In the United Kingdom, representative peers were elected by the members
of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the
British House of Lords. The system was introduced in 1707, when England
and Scotland became the Kingdom of Great Britain (Act of Union 1707
pictured). At the time, there were 168Â English and 154Â Scottish peers,
but the English population was roughly five times greater than that of
Scotland. The English peers feared that the House of Lords would be
swamped, and arranged for the election of a small number of Scottish
peers. A similar arrangement was adopted when the Kingdom of Great
Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged into the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Scotland elected 16Â representative
peers, who sat for the duration of a Parliament, while Ireland elected
28, who sat for life. Elections for Irish peers ceased when the Irish
Free State gained independence in 1922, although already-elected Irish
peers were entitled to sit until their death; the last was the 4th Earl
of Kilmorey, who died in 1961. Elections for Scottish peers ended in
1963, when they all obtained the right to sit in the House of Lords.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_peer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1285:
Forces led by Prince Tran Quang Khai of Vietnam's Tran Dynasty
destroyed most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong
Duong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tran_Quang_Khai>
1800:
War of the Second Coalition: In the Battle of Marengo,
Napoleonic forces secured victory over the Habsburgs when defeat had
appeared inevitable until the arrival of French troops led by Louis
Desaix.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marengo>
1940:
World War II: Four days after the French government fled Paris,
German forces occupied the French capital (pictured), essentially ending
the Battle of France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France>
1966:
The Vatican formally abolished its 427-year-old list of
prohibited books.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum>
1985:
The Schengen Agreement, a treaty to abolish systematic border
controls between participating European countries, was signed between
five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vexillology:
The study of flags.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vexillology>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Each time I think I've made a connection with someone... once
they find out what I can do, whether it's hours or days later,
everything changes. Invariably they freak. They get retroactively
paranoid, wondering what else Clark Kent is hiding from them. Â
--Superman: Birthright
<https://en.wikiquote.org//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Birthright>
The Isabella quarter was a United States commemorative coin struck in
1893, and is the only U.S. commemorative quarter that was not intended
for circulation. It was authorized by Congress at the request of the
Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition. The Board
wanted a woman to design it, but the sculptor Caroline Peddle left the
project after disagreements with Bureau of the Mint officials, who then
decided to have the Mint's Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber do the work.
The coin depicts Queen Isabella of Spain, who sponsored Columbus's
voyages to the New World. The reverse, showing a kneeling woman winding
flax, symbolizes women's industry. The quarter's design was deprecated
in the numismatic press. The coins did not sell well at the Exposition;
its price of $1 was the same as for the Columbian half dollar and the
quarter was seen as the worse deal. Nearly half of the authorized issue
was returned to the Mint to be melted; thousands more were purchased at
face value by the Lady Managers and entered the coin market in the early
20th century. Today, they are popular with collectors and valued in the
hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_quarter>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1525:
Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy
discipline decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_von_Bora>
1805:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition became the first European
Americans to sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Falls_(Missouri_River)>
1970:
"The Long and Winding Road" became The Beatles' twentieth and
final number one single in the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_and_Winding_Road>
1983:
Pioneer 10 (Pioneer plaque pictured) passed the orbit of
Neptune, becoming the first man-made object to travel beyond the known
planets of the Solar System.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10>
2007:
Former Iraqi government official Haitham al-Badri orchestrated
a second bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, one of the holiest sites in
Shia Islam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_al-Askari_Mosque_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
soundly:
In a thorough manner; in manner free of defect or deficiency.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soundly>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Man can embody truth but he cannot know it. Â
--William Butler Yeats
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats>
Fomitiporia ellipsoidea is a species of polypore fungus in the family
Hymenochaetaceae, a specimen of which produced the largest fungal fruit
body ever recorded. Found in China, the fruit bodies produced by the
species are brown, woody basidiocarps that feed on dead wood and can
grow very large under favourable circumstances. They measure 30
centimetres (12Â in) or more in length, though typically extending less
than a centimetre from the surface of the wood. A number of chemical
compounds have been isolated from the species, including several
steroidal compounds. These may have pharmacological applications, but
further research is needed. The species was first recorded in 2008 by
Bao-Kai Cui and Yu-Cheng Dai in Fujian Province; it was revealed in 2011
that they had found a very large fruit body, measuring up to 1,085Â cm
(427Â in) in length, on Hainan Island. The specimen (pictured), which
was 20Â years old, was estimated to weigh between 400 and 500 kilograms
(880 and 1,100 lb). This was markedly larger than the previous record
holder, a specimen of Rigidoporus ulmarius found in the United Kingdom,
which had a circumference of 425Â cm (167Â in).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitiporia_ellipsoidea>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
The Fifth Virginia Convention adopted a declaration of rights,
a hugely influential document that proclaimed the inherent rights of
men.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Declaration_of_Rights>
1889:
Runaway passenger carriages collided with a following train
near Armagh, present-day Northern Ireland, killing 80 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armagh_rail_disaster>
1954:
Pope Pius XII canonised Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old
when he died, to make him the youngest non-martyr saint in the Roman
Catholic Church.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Savio>
1963:
African American civil rights activist Medgar Evers was
murdered by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers>
1999:
In the aftermath of the bombing of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo
War, the NATO-led Kosovo Force (German Army armoured vehicle pictured)
entered Kosovo with a mandate of establishing a secure environment in
the territory.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Force>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
make shift:
(dated) To contrive; to invent a way of surmounting a difficulty.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_shift>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Life is not to be told, call it as loud as you like, it will not
tell itself. Â
--Djuna Barnes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Djuna_Barnes>
The 1998Â Pacific hurricane season was a moderately active Pacific
hurricane season with seven tropical cyclones directly affecting land.
The first tropical cyclone developed on June 11, which was about ten
days later than the normal start of the season. The final storm of the
year, Hurricane Madeline (pictured), dissipated on October 20. Storm
activity in the Central Pacific Ocean was low, with just one tropical
depression forming in the basin. Two tropical cyclones from the Eastern
Pacific, Darby and Estelle, also entered the central Pacific, with the
former entering as a hurricane. The season produced 13Â named storms,
which was slightly below the average of 16Â named storms per season.
However, the total of nine hurricanes during the season was equal to the
average, and the total of six major hurricanes surpassed the average.
The most notable tropical cyclone of the year was Hurricane Isis which
killed fourteen people when it made landfall on southern Baja California
and coastal Sinaloa in Mexico. Tropical Storm Javier also made landfall
on Mexico and a tropical cyclone, Hurricane Lester, affected Central
America, causing two deaths in Guatemala.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Pacific_hurricane_season>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
The Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement of the
American Revolutionary War, took place in and around the port of Machias
in what is now eastern Maine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Machias>
1847:
Afonso died at age two, leaving his father Pedro II, the last
emperor of Brazil, without a male heir.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso,_Prince_Imperial_of_Brazil>
1956:
The six-day Gal Oya riots, the first ethnic riots targeting the
minority Sri Lankan Tamils in post-independent Sri Lanka, began,
eventually resulting in the deaths of at least 150 people and 100
injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal_Oya_riots>
1963:
The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor of
Alabama George Wallace stepped aside after defiantly blocking the
entrance to an auditorium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door>
1963:
Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death in
Saigon to protest the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnamese
President Ngo Dinh Diem's administration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Quang_Duc>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
piece together:
1. To physically assemble (or reassemble) from fragments or pieces.
2. (figuratively) To reconstruct an event or goal from incomplete or flawed
elements.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piece_together>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The great vice of the present day is bravura, an attempt to do
something beyond the truth. In endeavouring to do something better than
well, they do what in reality is good for nothing. Fashion always had, &
will have, its day — but truth (in all things) only will last, and can
only have just claims on posterity Â
--John Constable
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Constable>
The Youngstown Ohio Works baseball team was a minor league club that was
known for winning the premier championship of the Ohio–Pennsylvania
League in 1905, and for launching the professional career of pitcher Roy
Castleton a year later (second row, second from left, in a 1906Â team
photograph). A training ground for several players and officials who
later established careers in Major League Baseball, the team proved a
formidable regional competitor and also won the 1906Â league
championship. During its brief span of activity, the Ohio Works team
faced challenges that reflected common difficulties within the
Ohio–Pennsylvania League, including weak financial support for teams.
Following a dispute over funding, the team's owners sold the club to
outside investors, just a few months before the opening of the
1907Â season. The club's strong record and regional visibility spurred
the growth of amateur and minor league baseball in the Youngstown area,
and the community's minor league teams produced notable players
throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Ohio_Works>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1190:
The Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the
Saleph River in Anatolia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1838:
More than 25 Australian Aborigines were massacred near
Inverell, New South Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myall_Creek_massacre>
1925:
The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant
church, held its inaugural service in Toronto's Mutual Street Arena.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada>
1935:
American physician Bob Smith had his last alcoholic drink,
marking the traditional founding date of Alcoholics Anonymous.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous>
1991:
Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in South Lake
Tahoe, California; she would remain a captive until 2009.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
white whale:
1. A cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas.
2. (figuratively) An obsession; monomania.
3. (trading cards) A printing plate, for a sports card, that is then issued
as a collectible itself.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/white_whale>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Love is a fire that burns unseen, A wound that aches yet isn't
felt, An always discontent contentment, A pain that rages without
hurting, A longing for nothing but to long, A loneliness in the midst of
people, A never feeling pleased when pleased, A passion that gains when
lost in thought. Â
--LuÃs de Camões
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_de_Cam%C3%B5es>
The Norman Cob is a breed of light draft horse that originated in
Normandy in northern France. It has a range of heights and weights due
to selective breeding for a wide range of uses and is known for its
lively, long-striding trot. Colors accepted by the breed registry
include chestnut, bay and seal brown. Norman Cobs are popular for
recreational and competitive driving, and are also used for several
riding disciplines. In its homeland, the Norman Cob was originally used
widely for agriculture, but the advent of mechanization threatened all
French draft breeds, and many breeders turned their production towards
the meat market. Norman Cob breeders instead crossed their horses with
Thoroughbreds to contribute to the Selle Français breed, now France's
national saddle horse. This allowed the Norman Cob to remain a light
draft horse through the decades, while other draft breeds were growing
heavier and slower due to selection for meat. Genetic studies in the
1980s showed the breed suffered from inbreeding and genetic drift. Breed
enthusiasts worked to develop new selection criteria for breeding stock,
and population numbers are now relatively stable.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cob>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1732:
James Oglethorpe was granted a royal charter for the Province
of Georgia between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Oglethorpe>
1815:
The Congress of Vienna ended, redrawing the political map of
Europe after the defeat of Napoleon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Vienna>
1863:
American Civil War: In the largest cavalry engagement in U.S.
history, Union and Confederate forces fought to a draw in the Battle of
Brandy Station.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brandy_Station>
1928:
Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew landed
their Southern Cross aircraft in Brisbane, completing the first ever
trans-Pacific flight from the United States mainland to Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith>
1973:
Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, achieving the
first American Triple Crown victory in a quarter-century, and lowering
the track and world record times for 1½ mile distance races to 2:24.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_(horse)>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
caisson:
1. (military) A two-wheeled, horse-drawn military vehicle used to carry
ammunition.
2. (engineering) A watertight retaining structure used in the construction
of bridges.
3. (architecture) A sunken panel used as decoration for a ceiling or a
vault; a coffer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caisson>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 This rule I propose, Always have an ace in the hole. Always try
to arrive at Having an ace some place private. Always have an ace in the
hole. Â
--Cole Porter
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cole_Porter>
Norman Selfe (1839–1911) was an Australian engineer, naval architect,
inventor, urban planner and outspoken advocate of technical education.
After immigrating to Sydney with his family from England as a boy he
became an apprentice engineer, following his father's trade. Selfe
designed many bridges, docks, boats, and much precision machinery for
the city. He also introduced new refrigeration, hydraulic, electrical
and transport systems. For these achievements he received international
acclaim during his lifetime. Decades before the Sydney Harbour Bridge
was built, the city came close to building a Selfe-designed steel
cantilever bridge across the harbour after he won the second public
competition for a bridge design. Selfe was commemorated in his lifetime
by the name of the Sydney suburb of Normanhurst. He was energetically
involved in organisations such as the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
and the Australian Historical Society, and fought consistently for the
establishment of an independent system of technical education. He was
acknowledged upon his death as one of the best-known people in, and
greatest individual influences upon, the city of Sydney.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Selfe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1783:
Iceland's Laki craters began an eight-month eruption,
triggering major famine and massive fluorine poisoning.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki>
1856:
Descendants of Tahitians and the HMS Bounty mutineers settled
on Norfolk Island, an abandoned British penal colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Island>
1959:
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Barbero fired a Regulus cruise
missile (example pictured), equipped with US Post Office Department
containers, in an attempt to deliver mail via rocket.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mail>
1982:
Falklands War: The Argentine Air Force attacked British
transport ships as they were unloading their supplies off Bluff Cove in
the Falkland Islands, killing 56 British servicemen and wounding 150
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Cove_Air_Attacks>
2007:
A major storm in New South Wales, Australia, beached the bulk
carrier ship MVÂ Pasha Bulker.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Pasha_Bulker>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
oneironaut:
A person who explores dream worlds, usually associated with lucid
dreaming.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oneironaut>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness.
Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. Â
--Scott Adams
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_Adams>
James Garrard (1749–1822) was the second governor of Kentucky from
1796 to 1804 and the last elected to consecutive terms until 1999. A
Revolutionary War veteran, he held several local offices and
unsuccessfully tried to exclude slavery from Kentucky's first
constitution. His 1796 election as governor exposed ambiguity in the
state constitution, prompting another constitutional convention in 1799.
As governor, he opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts, favored passage of
the Kentucky Resolutions, and lobbied for public education, militia and
prison reforms, business subsidies, and legislation favorable to
debtors. He became the first resident of the state's first governor's
mansion when it was completed in 1798. A Democratic-Republican, he
applauded the Louisiana Purchase as a means of dealing with the closure
of the port at New Orleans to U.S. goods. Garrard, a Baptist minister,
was expelled from the church in 1802 when his Secretary of State, Harry
Toulmin, persuaded him to adopt some doctrines of Unitarianism. After
leaving office, he engaged in agricultural and commercial pursuits.
Garrard County, Kentucky, was named in his honor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Garrard>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1099:
Members of the First Crusade reached Jerusalem and began a
five-week siege of the city against the Fatimids.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1099)>
1692:
A 7.5 Mw earthquake struck Port Royal, Jamaica, killing about
2,000 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1692_Jamaica_earthquake>
1899:
American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation entered a saloon in
Kiowa, Kansas, and proceeded to destroy all the alcoholic beverages with
rocks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Nation>
1981:
The Israeli Air Force attacked and disabled the Osirak nuclear
reactor, assuming it was producing plutonium to further an Iraqi nuclear
weapons program.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera>
1998:
Three white supremacists murdered African American James Byrd,
Jr., by chaining him behind a pick-up truck and dragging him along an
asphalt road in Jasper, Texas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd,_Jr.>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
trendite:
(slang) A person given to following trends.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trendite>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The world can only be redeemed through action — movement —
motion. Uncoerced, unbribed, and unbought, humanity will move toward the
light. Â
--Alice Moore Hubbard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice_Moore_Hubbard>
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a 1993Â action-adventure video
game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and
published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the fourth installment in
the Legend of Zelda series, and the first for a handheld game console.
What became Link's Awakening began as a port of the Super Nintendo title
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, developed after-hours by
Nintendo staff. It grew into an original project under the direction of
Takashi Tezuka, with a story and script created by Yoshiaki Koizumi and
Kensuke Tanabe. The protagonist Link begins the game stranded on
Koholint Island, a place guarded by a creature called the Wind Fish.
Link then searches for eight musical instruments that will awaken the
sleeping Wind Fish and allow him to escape. A remake called The Legend
of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX was released for the Game Boy Color in
1998; it features color graphics, compatibility with the Game Boy
Printer, and an exclusive color-based dungeon. Together, the two
versions of the game have sold more than six million units worldwide,
and have appeared on multiple game publications' lists of the best games
of all time.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Link%27s_Awakening>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1813:
War of 1812: The British ambushed an American encampment near
present-day Stoney Creek, Ontario, capturing two senior officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoney_Creek>
1882:
The Shewa kingdom made big strides towards gaining supremacy
over the Ethiopian Empire by defeating the Gojjam and gaining control of
territories south of the Gibe River.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Embabo>
1894:
Colorado Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered his state militia
to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners'
strike.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_1894>
1982:
A war in Lebanon began when Israeli forces invaded southern
Lebanon to root out members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lebanon_War>
2004:
During a joint sitting of both houses of the Indian Parliament,
President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam announced that Tamil was to be made the
first legally recognised classical language of India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
enfranchise:
To grant the franchise to an entity, generally meaning to grant the
privilege of voting to a person.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enfranchise>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The hand of the aggressor is stayed by strength — and strength
alone. Â
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower>
Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was an American novelist, short story
writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he
wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples
of American Naturalism and Impressionism. Crane's first novel was the
1893Â Bowery tale Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. He won international
acclaim for his 1895Â Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, written
without any battle experience. Late that year he accepted an offer to
cover the Spanish–American War as a war correspondent. As he waited in
Jacksonville, Florida, for passage to Cuba, he met Cora Taylor, the
madam of a brothel, with whom he would have a lasting relationship.
Plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, Crane died of
tuberculosis at the age of 28. Although recognized primarily for The Red
Badge of Courage, Crane is also known for short stories such as "The
Open Boat", "The Blue Hotel", "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky", and The
Monster. His writing made a deep impression on 20th-century writers,
most prominent among them Ernest Hemingway, and is thought to have
inspired the Modernists and the Imagists.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Crane>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
663:
The Daming Palace became the government seat and royal residence
of the Tang empire during Emperor Gaozong's reign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daming_Palace>
1862:
As the Treaty of Saigon was signed, ceding parts of southern
Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Truong Dinh decided to defy
Emperor Tu Duc of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truong_Dinh>
1947:
At a speech at Harvard University, United States Secretary of
State George Marshall called for economic aid to war-torn Europe,
outlining a recovery program that became known as the Marshall Plan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Marshall>
1963:
The British Secretary of State for War John Profumo admitted he
lied to the House of Commons during enquiries about his involvement in a
sex scandal and resigned.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Profumo>
2009:
After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31
people were killed in clashes between the National Police and indigenous
people in Peru's Bagua Province.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Peruvian_political_crisis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
vulgarian:
A vulgar individual, especially one who emphasizes or is oblivious to
their vulgar qualities.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vulgarian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 The reward for living is the living itself. Â
--Charles Hartshorne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Hartshorne>