Daily Knowledge

"Syllables govern the world."
[George Bernard Shaw]

Quote of the Day, from brainyquote.com (2024/12/13)

Pink frock coat from the collection

Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims is the first collection by British designer Alexander McQueen, produced for his master's degree in fashion at Central Saint Martins. Inspired by the victims of Jack the Ripper, and by Victorian-era fashion, erotica, and prostitution practices, the collection was presented on the runway at London Fashion Week on 16 March 1992. Editor Isabella Blow was fascinated by the runway show and insisted on purchasing the entire collection, and became McQueen's friend and muse. Jack the Ripper remains an object of critical analysis for its violent concept and styling. McQueen continued the narrative and aesthetic tendencies from Jack the Ripper, producing collections inspired by macabre aspects of history, art, and his own life. Items from Jack the Ripper, most notably a pink frock coat with a thorn print (pictured), have appeared in Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011 and 2015) and Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! (2013). (Full article...)

The Sherman Fairchild Sciences complex at Dartmouth College

1643 – First English Civil War: Roundhead forces under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise attack in Hampshire on a winter garrison of Cavalier infantry and cavalry.
1769 – Dartmouth College (campus pictured) was established by royal charter in present-day Hanover, New Hampshire.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces, capturing the Chinese city of Nanjing, began committing numerous atrocities over the next several weeks, including looting, rape and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians.
1989 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army engaged in a fierce firefight with the King's Own Scottish Borderers at a vehicle checkpoint complex in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
2011 – A man threw grenades and fired a rifle at crowds in Liège, Belgium, causing 6 deaths and injuring more than 120 others, before killing himself.

Age of Earth: ~ 4.568 billion years
World Population: 7.3 billion (July 2015)
Continents: 7 (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia)
Mean Radius: 6371.0 km
Axial Tilt: 23,44°

Image Source: Wikipedia - License: Public Domain (thanks to NASA)

Our solar system consists of
1 star (Sun) and 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune).

1 AU (astronomical unit) is roughly the distance between Earth and the Sun (about 150 million kilometres).
The space probe Voyager 1 was launched by the NASA in 1977 and is meanwhile (autumn 2015) about 133 AU away from Earth.

Image Source: Wikipedia - License: CC BY-SA 3.0