Sargon of Akkad was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the
Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of
the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned from 2334 to 2279 BC. He became a
prominent member of the royal court of Kish, ultimately overthrowing
its king before embarking on the conquest of Mesopotamia. Sargon's vast
empire is known to have extended from Elam to the Mediterranean Sea,
including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day Iran and Syria, and possibly
parts of Anatolia and the Arabian peninsula. He ruled from a new
capital, Akkad (Agade), which the Sumerian king list claims he built
(or possibly renovated), on the left bank of the Euphrates. Sargon is
the first individual in recorded history to create a multiethnic,
centrally ruled empire, and his dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for
around a century and a half.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1525:
Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora , against the celibacy
discipline decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Luther>
1886:
King Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead in Lake Starnberg near Munich
under mysterious circumstances.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria>
1898:
The Yukon Territory was formed in Canada, splitting from the Northwest
Territories after the area's population substantially increased due to
the Klondike Gold Rush.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon>
1971:
The New York Times began to publish the Pentagon Papers, a 7,000-page
top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United
States' political and military involvement in the Vietnam War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers>
1997:
In one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history, 59 people
died and 103 others were seriously injured during a premiere screening
of the film Border at the Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, South Delhi.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uphaar_Cinema_fire>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
emvowel (v):
(dated, humorous) To replace a portion of a person's name with a dash
in printing, in order to avoid libel
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/emvowel>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,
Our stitching and
unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or
break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet
sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the
noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world.
--William Butler Yeats
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats>
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