A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as
fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and
usually enchantments. In cultures where demons and witches are
perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legendary narratives,
where the context is perceived by teller and hearers as having
historical actuality. However, unlike legends and epics they usually
do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual
places, persons, and events; they take place once upon a time rather
than in actual times. Fairy tales are found in oral folktales and in
literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult
to trace, because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the
evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have
existed for thousands of years, although not perhaps recognized as a
genre; the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame
d'Aulnoy. Literary fairy tales are found over the centuries all over
the world, and when they collected them, folklorists found fairy tales
in every culture. Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are
still written today.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1598:
King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom
of religion to the Huguenots.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes)
1742:
Messiah, an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, premiered in Dublin.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel))
1860:
The Pony Express, the first mail service across the North American
continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast, was
successfully completed for the first time.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express)
1943:
World War II: Germany announced the discovery of a mass grave of
Polish prisoners-of-war executed by Soviet forces in the Katyn Forest
Massacre.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre)
1984:
Indian forces launched a preemptive attack on the disputed Siachen
Glacier region of Kashmir, triggering a military conflict with
Pakistan.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen_Glacier)
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Wikiquote of the day:
The secular state is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This
apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political
truths. -- Christopher Hitchens
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens)