Under English common law, a common scold was a species of public nuisance--a troublesome and angry woman who broke the public peace by habitually arguing and quarrelling with her neighbours. The Latin name for the offender, communis rixatrix, appears in the feminine gender, and makes it clear that only women could commit this crime. The prescribed penalty for this offence involved dunking the convicted offender in water in an instrument called the cucking stool, which by folk etymology became ducking stool. The stool consisted of a chair attached to a lever, suspended over a body of water; the prisoner was strapped into the chair and dunked into the water for her punishment.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

* 1715 - Louis XIV of France the "Sun King" died after a reign of 72 years, longer than any other French or other major European monarch. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France) * 1923 - Great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 100,000 people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kanto_earthquake) * 1939 - After staging the Attack on Sender Gleiwitz the day before, Nazi Germany attacked Poland and started World War II. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) * 1951 - Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed a mutual defense pact known as the ANZUS Treaty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUS_Treaty) * 1983 - The civilian airliner Korean Air Flight 7, carrying 246 passengers and 23 crew, was shot down by Soviet fighters. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_7)