Jazz is a musical art form, commonly characterized by blue notes,
syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation.
It has been called the first original art form to develop in the
United States of America. Jazz is rooted in West African cultural and
musical expression and in African American music traditions, in folk
blues and ragtime. Originating in African American communities near
the beginning of the 20th century, by the 1920s it had gained
international popularity. Since then, jazz has had a profoundly
pervasive influence on other musical styles worldwide. The word jazz
itself is rooted in American slang, but is of unknown origin, despite
many theories about its source. Rather than being a single, narrowly
definable style, in the early 21st century jazz is an ever-growing
family of musical styles, many of which continue to develop.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
Today's selected anniversaries:
1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu established military supermacy over rival
Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marked
the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate, the final
shogunate to rule in Japan.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sekigahara)
1805 Napoleonic Wars: Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson led the
British fleet to defeat a combined French and Spanish navy
in the Battle of Trafalgar.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson%2c_1st_Viscount_Nelson)
1824 Joseph Aspdin, an English bricklayer, received the patent
for Portland cement.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_cement)
1854 Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to
the Crimean War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale)
1944 The first kamikaze attack: HMAS Australia was hit by a
Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte
Island in the Philippines.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kamikaze)
1945 Argentine military officer and politician Juan Domingo Perón
married popular actress Evita.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Perón)
Wikiquote of the day:
"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the
greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most
obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the
falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to
colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which
they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."
~ Leo Tolstoy
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy)
Thread at a glance:
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October 20: Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun was the last and most powerful king of the European
Huns. He reigned from 434 until his death over what was then Europe's
largest empire, which stretched from Central Europe to the Black Sea
and from the Danube River to the Baltic. During his rule he was among
the direst enemies of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires: he
invaded the Balkans twice, encircling Constantinople in the second
invasion; he marched through France as far as Orleans before being
turned back at Chalons; and he drove the western emperor Valentinian
III from his capital at Ravenna in 452. Though his empire died with
him and he left no remarkable legacy, he has become a legendary
figure in the history of Europe: he is remembered as the epitome of
cruelty and rapacity in much of Western Europe; while he is lionized
as a great king in the national history of Hungary.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun
Today's selected anniversaries:
1740 Maria Theresa, an "enlightened monarch", assumed the throne
of Austria, succeeding her father, Charles VI.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria)
1827 An allied British, French, and Russian naval force
destroyed a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet at the
Battle of Navarino, a decisive moment in the Greek War of
Independence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Navarino)
1935 The Chinese People's Liberation Army completed the Long
March from Jiangxi province in southern China to in Shaanxi
province, an organized maneuver covering a distance of 6000
km (3700 mi.)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March)
1968 Former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek
shipping business magnate Aristotle Onassis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis)
1973 The Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen
Elizabeth II. The opening was televised and included
fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that
is granted, all else follows." ~ George Orwell in Nineteen
Eighty-Four
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty%2dFour)
Next Message by Date:
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October 22: Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the practice of a human mother feeding a baby (and
sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her
mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. Babies have a
sucking instinct allowing them to extract the milk. While many
mothers choose to breastfeed their child there are some who do not,
either for personal or medical reasons. Breast milk has been shown to
be very beneficial for a child, though, as with other bodily fluid
transfers, some conditions can be passed from the mother to the
infant. As an alternative the baby may be fed infant formula until
the time that the child may move on to baby food.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breastfeeding
Today's selected anniversaries:
1383 The 1383-1385 Crisis in Portugal: A period of civil war and
anarchy began when King Fernando died without a male heir
to the Portuguese throne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1383-1385_Crisis)
1844 Millerites and members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
were greatly disappointed that Jesus Christ did not return
as predicted by preacher William Miller.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerites)
1943 World War II: Kassel, Germany was severely bombed and
burned for seven days in a firestorm, killing at least
10,000, rendering 150,000 homeless.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Kassel_in_World_War_II)
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S. President John F. Kennedy
announced on television that Soviet nuclear weapons have
been discovered in Cuba, and that he had ordered a naval
"quarantine" of the island nation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis)
Wikiquote of the day:
"It doesn't matter if we were down 3-0. You've just got to keep the
faith. The game is not over until the last out." ~ David Ortiz
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Ortiz)
Previous Message by Thread:
click to view message preview
October 20: Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun was the last and most powerful king of the European
Huns. He reigned from 434 until his death over what was then Europe's
largest empire, which stretched from Central Europe to the Black Sea
and from the Danube River to the Baltic. During his rule he was among
the direst enemies of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires: he
invaded the Balkans twice, encircling Constantinople in the second
invasion; he marched through France as far as Orleans before being
turned back at Chalons; and he drove the western emperor Valentinian
III from his capital at Ravenna in 452. Though his empire died with
him and he left no remarkable legacy, he has become a legendary
figure in the history of Europe: he is remembered as the epitome of
cruelty and rapacity in much of Western Europe; while he is lionized
as a great king in the national history of Hungary.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun
Today's selected anniversaries:
1740 Maria Theresa, an "enlightened monarch", assumed the throne
of Austria, succeeding her father, Charles VI.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria)
1827 An allied British, French, and Russian naval force
destroyed a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet at the
Battle of Navarino, a decisive moment in the Greek War of
Independence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Navarino)
1935 The Chinese People's Liberation Army completed the Long
March from Jiangxi province in southern China to in Shaanxi
province, an organized maneuver covering a distance of 6000
km (3700 mi.)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March)
1968 Former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek
shipping business magnate Aristotle Onassis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis)
1973 The Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen
Elizabeth II. The opening was televised and included
fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that
is granted, all else follows." ~ George Orwell in Nineteen
Eighty-Four
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty%2dFour)
Next Message by Thread:
click to view message preview
October 22: Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the practice of a human mother feeding a baby (and
sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her
mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. Babies have a
sucking instinct allowing them to extract the milk. While many
mothers choose to breastfeed their child there are some who do not,
either for personal or medical reasons. Breast milk has been shown to
be very beneficial for a child, though, as with other bodily fluid
transfers, some conditions can be passed from the mother to the
infant. As an alternative the baby may be fed infant formula until
the time that the child may move on to baby food.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breastfeeding
Today's selected anniversaries:
1383 The 1383-1385 Crisis in Portugal: A period of civil war and
anarchy began when King Fernando died without a male heir
to the Portuguese throne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1383-1385_Crisis)
1844 Millerites and members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
were greatly disappointed that Jesus Christ did not return
as predicted by preacher William Miller.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerites)
1943 World War II: Kassel, Germany was severely bombed and
burned for seven days in a firestorm, killing at least
10,000, rendering 150,000 homeless.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Kassel_in_World_War_II)
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S. President John F. Kennedy
announced on television that Soviet nuclear weapons have
been discovered in Cuba, and that he had ordered a naval
"quarantine" of the island nation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis)
Wikiquote of the day:
"It doesn't matter if we were down 3-0. You've just got to keep the
faith. The game is not over until the last out." ~ David Ortiz
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Ortiz)