senior editor. He was on assignment for the AP
when he captured two historic images on November 22, 1963. The second
photo, showing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy toward the rear of the
presidential limousine and Secret Service agent Clint Hill on its
bumper, was reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the
world. Within days, Altgens' preceding photo became controversial after
people began to question whether it showed accused assassin Lee Harvey
Oswald in the main doorway of the Texas School Book Depository as the
gunshots were fired at JFK.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1577:

Sir Francis Drake left Plymouth, England, with five ships and
164 men on his round-the-world voyage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake>

1862:

American Civil War: Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose
Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate
defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg>

1960:

With Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie out of the country,
four conspirators staged a coup attempt and installed Crown Prince Asfaw
Wossen as the new Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Ethiopian_coup_attempt>

1989:

The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army engaged in
a fierce firefight with the King's Own Scottish Borderers at a vehicle
checkpoint complex in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Derryard_checkpoint>

2006:

The baiji, a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River
in China, was announced as functionally extinct by leaders of the
Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiji>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

feague:
1. To increase the liveliness of a horse by inserting an irritant, such as
a piece of peeled raw ginger or a live eel, in its fundament.
2. (obsolete) To beat or whip; to drive.
3. (obsolete) To subject to some harmful scheme; to 'do in'. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feague>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  There are those... who enter the world in such poverty that they
are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot.
Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites
the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only
sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us,
who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.  
--Aga Khan IV
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_IV>

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[Daily article] December 12: Hydrus Published On

Hydrus is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. Its first
appearance was on a celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by
the astronomer Petrus Plancius and the cartographer Jodocus Hondius. The
first celestial atlas to depict it was Johann Bayer's Uranometria, in
1603. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille
charted the brighter stars and gave their Bayer designations in 1756.
Its name means "male water snake", as opposed to Hydra, a much larger
constellation that represents a female water snake. Hydrus remains below
the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere observers. The brightest star
is the 2.8-magnitude Beta Hydri, also the brightest star within 15° of
the south celestial pole. Pulsating between magnitude 3.26 and 3.33,
Gamma Hydri is a variable red giant some 60 times the diameter of our
Sun. Near it is VW Hydri, one of the brightest dwarf novae in the
heavens. Four star systems have been found to have exoplanets to date,
including HD 10180, which might bear up to nine planetary companions.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1531:

According to traditional Catholic accounts, the image of the
Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared imprinted on Juan Diego's
tilma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe>

1866:

England's worst mining disaster occurred when a series of
explosions caused by flammable gases ripped through the Oaks Colliery.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaks_explosion>

1941:

At a Nazi Party meeting in the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler
declared the imminent destruction of the Jewish race.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Chancellery_meeting_of_12_December_1941>

1956:

The Irish Republican Army began its Border Campaign, a
guerrilla campaign to overthrow British rule in Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Campaign_(Irish_Republican_Army)>

1988:

Three trains collided (scene pictured) near Clapham Junction
railway station in London, killing 35 people and injuring 484 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapham_Junction_rail_crash>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

cockalorum:
1. A menial, yet self-important person; a person who makes empty boasts.
2. Boastful speech, crowing.
3. A game similar to leapfrog.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cockalorum>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I have not come here with reference to any flag but that of
freedom. If your Union does not symbolize universal emancipation, it
brings no Union for me. If your Constitution does not guarantee freedom
for all, it is not a Constitution I can ascribe to. If your flag is
stained by the blood of a brother held in bondage, I repudiate it in the
name of God. I came here to witness the unfurling of a flag under which
every human being is to be recognized as entitled to his freedom.
Therefore, with a clear conscience, without any compromise of
principles, I accepted the invitation of the Government of the United
States to be present and witness the ceremonies that have taken place
today. And now let me give the sentiment which has been, and ever will
be, the governing passion of my soul: "Liberty for each, for all, and
forever!"  
--William Lloyd Garrison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Lloyd_Garrison>

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[Daily article] December 11: George Mason Published On

George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Virginia
planter, politician, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention
of 1787, one of three men who refused to sign. He served in the pro-
independence Fourth Virginia Convention of 1775 and the Fifth Virginia
Convention of 1776, during which he wrote much of the Virginia
Declaration of Rights; this later served as a basis for the Bill of
Rights, of which he has been deemed the father. Named one of his state's
delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Mason traveled to
Philadelphia, his only lengthy trip outside Virginia, and was active in
the convention for months before deciding he could not sign the final
draft. Although he lost his fight to add a bill of rights there, and
again at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788, his efforts led his
fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First
Congress in 1789, and it was ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died.
Long obscure, Mason is today recognized for his contributions to the
founding texts of Virginia and the United States.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

220:

Emperor Xian abdicated the throne and the Han dynasty broke
apart, beginning the Three Kingdoms period in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms>

1899:

Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated
the forces of the British Empire trying to relieve the Siege of
Kimberley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magersfontein>

1905:

In support of the December Uprising in Moscow, the Council of
Workers' Deputies of Kiev stage a mass uprising, establishing the
Shuliavka Republic (monument pictured) in the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuliavka_Republic>

1980:

The United States Congress enacted the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act to protect
people, families, communities and others from heavily contaminated toxic
waste sites that have been abandoned.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfund>

2006:

The first action in the Mexican Drug War took place as
President Felipe Calderón ordered Mexican military and Federal Police
units into the state of Michoacán.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

hedge sermon:
(Christianity, historical) An open-air religious service held by
Calvinists in the Low Countries during the Reformation, typically in
rural areas beyond the reach of civic authorities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hedge_sermon>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty,
and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.  
--George Mason
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Mason>

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[Daily article] December 10: Fantastic Adventures Published On

Fantastic Adventures was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction
magazine, edited by Ray Palmer and published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-
Davis. It was almost cancelled at the end of 1940, but the October 1940
issue had unexpectedly good sales, helped by a strong cover (pictured)
by J. Allen St. John for Robert Moore Williams' Jongor of Lost Land.
Fantastic Adventures soon developed a reputation for light-hearted and
whimsical stories. The cover art usually focused on melodramatic action
scenes; H.W. McCauley's covers, featuring glamorous, alluring women,
were among the most popular. In 1949 Palmer was replaced by Howard
Browne, who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about fantasy fiction.
Browne briefly managed to improve the quality of the fiction in
Fantastic Adventures, and the period around 1951 has been described as
the magazine's heyday. Browne lost interest when his plan to take
Amazing Stories more upmarket collapsed, however, and the magazine fell
back into predictability. In 1952, Ziff-Davis launched another fantasy
magazine, titled Fantastic, in a digest format; it was successful, and
in March 1953 they ended Fantastic Adventures in favor of Fantastic.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1799:

France became the first country to adopt the metric system as
its system for weights and measures.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system>

1898:

The Spanish–American War ended with the signing of the Treaty
of Paris, with Spain recognizing the independence of Cuba; and ceding
Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico to the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1898)>

1936:

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, desiring to marry American
socialite Wallis Simpson against widespread opposition, abdicated the
throne, the only British monarch to have voluntarily done so since the
Anglo-Saxon period.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis>

1941:

Second World War: Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers sank
the Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales (53) and
HMS Repulse (1916) east of Malaya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse>

1989:

At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia,
journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the
Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending
Communist rule four months later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsakhiagiin_Elbegdorj>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

clomp:
1. (transitive) To make a clomping sound (with some object).
2. (intransitive) To move in a way that makes loud noises with one's feet.
3. (intransitive, rare) To walk with wooden shoes.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clomp>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  I firmly believe people have hitherto been a great deal too much
taken up about doctrine and far too little about practice. The word
doctrine, as used in the Bible, means teaching of duty, not theory. I
preached a sermon about this. We are far too anxious to be definite and
to have finished, well-polished, sharp-edged systems — forgetting that
the more perfect a theory about the infinite, the surer it is to be
wrong, the more impossible it is to be right.  
--George MacDonald
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_MacDonald>

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[Daily article] December 9: Exsudoporus frostii Published On

Exsudoporus frostii, Frost's bolete, is a fungus first described in
1874. The mushrooms it produces have tubes and pores instead of gills on
the underside of their caps. E. frostii is distributed in the eastern
United States from Maine to Georgia and Arizona, and south to Mexico and
Costa Rica. It is typically found associating with hardwood trees,
especially oak. Its mushrooms can be recognized by their dark red sticky
caps, the red pores, the network-like pattern of the stem, and a
variable blue-staining reaction after tissue injury. Another
characteristic of young, moist fruit bodies is the amber-colored drops
exuded on the pore surface. Although the mushrooms are considered
edible, they are generally not recommended for consumption because of
the risk of confusion with other poisonous red-pored, blue-bruising
boletes. E. frostii may be distinguished from other superficially
similar red-capped boletes by differences in distribution, associated
tree species, bluing reaction, or morphology.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1872:

P. B. S. Pinchback took office as Governor of Louisiana, the
first African American governor of a U.S. state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._B._S._Pinchback>

1905:

Legislation establishing state secularism in France was passed
by the Chamber of Deputies of France, triggering civil disobedience by
French Catholics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_French_law_on_the_Separation_of_the_Churches_and_the_State>

1917:

First World War: Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman mayor of
Jerusalem, surrendered the city to the British.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jerusalem>

1948:

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide
Convention, which defines genocide in legal terms and advises its
signatories to prevent and punish such actions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention>

1968:

Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All
Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-
mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

hit point:
1. (chiefly role-playing games) A unit of damage, used to specify the
amount of damage a character can withstand before it is defeated.
2. (computer graphics) In ray tracing, the point in a scene at which a ray
strikes an object.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_point>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Godspeed, John Glenn.  
--Scott Carpenter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_Carpenter>

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[Daily article] December 8: Ernie Toshack Published On

Ernie Toshack (8 December 1914 – 11 May 2003) was an Australian
cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. He made his first-
class debut in 1945 as a left-arm medium paced bowler; his accuracy,
stamina, changes of pace, and movement in both directions confounded
batsmen. After only seven matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic
competition, he was selected for Australia's tour of New Zealand. In
Wellington, he opened the bowling in a match that was later classed as
an official Test match. He became a regular member of the Australian
team, playing in all of its Tests until the 1947–48 series against
India; he took a career-best 11 wickets for 31 runs in the First Test
but began to suffer recurring knee injuries. As a member of Don
Bradman's Invincibles team, which went undefeated on a tour of England
in 1948, Toshack played in the first four Tests before being injured
again. After a long convalescence, he attempted a comeback during
Australia's 1949–50 season, but further injury forced him to retire.
As a player, he was popular with crowds for his sense of humour.

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

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1660:

A woman appeared on stage as a professional actress in England
for the first time, most often credited to Margaret Hughes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hughes>

1880:

At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the
fulfilment of the decision to restore the South African Republic
government and volksraad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kruger>

1941:

The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied
Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto
Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che%C5%82mno_extermination_camp>

1991:

Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the Belavezha
Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States>

2010:

The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS (model pictured)
passed by Venus at about 80,800 km distance, completing its planned
mission to demonstrate solar sail technology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

tankie:
1. (slang) A tank engine.
2. (slang, historical, Britain) A member of the Communist Party of Great
Britain who slavishly agreed with the Soviet Union's policy of crushing
revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by
sending army tanks into these countries.
3. (slang, derogatory, by extension) A person acting as an apologist for
the brutal policies of Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), the leader of the
Soviet Union.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tankie>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.  
--Horace
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace>

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[Daily article] December 7: Pennsylvania-class battleship Published On

The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships,
Pennsylvania and Arizona, named after American states. They were the
newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First
World War, but saw limited use at the time. During the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, both ships were present. Arizona
suffered a massive magazine explosion and sank with the loss of 1,177
officers and crewmen; the remains now lie beneath a memorial site that
attracts more than two million visitors annually. Pennsylvania, in dry
dock at the time, received only minor damage; it spent most of the war
as a shore bombardment ship before participating in the October 1944
Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships.
Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, the
day before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, it was
used in Operation Crossroads, part of the Bikini atomic experiments,
before being expended as a target ship in 1948.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania-class_battleship>

_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:

1815:

Michel Ney, Marshal of France, was executed by a firing squad
near Paris' Jardin du Luxembourg for supporting Napoleon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Ney>

1869:

American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank
robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James>

1936:

Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to
score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fingleton>

1946:

The deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history happened at the
Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winecoff_Hotel_fire>

1988:

A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia,
killing at least 25,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake>

_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:

vehement:
Showing strong feelings; passionate; forceful or intense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vehement>

___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Hello my Country I once came to tell everyone your story Your
passion was my poetry And your past my most potent glory Your promise
was my prayer Your hypocrisy my nightmare And your problems fill my
present Are we both going somewhere?  
--Harry Chapin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Chapin>

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