Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings in
Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial
estate in the country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia".
Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace
in 1704. The son of his successor, Charles Eugene, completed it and
refurbished parts in the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles
Eugene abandoned the palace in 1775, and it began a decline until the
future Duke, and then King, Frederick moved in in 1795. As King,
Frederick, and his Queen, Charlotte, renovated the entirety of the
palace in the Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in
1918. It underwent periods of restoration, including for its
tricentenary in 2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually
since 1947. The palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque
(Blühendes Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in
1800.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of
the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of
Vicksburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg>
1936:
In a crime that shocked Japan, Sada Abe strangled her lover
Kichizo Ishida, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her
for several days until her arrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sada_Abe>
1965:
Eli Cohen, a spy who is credited with gathering significant
intelligence for Israel in the Six-Day War against Syria, was publicly
hanged after having been captured four months earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Cohen>
2009:
The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader
and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to
the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velupillai_Prabhakaran>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
schlubby:
(chiefly US, informal) Clumsy, oafish, or socially awkward; unattractive
or unkempt.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schlubby>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every man would like to be God, if it were possible; some few
find it difficult to admit the impossibility.
--Bertrand Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>