Word of the Day
indiscretion
 | |
|---|---|
| Definition: | (noun) A petty misdeed. |
| Synonyms: | peccadillo |
| Usage: | He had awakened with a terrible headache and a sense of some hideous indiscretion. |
Quote of the Day
 The Past is the region of sobs, the Future is the realm of song. In the one crouches Memory, clad in sackcloth and ashes, mumbling penitential prayer; in the sunshine of the other Hope flies with a free wing, beckoning to temples of success and bowers of ease. |
Article of the Day
| |||
Dating to the 1st century CE, the James Ossuary is a limestone box containing human bones. There is little doubt the ossuary is authentic, but there has been great controversy over its Aramaic inscription: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Its owner, Israeli antiquities dealer Oded Golan, was prosecuted by Israeli authorities who charge that the inscription, or at least the last part of it, is a forgery—a stance also held by many, but not all, scholars. Where was the ossuary discovered?
The November Uprising (1830–31), Polish–Russian War 1830–31[3] also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress Poland's military academy revolted, led by lieutenant Piotr Wysocki. They were soon joined by large segments of Polish society, and the insurrection spread to the territories of Lithuania, Western Belarus, and the right-bank of Ukraine. Despite some local successes, the uprising was eventually crushed by a numerically superior Imperial Russian Army under Ivan Paskevich.[4][5][6]
Poland before the uprising
After the Partitions of Poland, Poland ceased to exist as an independent political entity at the end of 1795. However, theNapoleonic Wars and Polish participation in the wars against Russiaand Austria resulted in the creation of a rump Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. The Congress of Vienna brought the existence of that state to an end in 1815, and essentially solidified the long-term division of Poland among Russia, Prussia and the Habsburg Empire. The Austrian Empire annexed some of its territories in the South, Prussia took control over the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań in the West, and Russia assumed hegemony over the semi-autonomous so-called Congress Kingdom.
Initially, the Russian-formed Congress Kingdom enjoyed a relatively large amount of internal autonomy and was only indirectly subject to imperial control, having its own constitution of the Kingdom of Poland. United with Russia through a personal union with the Tsar as King of Poland, the province could elect its own parliament (the Sejm) and government. The kingdom had its own courts, army and treasury. Over time, however, the freedoms granted to the Kingdom were gradually taken back and the constitution was progressively ignored by the Russian authorities. Alexander I of Russia never formally crowned himself as King of Poland. Instead, in 1815, he appointed Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich as de facto viceroy, disregarding the constitution.
| Kingdom of Poland (November Uprising) Królestwo Polskie (Powstanie listopadowe) | |||||
| |||||
 Coat of arms | |||||
| Motto Polish: Za wolność naszą i waszą (For our freedom and yours) | |||||
 | |||||
This Day in History
Meteorite Strikes Ann Elizabeth Hodges (1954) | |
|---|---|
 Thousands of people are struck by lightning every year, but in 1954, Ann Hodges of Sylacauga,Alabama, became the first person in modern history to be hit by a meteorite. Hodges was napping on her couch when she was rudely awakened by a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashing through her roof, bouncing off her radio, and striking her on the hip. The incident left her badly bruised. Who prevailed in the dispute between Hodges and her landlord over ownership of the meteorite? The Sylacauga meteorite fell on November 30, 1954 at 14:46 local time (18:46 UT)[1] in Oak Grove, Alabama, near Sylacauga. It is commonly called theHodges meteorite because a fragment of it struck Ann Elizabeth Hodges (1923–1972).[2] ImportanceThe Sylacauga meteorite is the first documented extraterrestrial object to have injured a human being in the USA. The grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of a frame house, bounced off a large woodenconsole radio, and hit Hodges while she napped on a couch. The 31-year-old woman was badly bruised on one side of her body but able to walk. The event received worldwide publicity. The Sylacauga meteorite is not the only extraterrestrial object to have struck a human. A manuscript published at Tortona, Italy, in 1677 tells of a Milanese friar who was killed by a meteorite.[3] In 1992 a very small fragment (3 g) of Mbale meteorite hit a young Ugandan boy,[4] but it had been slowed down by a tree and did not cause any injury. In 2009 Gerrit Blank, a 14-year-old boy in Essen, Germany, claimed to have been hit by a meteorite, but it is unclear whether that was an actual meteorite strike. FireballThe meteor made a fireball visible from three states as it streaked through theatmosphere, even though itfell early in the afternoon.[5] There were also indications of an air blast, as witnesses described hearing "explosions or loud booms".[6] Following eventsThe United States Air Force sent a helicopter to take the meteorite. Eugene Hodges, the husband of thewoman who was struck, hired a lawyer to get it back. The Hodges' landlord, Bertie Guy, also claimed it, wanting to sell it to cover the damage to the house. There were offers of up to $5,000 for the meteorite. By the time it was returned to the Hodgeses, over a year later, public attention had diminished and they were unable to find a buyer willing to pay.[citation needed] Ann Hodges was uncomfortable with the public attention and the stress of the dispute over ownership of the meteorite. Against her husband's wishes, she donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. | |
