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Friday, 28 August 2020

Réunion ibis

Réunion ibis.
The Réunion ibis (Threskiornis solitarius) is an extinct bird formerly endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Réunion. Subfossil remains were found in 1974, and it was formally described in 1987. Early travellers described a white bird on Réunion that flew with difficulty, later assumed to refer to a white relative of the dodo. The ibis subfossil suggested that the tales referred to this bird instead. The ibis was mainly white, although its wing tips and plume feathers on its rear were black. The neck and legs were long, and the beak was relatively straight and short for an ibis. Similar to its extant relatives but more robust, it was about 65 cm (25 in) long. Subfossil wing-bones indicate that it had reduced flight capabilities. The diet of the ibis was invertebrates foraged from the soil. In the 17th century it lived only in mountainous areas, perhaps due to predation by introduced animals and hunting by humans for its tasty meat. These factors had driven the ibis to extinction by the early 18th century.

Thursday, 27 August 2020

Operation PBFortune

Operation PBFortune.
Operation PBFortune was a covert United States operation to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz (pictured) in 1952. The operation was planned by the Central Intelligence Agency and authorized by President Harry Truman. It was motivated by US fears that Árbenz was being influenced by communists, and lobbied for by the United Fruit Company. The operation was planned with the support of Anastasio Somoza García, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the dictators of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, respectively. The plan involved providing weapons to the exiled Guatemalan military officer Carlos Castillo Armas, who was to lead an invasion from Nicaragua. US secretary of state Dean Acheson became concerned that the coup attempt would damage the image of the US and terminated the operation. Two years later, another covert CIA action, Operation PBSuccess, toppled the Árbenz government and ended the Guatemalan Revolution.

Wednesday, 26 August 2020

Battle of Crécy

Battle of Crécy.
The Battle of Crécy was fought on 26 August 1346 in north-east France during the Hundred Years' War. It resulted in a victory for a greatly outnumbered English army led by King Edward III over the French led by King Philip VI and heavy loss of life among the French. The English prepared a defensive position on a hillside near Crécy-en-Ponthieu. After the French mercenary crossbowmen were routed by English longbowmen, French cavalry made repeated charges. They had to force their way uphill over muddy ground across pits dug by the English, while taking heavy casualties from the longbowmen. The ensuing hand-to-hand combat against the English men-at-arms was described as "murderous, without pity, cruel, and very horrible". The French charges continued late into the night, all with the same fierce fighting, until the French were repulsed. The battle established the effectiveness of the longbow as a dominant weapon on the Western European battlefield.

Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is a 2005 action-adventure video game, the first in the Castlevania series by Konami to be released on the Nintendo DS. It was written and produced by Koji Igarashi (pictured) and directed by Satoshi Kushibuchi. Incorporating many elements from its predecessor, Aria of Sorrow, it was commercially successful, selling more than 15,000 units in its first week in Japan and 164,000 in the United States within three months. The protagonist, Soma Cruz, manages to escape the fate of becoming the new Dracula with the help of allies. The game has platform and role-playing elements, with a dark, gothic atmosphere. It introduces a multiplayer mode and a "Magic Seal" system that requires the use of the DS stylus to draw a pattern to defeat enemies. The game received high scores from many video game publications and was considered one of the best games on the Nintendo DS for 2005. (This article is part of a featured topic: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.)