The King James Version is an English translation of the Holy Bible, commissioned for the benefit of the Church of England at the behest of King James I of England. First published in 1611, it has had a profound impact on not only most English translations that have followed it, but also on English literature as a whole. The works of famous authors such as John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman Melville, John Dryden, and William Wordsworth are replete with inspiration apparently derived from the King James Version. Bibles from the English Revised Version to the New American Standard Bible, the Revised Standard Version, and the New King James Version are revisions of its text; it has deeply influenced Bibles such as the New International Version that do not claim to be revisions of its text. It is no longer in copyright in most parts of the world but is under perpetual Crown copyright in the United Kingdom. It is considered to be an instrumental founding block of modern English, and remains one of the most widely-read literary works from its time, surpassed only by the works of playwright William Shakespeare.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version_of_the_Bible

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1859: Constantin von Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th century uncial manuscript of the New Testament, in a monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus)

1862: Bacardi, one of the world's largest rum producer, was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi)

1899: The Philippine-American War began. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War)

1945: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta Conference. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference)

1957: USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, logged her 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_%28SSN-571%29)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Our ideals, laws and customs should be based on the proposition that each generation, in turn, becomes the custodian rather than the absolute owner of our resources and each generation has the obligation to pass this inheritance on to the future." -- Charles Lindbergh (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh)