Bodashtart was a Phoenician ruler who reigned as King of Sidon
(c. 525 – c. 515 BC). He was a prolific builder, and his name is
attested on some 30 inscriptions near Sidon, Lebanon, the major source
of information on him. The earliest to be discovered was excavated in
Sidon in 1858 and was donated to the Louvre. Podium inscriptions
(example pictured) at the Temple of Eshmun were discovered between 1900
and 1922; some credit him with construction in the temple, while others
connect him and his son Yatonmilk with work there, emphasizing
Yatonmilk's legitimacy as heir. The most recently-discovered inscription
as of 2020 was found in the 1970s on the bank of the Bostrenos River,
crediting the king with the building of water canals to supply the
temple. Three of his Eshmun temple inscriptions have been left in place;
the others are housed in museums in Paris, Istanbul, and Beirut. He is
believed to have reigned for at least seven years, as evidenced by the
Bostrenos River bank inscription.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodashtart>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
U.S. Army soldiers cornered and fatally shot John Wilkes Booth,
the assassin of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, ending a twelve-day
manhunt.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth>
1933:
The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany,
was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo>
1989:
An editorial was published in the People's Daily denouncing the
growing unrest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing which would remain
contentious through the remainder of the protests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_26_Editorial>
1994:
Just before landing at Nagoya Airport, Japan, the copilot of
China Airlines Flight 140 inadvertently triggered the takeoff/go-around
switch, causing the aircraft to crash and killing 264 of the 271 people
on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_140>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
prozymite:
(Roman Catholicism, historical, derogatory) One who administers the
Eucharist with leavened bread, in particular a member of the Eastern
Orthodox Church.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prozymite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If mind is common to us, then also the reason, whereby we are
reasoning beings, is common. If this be so, then also the reason which
enjoins what is to be done or left undone is common. If this be so, law
also is common; if this be so, we are citizens; if this be so, we are
partakers in one constitution; if this be so, the Universe is a kind of
Commonwealth.
--Marcus Aurelius
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius>