In Scientology doctrine, Xenu is a galactic ruler who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. These events are known as "Incident II" or "The Wall of Fire", and the traumatic memories associated with them as the R6 implant. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard detailed the story in Operating Thetan level III in 1967, famously warning that R6 was "calculated to kill (by pneumonia etc) anyone who attempts to solve it." Much controversy between the Church of Scientology and its critics has focused on Xenu. The Church avoids making mention of Xenu in public statements and has gone to considerable effort to maintain the story's confidentiality, including legal action on both copyright and trade secrecy grounds. Critics claim that revealing the story is in the public interest, given the high prices charged for OT III. The Xenu story prompted the use of the volcano as a Scientology symbol.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1594: King Sigismund III of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was crowned King of Sweden. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_of_Poland)

1674: The Third Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Dutch_War)

1942: Air raids on Darwin: The capital of Northern Territory, Australia was devastated by 242 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Darwin%2C_February_19%2C_1942)

1942: U.S. Executive Order 9066 was signed, authorising the relocation and confinement of over 112,000 Japanese Americans. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Executive_Order_9066)

1986: The Soviet Union launched the space station Mir, the first long-term research station in space. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them. I am aware that a philosopher's ideas are not subject to the judgement of ordinary persons, because it is his endeavor to seek the truth in all things, to the extent permitted to human reason by God. Yet I hold that completely erroneous views should be shunned." -- Nicolaus Copernicus (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus)