The Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement in the spring of 1963
organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to draw
attention to the unequal treatment of black Americans in Birmingham,
Alabama. Organizers, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. (pictured) used
nonviolent direct action tactics, beginning with a boycott of
businesses. Sit-ins and marches followed, intended to provoke mass
arrests. After the campaign ran low on adult volunteers, high school,
college, and elementary students were trained to participate, resulting
in hundreds of arrests and greater media attention. To dissuade
demonstrators and control the protests the local police used water jets
and dogs on children and bystanders. In some cases, bystanders attacked
the police, who responded with force. Scenes of the ensuing mayhem
caused an international outcry, leading to intervention by the Kennedy
administration. By the end of the campaign, King's reputation surged,
the "Jim Crow" signs in Birmingham came down, and public places became
more open to blacks. The campaign brought national force to bear on the
issue of racial segregation and was a major factor in the push towards
the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_campaign>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Mount Tambora in Indonesia began one of the most violent
volcanic eruptions in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people,
and affecting worldwide temperatures for the next two years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora>
1868:
A British military expedition to Abyssinia culminated in a rout
of Ethiopians and the later suicide of Emperor Tewodros II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Expedition_to_Abyssinia>
1925:
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first
published.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby>
1970:
In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul
McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>
1992:
Nagorno-Karabakh War: At least 40 Armenian civilians were
massacred in Maraga, Azerbaijan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraga_Massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
popliteal:
(anatomy) Of the area behind the knee.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/popliteal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I know now that it was meant to be this way. Sometimes, we have
to look beyond what we want and do what's best. This is the path that
I've chosen. Let's talk about something else. …You've become a truly
great warrior … yet, you've remained humble. You've shown me that
power is nothing if not guided by love. And watching you grow has helped
me grow … That's why I'm here. in
--Dragon Ball GT
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_GT:_Season_2#Piccolo.27s_Decision>
The pilot episode of the American comedy television series Parks and
Recreation originally aired on April 9, 2009. It was written by series
co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, and directed by Daniels. The
episode introduces the protagonist Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler
(pictured), a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation
department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. Knope sets out to
turn a construction pit into a park after local nurse Ann Perkins
(Rashida Jones) complains about it. Her anti-government boss Ron Swanson
(Nick Offerman) reluctantly allows her to form an exploratory committee
after her friend and colleague Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider)
secretly intervenes. Daniels and Schur began writing the script in the
summer of 2008, when they were in the early stages of conceiving the
series. The episode received generally mixed reviews, although Poehler
was widely praised by most television critics. According to Nielsen
Media Research, it was watched by 6.77 million households in its
original airing. Like the rest of the series, it was filmed in the same
mockumentary style as The Office, the NBC comedy series also created by
Daniels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(Parks_and_Recreation)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1413:
Henry V, who is featured in three plays by William Shakespeare,
was crowned King of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England>
1917:
First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of
attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge>
1940:
During the German invasion of Norway, Vidkun Quisling seized
control of the government in a Nazi-backed coup d'état.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling>
1959:
NASA announced the selection of the Mercury Seven (pictured),
the first astronauts in Project Mercury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Seven>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the
statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firdos_Square_statue_destruction>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
unheralded:
Without prior warning; unexpected or unannounced.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unheralded>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.
--Francis Bacon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon>
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones on record to
affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a
tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and slowly
strengthened as it moved northwestward, developing into a major
hurricane. While paralleling the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United
States, the storm produced strong winds and rough seas that caused minor
coastal flooding and slight damage to houses. It made landfall on Long
Island, New York, and Connecticut on August 31 near peak intensity.
Early on the following day, Carol transitioned into an extratropical
cyclone over New Hampshire. In New York, storm surge flooded LaGuardia
Airport and inundated Montauk Highway, leaving the eastern portion of
Long Island isolated. There were 65 deaths and 1,000 injuries in New
England. About 150,000 people were left without electricity in the
region, and over 1,500 houses were destroyed. Overall, Carol caused
68 fatalities and damage totaled about $460 million (1954 USD),
making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time. Following
the storm, Carol became the first name to be removed from the naming
lists in the Atlantic basin.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Carol>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1271:
The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers to
the army of the Mamluk sultan Baibars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers>
1740:
War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the
Spanish ship of the line Princesa and mustered her into British service.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_(1740)>
1904:
British occultist and writer Aleister Crowley began
transcribing The Book of the Law, a Holy Book in Thelema.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Law>
1911:
Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered
superconductivity.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity>
2008:
The wind turbines at the Bahrain World Trade Center (pictured),
the first building to incorporate turbines into its design, became
operational.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain_World_Trade_Center>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
cross swords:
(idiomatic) To quarrel or argue with someone, to have a dispute with
someone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cross_swords>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life is short, short, brother! Ain't it the truth? And there is
no other Ain't it the truth? You gotta rock that rainbow while you still
got your youth! Oh! Ain't it the solid truth?
--Yip Harburg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg>
Canis Minor is a small constellation in the northern celestial
hemisphere. In the second century, it was included as an asterism, or
pattern, of two stars in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted
among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "smaller dog"
(1801 illustration shown) in contrast to Canis Major, the "larger dog".
Canis Minor contains only two stars brighter than fourth magnitude,
Procyon and Gomeisa. Procyon is the seventh-brightest star in the night
sky, as well as one of the closest. A yellow-white main sequence star,
it has a white dwarf companion. Gomeisa is a blue-white main sequence
star. Luyten's Star is a ninth-magnitude red dwarf and the Solar
System's next closest stellar neighbour in the constellation after
Procyon. The fourth-magnitude HD 66141, which has evolved into an orange
giant towards the end of its life cycle, was discovered to have a planet
in 2012. Known as Thor's Helmet or the Duck Nebula, NGC 2359 is a tenth-
magnitude nebula surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star. There are two faint deep
sky objects within the constellation's borders. The 11 Canis-Minorids
are a meteor shower that can be seen in early December.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Minor>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1788:
American pioneers established the town of Marietta (in modern
Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original
Thirteen Colonies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pioneers_to_the_Northwest_Territory>
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederates at the
Battle of Shiloh, the bloodiest battle in U.S. history at the time, in
Hardin County, Tennessee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh>
1948:
The United Nations established the World Health Organization to
act as a coordinating authority on international public health.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization>
1955:
Aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally in
his old age, Winston Churchill retired as Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill>
2010 - Thousands rioted in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek resulting in
the collapse of the Kurmanbek Bakiyev government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyz_Revolution_of_2010>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lollapalooza:
(informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lollapalooza>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I call that mind free, which jealously guards its intellectual
rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content
itself with a passive or hereditary faith, which opens itself to light
whencesoever it may come, which receives new truth as an angel from
heaven.
--William Ellery Channing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Ellery_Channing>
Carmen is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet,
first performed on 3 March 1875. It was not at first particularly
successful and Bizet knew nothing of its later success as he died before
its initial run was concluded. The opera tells the story of the downfall
of Don José, a naive soldier seduced by the fiery gypsy Carmen (first
played by Célestine Galli-Marié, pictured in costume). José abandons
his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses
Carmen's love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo after which José
kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life,
immorality and lawlessness, and the tragic outcome, broke new ground in
French opera, and after the premiere most reviews were critical. Carmen
initially gained its reputation outside France, and was not revived in
Paris until 1883; thereafter it rapidly acquired celebrity at home and
abroad, and continues to be one of the most frequently performed operas.
The music of Carmen has been widely acclaimed for its brilliance of
melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for the skill with
which Bizet represented musically the emotions and suffering of his
characters.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1652:
Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck established the first permanent
European settlement in South Africa at what eventually became known as
Cape Town.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town>
1793:
French Revolution: The Committee of Public Safety was
established, and would become the de facto executive government during
the forthcoming Reign of Terror.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety>
1808:
John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, the profits
from which would make him the United States' first multi-millionaire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor>
1893:
The Salt Lake Temple, the largest of more than 140 temples of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was dedicated in Salt
Lake City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_Temple>
2010:
Rebels from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) ambushed a
Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Dantewada district, India,
killing 76 CRPF officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2010_Maoist_attack_in_Dantewada>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lek:
(biology) An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship
and display.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lek>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
No one could have less faith in the absolute and definitive
importance of the work created by man, because I believe that this world
is nothing but a dream.
--Gustave Moreau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Moreau>
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (1863–1950) was the eldest
daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and his first
wife Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Victoria married Prince Louis
of Battenberg, her father's first cousin and an officer in the UK's
Royal Navy, in a love match and lived most of her married life in
various parts of Europe at her husband's naval posts and visiting her
many royal relations. She was perceived by her family as liberal in
outlook, straightforward, practical and bright. During World War I, two
of her sisters who had married into the Russian imperial family were
murdered by communist revolutionaries, and she and her husband abandoned
their German titles and adopted the British-sounding surname of
Mountbatten, which was simply a translation into English of the German
"Battenberg". She was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Victoria_of_Hesse_and_by_Rhine>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1081:
The Komnenian dynasty came to full power when Alexios I
Komnenos was crowned Byzantine Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos>
1609:
Forces of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma captured the
castle on Ryukyu Island, beginning the process that turned the Ryukyu
Kingdom into a vassal state under Satsuma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Ryukyu>
1847:
Britain's first civic public park, Birkenhead Park in
Birkenhead, Merseyside, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkenhead_Park>
1900:
Archaeologists led by Arthur Evans in Knossos, Crete,
discovered a large cache of clay tablets with a script used for writing
Mycenaean Greek now known as Linear B.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B>
2009:
The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from
the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking
concerns by other nations that it may have been a trial run of
technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
reptilianness:
The quality of the embodiment of reptile characteristics.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reptilianness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
In any country, regardless of what its laws say, wherever people
act upon the idea that the disadvantage of one man is the good of
another, there slavery exists. Wherever, in any country the whole people
feel that the happiness of all is dependent upon the happiness of the
weakest, there freedom exists.
--Booker T. Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>
Maya Angelou (born 1928) is an American author and poet. She has
published six autobiographies, five books of essays, several books of
poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television
shows spanning more than fifty years. She has received dozens of awards
and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her
series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult
experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of
her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international
recognition and acclaim. Angelou's list of occupations includes pimp,
prostitute, night-club dancer and performer, castmember of the musical
Porgy and Bess, coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, author, journalist in Egypt and Ghana
during the days of decolonization, and actor, writer, director, and
producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1993,
Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill
Clinton's inauguration, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural
recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1287:
Wareru created the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in today's Lower Burma
and declared himself king following the collapse of the Pagan Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wareru>
1873:
The Kennel Club, the oldest kennel club in the world, was
founded in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kennel_Club>
1949:
Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO,
an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby
its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by
any external party.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO>
1973:
The World Trade Center in New York City was officially
dedicated, about a year after the second of the building complex's twin
towers was completed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center>
1988:
Governor of Arizona Evan Mecham was removed from office after
being convicted in his impeachment trial.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
roundabout:
Indirect, circuitous or circumlocutionary; that does not do something in
a direct way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roundabout>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace
the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.
--William Gladstone
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Gladstone>
Thomas C. Kinkaid (1888–1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy
during World War II. Born into a naval family, he graduated from the
U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. He saw action during the 1916 occupation of
the Dominican Republic, and in World War I, when he was attached to the
Royal Navy. During World War II, his cruisers defended the aircraft
carriers USS Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea and
USS Hornet during the Battle of Midway. He then took command of Task
Force 16, built around the carrier USS Enterprise, during the long and
difficult Solomon Islands campaign. He commanded the North Pacific Force
during operations that regained control of the Aleutian Islands. In
November 1943, he became Commander Allied Naval Forces in the Southwest
Pacific Area, and Commander of the Seventh Fleet, directing U.S. and
Australian forces supporting the New Guinea and the Philippine
campaigns, during which he conducted numerous amphibious operations. He
commanded an Allied fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the last
naval battle between battleships. He continued in service after the war
until his retirement in 1950.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Kinkaid>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed
in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of
London, occurred.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders>
1936:
Richard Hauptmann was executed in the electric chair for the
kidnapping and murder of the "Lindbergh baby".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hauptmann>
1948:
An uprising began on Jeju Island, eventually leading to the
deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000 individuals due to fighting between
its various factions, and the violent suppression of the rebellion by
the South Korean army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_Uprising>
1973:
On a New York City street, Motorola researcher Martin Cooper
made the first public call on a handheld mobile phone.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Cooper_(inventor)>
1981:
The Osborne 1 (pictured), the first successful portable
computer, was unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San
Francisco.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snail mail:
(retronym) Postal mail, especially as compared to email.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snail_mail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Humanity will ever seek but never attain perfection. Let us at
least survive and go on trying.
--Dora Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dora_Russell>
Neville Cardus (1888–1975) was an English writer and critic. He became
cricket correspondent of The Manchester Guardian in 1919, and its chief
music critic in 1927, holding both posts until 1940. His contributions
to these two distinct fields in the years before the Second World War
established his reputation as one of the foremost critics of his
generation. He considered music criticism as his principal vocation.
Without any formal musical training, he was initially influenced by
Samuel Langford and Ernest Newman, but developed his own individual
style of criticism—subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast to
the objective analysis practised by Newman. Cardus's opinions and
judgments were often forthright and unsparing, which sometimes caused
friction with leading performers. Nevertheless his personal charm and
gregarious manner enabled him to form lasting friendships in the
cricketing and musical worlds, with among others Newman, Thomas Beecham
and Donald Bradman. Cardus spent the Second World War years in
Australia, where he wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald and gave regular
radio talks. In his last years he became an inspirational figure to
aspiring young writers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Cardus>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León reached Florida,
becoming the first European known to do so, purportedly while searching
for the Fountain of Youth in the New World.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n>
1801:
War of the Second Coalition: British forces led by Vice Admiral
Horatio Nelson defeated the Dano-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of
Copenhagen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen>
1885:
North-West Rebellion: Led by Wandering Spirit, young Cree
warriors attacked the village of Frog Lake, North-West Territories (now
in Alberta), where they killed nine settlers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Lake_Massacre>
1973:
The LEXIS computer-assisted legal research service launched as
a continuation of an experiment organized by the Ohio State Bar in 1967.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LexisNexis>
1982:
Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking
the Falklands War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_invasion_of_the_Falkland_Islands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
prosopagnosia:
A form of visual agnosia characterised by difficulty with face
recognition despite intact low-level visual processing.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prosopagnosia>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate.
You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today.
--Marvin Gaye
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye>