The Diocletianic Persecution was the last and most severe persecution
of Christians in the Roman empire. In 303, Emperor Diocletian and his
colleagues Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of
edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding they comply
with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy
and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice
to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the
empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was
applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. His son, Constantine,
on taking the imperial office in 306, restored Christians to full legal
equality and returned property confiscated during the persecution. The
persecution failed to check the rise of the church. By 324, Constantine
was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored
religion. Although the persecution resulted in the deaths of—according
to one modern estimate—3,000 Christians, and the torture, imprisonment,
or dislocation of many more, most Christians avoided punishment. The
persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those
who had complied with imperial authority (the traditores), and those
who had remained "pure". Modern historians have tended to downplay the
scale and depth of the Diocletianic persecution.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1297:
First War of Scottish Independence: The Scots defeated English troops
at the Battle of Stirling Bridge on the River Forth near Stirling.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge>
1709:
An allied British-Dutch-Austrian force defeated the French at the
Battle of Malplaquet, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of the
Spanish Succession.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malplaquet>
1789:
U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, co-writer of the Federalist
Papers, became the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton>
1857:
At Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, USA, a local brigade of the Mormon
militia led a massacre of about 120 California-bound pioneers from
Arkansas.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre>
2001:
September 11 attacks: Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger
airliners, intentionally crashing two of them into the World Trade
Center in New York City and one plane into the Pentagon near
Washington, D.C. The fourth aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania after its
passengers mounted an assault against their hijackers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
realm (n):
1. A sphere of real or imaginary influence.
2. The domain of a certain abstraction.
3. (formal or law) A
territory or state, as ruled by a specific power
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/realm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Although September 11 was horrible, it didn't threaten the survival of
the human race, like nuclear weapons do. ... I don't think the human
race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space.
There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet.
But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.
--Stephen Hawking
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking>
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (1822–1847) was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe.
The couple were first cousins and married when Virginia Clemm was 13
and Poe was 27. Some biographers have suggested that the couple's
relationship was more like that between brother and sister than like
husband and wife and that they never consummated their marriage.
Beginning in January 1842, she struggled with tuberculosis for several
years. She died of the disease in January 1847 at the age of 24 in the
family's cottage outside New York City. Along with other family
members, Virginia Clemm and Edgar Allan Poe lived together off and on
for several years before their marriage. The couple often moved to
accommodate Poe's employment, living intermittently in Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York. A few years after their wedding, Poe was
involved in a substantial scandal involving Frances Sargent Osgood and
Elizabeth F. Ellet. Rumors about alleged amorous improprieties on her
husband's part affected Virginia Poe so much that on her deathbed she
claimed that Ellet had murdered her. After her death, her body was
eventually placed under the same memorial marker as her husband in
Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, Maryland. Only one
image of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe has been authenticated: a watercolor
portrait painted after her death. The disease and eventual death of his
wife had a substantial impact on Edgar Allan Poe, who became despondent
and turned to drink to cope. Her struggle with illness and death are
believed to have impacted his poetry and prose, where dying young women
appear as a frequent motif, as in "Annabel Lee".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Eliza_Clemm_Poe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1798:
At the Battle of St. George's Caye, a small force of British settlers
called Baymen defeated an invading force from Mexico who were
attempting to claim what is now Belize for Spain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._George%27s_Caye>
1897:
A peaceful labor demonstration made up of mostly Polish and Slovak
anthracite coal miners in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA, was fired
upon by a sheriff's posse comitatus in the Lattimer Massacre.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattimer_massacre>
1898:
In an act of "propaganda of the deed", Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni
fatally stabbed Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Geneva, Switzerland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Bavaria>
1977:
Hamida Djandoubi became the last person to be guillotined in France,
the official method of execution in that country. France would later
abolish the death penalty in 1981.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/guillotine>
1990:
Pope John Paul II consecrated the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in
Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, one of the largest churches in the world.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Our_Lady_of_Peace_of_Yamoussoukro>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
alabaster (n):
1. A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used
ornamentally.
2. (historical) A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alabaster>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the
public and have no self.
--Cyril Connolly
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cyril_Connolly>
Cædwalla (659–689) was the King of Wessex from about 685 until 688,
when he abdicated. His name is derived from the British Cadwallon. He
was exiled as a youth, and during this time attacked the South Saxons,
in what is now Sussex, killing their king, Æthelwealh, but he was
unable to hold the territory and was driven out by Æthelwealh's
ealdormen. In either 685 or 686 he became king of Wessex. He may have
been involved in suppressing rival dynasties at this time, as an early
source records that Wessex was ruled by underkings until Cædwalla.
After his accession Cædwalla returned to Sussex and won the territory
again, and also conquered the Isle of Wight, extinguishing the ruling
dynasty there. He gained control of Surrey and the kingdom of Kent, and
in 686 he installed his brother, Mul, as king of Kent. Mul was burned
in a Kentish revolt a year later, and Cædwalla returned, possibly
ruling Kent directly for a period. Cædwalla was wounded during the
conquest of the Isle of Wight, and perhaps for this reason he abdicated
in 688 to travel to Rome for baptism. He reached Rome in April of 689,
and was baptised on the Saturday before Easter, dying ten days later on
20 April 689. He was succeeded by Ine.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
9:
Germanic Wars: An alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius engaged
Roman forces led by Publius Quinctilius Varus at the Battle of the
Teutoburg Forest, defeating three of the legions within the next few
days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest>
1513:
War of the League of Cambrai: King James IV of Scotland was killed at
the Battle of Flodden Field in Northumberland while leading an invasion
of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_IV_of_Scotland>
1850:
As part of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted into the
United States as a free state instead of a slave state where slavery
was legal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California>
1944:
With the help of the advancing forces of the Soviet Red Army, the
Bulgarian government of Konstantin Muraviev was overthrown and replaced
with a government of the Fatherland Front.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_of_1944>
2004:
A car bomb exploded outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta,
Indonesia, killing at least nine people and injuring over 150 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Jakarta_embassy_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scupper (v):
(UK) Thwart, destroy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scupper>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only
reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are
interested in here.
--Leo Tolstoy
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy>
Crush is a platformer-puzzle video game developed by Kuju
Entertainment's Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega in 2007 for the
PlayStation Portable. The game's protagonist is Danny, a teenager
suffering from insomnia, who uses an experimental device to explore his
mind and discover the cause for his sleeplessness. Each level of the
game, representing events from Danny's life and inspired by artists
such as Tim Burton and M.C. Escher, requires the player to control
Danny as he collects his "lost marbles" and other thoughts. Crush's
primary gameplay feature involves manipulating each game level between
3D and 2D views, allowing the player to reach platforms and locations
inaccessible from within a different view. This element was noted by
critics to be similar to one in Super Paper Mario, also released in
2007, though the Zoë Mode team had envisioned the concept five years
prior. Crush received positive reviews upon release, with critics
praising Crush's incorporation of this dimension-shifting component
alongside other aspects of the game presentation. Though Crush won
several gaming awards, including PSP game of the month, it failed to
meet the developer's sales expectations.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_%28video_game%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1331:
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of the House of Nemanjić was crowned King of
Serbia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Uro%C5%A1_IV_Du%C5%A1an_of_Serbia>
1504:
David, a marble sculpture by Michelangelo portraying the biblical King
David in the nude, was unveiled in Florence, Italy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28Michelangelo%29>
1541:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The combined forces of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland defeated the larger army of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow in Orsha, present-day Belarus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orsha>
1966:
The American science fiction show Star Trek premiered on the NBC
television network, launching a media franchise that has since created
a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current
technologies.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek%3A_The_Original_Series>
1974:
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Gerald Ford gave recently-resigned
U.S. President Richard Nixon a full and unconditional, but
controversial, pardon for any crimes he committed while in office.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Hobson-Jobson (n):
A word or phrase borrowed by one language from another and modified in
pronunciation to fit the set of sounds the borrowing language typically
uses
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hobson-Jobson>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,
Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.
In the great hour of
destiny they stand,
Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows.
--Siegfried Sassoon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon>
Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett (1883–1962) was a British barrister,
politician and judge noted for his skill as a speaker. Born in
Ulverston, Lancashire, he initially trained to be a Methodist preacher,
and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge to study theology and history
with that in mind. He became President of the Cambridge Union, and
after switching to law graduated in 1910. He was called to the Bar in
1913 and developed a reputation as a barrister able to defend people
with almost watertight criminal cases against them, such as in the
second of the Brighton trunk murders and the Blazing Car murder. He sat
as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Nottingham East for
two Parliaments in the 1920s, and was described as "the Lord Chancellor
that never was". In 1941, he became a judge of the High Court, and
later served as the alternate British judge in the Nuremberg Trials.
Unhappy with his time in the High Court, he accepted a position in the
Court of Appeal in 1950, but after finding he enjoyed it even less,
retired in 1956 when he had served long enough to draw a pension.
Following his retirement he was made a hereditary peer, and spoke
regularly in the House of Lords. After speaking there in 1962 he
collapsed at home, and following a failed operation died aged 78.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Birkett%2C_1st_Baron_Birkett>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
394:
Forces of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeated Eugenius,
the usurper of the Western Roman Empire, at the Battle of the Frigidus
near modern-day Vipava, Slovenia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_I>
1955:
An overwhelming Turkish mob attacked ethnic Greeks in Istanbul, killing
over 13 people, wounding over thirty others, and damaging over 5,000
Greek-owned homes and businesses.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Pogrom>
1963:
The Krulak Mendenhall mission, led by U.S. Marine Corps Major General
Victor Krulak and U.S. Foreign Service Officer Joseph Mendenhall, was
launched by the Kennedy administration to assess the progress of the
Vietnam War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krulak_Mendenhall_mission>
1970:
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked
four jet aircraft en route from Europe to New York City, landing two of
them at Dawson's Field in Zerqa, Jordan, and one plane in Beirut,
Lebanon. The fourth hijacking was successfully foiled.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson%27s_Field_hijackings>
2000:
The Millennium Summit, a meeting of world leaders to discuss the role
of the United Nations in the turn of the 21st century, opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Summit>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pastiche (n):
1. A work of drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates
the work of a previous artist, often satirically.
2. A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
3. An incongruous
mixture; a hodgepodge
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pastiche>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog to see the
sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain
relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten.
--Robert M. Pirsig
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig>
The Cochineal, Dactylopius coccus, is a scale insect in the suborder
Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colored dye, carmine, is
derived. D. coccus itself is native to tropical and subtropical South
America and Mexico. A primarily sessile parasite, this insect lives on
cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and nutrients.
The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other
insects. Carminic acid can be extracted from the insect's body and eggs
to make carmine dye (also known as cochineal). Carmine is primarily
used as a food colouring and for cosmetics. After synthetic pigments
and dyes such as alizarin were invented in the late 19th century,
natural-dye production gradually diminished. Health fears over
artificial food additives, however, have renewed the popularity of
cochineal dyes, and the increased demand has made cultivation of the
insect profitable again. Cochineal dyes have health risks. Unlike
hypothetical risks extrapolated from tests on other species (rats),
Cochineal-based dyes and derivatives cause allergic reactions in no
more than 1 in 10,000 consumers. The Center for Science in the Public
Interest has called on the FDA to remove insect-based dyes from the
approved list of dyes.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
301:
San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's
oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino>
590:
Gregory I became pope, the first one to come from a monastic
background.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I>
1260:
Egyptian Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in
Palestine.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ain_Jalut>
1783:
Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris,
formally ending the American Revolutionary War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_%281783%29>
1901:
The National Flag of Australia, a Blue Ensign defaced with the
Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross, flew for the first time atop
the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Australia>
1976:
The NASA Viking 2 spacecraft landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_2>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wanton (adj):
1. Lewd, immoral; sexually open/free.
2. Capriciously violent; malicious without provocation; acting without
regard for the law or the well-being of others.
3. Abundant and luxuriant, without restraint.
4. Playful; overly happy
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wanton>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The old poets little knew what comfort they could be to a man.
--Sarah Orne Jewett
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarah_Orne_Jewett>
The Rock Springs massacre occurred on September 2, 1885, in the
present-day United States (U.S.) city of Rock Springs, Wyoming, in
Sweetwater County. The riot, between Chinese immigrant miners and
white, mostly immigrant, miners, was the result of racial tensions and
an ongoing labor dispute over the Union Pacific Coal Department's
policy of paying Chinese miners lower wages than white miners. When the
rioting ended, at least 28 Chinese miners were dead and 15 were
wounded. Rioters burned 75 Chinese homes resulting in approximately
US$150,000 in property damage. Tension between whites and Chinese
immigrants in the late 19th century American West was particularly
high, especially in the decade preceding the violence. The massacre in
Rock Springs was the violent outburst of years of anti-"coolie"
sentiment in the United States. In the immediate aftermath of the riot,
federal troops were deployed in Rock Springs. They escorted the
surviving Chinese miners, most of whom had fled to Evanston, Wyoming,
back to Rock Springs a week after the riot. Reaction came swiftly from
the era's publications. In Rock Springs, the local newspaper endorsed
the outcome of the riot, while in other Wyoming newspapers, support for
the riot was limited to sympathy for the causes of the white miners.
The massacre in Rock Springs touched off a wave of anti-Chinese
violence, especially in the Puget Sound area of Washington Territory.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Springs_massacre>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
31 BC:
Final War of the Roman Republic: Troops supporting Octavian defeated
the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the naval Battle of Actium
on the Ionian Sea near Actium in Greece.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Actium>
1666:
A large fire began on London's Pudding Lane and burned the city for
three days , destroying St Paul's Cathedral and the homes of 70,000 of
the city's 80,000 inhabitants.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London>
1901:
U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt first uttered the famous phrase
"speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair,
describing his philosophy of negotiating peacefully while
simultaneously threatening to use military force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Stick_ideology>
1990:
Transnistria unilaterally declared its independence from what was then
the Moldavian SSR of the Soviet Union, but no country or international
organization has yet ever recognized it to this day.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria>
1998:
Swissair Flight 111, en route from New York City to Geneva, crashed
into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 229 on board.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
front (v):
1. To lead or be the spokesperson of a group.
2. To provide money or financial assistance in advance.
3. To assume a
haughty manner, especially as a pretense
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/front>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The first casualty when war comes is truth.
--Hiram Johnson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hiram_Johnson>