Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933–2003) served as United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees from 1966 to 1978, during which he reoriented
the agency's focus beyond Europe and prepared it for an explosion of
complex refugee issues. He was also a proponent of greater
collaboration between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN
agencies. The Prince's interest in ecological issues led him to
establish the Bellerive Foundation in the late 1970s, and he was a
knowledgeable and respected collector of Islamic art. Born in Paris,
France, he was the son of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and Princess
Andrée Aga Khan. He married twice, but had no children of his own.
Prince Sadruddin died of cancer at the age of 70, and was buried in
Switzerland.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Sadruddin_Aga_Khan>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
54:
Claudius was fatally poisoned by his wife Agrippina the Younger, making
her 16-year-old son Nero the next Roman Emperor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero>
1307:
Agents of King Philip IV of France launched a dawn raid, simultaneously
arresting many members of the Knights Templar , and subsequently
torturing them into "admitting" heresy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar>
1773:
French astronomer Charles Messier discovered the Whirlpool Galaxy, an
interacting, grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of
approximately 23 million light-years in the constellation Canes
Venatici.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Galaxy>
1843:
The B'nai B'rith, the oldest continually operating Jewish service
organization in the world, was founded in New York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%27nai_B%27rith>
1917:
An estimated 100,000 people in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima,
Portugal witnessed "The Miracle of the Sun".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_of_the_Sun>
1972:
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into a remote area in the Andes
mountains near the border of Chile and Argentina; the last of 16
survivors were not rescued until December 23.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
palaver (v):
To discuss with much talk
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palaver>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The practical reason for freedom is that freedom seems to be the only
condition under which any kind of substantial moral fiber can be
developed — we have tried law, compulsion and authoritarianism of
various kinds, and the result is nothing to be proud of.
--Albert Jay Nock
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Jay_Nock>
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