On This Day
1915 – World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers.[7]
The Treaty of London (Italian: Trattato di Londra) or the Pact of London (Patto di Londra) was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the latter to enter World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The agreement involved promises of Italian territorial expansion against Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and in Africa where it was promised enlargement of its colonies. The Entente countries hoped to force the Central Powers – particularly Germany and Austria-Hungary – to divert some of their forces away from existing battlefields. The Entente also hoped that Romania and Bulgaria would be encouraged to join them after Italy did the same.
In May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary but waited a year before declaring war on Germany – leading France and the UK to resent the delay. At the Paris Peace Conference after the war, the United States of America applied pressure to void the treaty as contrary to the principle of self-determination. A new agreement produced at the conference reduced the territorial gains promised by the treaty: Italy received Trentino and the Julian March in addition to occupation of the city of Vlorë and the Dodecanese Islands. Italy was compelled to settle its eastern border with the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes through the bilateral Treaty of Rapallo. Italy thus received Istria and the city of Zadar as an enclave in Dalmatia, along with several islands along the eastern Adriatic Sea shore. The Entente went back on its promises to provide Italy with expanded colonies and a part of Asia Minor.
The results of the Paris Peace Conference transformed wartime national fervour in Italy into nationalistic resentment championed by Gabriele D’Annunzio by declaring that the outcome of Italy’s war was a mutilated victory. He led a successful march of veterans and disgruntled soldiers to capture the port of Rijeka – claimed by Italy and denied by the Entente powers. The move became known as the Impresa di Fiume, and D’Annunzio proclaimed the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city – before being forced out by Italian military so that the Free State of Fiume could be established instead. The Regency of Carnaro was significant in the development of Italian Fascism.
Born On This Day
1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004)
Francina “Fanny” Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname “the flying housewife”, and was the most successful athlete at the event.
Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was stopped by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, and sprint and hurdling events.
Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles and 58 Dutch championships, and set or tied 12 world records – the last, pentathlon, in 1951 aged 33. She retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became captain of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted “Female Athlete of the Century” by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Her Olympic victories are credited with helping to eliminate the belief that age and motherhood were barriers to success in women’s sport.[1]
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop: (CENTRAL PARK) Prevost, Victor. An extraordinary collection of photographs of Central Park by its first official photographer New York, 1862
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Golf Course Birds
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Continuing Sun, Full Moon
Philippa Perry, The Guardian: Technology makes me feel I don’t really belong in this world
If I buy a new device it doesn’t even come with a manual to show me how it works. I am drifting further apart from people who use their phones and watches (watches?!) for everything. I don’t feel I belong in this world. And this is unlikely to get better.
Rasmuson Foundation: Private dollars help move people experiencing homelessness into stable housing
National Science Foundation: New technology could make biopsies a thing of the past
By Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor, ProPublica: Maine Will Soon Hire Its First Five Public Defenders. Most of the State Remains Without Them. The only state in the country with no public defenders will still need an estimated $51 million to provide the service to indigent defendants in all 16 of Maine’s counties. It’s “not a solution, it’s a patch,” says the agency’s director.
By Andrew Chapman, Hakai, Smithsonian: Researchers Develop a ‘Bear-Dar’ That Warns Humans of Approaching Polar Bears The artificial intelligence-powered radar system is needed as climate change brings the animals closer to towns
By Ashley Strickland, CNN: Pterosaurs were covered with colorful feathers, study says
Jae M. Rang: Time To Be Flexible
For how long have you had your car? Are you so comfortable with the technology and all of where the buttons, dials, switches, and plugs are that to perform any function – make a turn, change the media source, open the moon roof, adjust your seat – that very little deliberate thinking is required to make the change?
That probably wasn’t the case when you first got your vehicle. Like me, you may have set the wipers off looking for the high beams, turned on an interior light trying open the moon roof, and couldn’t for the life of you figure out how to turn down the fan. Eventually, everything became second nature and easy.
I commented to a friend of my typing proficiency on my computer. I still can type a zillion words a minute but recognize that so can my 18-year-old niece with her thumbs on her flat-screen phone; as fast as I do on my computer, with the same amount of accuracy, and with her eyes closed.
It’s what you’re used to right?
So, what happens when you step into a new car or get a new phone, or I don’t know when what you used to do in person you’re now doing remotely? Do new areas of your brain light up and some fumbling kick in? Can imposed change test your survival mechanism?
Aha! ~ “It’s not the strongest that survives nor the most intelligent that survives. It’s the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
When your ecosystem is disrupted it presents a new reality for you to get used to. Each shift in your ecosystem, however, affects everything else and the perpetual effect of the change – one thing is off then another this is off then another – creates a level of uncertainty that tests even the most adaptable.
It is not a matter of survival of the fittest. Those who can yell, “Plot twist!” and move quickly will win.
But make no mistake. Uncertainty is unsettling. The brain registers it as “danger”. We like “familiar” and “routine”, we like when we know what to expect and our expectations are met so if you’re feeling a little heavy managing constant change, ground yourself in gratitude and remember, you’re not alone.
Blessed are the flexible as they will not be bent out of shape.
Jae M. Rang
Recipes
Food Talk Daily: Marshmallow Peeps Ice Cream
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
DamnDelicious
RecipeTinEats
- 2024 Ultimate Christmas menu planning guide December 12, 2024Here’s a handy list of my Christmas recipes, organised by make-ahead and reheating suitability, and those best made fresh. Perfect for menu planning, especially alongside the new Christmas recipe index! I thrive on holiday menu planning. It’s like the Olympics of cooking – except less athleticism and more butter! The goal, as always, is a... […]Nagi
- Easy Christmas Cheesecake Slab – no bake! December 6, 2024This no bake Christmas cheesecake is designed for sizzling Aussie summers – no sweating over a hot oven! Designed to serve a crowd, it’s the easiest cheesecake recipe I know yet it still captures all the hallmarks of a beautiful classic baked cheesecake. Decorate with whipped cream, berries and rosemary sprigs for an effortless, pretty... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 26 December 26, 2024Picture of the day Khone Phapheng Falls, Si Phan Don, Laos. Located on the Mekong River near the border with Cambodia, at 10.7 kilometres (6.6 mi) wide, it is the widest waterfall in the world.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 25 December 25, 2024Picture of the day Nativity of Christ scene from the Kefermarkt Altarpiece. Today is Christmas.
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Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
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