The Palace of Westminster is the location at which the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. The Palace lies on the west bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster. The oldest extant part of the Palace, Westminster Hall, dates to 1097. The Palace originally served as a royal residence; however, no monarch has lived in it since the sixteenth century. One of the Palace's most famous features is the Clock Tower, a notable London tourist attraction that houses Big Ben and is often erroneously referred to by this name. The Palace includes over one thousand rooms, and is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the State Opening of Parliament. The Palace is very closely associated with the two Houses, as evidenced by the use of "Westminster" as a metonym for "Parliament."

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1409: Western Schism: The Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism)

1940: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union gave Romania an ultimatum requiring it to cede territory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pact)

1945: The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, California. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Charter)

1959: The Saint Lawrence Seaway, a system of canals connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, was officially opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence_Seaway)

1963: John F. Kennedy uttered "Ich bin ein Berliner." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The sons of torture victims make good terrorists." -- André Malraux (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux)