Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence was adopted by the mostly white minority government of Prime Minister Ian Smith on 11 November 1965. It announced that the British colony of Rhodesia, self- governed since 1923, regarded itself as a sovereign state. The culmination of a protracted dispute between the British and Rhodesian governments, it was the first unilateral breakaway by a British colony since the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was largely motivated by the perception among white Rhodesians that they were due independence following four decades of self-government and that Britain was betraying them by insisting on majority rule as a condition; the white minority of about 5% was loath to transfer power to black nationalists because of racial tensions and reservations about the country's stability. Britain, the Commonwealth and the United Nations deemed Rhodesia's declaration illegal, and economic sanctions, the first in the UN's history, were imposed on the breakaway colony. Rhodesia continued as an unrecognised state until the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, and became Zimbabwe in 1980.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia%27s_Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1620:

The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, was signed by 41 of the Mayflower‍ '​s passengers while the ship was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact

1805:

War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units all suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Dürenstein. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_D%C3%BCrenstein

1926:

The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highways

1940:

World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captured top secret documents from SS Automedon that would later influence Japan's decision to enter the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Atlantis

1960:

A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngo Dinh Diem was crushed after Diem falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Catch-22: (idiomatic) A difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Catch-22

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.   --Abigail Adams https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams