10 January 2013

deluge

[del-yooj, -yoozh, del-ooj, -oozh, dih-looj, -loozh]

noun, verb, del·uged, del·ug·ing.

noun
1. a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
2. a drenching rain; downpour.
3. anything that overwhelms like a flood: a deluge of mail.
4. the Deluge, flood ( def 3 ) .
verb (used with object)
5. to flood; inundate.
6. to overrun; overwhelm: She was deluged with congratulatory letters.

Today’s aphorism

‘I could see that the white man did not care for each other the way our people did …  They would take everything from each other if they could … some … had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all … This could not be better than the old ways of my people’.

– Black Elk, Sioux Holy Man, Second-cousin of Crazy Horse, 1863 – 1950.

On this day

10 January 1946 – the inaugural meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, with 51 nations, convenes in London.

10 January 1949 – RCA introduces the world’s first vinyl record which played at 45rpm while Columbia released the world’s first vinyl record which played at 33rpm.

10 January 1998 – Night of Noah, Townsville. The city was deluged with rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Sid. In a 24-hour period, 549mm fell on the city as recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, however of this, more than 500mm during a 12 hour period. There were unofficial recordings that exceeded 700mm during this period.