The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960–1279 AD; it
succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed
by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to
issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to
establish a permanent standing navy. The Song Dynasty is divided into
two distinct periods: the Northern Song and Southern Song. During the
Northern Song, the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing
and the dynasty controlled most of inner China. The Southern Song
refers to the period after the Song lost control of northern China to
the Jin Dynasty. During this time, the Song court retreated south of
the Yangtze River and established their capital at Lin'an. The Southern
Song Dynasty considerably bolstered naval strength to defend its waters
and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the
Jin (and later the Mongols), the Song developed revolutionary new
military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder. In 1234, the Jin
Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern
China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. After two
decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khan's armies conquered the Song
Dynasty in 1279. China was once again unified, under the Yuan Dynasty.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1521:
After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish Conquistador Hernán
Cortés captured Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquered the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan>
1704:
The combined forces of England, the Holy Roman Empire, and the United
Provinces defeated France and Bavaria in the Battle of Blenheim , one
of the turning points of the War of the Spanish Succession.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim>
1913:
English inventor Harry Brearley developed stainless steel using an
electric furnace.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Brearley>
1937:
The Battle of Shanghai broke out, eventually becoming one of the
largest and bloodiest battles of the entire Second Sino-Japanese War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanghai>
1968:
Greek politician Alexandros Panagoulis attempted to assassinate Greek
leader Georgios Papadopoulos.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandros_Panagoulis>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
joyride (n):
An instance of driving a motor vehicle in a carefree or reckless
manner, especially a vehicle which has been taken without the
permission of the owner
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/joyride>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is our hope, that men in proportion as they grow more enlightened,
will learn to hold their theories and their creeds more loosely, and
will none the less, nay, rather all the more be devoted to the supreme
end of practical righteousness to which all theories and creeds must be
kept subservient.
--Felix Adler
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Felix_Adler>