On This Day
1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.[2]
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict between the two countries. The treaty set the boundaries between the British Empire in North America and the United States of America, on lines “exceedingly generous” to the latter.[2] Details included fishing rights and restoration of property and prisoners of war.
This treaty and the separate peace treaties between Great Britain and the nations that supported the American cause—France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic—are known collectively as the Peace of Paris.[3][4] Only Article 1 of the treaty, which acknowledges the United States’ existence as a free, sovereign, and independent state, remains in force.[5]
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Born On This Day
1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (d. 1859)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel FRS MInstCE (/ˈɪzəmbɑːrd bruːˈnɛl/; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859)[1] was an English civil engineer who is considered “one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history,”[2] “one of the 19th-century engineering giants,”[3] and “one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions.”[4] Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
Though Brunel’s projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames) and the development of the SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built.[5][6]
On the GWR, Brunel set standards for a well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimise gradients and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, and the two-mile-long (3.2 km) Box Tunnel. One controversial feature was the “broad gauge” of 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm), instead of what was later to be known as “standard gauge” of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm). He astonished Britain by proposing to extend the GWR westward to North America by building steam-powered, iron-hulled ships. He designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering: the SS Great Western (1838), the SS Great Britain (1843), and the SS Great Eastern (1859).
In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the “100 Greatest Britons.” In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name Brunel 200.[7]
FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
Rare Historical Photos: These photos show the destruction of the Belgian city of Leuven in the aftermath of the German Army reprisal, 1914
Wickersham’s Conscience: Return of Bird of the Week: Blue-tailed Trogon
The Passive Voice, IPKat: When a vampire not called Dracula bested the copyright system, and what it tells us about derivative works
The Passive Voice, From Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Business Musings: Copyright Fun Part 3
The Passive Voice, From Above the Law: Ed Sheeran Gets It: As He Wins His Copyright Lawsuit, He Decries ‘Culture’ Of Bogus Copyright Suits
The Passive Voice, From Electric Lit: 7 Books About the Chinese Exclusion Act
The Passive Voice, From Writers Helping Writers: The One Popular Myth Writers Believe About Writer’s Block
The Passive Voice, From Publishing Trends (July 31, 2020 – mid-Pandemic): Digital Printing: The New Normal
By Karin Brulliard, The Washington Post: The Growing Debate Over Spaying and Neutering Dogs Fixing dogs has been dogma for decades. Here’s why some pet owners are skipping it.
By Stephen Adams, 10 Tampa Bay: ‘Marcel The Shell With Shoes On’ movie is coming to theaters The first theatrical trailer has been released for the mockumentary-style full-length film about the world’s favorite mollusk.
From mild-mannered High School math teacher to UFC Hall of Famer. That’s this week’s Team Never Quit special guest, Rich Franklin. Rich and Marcus kick it around in an entertaining discussion about the transition from teaching high school math to UFC fighting on a world-class level. His childhood days of taking Karate lessons brought about an interest in Thai Boxing and Jiu-Jitsu, which further developed into a full-time MMA fighting career. Rich has also coached in The Ultimate Fighter, launched a clothing brand, a juice café, and is a prime example of one classy dude.
Nice guys can finish first.
Recipes
Homemade on a Weeknight: Huli Huli Chicken
Little House Big Alaska: Easy Air fryer Samosas
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.
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RecipeTinEats
- What we put on our seafood platter December 8, 2023Here’s what we put on our seafood platter, a staple on Christmas Day for the RecipeTin Family! Our top tips for what to get, where best to spend your money and where not to, and our favourite seafood sauces. Plus, a video at the Sydney Fish Markets – watch me choose the seafood! A lifetime... […]Nagi
- Christmas Edition: Good Food Australia December 4, 2023Something a little special for you today – preview of the Good Food Australia special Christmas Edition coming out tomorrow featuring exclusive new Christmas recipes! On the cover of Good Food with JB! 8 years ago when I started this website, never in a million years did I imagine I’d be writing a post like... […]Nagi
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- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 11 December 11, 2023Picture of the day Ama Dablam, a 6,812 m (22,349 ft) high mountain in the eastern Himalayas of Nepal, as seen from a nearby valley. For its soaring ridges and steep faces, the mountain is sometimes called the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas." Today is International Mountain Day.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 10 December 10, 2023Picture of the day 100 francs bearer share certificate, issued in 1919 by Compagnie Universelle Cinématographique, Paris. Graphic design with theatrical masks at the top, flanking putti and the company's coat of arms with CUC ligature.
AV Club Wiki Wormhole
- The Gilded Age recap: Dreams and fireworks burst in this season’s penultimate episode December 11, 2023Big Hat Hive! Our days of excessive headwear, extravagant parties, and extreme frivolousness are numbered, as we’re already on the penultimate episode of The Gilded Age season two. And the TV gods have dished up a doozy this week, one seasoned with deception, destitution, and—eek!—even death. Read more...Christina Izzo
- The Boy And The Heron takes the weekend box office, with Godzilla Minus One not far behind December 10, 2023It’s an exciting weekend for international cinema at the U.S. box office, with two Japanese films hitting the top three in American theaters—one live-action and one animated! The top spot went to the animated one, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron, which opened with $10 million (and on 1,000 fewer screens than…Read more...Sam Barsanti
- Tom Holland has so much respect for Robert Downey Jr. that he actually saw Dolittle December 10, 2023The SAG-AFTRA strike is over, meaning actors are now free to go back and promote the things they made that came out during the strike, and The Hollywood Reporter is taking advantage of that by having Tom Holland sit down for a chat about Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room—a story inspired by the 1981 non-fiction […]Sam Barsanti
- Carey Mulligan’s most pressing question for Michael Fassbender: How did he do those Killer push-ups? December 10, 2023At the beginning of David Fincher’s The Killer, Michael Fassbender’s assassin character goes about his daily routine while waiting to line up a perfect sniper shot on his target, and in addition to eating McDonald’s and overhyping his own abilities in his supremely confident, omnipresent narration, Fassbender does…Read more...Sam Barsanti
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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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