The Rosetta Stone is a large black stone stele bearing a translation of Ancient Egyptian text, the first recovered in modern times. Found in 1799, it is inscribed with three versions of a decree from 196 BC announcing the rule of King Ptolemy V. The texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic script and Demotic script and in Ancient Greek. The stone proved to be the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. It was taken from building material in Fort Julien near the town of Rashid (Rosetta) in the Nile Delta when it was rediscovered during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt. After British troops defeated the French in Egypt in 1801, they seized the stone and transported it to London. It has been on public display at the British Museum since 1802, and is the museum's most-visited object. Since its rediscovery, the stone has been the focus of nationalist rivalries, including a long- running dispute over the relative value of Thomas Young's and Jean- François Champollion's contributions to the decipherment, and demands this century for the stone's return to Egypt.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
War of the First Coalition: Habsburg Austrians together with Dutch Republic troops repulsed a series of French assaults after bitter fighting in Neerwinden, present-day Belgium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Neerwinden_(1793)
1834:
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced to transportation to Australia for swearing an illegal oath to join their friendly society in Dorset, England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs
1915:
First World War: In one of the largest naval battles in the Gallipoli Campaign, the Ottoman Empire sank three Allied battleships (French battleship Bouvet pictured) and severely damaged three others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_operations_in_the_Dardanelles_Campaign
1970:
United States postal workers began a two-week strike after Congress raised its own wages by 41% but raised the wages of postal workers by only 4%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._postal_strike_of_1970
1985:
The first episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours was broadcast on the Seven Network, eventually becoming the longest-running drama in Australian television history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
gnarly: 1. Having or characterized by gnarls; gnarled. 2. (slang) Excellent; attractive. 3. (slang, US) Dangerous; difficult. 4. (slang, US) Unpleasant, awful, ugly. 5. (slang, US) Of music or a sound: harsh. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gnarly
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality. If war should come, it will do so on account of our delusions, for which our hag- ridden conscience attempts to find moral excuses. To recover a sense of reality is to recover the truth about ourselves and the world in which we live, and thereby to gain the power of keeping this world from flying asunder. --Nikolai Berdyaev https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikolai_Berdyaev