90px|Edward VII

Edward VII (1841–1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1901 until his death. Before his accession to the throne, he held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than anyone else in British history. During the long reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor. Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the Edwardian way of life. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1867:

Tokugawa Yoshinobu , the last shogun of Japan, tendered his resignation to the Emperor Meiji. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Yoshinobu

1938:

Kristallnacht began SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of over 25,000 others to concentration camps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht

1989:

East Germany announced the opening of the inner German border and the Berlin Wall, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War, impending collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of Soviet communism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inner_German_border

1998:

With the passing of the Human Rights Act, the United Kingdom abolished capital punishment for all criminal offences. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998

2005:

Suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing a total of about 60 people and injuring at least 115 others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Amman_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

banner blindness (n): (chiefly Internet) Desensitization to common means of attracting attention http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banner_blindness

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I had an experience... I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever... A vision of the universe that tells us, undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how ... rare, and precious we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves, that we are not — that none of us — are alone! ... I wish I could share that. I wish, that everyone, if only for one moment, could feel that awe, and humility, and hope. But ... that continues to be my wish. --Contact (film) http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Contact_%28film%29