16 February 2013
phalanx
[fey-langks, fal-angks]
noun, plural pha·lanx·es or for 7, pha·lan·ges [fuh-lan-jeez]
1. (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.
2. any body of troops in close array.
3. a number of individuals, especially persons united for a common purpose.
4. a compact or closely massed body of persons, animals, or things.
5. Military , ( initial capital letter ) a radar-controlled U.S. Navy 20mm Gatling-type gun deployed on ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
Today’s aphorism
A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.
– Fidel Castro
On this day
16 February 1923 – the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen in Egypt is opened, after it was recently discovered by British archaeologist, Howard Carter. The tomb was 3,000 years old.
16 February 1959 – Fidel Castro sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba after leading a successful revolution against the President Batista.
16 February 1983 – Ash Wednesday bush-fires burn over 2,000m2 of land in South Australia and Victoria, killing 47 people, destroying more than 3,700 buildings, and more than 2,500 people lost their homes.