Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim.
Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan
range, at an altitude of 1,437 metres (4,715 ft). The town, with a
population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such
as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered by various departments
of the Government of Sikkim. Nestled within higher peaks of the
Himalaya and enjoying a year-round mild temperate climate, Gangtok is
at the centre of Sikkim’s tourism industry. Gangtok rose to prominence
as a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site after the construction of the
Enchey Monastery in 1840. In 1894, the ruling Sikkimese Chogyal, Thutob
Namgyal, transferred the capital to Gangtok. In the early 20th century,
Gangtok became a major stopover on the trade route between Lhasa in
Tibet and cities such as Kolkata (then Calcutta) in British India.
After the British granted India its independence in 1947, Sikkim chose
to remain an independent monarchy, with Gangtok as its capital. In
1975, after the integration with the union of India, Gangtok was made
India's twenty-second state capital. Today, Gangtok is a centre of
Tibetan Buddhist culture and learning, with the presence of several
monasteries, religious educational institutions, and centres for
Tibetology.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangtok>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
917:
Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Bulgarians led by Tsar Simeon I drove the
Byzantines out of Thrace with a decisive victory in the Battle of
Anchialus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Acheloos>
1794:
American troops defeated the Western Confederacy, a Native American
alliance, at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the decisive battle of the
Northwest Indian War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fallen_Timbers>
1804:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, exploring the Louisiana Purchase,
suffered its only death when Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently
from acute appendicitis.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition>
1991:
Singing Revolution: Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet
Union.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia>
1998:
The Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan was destroyed by a bombing
attack launched by the United States in retaliation for the August 7
U.S. embassy bombings.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shifa_pharmaceutical_factory>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
hassle (v):
1. To trouble, to bother, to annoy.
2. To pick a fight or start an argument
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hassle>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There probably is no more important quest in all science than the
attempt to understand those very particular events in evolution by
which brains worked out that special trick that has enabled them to add
to the cosmic scheme of things: color, sound, pain, pleasure, and all
the other facets of mental experience.
--Roger Wolcott Sperry
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry>