The 1755 Lisbon earthquake took place on November 1, 1755, at 9:20 in the morning. It was one of the most destructive and deadly earthquakes in history, killing well over 100,000 people. The quake was followed by a tsunami and fire, resulting in the near total destruction of Lisbon. The earthquake accentuated political tensions in Portugal and profoundly disrupted the country's 18th century colonial ambitions. The event was widely discussed by European Enlightenment philosophers, and inspired major developments in theodicy and in the philosophy of the sublime. The first to be studied scientifically for its effects over a large area, the quake signalled the birth of modern seismology. Geologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake approached magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

622: Beginning of the Islamic calendar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar)

1918: Russian Revolution: Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family at Ekaterinburg. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia)

1945: Manhattan Project: "Trinity", the first nuclear test explosion, was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_test)

1979: Saddam Hussein took over as President of Iraq, succeeding Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein)

1994: The planet Jupiter was hit by fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoemaker-Levy_9)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"By the declining day, lo! man is a state of loss, save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance." -- The Qur'an, Surah 103 (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Qur%27an)