The first-move advantage in chess refers to the inherent advantage of
the player (called White) who makes the first move in chess. Chess
players and theorists generally agree that White begins the game with
some advantage. Statistics compiled since 1851 support this view,
showing that White consistently wins slightly more often than Black,
usually scoring between 53 and 56 percent. Chess players and
theoreticians have debated whether, given perfect play by both sides,
the game should end in a win for White or a draw. Since at least 1889,
when World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz addressed the issue, the
overwhelming consensus has been that a game of chess should end in a
draw with best play. However, a few notable players have argued that
White's advantage may be sufficient to win: Weaver Adams and Vsevolod
Rauzer claimed that White is winning after the first move 1.e4, while
Hans Berliner argued that 1.d4 may win for White. It is possible that
computers will eventually resolve the debate by determining the correct
outcome of a perfectly played game of chess. Since 1988, chess
theorists have challenged previously well-established views about
White's advantage. Grandmaster András Adorján wrote a series of
successful books on the theme that "Black is OK!", arguing that the
general perception that White has an advantage is founded more in
psychology than reality.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1556:
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer , one of the founders of
Anglicanism, was burnt at the stake in Oxford, England for heresy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer>
1800:
Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made
of papier-mâché.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_VII>
1804:
The Napoleonic code, the French civil code established under Napoleon,
entered into force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_code>
1960:
Police in Sharpeville, South Africa opened fire on a group of unarmed
black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing almost 70
people and wounding about 180 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre>
1989:
An article in Sports Illustrated alleged that Pete Rose, the Manager of
the Cincinnati Reds, was involved in baseball gambling.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rose>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hematophagy (n):
The practice, of some animals, of feeding on blood
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hematophagy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If Spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst
forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder
and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous
change! But now the silent succession suggests nothing but necessity.
To most men only the cessation of the miracle would be miraculous and
the perpetual exercise of God's power seems less wonderful than its
withdrawal would be.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow>
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester,
England. In 2007, the population of the Manchester local government
district was estimated to be 458,100, whilst the surrounding
Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester had an estimated population
of 2,562,200. Forming part of the English Core Cities Group, often
described as the second city of the UK, and the "Capital of the North",
Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education
and commerce. In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006,
Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a
business. Manchester was the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and
among its other sporting connections are its two Premier League
football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United. Historically,
most of the city was a part of Lancashire, with areas south of the
River Mersey being in Cheshire. Manchester was the world's first
industrialised city and played a central role during the Industrial
Revolution. Manchester City Centre is now on a tentative list of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites, mainly due to the network of canals and mills
constructed during its 19th-century development.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
After escaping from his exile in Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte entered
Paris, officially beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days>
1852:
American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was first
published, profoundly affecting attitudes toward African Americans and
slavery in the United States, and further intensifying the sectional
conflict leading to the American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin>
1883:
Eleven countries signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property, one of the first intellectual property treaties.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Industr…>
1987:
The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first antiviral
medication approved for use against HIV and AIDS.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zidovudine>
1995:
The Aum Shinrikyo sect carried out a poison gas attack on the Tokyo
Subway, killing 12 people and injuring thousands of others with sarin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bluster (v):
1. To speak or protest loudly.
2. To blow in strong or sudden gusts
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bluster>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and
discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one —
the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.
--Arthur C. Clarke
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke>
Gyromitra esculenta is an ascomycete fungus from the genus Gyromitra,
widely distributed across Europe and North America and one of several
species of fungi known as false morels. It normally sprouts in sandy
soils under coniferous trees, in spring and early summer. The fruiting
body, or mushroom, is an irregular brain-shaped cap dark brown in
colour which can reach 10 cm (4 in) high and 15 cm (6 in) wide, perched
on a stout white stipe up to 6 cm (2.4 in) high. Although potentially
fatal if eaten raw, Gyromitra esculenta is a popular delicacy in
Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the upper Great Lakes region of North
America. It may be sold fresh in Finland, but it must be accompanied by
warnings and instructions on correct preparation. It is eaten in
omelettes, soups, or sautéed in Finnish cuisine. Once popular in the
Pyrenees, it is now prohibited from sale for consumption in Spain.
Although it is still commonly consumed after parboiling, recent
evidence suggests that even this procedure may not make the fungus
entirely safe; thus raising concerns of risk even when prepared
properly. When consumed, the false morel's principal active agent,
gyromitrin, is metabolized into the toxic compound monomethylhydrazine.
The toxin affects the liver, central nervous system, and sometimes the
kidneys.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyromitra_esculenta>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1279:
The Song Dynasty in Imperial China ended with a victory by the Yuan
Dynasty at the Battle of Yamen off the coast of Xinhui, Guangdong
Province.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yamen>
1687:
The search for the mouth of the Mississippi River led by French
explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle ended with a mutiny
and his murder in present-day Texas.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9-Robert_Cavelier%2C_Sieur_de_La_Salle>
1945:
World War II: A single Japanese aircraft hit the American aircraft
carrier USS Franklin , killing over 700 of her crew and crippling the
ship.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Franklin_%28CV-13%29>
1978:
In response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the United Nations
called on Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon, and
established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_425>
1982:
Argentine forces led by Alfredo Astiz occupied South Georgia,
precipitating the Falklands War against the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Georgia_and_the_South_Sandwich_Islands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mandarin (n):
1. (historical) A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
2. A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mandarin>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause;
He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made
laws.
--Richard Francis Burton
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton>
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations
are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large
problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved
concurrently. There are several different forms of parallel computing:
bit-level-, instruction-level-, data-, and task parallelism. As power
consumption by computers has become a concern in recent years, parallel
computing has become the dominant paradigm in computer architecture,
mainly in the form of multicore processors. Parallel computers can be
roughly classified according to the level at which the hardware
supports parallelism—with multi-core and multi-processor computers
having multiple processing elements within a single machine, while
clusters, MPPs, and grids use multiple computers to work on the same
task. Parallel computer programs are more difficult to write than
sequential ones, because concurrency introduces several new classes of
potential software bugs, of which race conditions are the most common.
Communication and synchronization between the different subtasks are
typically one of the greatest obstacles to getting good parallel
program performance. The speed-up of a program as a result of
parallelization is given by Amdahl's law.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_computing>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1229:
Sixth Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II crowned himself King of
Jerusalem, although his wife Queen Yolande of Jerusalem had died,
leaving their infant son Conrad as the rightful heir.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1871:
French President Adolphe Thiers ordered the evacuation of Paris after
an uprising broke out as the result of France's defeat in the
Franco–Prussian War, leading to the establishment of the Paris Commune
government.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune>
1892:
Canadian Governor General Frederick Stanley of Preston pledged to
donate what would become the Stanley Cup , today the oldest
professional sports trophy in North America, as an award for Canada's
top-ranking amateur ice hockey club.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup>
1915:
World War I: In one of the largest naval battles in the Gallipoli
Campaign, a joint British and French operation to capture
Constantinople, the defences of the Ottoman Empire sunk three Allied
battleships and severely damaged three others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_operations_in_the_Dardanelles_Campaign>
1965:
Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov donned a space suit and ventured outside the
Voskhod 2 spacecraft, becoming the first person to walk in space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clairvoyant (adj):
1. Of, or relating to clairvoyance.
2. Able to see things that cannot be perceived by the normal
senses.
3. Able to foresee the future
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clairvoyant>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause,
while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.
--Wilhelm Stekel
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Stekel>
On November 11, 1960, a failed coup attempt against President Ngo Dinh
Diem of South Vietnam was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong and
Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The
rebels launched the coup in response to Diem's autocratic rule and the
negative political influence of his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and his
sister-in-law Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu. After initially being trapped inside
the Independence Palace, Diem stalled the coup by holding negotiations
and promising reforms. However, his real aim was to buy time for
loyalist forces to enter Saigon and relieve him. The coup failed when
the Fifth and Seventh Divisions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
entered Saigon and defeated the rebels. More than four hundred
people—many of whom were spectating civilians—were killed in the
ensuing battle. Dong and Thi fled to Cambodia, while Diem excoriated
the United States for a perceived lack of support during the crisis.
Afterwards, Diem ordered a crackdown, imprisoning numerous
anti-government critics and former cabinet ministers. A trial for those
implicated in the plot was held in 1963. Seven officers and two
civilians were sentenced to death in absentia, while 14 officers and 34
civilians were jailed.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1958:
Vanguard 1 , the first solar-powered satellite, was launched. It is the
oldest human-launched object still in Earth orbit today.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_1>
1969:
Golda Meir of the Labor Party became the first female Prime Minister of
Israel.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir>
2004:
Unrest in Kosovo broke out, resulting in more than 20 killed, 200
wounded, and the destruction of several Serb Orthodox churches and
shrines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_unrest_in_Kosovo>
45 BC:
Caesar's civil war: Julius Caesar scored his final military victory at
the Battle of Munda, defeating the Optimate forces of Titus Labienus
and Pompey the Younger.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Munda>
624:
History of Islam: The Muslims of Medina defeated the Quraysh of Mecca
in Badr, present-day Saudi Arabia, a victory that has been attributed
to divine intervention or the genius of Muhammad.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Badr>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
shamrock (n):
1. The trefoil leaf of any small clover, especially Trifolium repens,
or of any clover-like plant.
2. Any of several small forms of clover with trefoil leaves,
especially Trifolium repens
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shamrock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Let anyone laugh and taunt if he so wishes. I am not keeping silent,
nor am I hiding the signs and wonders that were shown to me by the Lord
many years before they happened, who knew everything, even before the
beginning of time.
--Saint Patrick
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick>
The Chaser APEC pranks were a series of comic stunts that targeted the
2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit, which
occured from 2–9 September, in Sydney, Australia. They were coordinated
and performed by the Australian satire group The Chaser for the
television series The Chaser's War on Everything. The most prominent
prank was the breach of an APEC restricted zone in the heart of
Sydney's CBD on 6 September. Julian Morrow directed a fake Canadian
motorcade, which was allowed through the restricted zone by police and
not detected until Chas Licciardello alighted, dressed as Osama bin
Laden. Although pranks that involved public locations, figures, and
organisations were always a feature of the series, the APEC pranks
yielded unprecedented local and international publicity, both positive
and negative. Some team members faced charges for breaching the APEC
zone, but these were dropped because police had allowed their entry in
the restricted zone. Other less controversial and less publicised
stunts were also shown on The Chaser's War on Everything, with ratings
peaking at almost three million Australian viewers for the APEC wrap-up
episode.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chaser_APEC_pranks>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
The Long Parliament, originally called by King Charles I of England in
1640 following the Bishops' Wars, dissolved itself.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Parliament>
1802:
U.S. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the establishment of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, today the world's largest public
engineering, design and construction management agency.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Corps_of_Engineers>
1926:
At the then-Asa Ward Farm in Auburn, Massachusetts, American scientist
Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, a
10-foot (3 m) cylinder that reached an altitude of about 41 feet (12 m)
and flew for two-and-a-half seconds before falling to the ground.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard>
1968:
Vietnam War: American soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in
the Sơn Mỹ village in the Sơn Tịnh district of South Vietnam.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre>
1978:
The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz split in two after running aground on
Portsall Rocks, about 3 miles (5 km) off the coast of Brittany, France,
resulting in one of the largest oil spills ever.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoco_Cadiz>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
despotic (adj):
1. Of or pertaining to a despot or tyrant.
2. Acting or ruling as a depot, tyrannical
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/despotic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of
oppression. In our Governments, the real power lies in the majority of
the Community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be
apprehended, not from the acts of Government contrary to the sense of
its constituents, but from acts in which the Government is the mere
instrument of the major number of the Constituents.
--James Madison
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Madison>
The Log from the Sea of Cortez is a book written by John Steinbeck,
published in 1951, which details a six-week marine specimen-collecting
boat expedition he made in 1940 at various sites in the Gulf of
California (also known as the Sea of Cortez), with his friend, marine
biologist Ed Ricketts. It is regarded as one of Steinbeck's most
important works of non-fiction chiefly because of the involvement of
Ricketts, who shaped Steinbeck's thinking and provided the prototype
for many of the pivotal characters in his fiction, and the insights it
gives into the philosophies of the two men. The Log from the Sea of
Cortez is the narrative portion of an unsuccessful earlier work, Sea of
Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research, which was published
by Steinbeck and Ricketts shortly after their return from the Gulf of
California, and combined the journals of the collecting expedition,
reworked by Steinbeck, with Ricketts' species catalogue. After
Ricketts' death in 1948, Steinbeck dropped the species catalogue from
the earlier work and republished it with a eulogy to his friend added
as a foreword.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Log_from_the_Sea_of_Cortez>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
American Revolutionary War: A British force under General Lord
Cornwallis, numbering 1,900, fought 4,400 American troops under Rhode
Island native General Nathanael Greene at the Battle of Guilford Court
House inside present-day Greensboro, North Carolina.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guilford_Court_House>
1877:
Cricketers representing England and Australia began the first match in
Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Test_cricket_from_1877_to_1883%23Th…>
1917:
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate in the February
Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia>
1943:
World War II: German forces recaptured Kharkov after four days of
house-to-house fighting against Soviet troops, ending the month-long
Third Battle of Kharkov.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Kharkov>
1985:
The company Symbolics became the first ever entity, individual or party
to register a .com top-level domain name: symbolics.com.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.com>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rive (v):
1. To rend asunder by force; to split or cleave.
2. To be split or rent asunder
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rive>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As long as our government is administered for the good of the people,
and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights
of person and property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it
will be worth defending.
--Andrew Jackson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson>
Chelsea Football Club are a professional English football club based in
West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have
spent most of their history in the top tier of English football.
Chelsea have been English champions three times, and have won the FA
Cup four times, the League Cup four times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
twice. The club had their first major success in 1955, winning the
league championship. Chelsea won several cup competitions during the
1960s and 1970s, but after that did not win another major title until
1997. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s
history, capped by winning consecutive Premier League titles in 2005
and 2006, and reaching their first UEFA Champions League final in 2008.
Chelsea's home is the 42,500-person-capacity Stamford Bridge football
stadium in Fulham, West London, where they have played since their
establishment. Despite their name, the club are based just outside the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the London Borough of
Hammersmith and Fulham. Chelsea's traditional kit colours are royal
blue shirts and shorts with white socks.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C.>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
British Royal Navy Admiral John Byng was court-martialled and executed
by firing squad for breaching the Articles of War when he failed to "do
his utmost" during the Battle of Minorca at the start of the Seven
Years' War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng>
1794:
American inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin (pictured), the
first ever machine that quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from
their seedpods.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cotton_gin>
1945:
The British Royal Air Force first used the Grand Slam, a 22,000 lb
(9.98 t) earth quake bomb, on strategic railroad viaduct in Bielefeld,
Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_bomb>
1991:
The "Birmingham Six", wrongly convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub
bombings in Birmingham, England, were released after sixteen years in
prison.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Six>
1994:
Version 1.0.0 of the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel, was
released, becoming one of the most prominent examples of open Source
software.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
guerdon (n):
(now literary) A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guerdon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Today we must abandon competition and secure cooperation. This must be
the central fact in all our considerations of international affairs;
otherwise we face certain disaster. Past thinking and methods did not
prevent world wars. Future thinking must prevent wars ... The stakes
are immense, the task colossal, the time is short. But we may hope — we
must hope — that man’s own creation, man’s own genius, will not destroy
him.
--Albert Einstein
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>
Megatokyo is an English-language webcomic created by Fred Gallagher and
Rodney Caston, debuting on August 14, 2000, and then written and
illustrated solely by Gallagher since July 17, 2002. Gallagher's style
of writing and illustrations is heavily influenced by Japanese manga.
Megatokyo is freely available on its official website, with updates on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is among the most popular webcomics,
and is currently published in book-format by CMX, although the first
three volumes are published by Dark Horse. Sales of the comic's print
editions rank it as the best selling original English-language manga.
Set in a fictional version of Tokyo, Megatokyo portrays the adventures
of Piro, a young fan of anime and manga, and his friend Largo, an
American video game enthusiast. The comic often parodies and comments
on the archetypes and clichés of anime, manga, dating sims and video
games, occasionally making direct references to real-world works.
Megatokyo originally emphasized humor, with continuity of the story a
subsidiary concern. Over time, it focused more on developing a complex
plot and the personalities of its characters. This transition was due
primarily to Gallagher's increasing control over the comic, which led
to Caston choosing to leave the project. Megatokyo has received praise
from such sources as The New York Times, while negative criticism of
Gallagher's changes to the comic has been given by sources including
Websnark.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatokyo>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1781:
German-born British astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered
the planet Uranus while in the garden of his house in Bath, Somerset,
England, thinking it was a comet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus>
1845:
German composer Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, one of the most
popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time, was
first played in Leipzig, with violinist Ferdinand David as soloist.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_%28Mendelssohn%29>
1943:
The Holocaust: Nazi troops under SS Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth began
liquidating the Jewish Ghetto in Kraków, Poland, sending about 8,000
Jews deemed able to work to the Plaszow labor camp. Those deemed unfit
for work were either killed or sent to die at the Auschwitz
concentration camp.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_Ghetto>
1954:
Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap unleashed a massive artillery
barrage on the French military to begin the Battle of Dien Bien Phu,
the climactic battle in the First Indochina War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu>
1996:
In the deadliest attack on children in the history of the United
Kingdom, a spree killer killed sixteen children and a teacher at a
primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, before committing suicide.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
underpin (v):
1. To support from below with props or masonry.
2. (figuratively) To give support to; to corroborate
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/underpin>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Don’t give up! I believe in you all
A person’s a person, no matter how small!
And you very small
persons will not have to die
If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!
--Dr. Seuss
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss>
Lazare Ponticelli (1897–2008) was the longest-surviving officially
recognized veteran of the First World War from France and the last
poilu of its trenches to die. Born in Italy, he moved to France in
1906, and lied about his age to join the French Army in 1914. Italy
entered the War in 1915, and subsequently Ponticelli was transferred to
its army when authorities discovered his true ancestry. After the War,
he and his brothers founded the piping and metal work company
"Ponticelli Frères" ("Ponticelli Brothers"), which produced supplies
for the Second World War effort and as of 2009 is still in business.
Ponticelli was the oldest living man of Italian birth and the oldest
man living in France. Every Armistice Day until 2007, he attended
ceremonies honoring deceased veterans. In his later years, he
criticized war and stored his bravery awards from the First World War
in a shoe box. While he felt unworthy of the state funeral the French
government offered him, he eventually accepted one. However he asked
for the emphasis of the procession to be on the common soldiers who
died on the battlefield. French president Nicolas Sarkozy honored his
wish, and dedicated a plaque to them at the procession.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazare_Ponticelli>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1881:
Andrew Watson made his debut with the Scotland national football team
and became the world's first black international football player.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Watson_%28footballer%29>
1930:
Gandhi began the Dandi March (pictured), a 24-day walk to defy the
British tax on salt in colonial India.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Satyagraha>
1938:
Anschluss: Austria was occupied by the Wehrmacht, and subsequently
became Ostmark, a province within the German Reich.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss>
1947:
The Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman
Doctrine to help stem the spread of Communism.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Doctrine>
1993:
A series of thirteen coordinated bomb explosions took place in Bombay,
India, killing over 250 civilians and injuring over 700 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Bombay_bombings>
2003:
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated in Belgrade.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Zoran_%C4%90in%C4%91i%C4%87>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
frumpy (adj):
1. Dowdy, unkempt, or unfashionable.
2. (dated) Ill- or bad-tempered
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frumpy>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind
together.
--Jack Kerouac
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac>