Word of the day
- vendetta January 16, 2026Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2026 is: vendetta • \ven-DET-uh\ • noun Vendetta refers to an active and mutual hatred between two families or groups, also known as a blood feud. It can also refer to an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts, or to a commitment to carrying […]Merriam-Webster
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On This Day
1848 – Women’s rights: A two-day Women’s Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
Women’s rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide, and formed the basis for the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century and feminist movement during the 20th century. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys.[1]
Issues commonly associated with notions of women’s rights include the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to be free from sexual violence; to vote; to hold public office; to enter into legal contracts; to have equal rights in family law; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to have reproductive rights; to own property; to education.[2]
Born On This Day
1929 – Gaston Glock, Austrian engineer and businessman, co-founded Glock Ges.m.b.H.
Gaston Glock (born 19 July 1929) is an Austrian engineer, and founder of the firearms company Glock.
A book about Gaston Glock’s life and his company, titled Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, was published in 2012.
Manufacturing
Glock began as a manufacturer of curtain rods and knives for the Austrian military. He had not designed or manufactured a firearm until he was 52 years old. He was already an expert in polymers as a result of his previous business ventures.
In 1980 he bought an injection-moulding machine to manufacture handles and sheaths for the field knives he was making for the Austrian army in his garage workshop. His earliest employees were from the camera industry and were experts in producing polymer components. His first pistol took one year to produce from the design and concept stage to production, and he applied for an Austrian patent in April 1981 for the pistol known as the Glock 17.[1]
Personal life
Glock married Helga Glock in 1958, and they co-founded the family business in 1963.[2] They divorced in 2011 and have been in litigation since.[3]
Glock supports different charities in Austria, having donated over one million euros.[4][5][6]
Murder attempt
In July 1999, Glock’s tax advisor Charles Ewert hired a French mercenary to murder Glock with a hammer in a car park in an apparent attempt to cover up embezzlement of millions from the Glock company.[7] Although Glock’s injuries included seven head wounds and the loss of about a litre of blood, Glock was able to fend off the attack by striking the hitman twice. The hired killer, 67-year-old Jacques Pêcheur, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the attack. Charles Ewert was sentenced to 20 years as a result of Pêcheur’s testimony.[8]
FYI
Adrian Cronauer (September 8, 1938 – July 18, 2018) was a United States Air Force sergeant and radio personality whose experiences as an innovative disc jockey in Vietnam inspired the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam.[3][4]
Background in radio
Cronauer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began his broadcasting career at the age of 12 as a guest for a Pittsburgh-area children’s amateur hour.[5] He attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he helped found the forerunner of the university’s college radio station WPTS.[6][7]
Military service
In the late 1970s, Cronauer had an idea for a television sitcom that would be a blend of M*A*S*H and WKRP in Cincinnati, two popular TV series of that era. It was not until some years later that he was able to elicit interest in the proposal which became the film Good Morning, Vietnam.[8] The movie was based on his experiences as a Saigon-based DJ during the Vietnam War, where he served from 1965 to 1966.[9] His program was known as the “Dawn Buster.” According to Cronauer, other than the film’s portrayal of him being a radio host, very little of the film reflects his experiences,[10] except the bombing of a restaurant which Cronauer witnessed from nearby.[11] A subsequent special program on National Public Radio about the role of the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN-military radio and television) earned Cronauer a 1992 Ohio State Award and two 1991 Gold Medals from the New York Radio Festival. Prior to getting stationed in Vietnam he was stationed at Iraklion Air Station Crete, Greece.[12]
Personal life
Cronauer attended the University of Pittsburgh where he led a group that founded the school’s first student radio station, now WPTS-FM.[13] His subsequent media work included being the classical morning host at WVWR in Roanoke, Virginia (now Virginia Tech’s WVTF),[14] during which time he created the proposal that would culminate in Good Morning, Vietnam.
He earned a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York City and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Cronauer’s law practice concentrated in information and communications law. Cronauer consented to disbarment in the District of Columbia in October 2014 for reportedly misleading consumers through misrepresentations and deceptive and fraudulent loan modification and foreclosure prevention practices.[15] Later he worked as a special assistant to the Director of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.[16][17][18]
Cronauer was a member of Mensa[19] and a “lifelong card-carrying Republican”, having taken an “active role” in both Bob Dole’s 1996 unsuccessful presidential campaign and George W. Bush’s 2004 successful presidential re-election campaign.[3]
Cronauer died on July 18, 2018, at his home in Western Virginia after a long illness.[1]
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Ideas
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wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 16 January 16, 2026Picture of the day The atmospheric plume from an underwater volcano eruption in the Pacific nation of Tonga is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 269 miles above the Pacific Ocean northwest of Auckland, New Zealand.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for January 15 January 15, 2026Picture of the day Yellowbar angelfish (Pomacanthus maculosus), Ras Muhammad National Park, Red Sea, Egypt. This marine angelfish is distributed throughout the Persian Gulf, the northwestern Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea south to 19°S. In 2009 it was recorded off the coast of Lebanon in the eastern Mediterranean, probably as a result of Lessepsian […]
Recipes
By Birddogpumpkins: Smoked Salmon on a Stick
By Urbangriller: BBQ Porchetta
By In The Kitchen With Matt: Pizza Quesadillas!
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