Istanbul, Turkey, known before 330 as Byzantium and between 330 and 1930
as Constantinople, is a transcontinental city of Europe and Asia,
straddling the Bosporus strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black
Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side;
about a third of its residents live on the Asian side. The population of
the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s to around 15 million,
making Istanbul one of the world's most populous cities and the fourth-
largest city proper. Founded on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660
BCE, the city grew in size and influence. It was an imperial capital for
almost 16 centuries, during the Roman and Byzantine (330–1204), Latin
(1204–1261), Palaiologos Byzantine (1261–1453) and Ottoman
(1453–1922) empires. Although Ankara was chosen as the new capital
after the Turkish War of Independence, Istanbul remains Turkey's
economic and cultural center.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1886:
American inventor Charles Martin Hall discovered an inexpensive
method of producing aluminum (sample pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martin_Hall>
1909:
The Silver Dart was flown off the ice of Bras d'Or Lake on Cape
Breton Island, making it the first controlled powered flight in Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEA_Silver_Dart>
1947:
The International Organization for Standardization, responsible
for worldwide industrial and commercial standards, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization>
1991:
The government of Thai prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan was
deposed in a bloodless coup by General Sunthorn Kongsompong.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatichai_Choonhavan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
navel-gazing:
1. Contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.
2. (derogatory) Excessive focus on oneself; self-indulgent
introspection.
3. (sometimes derogatory) (Disproportionate) concentration on a single
issue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/navel-gazing>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will
destroy the United States. And when we call for education we mean real
education. We believe in work. We ourselves are workers, but work is not
necessarily education. Education is the development of power and ideal.
We want our children trained as intelligent human beings should be, and
we will fight for all time against any proposal to educate black boys
and girls simply as servants and underlings, or simply for the use of
other people. They have a right to know, to think, to aspire.
--W. E. B. Du Bois
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois>