The Sultanate of Singora was a short-lived port city in southern
Thailand and precursor of the present-day town of Songkhla. The city was
founded in the early 1600s by Dato Mogol, a Persian Muslim who
recognized Siamese suzerainty. From its inception, it was designated a
duty-free port and vied with the neighboring Sultanate of Pattani for
trade. An important trading center for tin, lead and pepper, Singora
flourished during the reign of Doto Mogol's son, Sultan Sulaiman Shah,
but was destroyed by Siamese troops in 1680 after decades of conflict.
Remains of the city include fourteen forts (example pictured), city
walls and the tomb of Sultan Sulaiman Shah. A cannon from Singora
bearing the seal of Sultan Sulaiman Shah was captured by Siamese forces.
It was seized in the 18th century by Burmese troops and in the 19th
century by the British, and is now displayed in the grounds of the Royal
Hospital Chelsea, London. The sultanate's history was documented in
accounts, letters and journals written by British and Dutch East India
Company traders; its destruction was discussed in books and reports
authored by representatives of the French embassies to Siam in the mid-
1680s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Singora>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound in the
Pacific Northwest for Great Britain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound>
1944:
A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505
(pictured), the first warship to be captured by U.S. forces on the high
seas since the War of 1812.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505>
1974:
The Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball hosted Ten Cent
Beer Night, but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to
rioting by drunken fans.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Cent_Beer_Night>
1989:
The People's Liberation Army violently cracked down on the
Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, leaving at least 241 dead and
7,000 wounded, and causing widespread international condemnation of the
Chinese government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989>
2004:
In Granby, Colorado, US, Marvin Heemeyer went on a rampage with
a modified bulldozer over a zoning dispute, destroying several buildings
before committing suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
sexton:
A church official who looks after a church and its graveyard and may act
as a gravedigger and bell-ringer.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sexton>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret
weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis
developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air —
explode softly — and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes
into the air. Floating down to earth — boxes of Crayolas. And we
wouldn't go cheap either — not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-
four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and
copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.
And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and
cover the world with imagination instead of death. A child who touched
one wouldn't have his hand blown off.
--Robert Fulghum
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum>