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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 2 Mar 2009 01:05
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[Wikipedia] March 2: King Vulture

The King Vulture is a large Central and South American bird in the New 
World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in 
tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern 
Argentina, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted Vulture 
of Florida may be of this species. It is the only surviving member of 
the genus Sarcoramphus, though fossil members are known. It is large 
and predominantly white, with gray to black ruff, flight, and tail 
feathers. Its head and neck are bald, with the skin color varying, 
including yellow, orange, blue, purple, and red. The King Vulture has a 
very noticeable yellow fleshy caruncle on its beak. This vulture is a 
scavenger and it often makes the initial cut into a fresh carcass. It 
also displaces smaller New World Vulture species from a carcass. King 
Vultures have been known to live for up to 30 years in captivity. King 
Vultures were popular figures in the Mayan codices as well as in local 
folklore and medicine. Though currently listed as Least Concern by the 
IUCN, they are declining in number, due primarily to habitat loss.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Vulture>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1791:

French inventor Claude Chappe and his brothers first demonstrated the 
semaphore line, a signaling system of conveying information by means of 
visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as 
blades or paddles.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/semaphore_line>
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 3 Mar 2009 01:05
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[Wikipedia] March 3: Vithoba

Vithoba is a Hindu god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian states 
of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. While generally 
considered a manifestation of the Hindu god Vishnu or his avatar 
Krishna, he is sometimes associated with the god Shiva, the Buddha or 
both. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing 
arms-akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his main consort 
Rakhumai (Rukmini). Vithoba is the focus of the monotheistic, 
non-brahminical Varkari sect of Maharashtra and the Haridasa sect of 
Karnataka. Vithoba's main temple stands at Pandharpur in Maharashtra, 
close to the Karnataka border. Vithoba legends revolve around his 
devotee Pundalik, who is credited with bringing the deity to 
Pandharpur, and around Vithoba's role as a saviour to the poet-saints 
of the Varkari faith. The Varkari poet-saints are known for their 
unique genre of devotional lyric, the abhanga, dedicated to Vithoba and 
composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature dedicated to Vithoba 
includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa, and Marathi versions of the 
generic Hindu arati songs, associated with rituals of offering light to 
the deity. Though the origins of both his cult and his main temple 
remain subjects of debate, there is clear evidence that they already 
existed by the 13th century.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vithoba>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

American Revolutionary War: Samuel Nicholas and the Continental Marines
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 4 Mar 2009 01:05
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[Wikipedia] March 4: Hurricane Linda (1997)

Hurricane Linda was the strongest Pacific hurricane on record. Forming 
from a tropical wave on September 9, 1997, Linda steadily intensified 
and reached hurricane status within 36 hours of developing. 
Subsequently, it rapidly intensified, reaching winds of 185 mph 
(295 km/h) and an estimated central pressure of 902 millibars 
(26.65 inches of mercury). The hurricane was briefly forecast to move 
toward southern California, but instead, it turned out to sea and 
dissipated on September 17. It was the fifteenth tropical cyclone, 
thirteenth named storm, seventh hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of 
the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. While near peak intensity, Hurricane 
Linda passed near Socorro Island, where it damaged meteorological 
instruments. The hurricane produced high waves along the southwestern 
Mexican coastline, forcing the closure of five ports. When Linda was 
predicted to make landfall on California, it would have been the first 
to do so since a storm in 1939. Although it did not hit the state, the 
hurricane produced light to moderate rainfall across the region, 
causing mudslides and flooding in the San Gorgonio Wilderness; two 
houses were destroyed and 77 others were damaged, and damage totaled 
$3.2 million (1997 USD, $4.3 million 2008 USD). Despite the intensity, 
the name was not retired.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Linda_%281997%29>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1461:

Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI was deposed by
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 5 Mar 2009 01:05
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[Wikipedia] March 5: Giants: Citizen Kabuto

Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a third-person shooter video game with 
real-time strategy elements for Microsoft Windows. It was the first 
project for Planet Moon Studios comprising former Shiny Entertainment 
employees who had worked on the game MDK. The game went through 
four years of development before Interplay Entertainment published it 
on December 6, 2000, and followed up with a PlayStation 2 port in 2001. 
MacPlay published the Mac OS X port earlier in the same year. The 
subtitle "Citizen Kabuto" refers to the thundering behemoth who is one 
of the playable characters in the game. Players can also take on the 
roles of jet pack-equipped and heavily armed Meccaryns, and amphibious 
spellcasting Sea Reapers; and challenge each other in multiplayer 
games. The single-player mode is framed as a sequential story, and puts 
the player through missions, several of which test the player's 
reflexes in action game-like puzzles, to teach the abilities of each 
playable race. Game critics praised the game for its state of the art 
graphics, humorous story, and success in blending in one genre with 
another. Criticisms of the game centered on crippling software bugs and 
lack of an in-game save feature. The critics also rated its console 
version as technically inferior to its PC versions. The game sold 
poorly for both Windows and PlayStation 2, although it enjoyed a 
successful launch for its small Mac OS X market.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants%3A_Citizen_Kabuto>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1770:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 6 Mar 2009 01:05
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[Wikipedia] March 6: Saxbe fix

The Saxbe fix is a mechanism by which the President of the United 
States, in appointing a current or former Member of the United States 
Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, seeks to avoid the 
restriction of the United States Constitution's Ineligibility Clause. 
That clause prohibits the president from appointing a current or former 
member of Congress to a position that was created, or to a position for 
which the pay and/or benefits (collectively "emoluments") were 
increased, during the term for which that member was elected until the 
term has expired. The rollback, implemented by an Act of Congress in 
1909, reverts the emoluments of the office to the amount they were when 
that member began his or her elected term. Historically, the 
restriction has been met with various responses: choosing another 
nominee, allowing the desired nominee's elected term of office to 
expire, ignoring the clause entirely, or using a "Saxbe fix" to reduce 
the offending emoluments. Although the latter mechanism was passed by 
Congress in 1909, it is named for Senator William Saxbe, who was 
confirmed as Attorney General in 1973 after Congress reduced the 
office's salary to the level it had been before Saxbe's term commenced. 
Since the late 1970s, the use of the "Saxbe fix" has been common. The 
Saxbe fix has subsequently become relevant as a successful—though not 
universally accepted—solution for appointments by presidents of both 
parties, of sitting members of the United States Congress to the United 
States Cabinet.

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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxbe_fix>

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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 7 Mar 2009 04:40
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[Wikipedia] March 7: Luc Bourdon

Luc Bourdon (1987–2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey 
defenceman who played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey 
League and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, 
from 2006 until 2008. After overcoming childhood arthritis, he was 
selected third overall in the 2003 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 
draft and played for the Val-d'Or Foreurs, Moncton Wildcats, and Cape 
Breton Screaming Eagles, spending four seasons in the QMJHL. The 
Canucks drafted Bourdon with their first selection, tenth overall, in 
the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Noted as a strong defenceman who could 
contribute on offence, Bourdon represented Canada in three 
international tournaments, winning two gold medals at the IIHF World 
U20 Championship and a silver medal at the IIHF World U18 Championship. 
Bourdon died at the age of 21 near his hometown of Shippagan, New 
Brunswick, when his motorcycle collided with a tractor trailer.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Bourdon>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

161:

Following the death of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius 
and Lucius Verus agreed to become co-Emperors in an unprecedented 
arrangement in the Roman Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius>

1799:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 8 Mar 2009 01:12
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[Wikipedia] March 8: Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman (c. 1820 – March 10, 1913) was an African-American 
abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the U.S. Civil War. 
After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen 
missions to rescue over seventy slaves using the network of antislavery 
activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. In 1849, 
Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, then immediately returned to Maryland 
to rescue her family. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought 
relatives with her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of 
other slaves to freedom. Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, 
Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) "never lost a passenger". Large 
rewards were offered for the capture and return of many of the people 
she helped escape, but no one ever knew it was Harriet Tubman who was 
helping them. When a far-reaching United States Fugitive Slave Law was 
passed in 1850, she helped guide fugitives further north into Canada, 
and helped newly-freed slaves find work. When the American Civil War 
began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and 
then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed 
expedition in the war, she guided the raid on the Combahee River, which 
liberated more than seven hundred slaves. After the war, she retired to 
the family home in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging 
parents.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1702:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 9 Mar 2009 02:05
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[Wikipedia] March 9: Greece Runestones

The Greece Runestones comprise about 30 runestones containing 
information related to voyages made by Norsemen to "Greece", which 
refers to the Byzantine Empire. They were made during the Viking Age 
and until c. 1100. The stones were engraved in the Old Norse language 
with Scandinavian runes, and all of them are found in modern-day 
Sweden, the majority of which reside in Uppland (18 runestones) and 
Södermanland (7 runestones). Most of the stones were carved in memory 
of members of the Varangian Guard who never returned home, but a few 
stones mention men who returned with wealth. The only group of 
runestones that refer to expeditions abroad that are comparable in 
number are those that mention expeditions to England, the England 
Runestones. The stones vary in size from the small whetstone from 
Timans, to the boulder in Ed which is 18 m (59 ft) in circumference. 
Most of them are adorned with various runestone styles that were in use 
during the 11th century, and especially styles that were part of the 
Ringerike style (eight or nine stones) and the Urnes style (eight 
stones). The runestones have been continuously identified by scholars 
beginning with Johannes Bureus in the late 16th century, with many 
stones discovered during a national search for historic monuments in 
the late 17th century. Several stones were also documented by Richard 
Dybeck in the 19th century. The last stone to be found was in Nolinge, 
near Stockholm, in 1952.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece_Runestones>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1841:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 10 Mar 2009 07:19
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[Wikipedia] March 11: Mozart family grand tour

The Mozart family's grand tour was a 1763–1766 journey around the 
capitals and other major cities of western Europe, undertaken by 
Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted 
children Maria Anna, and Wolfgang Amadeus. Leopold was a court musician 
to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and by 1763 held the post of 
deputy Kapellmeister. He obtained a protracted leave of absence so that 
the precocious talents of his children, then aged eleven and seven 
respectively, could be demonstrated to the wider world. The social and 
pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip, taking 
in the major European courts, complemented what Leopold saw as his 
duty, as a Catholic and a German, to display the talents of his 
miraculous children. The grand tour itinerary took the family, via 
Munich and Frankfurt, to Brussels. From there they travelled to Paris 
and then London. In London Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of 
the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his 
first symphonies. The family moved on to Holland, where the schedule of 
performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, but 
Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward journey 
incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, 
before the family's return to Salzburg in November 1766. The children's 
performances inspired comments of rapture and amazement wherever they 
played. The journey enabled the children to experience fully the 
cosmopolitan musical world, and to receive an outstanding education, 
which in Wolfgang's case continued through further journeys during the 
next six years.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_family_grand_tour>

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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 11 Mar 2009 02:05
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[Wikipedia] March 11: Mozart family grand tour

The Mozart family's grand tour was a 1763–1766 journey around the 
capitals and other major cities of western Europe, undertaken by 
Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted 
children Maria Anna, and Wolfgang Amadeus. Leopold was a court musician 
to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and by 1763 held the post of 
deputy Kapellmeister. He obtained a protracted leave of absence so that 
the precocious talents of his children, then aged eleven and seven 
respectively, could be demonstrated to the wider world. The social and 
pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip, taking 
in the major European courts, complemented what Leopold saw as his 
duty, as a Catholic and a German, to display the talents of his 
miraculous children. The grand tour itinerary took the family, via 
Munich and Frankfurt, to Brussels. From there they travelled to Paris 
and then London. In London Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of 
the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his 
first symphonies. The family moved on to Holland, where the schedule of 
performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, but 
Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward journey 
incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, 
before the family's return to Salzburg in November 1766. The children's 
performances inspired comments of rapture and amazement wherever they 
played. The journey enabled the children to experience fully the 
cosmopolitan musical world, and to receive an outstanding education, 
which in Wolfgang's case continued through further journeys during the 
next six years.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_family_grand_tour>

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