Anna Anderson (1896–1984) was the best known of several impostors who
claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. The real Anastasia,
the youngest daughter of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, Nicholas
II and Alexandra, was murdered with her parents and siblings on 17 July
1918 by Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg, Russia, but the location of her
body was unknown. In 1920, Anderson was institutionalized in a mental
hospital after a suicide attempt in Berlin. At first, she went by the
name Fräulein Unbekannt (German for Miss Unknown) as she refused to
reveal her identity. Later she used the name Tschaikovsky and then
Anderson. In March 1922, claims that Anderson was a Russian grand
duchess first received public attention. Most members of Grand Duchess
Anastasia's family and those who had known her, including court tutor
Pierre Gilliard, said Anderson was an impostor, but others were
convinced she was Anastasia. In 1927, a private investigation funded by
the Tsarina's brother, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, identified
Anderson as Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish factory worker with a
history of mental illness. Upon her death in 1984, Anderson's body was
cremated, and her ashes were buried in the churchyard at Castle Seeon,
Germany. After the collapse of Communism, the locations of the bodies
of the Tsar, Tsarina and all five of their children were revealed and
multiple laboratories in different countries confirmed their identity
through DNA testing. DNA tests on a lock of Anderson's hair and
surviving medical samples of her tissue showed that Anderson's DNA did
not match the Romanov remains or living relatives of the Romanovs.
Instead, Anderson's mitochondrial DNA matched that of Karl Maucher, a
great-nephew of Franziska Schanzkowska. Scientists, historians, and
major news agencies accept that Anderson was Schanzkowska.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Anderson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León set foot on Florida, becoming
the first European known to do so, purportedly while searching for the
Fountain of Youth in the New World.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n>
1801:
War of the Second Coalition: British forces led by Vice Admiral Horatio
Nelson defeated the Dano-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen
off the coast of Copenhagen.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen_%281801%29>
1956:
As the World Turns premiered on American television as the first
half-hour soap opera .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_the_World_Turns>
1982:
Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the
Falklands War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_invasion_of_the_Falkland_Islands>
2002:
Operation Defensive Shield: Approximately 200 Palestinians fled
advancing Israeli forces into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
starting a month-long standoff.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_Church_of_the_Nativity_in_Bethleh…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antsy (adj):
Restless, apprehensive and fidgety
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antsy>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Truth is on the march, and nothing will stop it.
--Émile Zola
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Zola>
Wife selling was a traditional English practice for ending an
unsatisfactory marriage. Instead of dealing with an expensive and
dragged-out divorce, a husband would take his wife to market and parade
her with a halter around her neck, arm, or waist, before publicly
auctioning her to the highest bidder. Any children from the marriage
might also be sold along with their mother. Prices paid for wives
varied considerably, from a high of £100 (plus £25 each for her two
children), to a low of a glass of ale, or even free. The Duke of
Chandos bought his second wife at one such sale in Newbury in about
1744. Along with other English customs, wife selling was exported to
England's American colonies, where one man sold his wife for "two
dollars and half [a] dozen bowls of grogg". Husbands were sometimes
sold by their wives in a similar manner, but much less frequently. Wife
selling persisted in some form into the early 20th century, as general
attitudes began to shift to the benefit of divorce lawyers.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_selling>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1293:
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by the Pope,
only to find that there was none.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winchelsey>
1789:
Frederick Muhlenberg became the first person to qualify under the
United States Constitution's strict mandate of what defines a head of
the household for U.S. government purposes.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Represen…>
1955:
Groups of Cypriots began a massive, nationwide campaign to exchange
British yokes and other goods and services for Greek ones.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EOKA>
1970:
The first of over 670,000 gremlins were released into North America to
crush foreign imported machines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin>
1976:
Apple Computer was originally founded to sell "do-it-yourself" kits .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.>
2002:
The Netherlands became the first country to approve medical treatments
that provide permanent pain relief from all known human diseases and
disorders.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_in_the_Netherlands>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
foolscap (n):
1. (strictly) Writing paper sheets measuring 13.25 x 16.5 inches
2. (more usually) Such a sheet folded or cut in half, thus
approximately 8 x 13.25 inches
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foolscap>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Very many maintain that all we know is still infinitely less than all
that still remains unknown; nor do philosophers pin their faith to
others' precepts in such wise that they lose their liberty, and cease
to give credence to the conclusions of their proper senses. Neither do
they swear such fealty to their mistress Antiquity that they openly,
and in sight of all, deny and desert their friend Truth.
--William Harvey
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Harvey>
Ian Tomlinson (1962–2009) was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed
and died in the City of London on his way home from work during the
G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination suggested he had
suffered a heart attack and had died of natural causes, but his death
became controversial a week later when The Guardian obtained footage of
his last moments, filmed by an American investment fund manager who was
visiting London. The video shows Tomlinson being struck on the leg from
behind by a police officer wielding an expandable baton, then pushed to
the ground by the same officer. It appears to show no provocation on
Tomlinson's part—he was not a protester, and at the time he was struck,
the footage shows him walking along with his hands in his pockets. He
walked away from the incident but died moments later. After the
newspaper published the video, the Independent Police Complaints
Commission (IPCC) began a criminal inquiry from which the police were
removed, and ordered a second postmortem, this one indicating that
Tomlinson had died from an abdominal haemorrhage, the cause of which
remains unknown. The IPCC completed its investigation in August 2009
and passed its file to the Crown Prosecution Service. A police officer
has been interviewed on suspicion of manslaughter but has not been
named or charged. The incident sparked an intense debate in the UK
about what appeared to be a deteriorating relationship between the
police and the public, the degree to which the IPCC is independent of
the police, and the role of citizens in monitoring police and
government activity—so-called sousveillance.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the Tokugawa shogunate signed
the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to
American trade.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_Kanagawa>
1889:
The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris, becoming a global icon of
France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower>
1917:
The Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands after the United
States paid Denmark US$25 million for the Caribbean islands.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Virgin_Islands>
1930:
To avoid government censorship, Hollywood movie studios instituted
their own set of industry censorship guidelines, popularly known as the
Hays Code.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code>
1995:
Mexican American singer Selena, known as "The Queen of Tejano music",
was shot and killed in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her
fan club, Yolanda Saldívar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
even Homer nods (proverb):
Not even the most vigilant and expertly are immune from erring
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/even_Homer_nods>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Cogito ergo sum
I think, therefore I am.
--René Descartes
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes>
Takalik Abaj is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Guatemala. It is
one of several Mesoamerican sites with both Olmec and Maya features.
The site flourished in the Preclassic and Classic periods, from the 9th
century BC through to at least the 10th century AD, and was an
important centre of commerce, trading with Kaminaljuyu and Chocolá.
Investigations have revealed that it is one of the largest sites with
sculptured monuments on the Pacific coastal plain. Olmec-style
sculptures include a possible colossal head, petroglyphs and others.
The site has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style
sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico. Takalik Abaj is representative
of the first blossoming of Maya culture that had occurred by about 400
BC. The site includes a Maya royal tomb and examples of Maya
hieroglyphic inscriptions that are among the earliest from the Maya
region. Excavation is continuing at the site; the monumental
architecture and persistent tradition of sculpture in a variety of
styles suggest the site was of some importance. Finds from the site
indicate contact with the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan in the
Valley of Mexico and imply that Takalik Abaj was conquered by it or its
allies. Takalik Abaj was linked to long-distance Maya trade routes that
shifted over time but allowed the city to participate in a trade
network that included the Guatemalan highlands.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takalik_Abaj>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of
Alaska for US$7.2 million from Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_purchase>
1940:
World War II: Wang Jingwei was officially installed by Japan as head of
a puppet state in China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei>
1961:
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty aimed
against the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, was
signed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs>
1972:
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an
attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of South
Vietnam as possible
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Offensive>
1981:
Trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, obsessed fan John Hinckley, Jr.
shot and wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three others outside
the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_assassination_attempt>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pepo (n):
1. A kind of fruit possessing a hard rind and producing many seeds in a
single, central, pulpy chamber; a melon, gourd.
2. A plant producing such a fruit
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pepo>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best way of knowing God is to love many things. Love this friend,
this person, this thing, whatever you like, and you will be on the
right road to understanding Him better, that is what I keep telling
myself. But you must love with a sublime, genuine, profound sympathy,
with devotion, with intelligence, and you must try all the time to
understand Him more, better and yet more.
--Vincent van Gogh
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>
Iridion 3D is a quasi-3D rail shooter game for the Game Boy Advance
developed by Shin'en. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance, it was
released in North America on May 29, 2001, and in Europe on September
21 of the same year. Influenced by the Commodore 64 game Uridium,
Iridion features a single starship waging war against the alien Iridion
that have attacked Earth. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the
alien's home planet, each with a fixed linear path that ends with a
boss. Iridion began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color;
when Shin'en decided to drop development and shift their focus to the
Game Boy Advance, Iridion was the first game by the developer to appear
on the system. Though billed as a 3D game, Shin'en used realtime
encoding and resizing to manipulate the size of 2D sprites instead of
creating a true 3D environment. More room on the game cartridge was
available for graphics due to the game's use of the GAX Sound Engine,
which allowed real-time decoding of song data in a small file size. On
release Iridion garnered generally poor reviews. The graphics and sound
were generally praised; even a year after its release, critics at
TechTV considered it the best-looking game on the platform. In
contrast, critics derided the game's repetitive and frustrating
gameplay. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, Iridion
3D influenced future Shin'en shooters such as Iridion II and Nanostray.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridion_3D>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Yorkist troops defeated Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Towton in
Yorkshire, England, the largest battle in the Wars of the Roses up
until that time with approximately 20,000 casualties.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Towton>
1638:
Swedish settlers founded New Sweden near Delaware Bay, the first
Swedish colony in America.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sweden>
1807:
German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 4 Vesta,
the brightest asteroid and the second-most massive body in the asteroid
belt.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta>
1871:
The Royal Albert Hall in Albertopolis, London, was officially opened
by Queen Victoria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall>
1911:
The M1911 single-action, semi-automatic pistol developed by American
firearms designer John Browning became the standard-issue side arm in
the United States Army.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol>
1981:
Over 6,000 athletes took part in the first running of the London
Marathon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Marathon>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
one fell swoop (n):
(idiomatic) One stroke; one action or event with many results
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/one_fell_swoop>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
On seeing his shadow fall on such ancient rocks, he had to question
himself in a different context and ask the same old question as before,
"Who am I?", and the answer now came more emphatically than ever
before, "No-one."
But a no-one with a crown of light about his head. He would remember
a verse from Pindar: "Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some
splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is
sweet."
--R. S. Thomas
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas>
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan.
The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform
under the respective personas of the wicked clowns Violent J and Shaggy
2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known
as horrorcore and is known for its elaborate live performances. The duo
has earned two platinum and three gold albums. According to Nielsen
SoundScan, the entire catalog of the group has sold 6.5 million units
in the United States and Canada as of April 2007. Originally known as
Inner City Posse, the group introduced supernatural- and horror-themed
lyrics as a means of distinguishing itself stylistically. The duo
founded the independent record label Psychopathic Records with Alex
Abbiss as manager, and produced and starred in the feature films Big
Money Hustlas and Big Money Rustlas. They formed their own professional
wrestling federation, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, and later
collaborated with many famous hip hop and rock musicians. The themes of
Insane Clown Posse center on the mythology of the Dark Carnival, which
the duo claim is a spiritual force that has revealed a series of
stories known as Joker's Cards. These stories each offer a specific
lesson designed to change the "evil ways" of listeners before "the end
consumes us all." Insane Clown Posse has a dedicated following, often
referred to by the group as Juggalos and Juggalettes.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insane_Clown_Posse>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1802:
German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 2 Pallas,
the second asteroid known to man.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Pallas>
1862:
American Civil War: An invasion of the New Mexico Territory by the
Confederate States Army was halted at the Battle of Glorieta Pass.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass>
1979:
A partial core meltdown of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating
Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US, resulted in the release of
an estimated 43,000 curies (1.59 PBq) of radioactive krypton to the
environment.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_Nuclear_Generating_Station>
2003:
Invasion of Iraq: In a friendly fire incident, two members of the
United States Air Force attacked the United Kingdom's Blues and Royals
of the Household Cavalry, killing one and injuring five British
soldiers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron%2C_Blues_and_Royals_fri…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
tenacious (adj):
1. Clinging to an object or surface; adhesive.
2. Unwilling to yield from a point of view; dogged.
3. Holding
together; cohesive
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tenacious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do not understand those terrors which make us cry out, Satan, Satan!
when we may say, God, God! and make Satan tremble. Do we not know that
he cannot stir without the permission of God? ... I am really much more
afraid of those people who have so great a fear of the devil, than I am
of the devil himself. Satan can do me no harm whatever, but they can
trouble me very much, particularly if they be confessors.
--Teresa of Ávila
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila>
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British, liquid-cooled, 27-litre (1,650 cu
in) capacity, V-12 piston aero engine, designed and built by
Rolls-Royce Limited. Initially known as the PV-12, Rolls-Royce named
the engine the Merlin following the company convention of naming its
piston aero engines after birds of prey. The PV-12 first ran in 1933,
and a series of rapidly applied developments brought about by wartime
needs improved the engine's performance markedly. The first operational
aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle,
Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. More Merlins were made for
the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber than any other aircraft;
however, the engine is most closely associated with the Spitfire and
powered its maiden flight in 1936. Considered a British icon, the
Merlin was one of the most successful aircraft engines of the World War
II era, and many variants were built by Rolls-Royce in Derby, Crewe and
Glasgow, as well as by Ford of Britain in Trafford Park, Manchester.
The Packard V-1650 was a version of the Merlin built in the United
States. Production ceased in 1950 after a total of almost 150,000
engines had been delivered, the later variants being used for airliners
and military transport aircraft. In military use the Merlin was
superseded by its larger capacity stablemate, the Rolls-Royce Griffon.
Merlin engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight, and power many restored aircraft in private
ownership worldwide.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Merlin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
To protect American merchant ships from Barbary pirates, the United
States Congress passed the Naval Act to establish a naval force of six
frigates, which eventually became the United States Navy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy>
1851:
Explorer Lafayette Bunnell and other members of the Mariposa Battalion
became the non-indigenous discoverers of California's Yosemite Valley .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Valley>
1977:
Two Boeing 747 airliners collided on a foggy runway at Los Rodeos
Airport on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people and
resulting in the worst aircraft accident in aviation history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster>
1998:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug sildenafil,
better known by the trade name Viagra, for use as a treatment for
erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition
in the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sildenafil>
2002:
A suicide bomber killed about 30 Israeli civilians and injured about
140 others at the Park Hotel in Netanya, triggering Operation Defensive
Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorist Israeli military incursion into
the West Bank, two days later.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bilious (adj):
1. Suffering from real or supposed liver disorder.
2. Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.
3.
Irritable or bad tempered; irascible
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bilious>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There’s a good time coming, boys!
A good time coming.
We may not live to see the day,
But earth
shall glisten in the ray
Of the good time coming.
Cannon-balls may aid the truth
But
thought’s a weapon stronger;
We’ll win our battles by its aid,
Wait a little longer.
--Charles Mackay
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Mackay>
American Beauty is a 1999 drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written
by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged
office worker who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with
his daughter's best friend; Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari,
Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper and Allison Janney also feature. Described as
a satire of American notions of beauty and personal satisfaction, the
film explores themes of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty,
materialism, self-liberation and redemption. American Beauty was
Mendes' film directorial debut and Ball's first film screenplay.
DreamWorks bought his spec script for $250,000 and financed the
$15 million production. Courted by the studio after a run of successful
theater productions, Mendes was nevertheless only given the job after
several "A-list" directors turned it down. Released in late 1999,
American Beauty was the best-reviewed American film of the year and
grossed over $350 million worldwide. At the 2000 Academy Awards, the
film won five of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best
Director and Best Actor (for Spacey). The film was nominated for and
won many other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing and
acting.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_%28film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1027:
Pope John XIX crowned Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1484:
William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, printed his
translation of Aesop's Fables.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables>
1636:
Utrecht University, one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands
and one of the largest in Europe, was established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_University>
1971:
After the Pakistan Army attempted to curb the Bengali nationalist
movement in Operation Searchlight, East Pakistan declared its
independence from Pakistan to form Bangladesh , starting the Bangladesh
Liberation War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Searchlight>
1975:
The Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament
treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons, entered
into force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
seam allowance (n):
(sewing) That part of the material or fabric added to the dimensions of
a sewing pattern outside the seam
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/seam_allowance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.
--Robert Frost
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost>
The political history of Mysore and Coorg (1565–1760) is the political
history of the contiguous historical regions of Mysore state and Coorg
province in west-central peninsular India, beginning with the fall of
the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565 and ending just before the rise of
Sultan Haidar Ali in 1761. After the Vijayanagara Empire's fall, the
Sultanate of Bijapur, the Sultanate of Golconda, the fledgling Maratha
empire, and the Mughal empire, invaded the region intermittently. By
the turn of the eighteenth century, the northwestern hills were being
ruled by the Nayaka rulers of Ikkeri, the southwestern, in the Western
Ghats, by the Rajas of Coorg, the southern plains by the Wodeyar rulers
of Mysore, Hindu dynasties all; whereas the eastern and northeastern
regions had fallen to the Muslim Nawabs of Arcot and Sira. Mysore's
expansions had been based on unstable alliances. When the alliances
began to unravel, political decay set in. The declining Mughal empire
raided the Mysore capital, Seringapatam, to collect unpaid taxes; the
neighbouring Raja of Coorg began a war of attrition with Mysore over
western territory; and soon, the Maratha empire invaded again and
exacted more concessions of territory. In the chaotic last decade of
this period, a little-known Muslim cavalryman, Haidar Ali, seized power
in Mysore.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_history_of_Mysore_and_Coorg_%281565%…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1306:
Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone near Perth.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I_of_Scotland>
1409:
The Council of Pisa, an unrecognized ecumenical conference of the Roman
Catholic Church held in Pisa that attempted to end the Western Schism,
opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Pisa>
1634:
Lord Baltimore, his younger brother Leonard Calvert, and a group of
Catholic settlers founded the English colony of Maryland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Maryland>
1655:
Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan , the largest
natural satellite of the planet Saturn.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28moon%29>
1802:
France and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Amiens, temporarily
ending the hostilities between the two during the French Revolutionary
Wars.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amiens>
1807:
The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in the
British Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
double act (n):
A comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship
between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin
and profession, but often with drastically different personalities or
behavior
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/double_act>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Freedom is the very essence of life, the impelling force in all
intellectual and social development, the creator of every new outlook
for the future of mankind. The liberation of man from economic
exploitation and from intellectual and political oppression, which
finds its finest expression in the world-philosophy of Anarchism, is
the first prerequisite for the evolution of a higher social culture and
a new humanity.
--Rudolf Rocker
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker>
Uriel Sebree (1848–1922) was a career officer in the United States
Navy. He entered the Naval Academy during the Civil War and served
until 1910, retiring as a rear admiral. He is best remembered for his
two expeditions into the Arctic and for serving as the second acting
governor of American Samoa. He was also commander-in-chief of the
Pacific Fleet. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1867,
Sebree was posted to a number of vessels before being assigned to a
rescue mission to find the remaining crew of the missing Polaris in the
Navy's first mission to the Arctic. This attempt was only a partial
success—the Polaris crew was rescued by a Scottish ship rather than the
US Navy—but this led to Sebree's selection eleven years later for a
second expedition to the Arctic. That mission to rescue Adolphus Greely
and the survivors of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition was a success.
Sebree was subsequently appointed as the second acting governor of
American Samoa. He served in this position for only a year before
returning to the United States. In 1907, he was promoted to rear
admiral and given command of the Pathfinder Expedition around the South
American coast before being appointed commander of the 2nd Division of
the Pacific Fleet and then commander-in-chief of the entire fleet. He
retired in 1910 and died in Coronado, California in 1922. Two
geographical features in Alaska—Sebree Peak and Sebree Island—are named
for Admiral Sebree.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uriel_Sebree>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1603:
After Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace, King James VI of
Scotland acceded to the throne of England, Wales and Ireland, becoming
James I of England and unifying the crowns of the four kingdoms for
the first time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England>
1882:
German physician Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, a bacterium that causes tuberculosis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tuberculosis>
1944:
World War II: Captured Allied soldiers began "the Great Escape",
breaking out of the German prison camp Stalag Luft III.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III>
1976:
Military leaders in Argentina led by Jorge Rafael Videla deposed
President Isabel Perón in a coup d'état, established a military junta
known as the National Reorganization Process, and began state-sponsored
violence against dissidents known as the Dirty War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_War>
1989:
The tanker Exxon Valdez spilled more than 10 million U.S. gallons of
oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, causing one of the most
devastating man-made environmental disasters at sea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nidify (v):
To make a nest
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nidify>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Follow the voice of your heart, even if it leads you off the path of
timid souls. Do not become hard and embittered, even if life tortures
you at times. There is only one thing that counts: to live one's life
well and happily...
--Wilhelm Reich
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich>