Microsoft is an international computer technology corporation with 2005 global sales of US$42.64 billion and more than 63,000 employees in 102 countries and regions that develop, manufacture, license, and support a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its most popular products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, each of which has achieved near ubiquity in the desktop computer market. Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse, as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, the Xbox 360, and MSN TV.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1302: Flemish infantry successfully halted a French invasion near Kortrijk in the Battle of the Golden Spurs. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Golden_Spurs)

1789: French Revolution: Jacques Necker was dismissed as Director-General of Finances and ordered to leave France at once. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Necker)

1804: In Weehawken, New Jersey, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Burr_duel)

1811: Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro published a hypothesis on the molecular content of gases, now known as Avogadro's law. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Avogadro)

1957: Prince Karim El Husseni succeeded Sultan Mahommed Shah as the Aga Khan, becoming the 49th Imam of the Shi'a Ismaili Muslims. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_IV)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." -- John Quincy Adams (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams)