The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by
the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms. Spanning over four
centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in
Chinese history. The Han Empire was divided into areas directly
controlled by the central government, known as commanderies, and a
number of semi-autonomous kingdoms. The Han Dynasty was an age of
economic prosperity, and saw a significant growth of the money economy
first established during the Zhou Dynasty. The coinage issued by the
central government mint in 119 BCE remained the standard coinage of
China until the Tang Dynasty. The emperor was at the pinnacle of Han
society. He presided over the Han government, but shared power with
both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the
scholarly gentry class. From the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the
Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court
politics. Science and technology during Han saw significant advances,
including papermaking, the rudder, the use of negative numbers in
mathematics, the raised-relief map, the hydraulic-powered armillary
sphere for astronomy, and a seismometer employing an inverted pendulum.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
284:
Diocletian became Roman Emperor, eventually establishing reforms that
brought an end to the Crisis of the Third Century.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian>
1695:
Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early
Brazil, was executed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumbi>
1820:
The American whaleship Essex sank 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west
of the western coast of South America after it was attacked by a sperm
whale.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_%28whaleship%29>
1902:
While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto during a lunch
meeting in Paris, sports journalists Henri Desgrange and Géo Lefèvre
came up with the idea of holding a cycling race that later became known
as the Tour de France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France>
1979:
A group of armed insurgents attacked and took over the Masjid al-Haram
in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, declaring that one of their leaders, Muhammad
bin abd Allah al-Qahtani, was the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of
Islam.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mosque_Seizure>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Jezebel (n):
An evil, scheming, or shameless woman; an immoral woman
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Jezebel>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are
wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are
fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it
or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.
--Robert F. Kennedy
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy>
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