The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative
institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. At
its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an Upper House,
called the House of Lords, and a Lower House, called the House of
Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of
members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of
England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage); it is a
wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a
democratically elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of
Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster, in the
British capital, London. By constitutional convention, all government
ministers, including the Prime Minister are drawn exclusively from the
House of Commons or House of Lords.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1487:
The Battle of Stoke Field, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses,
was fought.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoke_Field)
1745:
During King George's War, British colonial forces led by William
Pepperrell captured the French stronghold at Fortress Louisbourg on
Cape Breton Island after a six-week siege.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_Louisbourg)
1846:
Pius IX was elected pope, beginning the longest reign of all popes
since the days of the apostles.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_IX)
1963:
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova)
1976:
Police in Soweto, South Africa opened fire on schoolchildren
protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of
instruction in township schools, triggering a series of nationwide
demonstrations, strikes, riots and violence.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we
could then better judge what to do, and how to do it." -- Abraham
Lincoln
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln)