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Flooding from the storm in Ocean City, New Jersey

The 1991 Perfect Storm was a powerful storm that lashed the East Coast of the United States for several days with 30 ft (9 m) waves. The initial area of low pressure developed off Atlantic Canada on October 28 and moved westward toward New England. It absorbed Hurricane Grace to its south and intensified significantly. The center remained offshore, although the high waves caused over $200 million in damage (1991 USD) and 13 deaths. More than 38,000 people were left without power, and along the coast high waves inundated roads and buildings. In portions of New England, damage was worse than Hurricane Bob had caused two months prior. Aside from tidal flooding along rivers, the storm's effects were primarily concentrated along the coast. In the middle of the storm, the Andrea Gail sank, killing its crew of six and inspiring a book and later a movie. It later received the name "the Perfect Storm" after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. After moving over the Gulf Stream, the system evolved into a small hurricane that dissipated after striking Nova Scotia. ( more...)

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St Mary's Church

  • ... that a 19th-century rector of St Mary's Church (pictured) in Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, Wales, was awarded a gold medal for his attempt to save a boat during a gale?
  • ... that 12 half eagle gold coins were sent from Confederate North Carolina through enemy lines to Philadelphia to be tested by the 1862 United States Assay Commission, and were found to be correct?
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  • In the news

  • UNESCO becomes the first UN agency to admit Palestine as a full member state.
  • Qantas resumes flights after Fair Work Australia orders the airline and trade unions to end industrial action.
  • Labour Party candidate Michael D. Higgins (pictured) is elected President of Ireland.
  • In baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series.
  • The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow reopens after a six-year renovation costing 21 billion rubles (US$680 million).
  • On this day...

    November 1: All Saints' Day in Western Christianity; Independence Day in Antigua and Barbuda ( 1981); Rajyotsava (Formation Day) in Karnataka, India ( 1956)

  • 996Holy Roman Emperor Otto III issued a document containing the earliest known use of "Osterrîchi", the Old High German name of Austria.
  • 1611 – The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest was held at the Palace of Whitehall in London, exactly seven years to the day after the first certainly known performance of his tragedy Othello was held in the same building.
  • 1755 – A 9.0 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated Lisbon, an event which led to the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering.
  • 1928Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (pictured) introduced the current 29-letter Turkish alphabet to replace the Ottoman Turkish alphabet as the official writing system of the Turkish language.
  • 1998 – The European Court of Human Rights was instituted as a permanent court with full-time judges to monitor compliance by the signatory parties of the European Convention on Human Rights.
  • More anniversaries: October 31 November 1 November 2

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    Today's featured picture

    Skinks mating

    Two Trachylepis maculilabris skinks mating. Skinks are lizards that generally have no pronounced neck and relatively small legs. Females may be egg-laying or give live birth, with many of the latter being ovoviviparous (hatching eggs internally and giving birth to live offspring).

    Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

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