Friday, February 25, 2005

 

Spotlight: The Great Wall of China is getting smaller. Last month, in two separate raids on the wall, construction workers hauled off nearly 100 m/333 ft. of the wall in the northern Ningxia autonomous region, using the material to pave a road. The Wall was originally built in the third century by the Ch'in dynasty, in attempt to protect inhabitants against invaders. It was rebuilt a thousand years later by the Ming Dynasty.

Quote: "Not houses finely roofed or the stones of walls well builded, nay nor canals and dockyards make the city, but men able to use their opportunity." -- Alcaeus

Today in History:

• Pope Pius V : excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I (1570)
• Cassius Clay: beat Sonny Liston for world heavyweight boxing title; later that year he converted to Islam, and became Muhammad Ali (1964)
• Corazon Aquino: assumed presidency of Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos fled (1986)

Today's Birthdays:

• Anthony Burgess: author of A Clockwork Orange (1917-1993)
• George Harrison: guitarist for The Beatles (1943-2001)
• athletes: Barney Ewell (1918-1996) and Monte Irvin (86)

Word of the Day:  strophe: section of a lyric poem or choral ode in classical Greek drama. Alcaeus created the Alcaic strophe, a four-line stanza that was used by Greek lyricists.   (© )