Today in History: 29 April
1429 – Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans
1707 – English and Scottish parliaments accept Act of Union; creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain
1715 – English Astronomer John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time
1813 – First US rubber patent is granted to Jacob F. Hummel
1852 – First edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus is published in Britain and has never been out of print since
1872 – Jesse James’ gang robs a bank of $1,500 in Columbia, Kentucky, killing bank employee Robert A.C. Martin during the crime
1927 – Construction of Spirit of St Louis (the monoplane which Charles Lindburgh was to fly across the Atlantic) is completed
1967 – Aretha Franklin releases her single “Respect” (written by Otis Redding), Billboard Song of the Year 1967
1992 – Jury acquits Los Angeles Police Department officers on charges of excessive force in the beating of Rodney King; the decision sparks massive riots in the city
2004 – Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production
2019 – Sports Illustrated features a Muslim model, Halima Aden, in a Burkini for the first time in their swimsuit edition
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1818 – Alexander II, Tsar of Russia
1863 – William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher
1899 – Duke Ellington, American bandleader, composer, and pianist
1933 – Willie Nelson, American country singer-songwriter
1951 – Dale Earnhardt, American auto racer
1957 – Daniel Day-Lewis, English actor
1970 – Uma Thurman, American actress
Unrecoverable Error –
1864 – Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist and inventor of kerosene
1980 – Alfred Hitchcock, English film director
2008 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist who first synthesized and ingested LSD
The Funnies:
Quote of the Day
YouTube Clip of the Day
Comic of the Day
Mouseover: It’s important to learn the moves that take you into the vortex, but it’s best not to study vortex itself too closely. Even grandmasters who have built up a tolerance lose the ability to play for a few hours after studying it.
Explain XKCD 3082: Chess Position - explain xkcd
Image Credit: XKCD
Inspirobot Sometimes Controversial Inspirational Quote of the Day:
In case you missed it, you can go take a look at yesterday’s prismatic Spark! by @steve6343 over here
