Wednesday, July 12, 2006

 

Spotlight: French captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly accused of treason in 1894. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Since Dreyfus was a Jew, the affair raised the issue of anti-semitism in the French military and government. Writer Émile Zola wrote an open letter ("J'Accuse") published in the newspaper, accusing the military of anti-semitism in its actions. He was convicted of libel and sentenced to prison, but fled to England. On this date in 1906, Dreyfus was declared innocent and released from prison. Zola had died four years earlier of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Quote: "If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way." – Émile Zola

Today's News:

• Mumbai train bombings: death toll rises to 190; hundreds more injured; Kashmiri terrorists blamed for the attacks (story)
• macular degeneration: rate of the leading cause of blindness in old age is reported to be lower in fish eaters, higher in smokers (story)
• Syd Barrett: guitarist, singer and songwriter who founded the psychedelic band Pink Floyd and left it in 1968 dies at age 60 (story)
• pick-up lines: selected top ten have been translated into Czech, French, German, Italian and Spanish for the benefit of lonely European travelers (story)

Today's History:

• Medal of Honor: top US military decoration was authorized by Congress (1862)
• Geraldine Ferraro: became the first woman nominated for VP on a major-party ticket; she was chosen by presidential candidate Walter Mondale (1984)
• Zinedine Zidane: midfielder led France to victory over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final; he played 8 more years and retired after the 2006 final (1998)

Today's Birthdays:

• Julius Caesar: Roman emperor, general (c100 BCE-44 BCE)
• writers: American Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden (1817-1862); Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat who won the Nobel Prize for literature (1904-1973)
• Bill Cosby: star of The Cosby Show who started out as a stand-up comedian (69)
• Topher Grace: Eric Forman on That '70s Show (28)