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Hurricane Kate formed northeast of Puerto Rico on November 15, 1985, as the eleventh named storm of the annual hurricane season. Kate made its first landfall on the northern coast of Cuba at Category 2 intensity, then emerged as a slightly weaker storm during the evening hours of November 19. Heavy rainfall in Cuba caused numerous mudslides and flooding, killing 10 people and leading to severe agricultural damage. Wind gusts also damaged crops, and resulted in widespread power outages and significant building damage; the cost in Cuba totaled $400 million, the most from a hurricane strike on that island in many decades. Once clear of land, Kate intensified to Category 3, and the following day it attained its peak winds of around 120 mph (195 km/h). It came ashore near Mexico Beach, Florida, as a minimal Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) on November 21, the latest day ever in an Atlantic hurricane season that a hurricane-strength storm has struck the United States. There were 17 deaths attributable to the storm, in Jamaica and Cuba, and the total damage caused was at least $700 million. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

A gold coin of Govindachandra

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In the news

Leonard Cohen

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 to 7.8 strikes north of Christchurch, New Zealand, triggering tsunami warnings, causing widespread damage, and killing at least two people.
Canadian singer, songwriter, and poet Leonard Cohen (pictured) dies at the age of 82.
A tram derails on the Tramlink in Croydon, London, killing seven people and injuring more than fifty others.
Donald Trump wins the United States presidential election, while Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate.
India de-monetises 500- and 1000-rupee bank notes to fight black money issues.

On this day...

November 15: Republic Day in Brazil (1889); Shichi-Go-San in Japan

Pedro II of Brazil

565 – On his deathbed, Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I informed his chamberlain that his nephew Justin II was to be his successor.
1864 – American Civil War: Union Army General William T. Sherman began his "March to the Sea", inflicting significant damage to property and infrastructure on his way from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.
1889 – Brazilian Emperor Pedro II (pictured) was overthrown in a coup led by Deodoro da Fonseca, and Brazil was proclaimed a republic.
1943 – The Holocaust: Heinrich Himmler ordered that Romanies were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps".
1988 – The Soviet Buran spacecraft, a reusable vehicle built in response to NASA's Space Shuttle program, was launched, unmanned, on its only flight.

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Today's featured picture

The great tit (Parus major) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia, and parts of North Africa; this female was photographed in Lancashire. Most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters.

Photograph: Francis C. Franklin

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