Hurricane Diane, the most destructive storm of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season, formed on August 7 and reached peak sustained winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) as a Category 2 hurricane five days later. Gradually weakening, it made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, as a strong tropical storm on August 17, just five days after Hurricane Connie struck near the same area. After Diane turned northeast, its rain clouds were amplified by moisture coming off warm Atlantic waters. Eastern Pennsylvania suffered record floods, largely in the Poconos and along the Delaware River, that killed 101 people and breached or destroyed 30 dams. Damage was heaviest in Connecticut, where rainfall peaked at 16.86 inches (428 mm); the storm effectively split the state in two by destroying bridges and cutting communications, flooding all major streams and valleys. Record-high tides and flooded rivers heavily damaged Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, floodwater levels surpassed those during the 1938 Long Island hurricane, breaching multiple dams. Nationwide, Diane killed at least 184 people and destroyed or damaged 15,000 homes. Losses, including lost revenue, topped $1 billion. In the hurricane's wake, eight states were declared federal disaster areas, and the name Diane was retired. (Full article...)
... that the art of William Etty(pictured) was considered so obscene, the press were concerned that it discouraged women from entering rooms where it was on display?
Neptune has 14 known moons, which are named for minor water deities in Greek mythology. By far the largest of them is Triton, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself; over a century passed before the discovery of the second natural satellite, Nereid. Triton is unique among moons of planetary mass in that its orbit is retrograde to Neptune's rotation and inclined relative to Neptune's equator, which suggests that it did not form in orbit around Neptune but was instead gravitationally captured by it. The next-largest irregular satellite in the Solar System, Saturn's moon Phoebe, has only 0.03% of Triton's mass. Inward of Triton are seven small regular satellites, all of which have prograde orbits in planes that lie close to Neptune's equatorial plane; some of these orbit among Neptune's rings. The largest of them is Proteus. Neptune also has six more outer irregular satellites other than Triton, including Nereid, whose orbits are much farther from Neptune and at high inclination. (Full list...)
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