Ai-Khanoum is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. It was probably established in the early 3rd century BC by a monarch of the Seleucid Empire at the confluence of the Oxus and Kokcha rivers, controlling access to valuable mines and strategic choke points. Ai-Khanoum, which became a major centre of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom after it seceded under the Diodotid dynasty, was redesigned by King Eucratides I to be an imperial capital, with a huge palace, religious structures, and massive defences. Nevertheless, it was sacked at the end of his reign (c. 145 BC) by the nomadic Saka and Yuezhi peoples, and the city was soon abandoned. Rediscovered two millennia later by the King of Afghanistan in 1961, Ai-Khanoum was excavated by a team of French archaeologists until the Saur Revolution in 1978. During the subsequent conflicts in Afghanistan, the site was extensively looted.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai-Khanoum

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1941:

World War II: Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, was struck by German bombing during the Cardiff Blitz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandaff_Cathedral

1944:

World War II: United States and Australian forces successfully landed in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Saidor

1963:

Vietnam War: The Viet Cong won its first major victory at the Battle of Ap Bac. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac

1967:

Former actor Ronald Reagan began his career in government when he was sworn in as the 33rd governor of California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

neither fish nor fowl: (idiomatic) Not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; also, not having the advantages of the various options. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neither_fish_nor_fowl

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I can have respect and admiration for famous people, but I have never had a sense of fear or awe.   --Barbara Walters https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barbara_Walters