Frederick the Great (1712–1786) was King of Prussia from 1740 until his death. His most significant accomplishments included his military successes in the Silesian wars, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and culture. Prussia became a major power in Europe under his rule. Frederick was a proponent of enlightened absolutism, stating that the ruler should be the first servant of the state. He modernised the Prussian bureaucracy, reformed the judicial system, encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, and increased freedom of the press in Berlin. Frederick was also an accomplished musician, writer, and philosopher. He played the flute, and wrote over 100 scores, including flute sonatas and opera libretti. His collected works of poetry, histories, and philosophy spans 30 volumes and his political correspondence spans 46 volumes. He remains an important symbol of modern Germany to this day.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_the_Great

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1888:

Mary Jane Kelly, was widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Kelly

1918:

The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted a tricolour national flag that remains in use today with slight modifications by the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Azerbaijan

1967:

The first issue of Rolling Stone, an American magazine focusing on music, politics and popular culture, was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone

2019:

Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free border crossing connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib to the Indian border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartarpur_Corridor

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

trounce: 1. (transitive) To beat severely; to thrash. 2. (transitive) To beat thoroughly, to defeat heavily; especially (games, sports) to win against (someone) by a wide margin. 3. (transitive) To chastise or punish physically or verbally; to scold with abusive language. 4. (transitive, Britain, regional) To punish by bringing a lawsuit against; to sue. [...] 5. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge. 6. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To pass across or over; to traverse. 7. (intransitive) To travel quickly over a long distance. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trounce

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter. Our own planet is only a tiny part of the vast cosmic tapestry, a starry fabric of worlds yet untold. Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours. In every one of them there's a succession of incidents, events, occurrences, which influence its future.   --Carl Sagan https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan