The Battle of Aljubarrota took place on August 14 1385, between
Portuguese forces commanded by D. João I of Portugal and his general
Nuno Alvares Pereira, and the Castilian army of Juan I of Castile. The
place was Aljubarrota, between the towns of Leiria and Alcobaça in
central Portugal. The result was a decisive defeat for the Castilians
and the end of the 1383–1385 Crisis, establishing D. João I, Master of
the Order of Aviz, as King of Portugal. Independence was assured and a
new dynasty, the House of Aviz, started. Scattered border
confrontations with Castilian troops would persist until the death of
Juan I in 1390, but these posed no real threat to the Portuguese
crown. To celebrate his victory and acknowledge divine help, João I
ordered the construction of the Monastery of Santa Maria of Batalha
and the founding of the town of Batalha (the Portuguese word for
"battle"). The king, his wife, and several of his sons are buried in
this monastery, which is an important part of Portuguese heritage.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aljubarrota
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1264:
King Henry III was captured in the Battle of Lewes, making Simon de
Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_England)
1796:
Edward Jenner began testing cowpox as a vaccine for protection against
smallpox.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner)
1804:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition departed from Camp Dubois and began
traveling up the Missouri River.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition)
1948:
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion publicly read the Declaration of the
Establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion)
1973:
The NASA space station Skylab was launched from Cape Canaveral.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my
entire life— that great sense of expectation and excitement without
the disappointment— that would be the perfect state." -- Cate
Blanchett
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cate_Blanchett)
Louis Riel was a Canadian politician and leader of the Métis people of
western Canada. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian
government that sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their
homelands came under the Canadian sphere of influence. During the
first, the Red River Rebellion, the provisional government established
by Riel ultimately negotiated the terms under which the modern
province of Manitoba entered the Canadian Confederation. He was forced
into exile as a result of the controversial execution of Thomas Scott,
but in 1884 he returned to what is now the province of Saskatchewan to
participate in the North-West Rebellion of 1885. It ended in his
arrest, trial and eventual execution for treason. Riel was viewed
sympathetically in francophone regions of Canada, and his execution
has had a lasting influence on relations between the province of
Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Whether he is seen as a de facto
Father of Confederation or as a traitor, he remains one of the most
complex, controversial and ultimately tragic figures in the history of
Canada.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1497:
Girolamo Savonarola of Florence was excommunicated by Pope Alexander
VI.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola)
1848:
Maamme, the national anthem of Finland, was performed for the first
time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maamme)
1888:
The Lei Áurea (Golden Law) was passed, legally ending slavery in
Brazil.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/slavery)
1969:
The May 13 Incident: Chinese-Malay race riots left at least 184 people
dead in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13_Incident)
1981:
Mehmet Ali A?ca shot and critically wounded Pope John Paul II in Saint
Peter's Square, Vatican City.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Ali_Agca)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It behoved that there should be sin— but all shall be well, and all
shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." -- Julian of
Norwich
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich)
The mineral diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. Diamonds are
renowned for their superlative physical qualities, especially their
hardness and their dispersion of white light into a rainbow of colors,
known in the trade as fire, for which they have been highly prized
throughout history. Industrially, diamonds are ideal material for
cutting and grinding tools — common applications include the cutting
surfaces of saw blades and drill bits. The De Beers Group has been the
largest player in the diamond industry for over one hundred years. The
company own mines that produce some 40 percent of annual world diamond
production, and control distribution channels handling nearly two
thirds of all gem diamonds. Some controversy over diamonds has been
generated because of the monopolistic practices historically employed
by De Beers including strict control of supply and alleged price
manipulation, as well as the practice by some African revolutionary
groups of selling conflict diamonds in order to fund their often
violent activities.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
330:
Byzantium became Constantinople, the new capital of the Roman Empire
under Constantine I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople)
1792:
Explorer Robert Gray first sighted the Columbia River, the largest
river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River)
1812:
British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated by John
Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Perceval)
1894:
The "wildcat" Pullman Strike began in Illinois.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike)
1960:
Mossad agents abducted Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader and fugitive war
criminal hiding in Argentina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition,
it breeds violence. So a man who is trying to understand violence does
not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or
partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of
mankind." -- J. Krishnamurti
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._Krishnamurti)
Samantha Smith was an American schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine who
was called America's Youngest Ambassador in the USA and the Goodwill
Ambassador in the USSR during her lifetime. She became famous in these
two countries and well-known worldwide after writing a letter to the
Soviet leader Yuri Andropov during the Cold War period and receiving a
reply from Andropov which included a personal invitation to visit the
Soviet Union, which Smith accepted. Assisted by extensive media
attention in both countries, she participated in peacemaking
activities in some other countries after her visit to the Soviet
Union, wrote a book and co-starred in a television series before her
death in an air crash.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1503:
Christopher Columbus and his crew became the first Europeans to visit
the Cayman Islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayman_Islands)
1768:
John Wilkes was imprisoned for criticizing King George III, sparking
riots in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes)
1857:
The Sepoy Rebellion broke out in colonial India, threatening the rule
of the British East India Company.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_rebellion_of_1857)
1869:
The First Transcontinental Railroad of North America was completed
with a golden spike ceremony.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad_%28North_Ameri…)
1941:
World War II: Nazi leader Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland,
claiming to be on a peace mission.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you
to hammer it into shape." -- Bono
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bono)
The history of Irish poetry is complicated by the fact that it has
been the history of two poetries, one in Gaelic and the other in
English. The complex interplay between these two traditions, and
between both of them and other poetries in English, has produced a
body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to categorise.
The earliest surviving poems in Irish date back to the 6th century and
the first known poems in English from Ireland date from the 14th
century. Although some cross-fertilisation between the two language
traditions has always happened, the final emergence of an
English-language poetry that had absorbed themes and models from Irish
did not appear until the 19th century. This culminated in the work of
the poets of the Celtic Revival at the end of the 19th and beginning
of the 20th century. Towards the last quarter of the century, modern
Irish poetry has tended to a wide range of diversity, from the poets
of the Northern school to writers influenced by the modernist
tradition and those facing the new questions posed by an increasingly
urban and cosmopolitan society.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_poetry
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
328:
Athanasius became the Patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria)
1092:
The Lincoln Cathedral in Lincolnshire, England was consecrated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Cathedral)
1671:
Thomas Blood was caught trying to steal the British Crown Jewels from
the Tower of London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blood)
1901:
The first Parliament of Australia opened in the Royal Exhibition
Building in Melbourne.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Australia)
1945:
World War II: Vidkun Quisling, Minister-President of the puppet
government in Norway during the Nazi occupation, was arrested in Oslo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Life is a long lesson in humility." -- J. M. Barrie
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Barrie)
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus
passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, obscuring a small part
of the Sun's disc. During a transit, Venus can be seen from the Earth
as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun. A transit is
similar to a solar eclipse by the Moon but, although the diameter of
Venus is almost 4 times that of the Moon, Venus appears much smaller
because it is much farther away from the Earth. Before modern
astronomy, observations of transits of Venus helped scientists measure
the distance between the Sun and the Earth using the method of
parallax. Transits of Venus are rare and occur in a pattern that
repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits 8 years apart
separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The first of a
pair of transits of Venus took place in 2004 and the next in this pair
will occur in June 2012. Before 2004, the last pair of transits of
Venus were in December 1874 and December 1882. After 2012, there will
be no more transits of Venus until 2117.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1824:
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor premiered in Vienna.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_%28Beethoven%29)
1915:
World War I: The ocean liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by
the German submarine Unterseeboot 20, killing 1,198 on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania)
1920:
Polish-Soviet War: Polish-Ukrainian troops led by Józef Pi?sudski and
Edward Rydz-?mig?y carried out the Kiev Offensive to capture Kyiv,
Ukraine.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Offensive_%281920%29)
1945:
End of World War II in Europe: In Reims, France, General Alfred Jodl
signed and submitted the capitulation documents to the Allies on
behalf of Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims)
1992:
The Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched for its first mission.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Where men are the most sure and arrogant, they are commonly the most
mistaken, and have there given reins to passion, without that proper
deliberation and suspense, which can alone secure them from the
grossest absurdities." -- David Hume
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hume)
Francis Petre was a prominent New Zealand-born architect based in
Dunedin. Before his time, 19th-century New Zealand architecture was
dominated by an almost institutionalized Gothic revival style,
favoured by the British Empire for its far flung colonies. One of the
first of New Zealand's native born architects, Petre played an
important part in guiding it towards the brighter Palladian and
Renaissance southern European styles which were more suited to New
Zealand's climate than the gloomier Gothic. Able to work competently
in a wide diversity of architectural styles, he was also notable for
his pioneering work in concrete development and construction. He
designed numerous public and private buildings, many of which are
still standing in and around Dunedin. He is chiefly remembered for the
monumental Roman Catholic cathedrals of Wellington, Christchurch and
Dunedin, which survive today as testimony to his talent and
architectural expertise.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Petre
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1527:
Spanish and German troops sacked Rome, marking the symbolic end of
Italian Renaissance.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Renaissance)
1682:
King Louis XIV of France took up residence in the Château de
Versailles.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles)
1863:
American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia led by Robert E. Lee
and Stonewall Jackson scored a decisive Confederate victory in the
Battle of Chancellorsville.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chancellorsville)
1937:
The German zeppelin Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed in
Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster)
1994:
The Channel Tunnel, a 50-km long rail tunnel beneath the English
Channel at the Strait of Dover, was officially opened.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out." --
Rabindranath Tagore
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore)
Automatic number plate recognition is a mass
surveillance method that uses optical character recognition on images
to read the licence plates on vehicles. As of 2005 systems can scan
number plates at around one per second on cars travelling up to 100
mph (160 km/h). They can either use existing closed-circuit television
or road-rule enforcement cameras, or ones specifically designed for
the task. They are implemented by various police forces and as a
method of electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads. ANPR can be
used to store the images captured by the cameras as well as the text
from the licence plate, with some configurable to store a photograph
of the driver. Systems commonly use infrared lighting to allow the
camera to take the picture at any time of day. They also tend to be
country-specific due to the variation of plates internationally. Media
reports of misidentification and high error rates have led to privacy
fears, though, as the systems have developed, they have become much
more accurate and reliable.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a
French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo)
1864:
American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign began with
the Battle of the Wilderness.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Campaign)
1904:
Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitched the first perfect game in the
modern era of baseball.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cy_Young)
1949:
The Council of Europe was formed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe)
1950:
Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned in Bangkok as King Rama IX of
Thailand, currently the world's longest-serving head of state.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Democracy is the destiny of humanity; freedom its indestructible
arm." -- Benito Juárez
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez)
The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European armed conflict
that arose in 1701 after the death of the last Spanish Habsburg king,
Charles II. The war proceeded for over a decade, and was marked by the
military leadership of notable generals such as the Duc de Villars and
the Duke of Berwick for France, the Duke of Marlborough for England,
and Prince Eugene of Savoy for the Austrians. The war was concluded by
the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714). As a result, Philip
V remained King of Spain, but was removed from the French line of
succession, thereby averting a union of France and Spain. The
Austrians gained most of the Spanish territories in Italy and the
Netherlands. As a result, France's hegemony over continental Europe
was ended, and the idea of a balance of power became a part of the
international order due to its mention in the Treaty of Utrecht.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1471:
Wars of the Roses: Yorkist Edward IV defeated a Lancastrian army in
the Battle of Tewkesbury.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tewkesbury)
1855:
William Walker and group of mercenaries sailed from San Francisco to
conquer Nicaragua.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_%28soldier%29)
1919:
The May Fourth Movement began with large-scale student demonstrations
in Tiananmen Square in Peking, China against the Paris Peace
Conference and Japan's Twenty-one demands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement)
1953:
Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and
the Sea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." --
Horace Mann
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace_Mann)
Poland's Constitution of May 3rd, 1791 was instituted by the
Government Act adopted on that date by the Sejm (parliament) of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was Europe's first modern codified
national constitution, and the world's second, after the Constitution
of the United States of America, written in 1787, which began to
function in 1789. It was designed to redress long-standing political
defects of the federative Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The
Constitution instituted political equality between townspeople and
nobility and placed the peasants under the protection of the
government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of serfdom. The adoption
of the May 3rd Constitution provoked the active hostility of the
Polish Commonwealth's neighbors. In the War in Defense of the
Constitution, Poland was betrayed by its Prussian ally and defeated by
Catherine the Great's Tsarist Russia. Though overthrown in 1792 by
that alliance of foreign invaders and internal traitors, the May 3rd
Constitution influenced later democratic movements througout the world
and remained, after the demise of the Polish Republic in 1795, for the
following 123 years of its political total eclipse, a beacon in the
struggle to restore Polish sovereignty.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Constitution_of_May_3%2C_1791
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
Finnish War: The Swedish fortress of Sveaborg was lost to Russia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomenlinna)
1937:
Gone With the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, won the Pulitzer
Prize.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_With_the_Wind)
1945:
World War II: Sinking of the Cap Arcona by the RAF in the Lübeck Bay.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_Arcona)
1947:
A new post-World War II Japanese constitution went into effect.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Japan)
1991:
The last episode of the television soap opera Dallas was broadcast.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_%28television_series%29)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to
take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its
success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of
things." -- Niccolò Machiavelli
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccolo_Machiavelli)