The Temple of Apollo Palatinus was a temple to the god Apollo in Rome,
constructed on the Palatine Hill on the initiative of Augustus between
36 and 28 BCE. It was associated with Augustus's victories at the
battles of Naulochus and Actium; the latter was extensively memorialised
through its decoration. The temple represented the restoration of Rome's
golden age and Augustus's devotion to religious and political duty. Its
precinct was used for diplomatic functions and meetings of the Roman
Senate. Augustan poets frequently praised the temple and its lavish
artistic decoration and statuary. The temple was destroyed in a fire in
363 CE, which was rumoured to be an act of arson committed by
Christians. The incomplete remains of the temple have been excavated and
partially restored since the nineteenth century. Modern assessments of
the temple have variously treated it as a Hellenising break with Roman
tradition and as a conservative attempt to reassert the values of the
Roman Republic.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Apollo_Palatinus>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1836:
The Toledo War, a mostly bloodless territorial dispute between
Ohio and the Michigan Territory, was unofficially ended with a
resolution passed by the controversial "Frostbitten Convention".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War>
1913:
Haruna, the fourth and last Japanese battlecruiser of the
Kongō class, was launched and went on to serve in both world wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kong%C5%8D-class_battlecruiser>
1918:
Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premiered at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Schicchi>
2008:
During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist
Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. president George W. Bush and
Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, yelling "This is for the widows
and orphans and all those killed in Iraq".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_shoeing_incident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rub elbows:
(idiomatic, intransitive, chiefly US) Usually followed by with: to
associate closely; to consort, mingle, or socialize.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rub_elbows>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I was grounded While you filled the skies I was dumbfounded by
truth You cut through lies I saw the lone empty valley You saw
Brigadoon I saw the crescent You saw the whole of the moon.
--Mike Scott
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mike_Scott_%28Scottish_musician%29>