Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, and is regarded as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. His works, such as "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle), are filled with themes and archetypes of alienation, brutality, parent–child conflict, and mystical transformations. Kafka was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He trained as a lawyer and worked for an insurance company, writing in his spare time – he complained all his life about his lack of time to write. Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close female friends, including his fiancée Felice Bauer. Only a few of Kafka's stories appeared during his lifetime in story collections and literary magazines. His novels and other unfinished works were published posthumously, mostly by his friend Max Brod, who ignored his wish to have the manuscripts destroyed. Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre are among the writers influenced by Kafka's work; the term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe surreal situations like those in his writing. (Full article...)
... that after being defeated at Gibraltar, the Duke of Crillon wrote to his former adversary, General George Eliott, calling him "my dear and respectable enemy"?
1844 – The last known pair of Great Auks(specimens pictured), the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey, off the coast of Iceland.
The Cape Petrel (Daption capense) is a seabird common to the Southern Ocean. The species are aggressive eaters which feed mostly on crustaceans, although they are also known to eat fish, squid, and edible waste. When feeding they may spit their stomach oil at competitors.
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