ON THIS DAY

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April 6, 1896:

Opening of first modern Olympics.

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.

Fourteen nations and 241 athletes, all male, took part in the games. Participants were all European or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team, and over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has converted these to gold and silver, respectively, and awarded bronze medals to third-placed athletes. Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals.

Athens had been unanimously chosen to stage the inaugural modern Games during a congress organised by Coubertin in Paris because Greece was the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games.

Australia has competed in every modern Olympics since inception.

Cover of the official commemorative album of the 1896 Olympic Games

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ANIMAL TALES

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BOB THE RAILWAY DOG

Bob the Railway Dog (1878 – 1895, aged 16–17) is part of South Australian Railways folklore. Bob travelled the South Australian Railways system in the latter part of the 19th century, and was known widely to railwaymen of the day; he is part of the folklore in the area, and has been commemorated over the years.

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Life:

Bob first experienced the railway life when, as a young dog, he took a fancy to the workers building the railway near Strathalbyn and followed some of the navvies to the line. He was brought back to his owner, the publican of the Macclesfield Hotel, two or three times before finally disappearing. He was about nine months old at the time.

His true railway career commenced not long after being consigned from Adelaide, along with fifty other dogs, to Quorn, to be used to exterminate rabbits near Carrieton. Bob was, it was believed, picked up as a stray in Adelaide.

When the train stopped at Terowie, a stationmaster named William Ferry was taken by Bob’s charm and took him to the bustling railway town of Petersburg, now known as Peterborough. Ferry trained Bob to do all kinds of tricks, and later when he was guard on the narrow gauge Northern Lines, took Bob thousands of miles with him in the guard's van. Sometimes Bob rode with the engineman generally riding in the coal tender. Later, Ferry became Assistant Stationmaster at Petersburg but Bob continued to ride the trains alone.

By 1885 Bob had become accustomed to train travel and was known to venture to and from Petersburg often sitting in the front of the coal space in the locomotive tender, travelling many thousands of miles. According to the Petersburg Times "His favourite place on a Yankee engine; the big whistle and belching smokestack seem(ed) to have an irresistible attraction for him... he lived on the fat of the land, and was not particular from whom he accepted his dinner."

“The most curious part of his conduct is that he has no master, but every engine driver is his friend,” wrote The Spectator in 1895. “At night he follows home his engine man of the day never leaving him or letting him out of his sight until they are back on the Railway Station in the morning, where he starts off on another of his ceaseless journeys.”

Bob sitting on top of the driver's car of a stationary locomotive at Port Augusta Railway yard, railway staff stand in a group alongside the vehicle.

Bob did not like suburban engines because of their cramped cabs, but was known to clear out third class compartments for his sole use by "vigorously barking at all stations, usually succeeding in convincing intending passengers that the coach had been reserved of his special benefit". "His bark was robust and often caused strangers to believe that he was being aggressive when he really intended to be friendly." He had no master, but was befriended and enabled by the engineers (for whom he seemed to have a special affinity) and trainmen, and permitted to "ride for free, like a politician."

Some sources suggest that Bob's travels took him to all mainland states of Australia, being seen as far afield as Oodnadatta, Queensland. During one of his visits to Port Augusta, Bob is said to have caught a steamship to Port Pirie after apparently confusing the ship's whistle with that of a locomotive.

Bob is noted as having several accidents in his career. In his early career, Bob had a number of falls, after which he refined his skills jumping up onto, or from one locomotive to another, even as they moved. In Port Pirie, his tail became jammed – just where is not known. In another incident, Bob is reported as losing an inch off his tail after slipping off, and on another journey, his coat caught fire. During a stay in Adelaide, Bob is reported to have spent time at Goodwood Cabin, and, after tripping down the cabin's stairs, started rolling under and out the other side of a passing train.

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Poem:

The following poem was published in The Advertiser on 17 August 1895:

Home-keeping dogs have homely wits,

Their notions tame and poor;

I scorn the dog who humbly sits

Before the cottage door,

Or those who weary vigils keep,

Or follow lowly kine;

A dreary life midst stupid sheep

Shall ne'er be lot of mine.

For free from thrall I travel far,

No fixed abode I own;

I leap aboard a railway car;

By every one I'm known;

Today I'm here, tomorrow brings

Me miles and miles away;

Borne swiftly on steam's rushing wings,

I see fresh friends each day.

Each driver from the footplate hails

My coming with delight;

I gain from all upon the rails;

A welcome ever bright;

I share the perils of the line

With mates from end to end,

Who would not for a silver mine

Have harm befall their friend

Let other dogs snarl and fight,

And round the city prowl,

Or render hideous the night

With unmelodious howl.

I have a cheery bark for all,

No ties my travels clog;

I hear the whistle, that's the call

For Bob, the driver's dog.

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Collar:

Bob's collar on display at NRM Adelaide

Bob was provided with a collar bought by a commercial traveller who had taken a fancy to him after he had been "dognapped" by a farmer. In addition to two tags, two brass plates were rivetted to the collar itself. They were inscribed with:

Stop me not, but let me jog, For I am Bob, the drivers dog

and;

Presented by McLean Bros & Ricc

His collar is on display in the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, along with photographs and other artifacts.

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Death:

It was reported that Bob died on 29 July 1895. 

The Advertiser reported he had retired to Adelaide where he was known to dine regularly at a butcher's shop, run by a Mr. Evans, in Hindley Street, until his death at the age of 17. The Chronicle notes that after his afternoon tea, Bob was "heard to bark at a passing dog, and then with a pitiful howl dropped dead". He was eulogised around the world, as far away as Great Britain, and was lauded as "the king of outcasts".

On his death, his body was preserved and later displayed at the Exchange Hotel, Adelaide. His collar was initially given to the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, but was later passed on to the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen.

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Present:

Bob's statue – Main Street, Peterborough

In 2009, the local community of Peterborough, as Petersburg is now known, raised funds for a statue of Bob. This was unveiled in November, and it is at the eastern end of Main Street

Bob is commemorated in Terowie via a series of information boards, labelled "Bob the Railway Dog Trail", at various points of interest in the town.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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April 5, 1951:

Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for espionage.

Julius Rosenberg (1918 – 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (1915 – 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, including providing top-secret information about American radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and nuclear weapon designs. Convicted of espionage on 29 March, 1951, they were sentenced to death on April 5. They were executed by the federal government of the United States in 1953 using New York's state execution chamber in Sing Sing in New York, becoming the first American civilians to be executed for such charges and the first to be executed during peacetime.

Other convicted co-conspirators were sentenced to prison, including Ethel's brother, David Greenglass (who had made a plea agreement), Harry Gold, and Morton Sobell. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working at the Los Alamos Laboratory, was convicted in the United Kingdom. 

For decades, many people, including the Rosenbergs' sons (Michael and Robert Meeropol), have maintained that Ethel was innocent of spying and have sought an exoneration on her behalf from multiple U.S. presidents.

Among records the U.S. government declassified after the fall of the Soviet Union are many related to the Rosenbergs, included a trove of decoded Soviet cables (code-name Venona), which detailed Julius's role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets.

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SYDNEY SUBURBS

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DUFFYS FOREST

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Location:

Duffys Forest is a suburb of northern Sydney 28 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Duffys Forest is considered to be part of the Northern Beaches region and the Forest District.

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Name origin:

Duffys Forest is named after Peter Duffy, whose father received a land grant there in 1857. He became a timber cutter and cleared a road through the bush to Cowan Creek, where he built a stone wharf for transporting timber. The wharf is still known as Duffys Wharf and the road is Duffys Track.

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History:

Peter Joseph Duffy (1814-78) was the son of district constable Patrick Duffy who sailed into Sydney on the ship Eliza in 1822, with his wife Bridget and their four children. Patrick received a grant of 100 acre (40.5 hectares) in the Parramatta-Pennant Hills area, a portion of which he cleared and established as an orchard.

Peter Duffy and his associates built a wharf of stone and timber, widened the road and commenced felling the trees. Some were slid down the steep ridges and into the water to be loaded on to the barges, some were hauled down by bullock teams and almost overnight, the gentle forest was a hive of activity.

The men did not live there permanently but remained in the bush for months at a time - some took their families with them - living in makeshift huts, some of wattle and daub with stringy-bark and slab roofs, others with sapling and hessian walls sealed with manure. All lived under the most primitive conditions but with plenty of fresh running water from the creeks or springs, and fish or game for the pot. The remains of the old wharf, built on an Aboriginal midden, are still there, partly submerged but still visible about one kilometre up Cowan Creek from Bobbin Head in an inlet known as Sledgehammer because of its shape.

Duffy's track became Booralie Road and the road to the old wharf is now a fire trail. The remains of an old wooden fence just above the old wharf are believed by some old timers to be part of Duffy' s boundary, others say it was a fence to keep in the bullocks and horses or the deer, pigs and goats that may have provided food for the hungry timbergetters.

Duffy's Wharf on Cowan Creek, circa 1900.

1894 saw the declaration of the Ku-ring-gai National Park, which eventually faced Duffys Forest on three sides. The period from 1890 through to the end of WW1 saw a degree of development of orchards and small farmlets. There was a conditional sale of land by the NSW Government in 1907, involving minimum lots of 2 hectares.

With the end of WW1, soldier settlements were introduced both at Forestville and Duffys Forest. Unfortunately, this was not a success due to the returned servicemen not having enough capital to develop their lots and also lacking expertise. Many ex-servicemen walked off their lots. The population was still not much more than 100 people.

The whole area of Duffys Forest and Terrey Hills was still known at this time as Duffys Forest.

Some more Dufffys -

Sarah Duffy, Jack Duffy, Elvy Duffy and John F Duffy

John Duffy was the mayor (then called President) and served in the first Warringah Shire Council from 1906, he was re-elected in 1908, 1911, 1914 and 1917. He served as the 5th Warringah Shire Council President from 1 March 1915 – 1 March 1918. He married Sarah Martha Horn in 1894 and they had a son, John Fredrick, who served in WWI and a daughter Elvy Margaret Duffy.

In 1924, both the Spit Bridge and Roseville Bridge were opened and private and commercial vehicles were being seen but not in great numbers.

The Depression of the 1930s made life hard and there was a transient population of unemployed men who slept rough and had a wash in the surrounding pools off the ridge line. In those days, the water was clear and pure, compared to the sad polluted state of these pools and creeks now.

The next period started with the end of WW2 and proceeded to the mid 1980s. Increased car ownership meant that more and more people were becoming familiar with the area but roads and streets in the city outskirts, such as Duffys Forest, were only slowly becoming tar sealed. The Sunday afternoon drive was becoming part of suburban family life. Roadside stalls started to appear catering to the suburban tourist.

Electricity eventually came to the area in 1967.

The proposal to create an airport at Duffys Forest created a furore from the local residents and a fight after 4 years, which they won.

Waratah Park was opened in 1967 and became famous for the television series “ Skippy the Bush Kangaroo “ which ran for 3 years. Much of the set and props are still there, although since being closed in August 2009 all of the animals including descendants of the kangaroos used in the series have now been removed.

The 'Duffys Forest Ecological Community' is an endangered ecological community of the Sydney basin.

From 1985 onwards, there was a general increase in prosperity with a bit of a dip in the early 1990s. 

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Gallery:

Bushwalking

Bush track

Scenery:

Some houses:

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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April 4, 1975:

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft.

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington.Founded on this day in 1975, the company became highly influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows, and the company has since expanded to Internet services, cloud computing, video gaming and other fields. Microsoft is the largest software maker, one of the most valuable public U.S. companies, and one of the most valuable brands globally.

Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Frequently criticised are the ease of use, robustness, and security of the company's software. They have also been criticised for the use of permatemp employees (employees employed for years as "temporary", and therefore without medical benefits), and for the use of forced retention tactics, which means that employees would be sued if they tried to leave. 

Historically, Microsoft has also been accused of overworking employees, in many cases, leading to burnout within just a few years of joining the company. The company is often referred to as a "Velvet Sweatshop", a term which originated in a 1989 Seattle Times article, and later became used to describe the company by some of Microsoft's own employees. This characterisation is derived from the perception that Microsoft provides nearly everything for its employees in a convenient place, but in turn overworks them to a point where it would be bad for their long-term health.

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FUNNY FRIDAY

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Welcome to another Funny Friday, readers.

There is an old joke about a fellow who is out hunting and has an encounter with a bear. The joke is risque and I have avoided including it in Funny Friday, but then I saw part of it told in a TV series, ‘Killer’ on Netflix. 

I subsequently read that a young Charles and Camilla jointly tell a version of this joke at a party in ‘The Crown’. 

So that’s enough reason to tell it as the staring item, it also makes this week’s theme bears.

Enjoy.

Risque content ahead.

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SOME HUMOUR:

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A hunter is walking in the woods searching for the biggest bear he can find when he stumbles across a giant brown bear. He pulls out his shotgun, steadily aims, and fires at the bear. The bear seemingly falls into a nearby ditch and appears to be dead. The hunter slowly walks over to the ditch, until he feels a tap on his shoulder. The man turns around, and just as he does, the bear asks: "Did you shoot me with that shotgun?" The man replies "Yes", and the bear throws down the man and starts having his way with him.

In a few weeks, the hunter devises a plan for revenge on the bear. He brings his double-barrel shotgun and is really ready to get even. He walks through the woods and sees the bear, so he steadies his aim, shoots the bear, and the bear falls into the ditch, seemingly dead. The hunter slowly walks over to the ditch, and just as he does, he feels a tap on his shoulder. When the man turns around he sees none other than the very same bear standing above him. The bear asks the man, "Did you just shoot me with that double-barrel shotgun? To this the man replies "Yes", and the bear has his way with him again.

After a month has passed, the man has recovered and is very eager for revenge. He brings an elephant tranquilizer this time and is sure he will have enough firepower to take down the bear for good. Just as before, the man is walking through the woods when he sees the very same brown bear. He steadies his aim and fires. The bear falls into the ditch, and the man slowly walks over to him. 

After searching for a while, the man is tapped on the shoulder once again. He turns around slowly to face the brown bear. The bear then asks him, "You really don't come here to hunt, do you?"

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Here is the Charles and Camilla script for the same tale:

CHARLES: Does anyone know the story of the Russian bear hunter? I'm afraid I've already told Mrs. Parker Bowles. Perhaps she could help me tell it.

CAMILLA: All right, sir.

CHARLES: A bear hunter goes deep into the Siberian woods. Suddenly, he sees...

CAMILLA: ...an enormous bear.

CHARLES: The hunter raises his gun, and, bang, he shoots. The bear disappears from view. "Got him!" he thinks. But then he feels a tap on the shoulder. He looks up to see the bear, who says...

CAMILLA: "No one takes a shot at me and gets away with it! You have a choice. Either I can tear you to pieces and devour you now, or..."

CHARLES: "...or you can drop your trousers, bend over, and let me have my way with you." The hunter pulls down his trousers, and the bear does his worst. Afterwards, the hunter hobbles into town...

CAMILLA: ...somewhat bow-legged.

CHARLES: Yes! And he buys a much bigger gun and goes back into the woods.

CAMILLA: And it isn't long before he sees the bear again. He raises his gun, bang, fires. But when the smoke clears...

CHARLES: ...the bear's nowhere to be seen. "Got him," the hunter thinks. But a moment later, he feels another tap on his shoulder, and the bear says...

CAMILLA: You know what to do.

CHARLES: Now, after the bear's done his worst, the hunter heads back in town again and buys an even bigger gun.

CAMILLA: A bazooka.

CHARLES: Yes! He goes back into the woods, he sees the bear, he takes aim and fires.

BOTH: Boom!

CAMILLA: But when the smoke clears, the hunter looks up to see the bear standing over him, and the bear says:

CHARLES: "You're not in this for the hunting, are you?"

Watch the clip by clicking on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGUGH27fDYA

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A bear walks into a bar and says, "give me a whiskey and...        cola"

"Why the big pause?" asks the bartender.

The bear shrugged. "I'm not sure; I was born with them."

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A bear walks into a bar in Billings, Montana and sits down. He bangs on the bar with his paw and demands a beer. The bartender approaches and says, "We don't serve beer to bears in bars in Billings."

The bear, becoming angry, demands again that he be served a beer. The bartender tells him again, more forcefully, "We don't serve beer to belligerent bears in bars in Billings." The bear, very angry now, says, "If you don't serve me a beer, I'm going to eat that lady sitting at the end of the bar."

The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings."

The bear goes to the end of the bar and, as promised, eats the woman. He comes back to his seat and again demands a beer.

The bartender states, "Sorry, we don't serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings who are on drugs."

The bear says, "I'm NOT on drugs."

The bartender says, "You are now. That was a barbitchyouate."

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You know Goldilocks and the 3 bears? Well mama bear and papa bear are getting a divorce. In court they bring in baby bear. The judge puts baby bear on the stand and asks him who he'd like to live with?

"Well not papa bear he beats me," says baby bear.

"So mama bear?" asks the Judge.

"Oh no she beats me even worse than papa bear," says baby bear.

"So who would you like to live with?" the Judge asks curiously.

"My grandma bear in Chicago," says baby bear.

"Your grandma bear doesn't beat you?" asks the Judge?

"Oh no, the Chicago Bears don't beat anyone."

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An 80 year old man was having his annual checkup, and the doctor asked him how he was feeling.

"I've never been better!" he boasted.

"I've got an eighteen year old bride who's pregnant, and having my child! What do you think about that?"

The doctor considered this for a moment, then said, "Let me tell you a story. I knew a guy who was an avid hunter.

He never missed a season. But one day went out in a bit of a hurry, and he accidentally grabbed his umbrella instead of his gun."

The doctor continued, "So he was in the woods, and suddenly a grizzly bear appeared in front of him!

He raised up his umbrella, pointed it at the bear, and squeezed the handle."

"And do you know what happened?" the doctor queried.

Dumbfounded, the old man replied "No."

The doctor continued, "The bear dropped dead in front of him!"

"That's impossible!" exclaimed the old man. "Someone else must have shot that bear."

"That's kind of what I'm getting at..." replied the doctor.

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At dinner, my frustrated date said, “so napping and sitting around are seriously your only hobbies?? You told me that you were interesting!”

“No, no,” I corrected, “I said that I was into resting.”

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I went on a job interview. The interviewer asked “What is your greatest weakness “

I replied “I am too honest”

The interviewer said “I don’t think honesty is a weakness “

I said “I don’t give a fuck what you think”.

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In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear confrontations, the Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, and fishermen to take extra precautions and be alert for bears while in the field. …We advise that outdoorsmen should wear small bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren’t expecting them, and to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter.

It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are smaller and contain lots of berries and fur. Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in it and smell like pepper.

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LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:

A cheerful old bear at the Zoo

Could always find something to do.

When it bored him, you know,

To walk to and fro,

He reversed it and walked fro and to.

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GALLERY:

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LAW & LAWYERS:

A lawyer, Jones, is questioning his witness, Smith, during a murder trial.

Jones: Mr Smith, can you tell us what the deceased said before he died?

Smith: Yes, I can. He said...

Judge: Now hold on a minute. I'm not sure if it could be considered hearsay if I allowed Mr Smith to continue.

This led to a long argument between both lawyers and the judge regarding the admissibility of Smith's testimony. After a couple of hours of deliberation, the judge calls for a recess while he consults his legal books.

It takes the judge several hours to search through his legal text, so much so that court gets adjourned for the day. Unfortunately, this exchange happened on a Friday with Monday being a public holiday. On Tuesday, everyone reconvenes in the courtroom, where the judge rules that Smith's testimony will be admissible. 

Jones proceeds to begin questioning Smith again.

Jones: Mr Smith, can you tell us what the deceased said before he died?

Smith: Yes, I can. He said "Ugh!" and died.

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A politician goes on trial

Before he goes to the stand, his lawyer tells him, "remember, if you get asked a question you don't know how to answer, plead the fifth."

The bailiff asks "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

The politician pauses for a moment and says "Uh, I plead the fifth."

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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April 3, 1968:

Martin Luther King’s Mountaintop speech.

"I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the final speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr on April 3, 1968. King spoke at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee.

The speech primarily concerns the Memphis sanitation strike. King calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals. At the end of the speech, he discusses the possibility of an untimely death:

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land! So I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything! I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

King was fatally shot by James Earl Ray the next day as he stood on a motel second-floor balcony.

The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.

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ATWOOD'S DUCK

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry famously said that perfection was achieved, not when there was nothing more to add, but when there was nothing left to take away.

What if you may have put in hard work and a lot of effort but the manager or client is not satisfied? Then you might benefit from deploying Atwood’s Duck. It’s a cunning manoeuvre to save your work from unwarranted criticism.

In the context of software programming, a duck is an element added to a product design for the sole purpose of drawing attention and directing scrutiny away from other elements – specifically to appease meddling managers.

Originally a programming term, the concept was popularised by Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow. He relates the following anecdote about a computer game design company:

It was well known that producers (a game industry position) had to make a change to everything that was done. The assumption was that subconsciously they felt that if they didn’t, they weren’t adding value.

The artist working on the queen animations for Battle Chess was aware of this tendency, and came up with an innovative solution. He did the animations for the queen the way that he felt would be best, with one addition: he gave the queen a pet duck. He animated this duck through all of the queen’s animations, had it flapping around the corners. He also took great care to make sure that it never overlapped the “actual” animation.

Eventually, it came time for the producer to review the animation set for the queen. The producer sat down and watched all of the animations. When they were done, he turned to the artist and said, “that looks great. Just one thing — get rid of the duck.”

Atwood’s Duck is synonymous with an attempt to outsmart a manager, client, or stakeholder. But also of organisational dysfunction at the personal level. If you want to keep people from interfering with your work of perfection, give them something too obvious to not criticise, but not so obvious and out there that you look stupid.

It is comparable to Parkinson’s Law of Trivialities, illustrated by the Bikeshed story (previously in Bytes).

In meetings, we tend to spend more time talking about trivial issues (e.g. a company bike shed) than discussing complex and more significant ones (e.g. a nuclear power reactor project). Everyone leaves the complex matters to those they imagine have more knowledge and understanding, dealing with the less complex, which they understand, with more time and debate. As a result, decisions are made at the lowest level of everyone’s expertise.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

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April 2, 1982:

Argentine troops seize the Falkland Islands

On this day in 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.

The conflict was a major episode in the protracted dispute over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina asserted (and maintains) that the islands are Argentine territory,and the Argentine government thus described its military action as the reclamation of its own territory. The British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty. Neither state officially declared war, although both governments declared the islands a war zone.

Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the unfavourable outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall and the democratisation of the country. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected with an increased majority the following year. The cultural and political effect of the conflict has been less in the UK than in Argentina, where it has remained a common topic for discussion.

Argentine soldiers and Falklanders in 1982

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ON THIS DAY

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April 1, 2004:

G Mail launched

Gmail, launched on this day in 2004, is the email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide, making it the largest email service in the world. It also provides a webmail interface, accessible through a web browser, and is also accessible through the official mobile application.

At its launch in 2004, Gmail (or Google Mail at the time) provided a storage capacity of one gigabyte per user, which was significantly higher than its competitors offered at the time. Today, the service comes with 15 gigabytes of storage for free for individual users. Users in need of more storage can purchase Google One to increase this 15 GB limit across most Google services. Users can receive emails up to 50 megabytes in size, including attachments, and can send emails up to 25 megabytes.

Google's mail servers automatically scan emails for multiple purposes, including to filter spam and malware.

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AESOP'S FABLE

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Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media. The fables originally belonged to the oral tradition and were not collected for some three centuries after Aesop's death. By that time a variety of other stories, jokes and proverbs were being ascribed to him.

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The Widow and the Sheep
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The Fable:

A certain poor widow had one solitary Sheep. At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. The Sheep, writhing with pain, said, “Why do you hurt me so, Mistress? What weight can my blood add to the wool? If you want my flesh, there is the butcher, who will kill me in an instant; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear and not hurt me.”

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The Moral:

The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.

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