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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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