Unas was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He succeeded Djedkare Isesi, who might have been his father, and reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid 24th century BC. During this time Egypt maintained trade relations with the Levantine coast and Nubia, and may have launched a military campaign in southern Canaan. A period of declining royal power and decentralization of administrative functions continued under him, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the Old Kingdom some 200 years later. Unas built a pyramid in Saqqara, the smallest of the royal pyramids completed during the Old Kingdom. The accompanying mortuary complex with its high and valley temples linked by a 750 m (2,460 ft) causeway was lavishly decorated with painted reliefs, whose quality and variety surpass the usual royal iconography. His burial chambers were the first with the Pyramid Texts carved and painted on the walls, meant to help the king reach the afterlife by identifying him with Ra and Osiris.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unas

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1687:

The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton was first published, describing his laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica

1865:

Royal Assent was given to an Act of Parliament allowing the Talyllyn Railway to carry passengers by steam haulage – the first narrow gauge railway in Britain to do so from the start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talyllyn_Railway

1946:

Named after Bikini Atoll, the site of the nuclear weapons test Operation Crossroads in the Marshall Islands, the modern bikini was introduced at a fashion show in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini

1980:

Swedish tennis player Björn Borg won his fifth Wimbledon final and became the first male player to win the championships five times in a row. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Borg

2009:

A series of violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, the capital city of Xinjiang in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2009_%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi_riots

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gruntled: (humorous) Satisfied. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gruntled

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.   --Jean Cocteau https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau