18 April 2014

radical

[rad-i-kuhl]

adjective
1. of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.
2. thoroughgoing or extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms: a radical change in the policy of a company.
3. favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms: radical ideas; radical and anarchistic ideologues.
4. forming a basis or foundation.
5. existing inherently in a thing or person: radical defects of character.
6. Mathematics .
a. pertaining to or forming a root.
b. denoting or pertaining to the radical sign.
c. irrational ( def 5b ) .
7. Grammar . of or pertaining to a root.
8. Botany . of or arising from the root or the base of the stem.

Anagram

air clad

Today’s aphorism

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

18 April 1839 – birthday of Henry Kendall, Australian poet. Died 1 August 1882.

18 April 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.

18 April 1955 – death of Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity and of course his mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc2 (energy = mass x speed of light squared). Born 14 March 1879.

18 April 1983 – a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb that destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people, 17 of whom were American. Most of the victims were CIA and embassy staff, a number of soldiers and a Marine. Pro-Iranian group, Islamic Jihad Organization, claimed responsibility. However, it’s believed the attack was undertaken by Lebanese group, Hezbollah, in response to the intervention of a multinational force, comprised of western nations, in the Lebanese Civil War.

18 April 1996 – At least 106 civilians are killed in Lebanon when Israel shells a United Nations refugee compound at Quana where more than 800 Palestinians and Lebanese were sheltered. Israel claimed it was an accident and that they were trying to hit a nearby Hezbollah position that had fired at them. Hezbollah claimed they had fired because Israel breached the security zone in order to lay land-mines. Both the UN and Amnesty International investigated and found that Israel had deliberately attacked the refugee camp; a claim that Israel denies. Human Rights Watch found that Israel’s use of high-explosive shells and anti-personnel shells were designed to maximise casualities and their use so close to a civilian area, breached international humanitarian law.