Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945) was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April
1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in
a Nazi-backed coup d'etat. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-
President, working with the occupying forces. His collaborationist
government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers
from Nasjonal Samling, the party he had founded in 1933. Among other
things, it participated – willingly or unwillingly – in Germany's
Final Solution. Quisling was put on trial during the post-war legal
purge in Norway and found guilty of charges including embezzlement,
murder and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus
Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. During World War II, quisling became
a synonym for traitor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1462:
Forces led by Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia attacked an Ottoman
camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Attack>
1631:
Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died in
childbirth; Jahan spent the next seventeen years constructing her
mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_and_architecture_of_the_Taj_Mahal>
1861:
American Civil War: The Battle of Vienna, Virginia, took place,
which involved one of the earliest military movements of troops by train
in the world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna,_Virginia>
1963:
Around 2,000 people rioted in South Vietnam, despite the
signing of the Joint Communique to resolve the ongoing Buddhist crisis
one day earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Communique>
1991:
The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population
Registration Act, which required that each inhabitant of South Africa be
classified and registered by race as part of the system of apartheid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Registration_Act>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
postilion:
A rider mounted on the near, leading horse pulling a carriage who guides
the team.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/postilion>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
My work is a game, a very serious game.
--M. C. Escher
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._C._Escher>
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