The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing on 23 January 2001. The incident is disputed: the official Chinese press agency, Xinhua News Agency, stated that five members of Falun Gong, a banned spiritual movement, set themselves on fire to protest the unfair treatment of Falun Gong by the Chinese government. The Falun Dafa Information Center stated the incident was a hoax staged by the Chinese government to turn public opinion against the group and to justify the torture and imprisonment of its practitioners. The incident received international news coverage, and video footage was broadcast later in the People's Republic of China by China Central Television. A wide variety of opinions and interpretations of what may have happened emerged: the event may have been set up by the government, it may have been an authentic protest, or the self-immolators "new or unschooled" practitioners, among others. The campaign of state propaganda that followed the event eroded public sympathy for Falun Gong, and the government began sanctioning "systematic use of violence" against the group. Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_self-immolation_incident> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1043: Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England, the last king of the House of Wessex. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor> 1895: The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde> 1922: Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin> 1971: The Japanese tokusatsu television series Kamen Rider premiered, marking the beginning of the long-running Kamen Rider franchise. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Series> 2007: Texas law enforcement authorities raided the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' YFZ Ranch, eventually removing 533 women and children from the premises. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YFZ_Ranch> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: snail mail (n): (retronym) Postal mail, especially as compared to email <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snail_mail> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: 44px We do not want our world to perish. But in our quest for knowledge, century by century, we have placed all our trust in a cold, impartial intellect which only brings us nearer to destruction. We have heeded no wisdom offering guidance. Only by learning to love one another can our world be saved. Only love can conquer all. --Dora Russell <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dora_Russell>