The early history of the kingdoms of Gowa and Talloq can be traced back to 1300, when the Makassar kingdom of Gowa emerged as an agrarian chiefdom in the Indonesian peninsula of South Sulawesi. Talloq was founded two centuries later when a prince from Gowa fled to the coast after his defeat in a succession dispute. The coastal location of the new polity allowed it to exploit maritime trade to a greater degree than Gowa. The growth of early Gowa was supported by a rapid increase in wet rice cultivation. Verdant forests were cleared to make way for rice paddies. The population may have increased tenfold between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Gowa and Talloq became close allies in the sixteenth century and dominated most of the peninsula, following wide-ranging administrative and military reforms. Around 1600 the twin kingdoms converted to Islam, defeated their rivals and became the most important powers in eastern Indonesia, with Fort Somba Opu (pictured) as one of their centers.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Gowa_and_Talloq
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1822:
USS Alligator engaged three pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba in one of the West Indies anti-piracy operations of the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_November_1822
1888:
Mary Jane Kelly was murdered in London; she was widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Kelly
1913:
The "Big Blow" storm reached its maximum intensity in the Great Lakes Basin of North America, destroying 19 ships and 68,300 tons of cargo, and killing more than 250 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913
1967:
French comic book heroes Valérian and Laureline first appeared in Pilote magazine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9rian_and_Laureline
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
trounce: 1. (transitive) To beat severely; to thrash. 2. (transitive) To beat thoroughly, to defeat heavily; especially (games, sports) to win against (someone) by a wide margin. 3. (transitive) To chastise or punish physically or verbally; to scold with abusive language. 4. (transitive, Britain, regional) To punish by bringing a lawsuit against; to sue. [...] 5. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge. 6. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To pass across or over; to traverse. 7. (intransitive) To travel quickly over a long distance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trounce
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are star stuff, which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter. Our own planet is only a tiny part of the vast cosmic tapestry, a starry fabric of worlds yet untold. Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours. In every one of them there’s a succession of incidents, events, occurrences, which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time, and our small planet at this moment — here we face a critical branch point in history. What we do with our world, right now will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate a superstition or greed or stupidity, we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet, to enhance enormously our understanding of the universe and to carry us to the stars. --Carl Sagan https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan