The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The Eidgenossenschaft of the Swiss, as the confederacy was called, began as an alliance between the communities of the valleys in the central Alps to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. In the late Middle Ages, this region belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, and because of its strategic importance the Hohenstaufen emperors had granted it reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons (or regions) of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were relatively autonomous. With the rise of the Habsburg dynasty, the kings and dukes of Habsburg sought to extend their influence over this region and to bring it under their rule, and as a consequence, a conflict ensued between the Habsburgs and these mountain communities who tried to defend their privileged status as reichsfrei regions. The three founding cantons were joined in the early 14th century by the city states of Lucerne, Z�rich, and Berne, and they managed to defeat Habsburg armies on several occasions.

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

Today's selected anniversaries:

1492 - Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola)

1560 - Francis II of France died and was succeeded by Charles IX of France. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II_of_France)

1848 - California Gold Rush: In a message before Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in northern California. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush)

1979 - Sonia Johnson was formally excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Johnson)

Wikiquote of the day:

"Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels' hierarchies? and even if one of them suddenly pressed me against his heart, I would perish in the embrace of his stronger existence. For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror which we are barely able to endure and are awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us. Each single angel is terrifying." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke)