Greco-Buddhism is the term used to describe the cultural syncretism between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in Central Asia in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Budhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century CE, ultimately spreading to China, Korea and Japan. Numerous Greco-Buddhist works of art display the intermixing of Greek and Buddhist influences, around such creation centers as Gandhara. The subject matter of Gandharan art was definitely Buddhist, while most motifs were of Western Asiatic or Hellenistic origin. The interraction between Hellenistic Greece and Buddhism started when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and Central Asia in 334 BCE, going as far as the Indus, thus establishing direct contact with India, the birthplace of Buddhism.

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Today's selected anniversaries:

312 Constantine the Great adopted Christianity and defeated Maxentius in the Battle of Milvian Bridge. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milvian_Bridge)

1886 In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to commemorate the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty)

1918 Czechoslovakia gained its independence from Austria-Hungary. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Republic_of_Czechoslovakia)

1922 Fascist armed squads marched on Rome to take over the Italian government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Rome)

Wikiquote of the day:

"The antagonism between science and religion, about which we hear so much, appears to me to be purely factitious - fabricated, on the one hand, by short-sighted religious people who confound a certain branch of science, theology, with religion; and, on the other, by equally short-sighted scientific people who forget that science takes for its province only that which is susceptible of clear intellectual comprehension; and that, outside the boundaries of that province, they must be content with imagination, with hope, and with ignorance." ~ T. H. Huxley (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley)