The South American dreadnought race took place in the early twentieth
century between Argentina, Brazil and Chile—the three most powerful
and wealthy countries in South America. In 1906 the revolutionary
British warship HMS Dreadnought made all existing battleships obsolete.
Brazil ordered three Minas Geraes-class dreadnoughts (lead ship
pictured). These warships would be the most powerful in the world. The
incomplete third vessel was sold to the Ottoman Empire in 1913 over
economic concerns and a fear that it would be outclassed by even larger
super-dreadnoughts. Meanwhile, Argentina and Chile ordered two
dreadnoughts each: of the Rivadavia class in 1910 and Almirante Latorre
class in 1911, respectively. The outbreak of World War I ended the
naval arms race. The Brazilian super-dreadnought Riachuelo was canceled,
the two Chilean dreadnoughts were purchased by the British, and
Argentina's two dreadnoughts were completed in US yards. (This article
is part of a featured topic: South American dreadnought race.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/South_American_drea…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1936:
English mathematician Alan Turing published the first details
of the Turing machine (model pictured), an abstract device that can
simulate the logic of any computer algorithm by manipulating symbols.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing>
1954:
A meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, Alabama, and
hit a sleeping woman in the first verified case of a human being injured
by an extraterrestrial object.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylacauga_%28meteorite%29>
2005:
John Sentamu was enthroned as Archbishop of York, becoming the
first black archbishop in the Church of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sentamu>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
royal burgh:
(Scotland, historical) A type of Scottish burgh founded by, or
subsequently granted, a royal charter; these were legally abolished in
1975.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/royal_burgh>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can discover no political evil in suffering bullies, sharpers,
and rakes, to rid the world of each other by a method of their own;
where the law hath not been able to find an expedient.
--Jonathan Swift
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift>
Shepseskaf was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt who reigned in the late 26th
to the mid–25th century BC. He was the sixth and probably last ruler
of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. His name means "His
soul is noble". Shepseskaf might have been the son or possibly the
brother of his predecessor Menkaure. During his reign of four to seven
years, Shepseskaf completed the mortuary complex of the Pyramid of
Menkaure, the smallest of the three main pyramids of Giza, using
mudbricks. For his own tomb he abandoned the Giza necropolis and built a
mastaba, a flat-roofed rectangular structure now known as the Mastabat
al-Fir'aun, at South Saqqara. These decisions may have reflected his
short reign, a declining economy, or a power struggle between the King
and the priesthood of Ra. Alternatively, Shepseskaf may have intended
his tomb to be a pyramid, but after his death it was completed as a
mastaba.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepseskaf>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: British reinforcements brought an
end to the Patriot attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in Nova Scotia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Cumberland_%281776%29>
1890:
The National Diet of Japan (pictured in session), a bicameral
legislature modelled after both the German Reichstag and the British
Westminster system, first met in Tokyo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Diet>
2007:
During their trial for the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, Philippine
soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes mutinied and seized a
conference room in The Peninsula Manila in Makati.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Peninsula_siege>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
environ:
1. To encircle or surround (someone or something).
2. (often military) To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as
to attack from all sides; to beset.
3. (heraldry, chiefly passive, obsolete) To encircle or surround (a
heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)).
4. To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
5. Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something).
6. (chiefly passive) Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around
(someone or something) to attend to or protect them.
7. (figuratively) Of a situation or state of affairs, especially danger
or trouble: to happen to and affect (someone or something).
8. (obsolete)
9. To amount to or encompass (a space).
10. To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.
11. (archaic except in the plural, formal, also figuratively) A
surrounding area or place (especially of an urban settlement); an
environment. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/environ>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship.
--Louisa May Alcott
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott>
The electric eels are a genus, Electrophorus, of tropical freshwater
fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are electric
fish, and can stun their prey by delivering shocks at up to 860 volts.
Their electrical capabilities were first studied in 1775, contributing
to the invention in 1800 of the electric battery. Despite their name,
they are not closely related to the true eels (order Anguilliformes) but
are electroreceptive knifefish (order Gymnotiformes), more closely
related to catfish. Previously, the genus was believed to be monotypic,
containing only Electrophorus electricus. In 2019 it was discovered that
there were three species. They are nocturnal, air-breathing animals,
with poor vision complemented by electrolocation; they mainly eat fish.
Males are larger than females. Electric eels grow for as long as they
live, adding more vertebrae to their spinal column. Some captive
specimens have lived for more than 20 years.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_eel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Christopher Wren and other leading
scientists met at Gresham College in London to found a learned society,
now known as the Royal Society.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society>
1943:
World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British
prime minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin (all
three pictured) met at the Tehran Conference to discuss war strategy
against the Axis powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran_Conference>
1987:
South African Airways Flight 295 suffered a catastrophic in-
flight fire and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, killing
all 159 on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Flight_295>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pelt:
1. (transitive)
2. To bombard (someone or something) with missiles.
3. To force (someone or something) to move using blows or the throwing
of missiles.
4. Of a number of small objects (such as raindrops), or the sun's rays:
to beat down or fall on (someone or something) in a shower.
5. Chiefly followed by at: to (continuously) throw (missiles) at.
6. (archaic except Britain, dialectal) To repeatedly beat or hit
(someone or something).
7. (figuratively) To assail (someone) with harsh words in speech or
writing; to abuse, to insult.
8. (intransitive)
9. Especially of hailstones, rain, or snow: to beat down or fall
forcefully or heavily; to rain down.
10. (figuratively) To move rapidly, especially in or on a conveyance.
11. (archaic, also figuratively) Chiefly followed by at: to bombard
someone or something with missiles continuously.
12. (obsolete) To throw out harsh words; to show anger.
13. A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower.
14. (archaic except Ireland) A blow or stroke from something thrown.
15. (figuratively, archaic)
16. (except Ireland) A verbal insult; a jeer, a jibe, a taunt.
17. (except Midlands, Southern England (South West)) A fit of anger; an
outburst, a rage.
18. (chiefly Northern England except in at (full) pelt) An act of moving
quickly; a rush. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pelt>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of
colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the
exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.So you will
be, what you "will" to be. Let failure find its false content, In that
poor word "environment," But spirit scorns it and is free.
--James Allen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen>
"Dance in the Dark" is a song written, produced and arranged by American
singer Lady Gaga (pictured) and Fernando Garibay. It is taken from her
third extended play, The Fame Monster (2009)—the reissue of her debut
studio album, The Fame (2008). It is about a girl who prefers to have
sex in the dark as she is insecure about her body. A Europop track
containing retro and new-wave influences, it begins with a stuttering
introduction and includes a spoken memorial as an interlude. Critics
praised the song for its chorus and theme, although some found its
production formulaic. Retrospective reviewers ranked the song as one of
Gaga's best. "Dance in the Dark" reached the top ten on charts in
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well as the US
Dance/Electronic Digital Song chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award
for Best Dance Recording. Gaga performed "Dance in the Dark" as the
opening song of The Monster Ball Tour, at the 2010 Brit Awards and at
her Las Vegas residency, Enigma.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_the_Dark>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1703:
The great storm of 1703, one of the most severe storms to
strike southern Great Britain, destroyed the first Eddystone Lighthouse
off Plymouth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_storm_of_1703>
1945:
A consortium of twenty-two U.S. charities founded CARE with the
mission of delivering food aid to Europe in the aftermath of World
War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Care_International>
2001:
Astronomers announced the detection of sodium in the atmosphere
of the extrasolar planet HD 209458 b (artist's impression pictured),
the first exoplanet atmosphere to be measured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_209458_b>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brinkmanship:
(chiefly politics) The pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be
willing to take a matter to the brink (for example, by risking a
dangerous policy) rather than to concede a point.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brinkmanship>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
First when there's nothing But a slow glowing dream That your
fear seems to hide Deep inside your mindAll alone I have cried Silent
tears full of pride In a world made of steel Made of stoneWell, I hear
the music Close my eyes, feel the rhythm Wrap around Take a hold of
my heartWhat a feeling Bein's believin' I can have it all Now I'm
dancing for my life
--Irene Cara
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Irene_Cara>
The 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army,
first formed in 1809 for service in the Peninsular War. The second
formation fought at the Battle of Waterloo and played an important role
in defeating the final French attack. It was disbanded in December 1818.
During the mid to late 19th century, several formations bearing the name
2nd Division were formed, including in 1854 to take part in the Crimean
War and in 1899 for the Second Boer War. From 1902 the division was
based at Aldershot, in southern England. When World War I broke out in
1914, it was deployed to France as part of the British Expeditionary
Force. It served on the Western Front and suffered heavy casualties. The
division returned to Aldershot for the interwar period. During World
War II, the formation was deployed to France again, evacuated from
Dunkirk, and served in Burma. In the post-war years it formed part of
the British Army of the Rhine in Germany. The division was most recently
disbanded in 2012.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Infantry_Division_%28United_Kingdom%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1852:
A massive earthquake struck the Dutch East Indies, creating a
tsunami that washed away villages, ships and residents.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1852_Banda_Sea_earthquake>
1983:
Six robbers broke into a Brink's-Mat warehouse at Heathrow
Airport in London and stole £26 million in gold, diamonds and cash.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brink%27s-Mat_robbery>
2011:
In a friendly-fire incident, a skirmish occurred between
U.S.-led NATO forces and Pakistani security forces at two military
checkposts along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NATO_attack_in_Pakistan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
see you in the funny papers:
(US, humorous, informal, dated) Goodbye; see you later.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/see_you_in_the_funny_papers>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may
have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
--William Cowper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Cowper>
David (born 630) was one of three co-emperors of the Byzantine Empire
for a few months in late 641. David was the son of Emperor Heraclius and
his wife and niece Empress Martina. His name was an attempt to link the
family with the Biblical David. After the death of Heraclius in February
641 a power struggle ensued. In a compromise, 10-year-old David was
raised to co-emperor, alongside his brother Heraclonas and their nephew
Constans II. At the time the Byzantine state faced the ongoing Muslim
conquest of Egypt and continuing religious strife over monothelitism and
other Christological doctrines. All three emperors were children and the
Empress Dowager Martina acted as regent. Martina was deeply unpopular
due to her incestuous relationship with Heraclius and her unconventional
habits. Her regime was deposed, probably by January 642. She and her
sons were exiled to Rhodes and, in an early example of Byzantine
political mutilation, Martina's tongue was cut out and her sons' noses
were cut off.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28son_of_Heraclius%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1678:
Trunajaya rebellion: After a series of difficult marches,
allied Mataram and Dutch troops successfully assaulted the rebel
stronghold of Kediri in eastern Java.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1678_Kediri_campaign>
1936:
Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Anti-Comintern
Pact, agreeing that, if the Soviet Union attacked one of them, they
would consult each other on what measures to take to "safeguard their
common interests".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Comintern_Pact>
1975:
Upon Suriname's independence from the Netherlands, Johan
Ferrier became its first president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Ferrier>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disanthropy:
(literary criticism) A misanthropic desire for a world without human
life, expressed in literature.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disanthropy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to
any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can
get. Most of all, we need to preserve the absolute unpredictability and
total improbability of our connected minds. That way we can keep open
all the options, as we have in the past.
--Lewis Thomas
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Thomas>
Phosphatodraco is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the
Late Cretaceous in what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen
consisting of five neck vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun
phosphatic basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus
and species Phosphatodraco mauritanicus in 2003. It is one of the last
known pterosaurs, and its neck is one of the best preserved among the
azhdarchids. Due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype vertebrae, it
is unclear how Phosphatodraco is distinguished from other azhdarchids
and how large it was: it may have had a wingspan of either 4 m (13 ft)
or 5 m (16 ft). Its neck may have been 865 mm (2 ft 10 in) long. It
would have had a proportionally long neck, small body, and long limbs,
compared to other pterosaurs. The diversity in pterosaur taxa in the
Ouled Abdoun Basin, including Phosphatodraco, right before the
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event suggests the extinction of
pterosaurs happened abruptly.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatodraco>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
British naturalist Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species
was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first
day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species>
1941:
The Holocaust: The Theresienstadt Ghetto was founded as a
waystation to Nazi extermination camps and a "retirement settlement" for
elderly and prominent Jews to mislead their communities about the Final
Solution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresienstadt_Ghetto>
1971:
After collecting a ransom payout of $200,000, D. B. Cooper
(depicted) parachuted out of the rear stairway of the airplane he had
hijacked over the Pacific Northwest and disappeared.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper>
2015:
A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft was shot down by a
Turkish fighter jet after the former allegedly strayed into Turkish
airspace and ignored warnings to change course.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Russian_Sukhoi_Su-24_shootdown>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
apprise:
1. To make (someone or oneself) aware of some information; to inform, to
notify.
2. (rare) To formally impart (information) to someone; to advise, to
notify.
3. Synonym of appraise (“to determine the value or worth of
(something)”)
4. (specifically, Scotland, law) To put a price on (something) for the
purpose of sale; to appraise.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apprise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The more we understand particular things, the more do we
understand God.
--Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Spinoza_book%29>
Kathryn D. Sullivan (born 1951) is an American geologist and
oceanographer, and a former government official and NASA astronaut, who
flew on three Space Shuttle missions. Sullivan was one of six women
selected in NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first group to include women.
During her first mission, STS-41-G, Sullivan performed the first
spacewalk by an American woman. On her second, STS-31, she helped deploy
the Hubble Space Telescope. On the third, STS-45, she served as Payload
Commander on the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to
Planet Earth. Sullivan was Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration from 2014 to 2017. On June 7, 2020, Sullivan became the
first woman to reach the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the
deepest part of the Earth's oceans. In September 2021, President Joe
Biden appointed her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science
and Technology.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_D._Sullivan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for
killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape
from police custody.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Martyrs>
1924:
The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble stating
that the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky
Way, is in fact another galaxy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble>
1976:
Jacques Mayol became the first person to freedive to a depth of
100 metres (330 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Mayol>
2011:
Arab Spring: After months of protests in Yemen, President Ali
Abdullah Saleh agreed to transfer power to Vice President Abdrabbuh
Mansur Hadi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdrabbuh_Mansur_Hadi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
paddock:
1. (also figuratively) A small enclosure or field of grassland,
especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
2. (by extension)
3. (horse racing) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are
paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.
4. (motor racing) An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles
are parked and worked on before and between races.
5. (sports, slang) A field on which a game is played; a playing field.
6. (Australia, New Zealand) A field of grassland of any size, either
enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a
large area for keeping cattle or sheep.
7. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, mining) A place in a superficial
deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for
washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc.
[...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paddock>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My message and my final message — maybe the final message I
give you from this podium — is that: Please, for your own safety, for
that of your family, get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you’re
eligible to protect yourself, your family, and your community. I urge
you to visit Vaccines.gov to find a location where you can easily get an
updated vaccine. And please do it as soon as possible.
--Anthony Fauci
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci>
Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt is the debut solo album by
American musician John Frusciante (pictured), released on November 22,
1994, by American Recordings. Frusciante was previously a member of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers, but left in 1992 after he became overwhelmed by
the band's newfound popularity. During this period, he became severely
depressed and developed a serious drug addiction. He isolated himself in
his home to record music for an eventual album. For Niandra LaDes and
Usually Just a T-Shirt, Frusciante combined avant-garde and stream-of-
consciousness styles, with guitar, piano and various effects on a four-
track recorder. It was met with general confusion and a mixed response
from fans and critics. David Wild of Rolling Stone wrote that the album
"is twisted, cool stuff". It sold 15,000 copies by 1996. Two years
later, Frusciante rehabilitated and rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niandra_LaDes_and_Usually_Just_a_T-Shirt>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1718:
The pirate Blackbeard was killed in battle by a boarding party
of British sailors off the coast of the Province of North Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard>
1873:
The French steamship Ville du Havre collided with a Scottish
iron clipper in the North Atlantic and sank with the loss of 226 lives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ville_du_Havre>
1971:
In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, five teenage
students and one of their leaders were found dead from exposure on the
Cairngorm Plateau in the Scottish Highlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorm_Plateau_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clarion:
1. (transitive)
2. To announce or herald (something) using a clarion (noun sense 1).
3. (figuratively) To announce or herald (something) clearly, especially
so as to stir or unite people.
4. (also figuratively) Of a thing: to cause (a place) to echo with a
sound like that of a clarion.
5. (intransitive) To sound a clarion; also, to make a high-pitched,
piercing sound like that of a clarion.
6. (music, historical or poetic) A medieval brass instrument chiefly
used as a battle signal; related to the trumpet, it had a narrow,
straight pipe and a high-pitched, piercing sound.
7. (by extension)
8. (poetic) The sound of a clarion (sense 1), or any sound resembling
the loud, high-pitched note of a clarion.
9. (music) An organ stop consisting of pipes with reeds giving a high-
pitched note like that of a clarion (sense 1).
10. (heraldry) A charge thought to represent a type of wind instrument,
a keyboard instrument like a spinet, or perhaps a rest used by a knight
to support a lance during jousting.
11. Of a sound, a voice, a message, etc.: brilliantly clear.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clarion>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
My own experience and development deepen everyday my conviction
that our moral progress may be measured by the degree in which we
sympathize with individual suffering and individual joy.
--George Eliot
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot>
Betsy Bakker-Nort (1874–1946) was a Dutch feminist, lawyer, and
politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives for
the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) from 1922 to 1942. Born in
Groningen, she became involved with the feminist movement in 1894. At
age 34, Bakker-Nort started studying law, realising that the fight for
women's rights required a thorough understanding of the law. In the 1922
general election, the first in which women were allowed to vote, she was
elected to parliament and became the VDB's first female representative.
She was re-elected four times and was an advocate for more women's
rights with respect to marriage and labour law. She took a leading role
in preparations for a 1930 League of Nations conference. After the
German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, Bakker-Nort did not
return to parliament. From December 1942 she was detained in internment
and concentration camps. She was liberated in June 1945 and died the
following year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Bakker-Nort>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1945:
Manzanar, a camp in California for the internment of Japanese
Americans during World War II, was closed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanar>
1964:
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Staten Island and
Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic as the longest suspension
bridge in the world at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrazzano-Narrows_Bridge>
1970:
Vietnam War: American forces raided the North Vietnamese Sơn
Tây prison camp in an attempt to rescue 61 American POWs who were
thought to be held there.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
fisherfolk:
1. People who fish for a living.
2. (anthropology) Members of a culture that is dominated by fishing.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fisherfolk>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe
absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices. If you do not
use the intelligence with which God endowed your mind to resist
believing impossibilities, you will not be able to use the sense of
injustice which God planted in your heart to resist a command to do
evil. Once a single faculty of your soul has been tyrannized, all the
other faculties will submit to the same fate.
--Voltaire
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire>