On 16 October 1834 a massive fire largely destroyed the Palace of
Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British
parliament. The conflagration was caused by the burning of small wooden
tally sticks that had been used as part of the accounting procedures of
the Exchequer until 1826, which were being disposed of carelessly in the
two furnaces under the House of Lords. The blaze caused a chimney fire,
initially under the floor of the Lords' chamber, then up through the
walls before spreading rapidly throughout the complex. The fire lasted
for most of the night and developed into the biggest conflagration to
occur in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of the
Second World War; massive crowds were attracted to the spectacle. By the
following morning a large part of the palace had been destroyed,
although the actions of the London Fire Engine Establishment ensured
that Westminster Hall and a few other parts of the old Houses of
Parliament survived. In 1836 a design competition for a new palace was
won by Charles Barry who, in collaboration with Augustus Pugin,
incorporated the surviving buildings into the new complex.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Parliament>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1590:
Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo caught his wife having an
extramarital affair with Duke Fabrizio Carafa of Andria and killed them
both on the spot.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Gesualdo>
1793:
War of the First Coalition: Despite leading French forces to
victory in the Battle of Wattignies, Jean-Baptiste Jourdan was later
forcibly discharged from the army due to interference from Lazare
Carnot.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wattignies>
1945:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was
founded in Quebec City, Canada, to lead international efforts to defeat
hunger.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Agriculture_Organization_of_the_United_Nations>
1975:
Five journalists for Australian television networks based in
the town of Balibo were killed by Indonesian special force soldiers
prior to their invasion of East Timor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five>
1995:
Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam convened the Million Man
March in Washington, D.C., in an effort to unite in self-help and self-
defense against economic and social ills plaguing the African American
community.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
aureate:
1. Golden in color or shine.
2. Of language: characterized by the use of (excessively) ornamental or
grandiose terms, often of Latin or French origin.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aureate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of
nothing.
--The Picture of Dorian Gray
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray>