100px|The Great Wall of China

The Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. The Ming was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall (pictured) and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Emperor Hongwu's rebuilding of China's agricultural base and strengthening of communication routes through the militarized courier system had the unintended effect of creating a vast agricultural surplus that could be sold at burgeoning markets located along courier routes. By the 16th century, China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the Columbian Exchange. Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotes as the common medium of exchange in China. During the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining the entire Ming economy. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority. (more...)

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1491:

Several Jews and conversos were executed in Toledo, Spain, for the alleged ritual murder of an infant, who was later canonised as the Holy Child of La Guardia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Child_of_La_Guardia

1776:

American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units captured Fort Washington from the Patriots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Washington

1944:

World War II: Operation Queen commenced in Düren, Germany, with one of the heaviest Allied tactical bombing attacks of the war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Queen

1959:

The Sound of Music, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein based on The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music

1997:

Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng was released from prison after nearly 18 years of on-and-off incarceration for "medical reasons" and deported to the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei_Jingsheng

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

ostinato (n): A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ostinato

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There will not be one kind of community existing and one kind of life led in utopia. Utopia will consist of utopias, of many different and divergent communities in which people lead different kinds of lives under different institutions. Some kinds of communities will be more attractive to most than others; communities will wax and wane. People will leave some for others or spend their whole lives in one. Utopia is a framework for utopias, a place where people are at liberty to join together voluntarily to pursue and attempt to realize their own vision of the good life in the ideal community but where no one can impose his own utopian vision upon others. --Robert Nozick http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Nozick