The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent
sovereign states, most of which were once governed by the United
Kingdom and are its former colonies. It was formerly known as the
British Commonwealth and many still call it by that name, either for
historical reasons or to distinguish it from the many other
commonwealths around the world. The Commonwealth is largely an
organisation where countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an
opportunity for close and equal interaction. The primary activities of
the Commonwealth are to create an atmosphere of economic cooperation
between member nations, as well as the promotion of democracy and good
governance in them.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1249:
Louis IX of France dispatched Andrew of Longjumeau as his ambassador
to the Mongols.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_of_Longjumeau)
1804:
Lt. Stephen Decatur led a raid to destroy the captured USS
Philadelphia in Tripoli of the Barbary States, denying her use to the
enemy in the First Barbary War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Decatur)
1857:
Gallaudet University, the world’s only university for hearing-impaired
students, was established in Washington, D.C..
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallaudet_University)
1923:
The burial chamber of Tutankhamun, a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty
of Egypt, was unsealed by Howard Carter.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Carter)
1978:
The first computer bulletin board system, CBBS, was created by Ward
Christensen during a blizzard in Chicago, Illinois.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBBS)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence
stops." -- Henry Adams
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Adams)