The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen
Square in central Beijing on 23 January 2001. The incident is disputed:
the official Chinese press agency, Xinhua News Agency, stated that five
members of Falun Gong, a banned spiritual movement, set themselves on
fire to protest the unfair treatment of Falun Gong by the Chinese
government. The Falun Dafa Information Center stated the incident was a
hoax staged by the Chinese government to turn public opinion against
the group and to justify the torture and imprisonment of its
practitioners. The incident received international news coverage, and
video footage was broadcast later in the People's Republic of China by
China Central Television. A wide variety of opinions and
interpretations of what may have happened emerged: the event may have
been set up by the government, it may have been an authentic protest,
or the self-immolators "new or unschooled" practitioners, among others.
The campaign of state propaganda that followed the event eroded public
sympathy for Falun Gong, and the government began sanctioning
"systematic use of violence" against the group.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_self-immolation_incident>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1043:
Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England, the last king of the
House of Wessex.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor>
1895:
The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began,
eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on
charges of gross indecency.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde>
1922:
Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin>
1971:
The Japanese tokusatsu television series Kamen Rider premiered, marking
the beginning of the long-running Kamen Rider franchise.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Series>
2007:
Texas law enforcement authorities raided the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' YFZ Ranch, eventually removing 533
women and children from the premises.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YFZ_Ranch>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
snail mail (n):
(retronym) Postal mail, especially as compared to email
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snail_mail>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
44px
We do not want our world to perish. But in our quest for knowledge,
century by century, we have placed all our trust in a cold, impartial
intellect which only brings us nearer to destruction. We have heeded no
wisdom offering guidance. Only by learning to love one another can our
world be saved. Only love can conquer all.
--Dora Russell
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dora_Russell>